QB's Quickies

"So, read any good books lately?"
"What did you think of...?"

Here's the Quickie answers to those questions. Click on the Links for more info.


On the Prowl - paranormal anthology with stories by Patricia Briggs, Eileen Wilks, Karen Chance, Sunny

Category: M&Ms - a bit lighter and/or not quite as satisfying as Peanut M&Ms, but still Oh-So-Enjoyable! (B,B-,C+,C)
Flame Height: 5" out of 9"

Patricia Briggs - Alpha and Omega - kicks off a new series set in the same world as her Mercy Thompson series. Damn, that woman writes one helluva story, doesn't she? It's worth buying the book just for the magic of this story.
Eileen Wilks - Inhuman - enjoyed it while I was reading it. Forgot it soon after.
Karen Chance - Buying Trouble - ditto
Sunny - Mona Lisa Betwining - liked it, loathed it. Part of her Monère/Mona Lisa series. NOT a standalone. Basically, Merry Gentry channels Anita Blake. Which scene from LKH/Anne Bishop will this writer of glorified fanfic rip off next? see below...
Piquant Opines: AAR, TGTBTU, RRT


Sunny - Demon Princess Chronicles

1. Lucinda Darkly

Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. Most books I read fall in this category. (A-,B+,B)
Flame Height: 6.5" out of 9"

AAAAAAAHHHHHHH! It kills me that I actually LIKE these Monère books. Yet, at the same time, I LOATHE them. I need an intervention- STAT. I just can't seem to stop reading this woman's books. It's an ILLNESS, I tell you! I just don't understand how I can keep putting myself through this!

But I HAD to read Lucinda Darkly. I mean, it was only fair, right? I consider it research. I already knew that she couldn't execute an original idea (*snort* what an understatement). She proved that with Skin on Skin (see my previous commentary). And in my commentary about her Monère/Mona Lisa series, I DID say "but [I] would like to see her now take the world she created from other author's ideas and create stories that are completely ORIGINAL and UNIQUE to the Monère world." So, since Lucinda Darkly is spun-off from the Monère, but focused more on the Demon Dead, it would be a sort of final test to see if Sunny could successfully write anything original... she can't. I can now say that without any qualifications.

The Mona Lisa books owe the essence of their world building to Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy, but the main characters and storylines are mostly Laurell Hamilton's Merry Gentry series spiced up with bits of the Anita Blake series. However, Lucinda Darkly has considerably less Black Jewels and is more Anita Blake channels Merry Gentry.

Let me just say this... she has now placed a Kitto-like character (from MG) and a triumvirate of power (from AB) into her stories. That triumverate of power was created accidently and no one knew it could even be done (AB). AND when cut off from Lucinda's power, the other two members falter and start to fade. One of the other two is a bit stronger than the other and helps keep him alive until they can access Lucinda's power again (MG and AB). It's as if the Anita-Damien-Nathaniel triumverate (from AB) was made up of Merita(that's MG+AB)-Damien-Kitto instead! And the Kitto-like character is physically like Doyle and Kitto's secret luv child (MG)!

Over on the LKH board, Neith said
"you know there are poor souls out there who are reading her stuff first and thinking she's freaking brilliant, and they will eventually find LKH and AB and be like "what the heck? they ripped Sunny's stuff off"

And judging by the number of awards that Sunny says these works of barely disguised fanfic have been nominated for, I'd say that Neith's prediction is nauseatingly accurate.

Like the Mona Lisa books, Lucinda Darkly IS good. But I LOATHE it anyway.
Piquant Opines: RT (4.5 stars, why I am not surprised), RJ