Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts

Twice Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires, Book 3) Review

Twice Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires, Book 3)
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Twice Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires, Book 3) ReviewTwice Bitten picks up shortly where Friday Night Bites left off. We find out who was sending Merit those mysterious unsigned invitations (no, I won't hint because it'd be a major spoiler, but I will say it's a cool plotline!) The shifters are coming to town and Ethan tells Merit he needs her help in providing security for them during their convocation. His hope is to convince the shifters to stay and become allies. They believe war may be coming and need the shifters' support. Working as Sentinel for the Cadogan House, Merit continues her training--she's mastered her swordwork but struggling with sparring. The romantic tension between Merit and Ethan really heats up--but an old love of Ethan's shows up on the scene making us wonder what that will mean. Merit and Mallory are not talking following their disagreement, which of course is upsetting to both of them.
I love the heroine Merit--fiesty, smart, fun, honorable, loyal, hardworking. I enjoyed seeing her grow as a character over the course of the series. She starts as a grad student with a closely defined, much smaller world outlook. After she is converted, her world becomes much bigger and she grows to fit into it. I enjoyed seeing her strength in this book--she had many kick b*tt moments, as well as times she effectively showed her smarts. I hope this series continues for a long time to come. I want to see Merit eventually take the test to rise to Master Vampire, and see where life takes her after that. She is a very interesting character--one of the better new characters introduced in the genre recently (and I've read over 400 UF and PNR books!)
I also continue to enjoy the ancilliary characters, including many new ones. Jeff, one of my favorite side characters, has a potential love interest. I enjoyed how the author continues to build out the characters, like learning about how/when Ethan became a vampire, seeing more of his interactions with Merit, etc. I began to understand him better as a character, however I didn't agree with all of the decisions he made--some *really* annoyed me.
The world building continues to be one of the strengths of this series. The informative glimpses we got of vampire life in the first two books are continued in this one. And we also see more of how sorcery magic works, as well as an in-depth introduction to shapeshifters--how they are organized, their magic, their politics, etc. Also, I like how Chicago is so prominent as the setting. The touches of real-life Chicago add color and depth to the story.
If you are a fan of urban fantasy, I highly recommend the Chicagoland Vampires series. It reminds me of a cross between Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series and Shelly Laurenston's Pride Stories (which is saying a lot since I love both series). Briggs in the way it's an urban fantasy with strong world building; an appealing leading gal as the main character; and good mix of action, mystery, suspense with a little romance. Laurenston in the snarky humor and terrific dialogue. A truly great mix of styles resulting in an original, entertaining series.
It's a lighter urban fantasy than some on the market, which I enjoy as a change of pace--mixing up the lighter reads in between the darker ones. It's nice to laugh out loud from time to time! If you haven't read the series, be sure to read the books in order:
1 - Some Girls Bite
2 - Friday Night Bites
3 - Twice Bitten
If you are on the hunt for more books like this, check out my list of paranormal romance and urban fantasy favorites...
http://www.amazon.com/Paranormal-action-romance-must-reads/lm/R214ESW3HL12HM/ref=tag_lag_rb_munk_lmfull
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Eros and Magic in the Renaissance (Chicago Original Paperback) Review

Eros and Magic in the Renaissance (Chicago Original Paperback)
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Eros and Magic in the Renaissance (Chicago Original Paperback) ReviewIt is unfortunate that Professor Culianu was so violently removed from the world of academia. We are fortunate however, that some few books he was responsible for remain.
Eros and Magic in the Renaissance is an outstanding book. The work is essentially about phantasms (not to be confused with "fantasy") and how, in the past, these phantasms were believed to operate within the soul. Of course, if one accepts for the sake of discussion that phantasms exist and operate within the soul, then discussion of the mechanics of phantasmic operation (e.g. the art of memory, erotic magic, manipulation of desire) naturally follow.
Culianu brilliantly reviews the history of thought regarding the movement of images within the soul and goes yet further to discuss the history of how men believed manipulation of individuals and "the masses" through this process might be effected. Naturally enough he touches on advertising, misinformation, spin and censorship. These very subjects got the conspiratorial Giordano Bruno (who occupies a significant position in the book) burned alive in 1600 by the Catholic Church (an organization understandably averse to anyone tinkering about in the very realm of imaginal manipulation they had such a stake in).
It seems that these issues are still very sensitive to a number of groups with a vested interest in imaginal manipulation. There were a number of people in Rumania after the coup who began to worry about Culianu (a Rumanian expatriate) and his penetrating understanding of the rigid "Police State" with its enforcement of laws and the more flexible "Magician State" with it's enforcement of *desires* (all discussed in this book). That is most likely why Professor Culianu had his head blown off in The University of Chicago Divinity School.
Anyone with an interest in how mankind has enslaved itself with the empty images of manufactured need and sterile consumerism will find Eros and Magic in the Renaissance to be the center of a web of ideas shedding light on this subject. Outstanding Book!Eros and Magic in the Renaissance (Chicago Original Paperback) Overview

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