A Kiss of Shadows

Rating:
Summary: A great deal of potential, but little follow-through
Review: This book had wonderful potential - what could be more exciting than an Elven princess in exile, working to solve supernatural cases? If the entire novel had consisted of a few detective cases, mixed in with daring escapes from supernatural hunters, I would really have enjoyed the book. We could have learned a lot about the world, the different races of the world, the interaction between humans and the supernatural races, etc. End this book with Meredith's capture - then the second novel could have given a detailed portrayal of the Unseelie court! That would have been a fascinating read.

Instead, this book consists of a series of sexual escapades - seven with different men, on a quick count - pasted together by a minimalistic plot. The sexual tones work in the Anita Blake series, because the theme fits more properly with Vampires than with Elves, and because the sexual tension was developed throughout the series. But in this novel, the sex displaces plot, character development, and world development. And that's a real shame, and a waste of a good idea.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Start to a New Fantasy Series
Review: Merry Gentry is more than just a beautiful private detective - she's actually the Princess Meredith NicEssus, a mortal faerie half-breed, more famous than Elvis, hiding out in LA, living each day in fear of the wrath of her aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness. Only her "glamour" - the ability to mask her true appearance - keeps her from the threat of immediate abduction to the realm of the fey (a wide variety of magical beings, not the least of which are the immortal sidhe), which lies in the heartland of North America.

Sounds crazy? If you make it even fifteen pages into this book, you'll be hooked. Laurell K. Hamilton (best known for her Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels) has created a whole new world - an alternative modern-day America where humans live in an uneasy coexistence with a baffling array of mystical and powerful creatures. We encounter fascinating and fully-realized characters as complex as any from the Greek pantheon - ruled by their passions, tortured by their weaknesses, and each with his or her own special set of gifts and curses.

Ms. Hamilton's writing is compelling and erotic; her story is well-plotted and filled with believable yet completely inhuman characters. The press releases indicate that A Kiss of Shadows is the first in a new fantasy series, but it's hard to imagine any sequel being as hypnotic and gripping as this debut.

I heartily recommend this book for fans of science fiction who find fantasy "too fakey," as well as for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien who are tired of obvious rip-offs. Once you start reading A Kiss of Shadows, you'll find it hard to put down.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but did I miss the first book?
Review: I'm not a big Vampire genre fan, so I hadn't really read anything else by Laurell Hamilton. This was my first real sample of her writing. I read a pre-publication excerpt from the book, and it caught my attention, so when I saw it in the bookstore, I picked it up. Having read it, I'm both intrigued and a little dissapointed. Right away, I knew that this book was part of a series, but I kept wondering where the first book was. The main character seems to have had some interesting experiences in early life, but the book just kind of flashed back to them instead of telling the story. I didn't get a real sense of character development. I wanted to know the full background of the main characters,not just a teaser. I wanted to get familiar with them. I don't mind erotica,I understand that the Fey in this story are innately sensual but I felt rushed in to Meredith's sex life before I even got to know her. (Sex is okay, but not if it overwhelms the rest of the plot) Laurell Hamilton has a way of pulling you into Faerie world with her writing, and she kept my attention but the world she's drawing me into seems a little shallow. The upside of the fact that this book is first of a series is that the author has a chance to develop her characters more. I certainly hope she comes out with a prequel to Kiss of Shadows.

Rating:
Summary: Miss Hamilton never fails to intrigue
Review: I bought the book as an audio. I was not disappointed! I could not put this book down -so to speak. I would sit in my car listening long after I returned home or was supposed to go in to work, just to hear what happened next. You immediately care about the characters because they are so well-developed, you can see, hear, and smell each seduction scene (only a woman can write such an exquisite buildup). Males, you should read this as "Boy, was the sex good!" The plot flowed, was never dull.

Rating:
Summary: Soft Porn with only part of a plot
Review: Hamilton writes well. But, after she had a child, her editor expressed concern that she would lose her edge, draw back from her writing.

Instead Hamilton seems intent on going over the edge. This novel has lots of graphic sex, almost all of it colored by a character who likes giving and getting pain mixed with her sex. I find that a complete turn-off, not to mention, to fit the sex in, she had to drop a significant amount of what would have been plot development -- consider the sex bad filler -- unless you are into porn.

Not that she doesn't use the setting well, assuming you know the constructs she is working from. If you do, your knowledge will fill in the gaps. If you don't, prepare to be frustrated.

It is really too bad, the novel seemed to have a lot more promise than "woman has lots of violent, painful, wierd and pain inflicted/inflicting sex with many strange creatures and males as she works through part of the introduction to a series ..."

I've read a lot of Hamilton in the past. This novel is the last for me.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent read
Review: I thought the Anita Blake books where good but I just could not put A kiss of shadows down. It was exciting and sexy and I can not wait for the next book to come out. Laurell K Hamilton is an excellent author.

Rating:
Summary: Might I Have Some More Please......
Review: LKH's new one, Kiss of Shadows, is a phenomenal read. I read all of her Anita Blake novels, but not one of them engaged me the way this book did. On the intellectual/imaginative plane, this ranks up there for accuracy and recreation of faerie lore with the Brian Froud series of Faeries, Good Faeries/Bad Faeries, and the Pressed Fairy book! The characters are all distinct and colorful. The plot moves fast enough to keep the reader enthralled until the last page. I couldn't put this one down! And yes, the world Hamilton creates is a very sexual one, appropriately so. Her writing is classy and erotic. This book would give anyone who appreciates well done erotica shivers and tingles. I needed a cold shower after reading this one. Those who criticize it for being overdone or raunchy should now proceed directly to the young adult section of the bookstore. Her writing is descriptive, her images clear, and that's all her writing, not just the erotic bits. All I can say is Bravo....and it's not nearly enough...

Rating:
Summary: Laurell is it!
Review: Though many people don't think this book goes anywhere I love the fact that it moves so fast. I read this book in two days because there was never a dull moment that I could put it down. I'm a big fan of Robert Jordan and Stephen King. They take time to develop their caractures, but I don't always like to be left hanging at the end of a book or like having to read half the book before anything exciting happens. It's nice to read a book that's all action right from the beginning and leaves off at a good point.

Rating:
Summary: Worst Book I've Read in 30 Years
Review: I have been a fan of science fiction since I was 10 and rapidly adapted to fantasy just after college. This is perhaps the worst trash I have ever read. I actually stuck with the book to the end because I felt a book so highly rated ... would eventually recover. The book has absolutely no plot, none! With science fiction and adult fantasy you have to develop a believable world with a set of rules that seem to fit. There are no rules here, and this world is strictly helter skelter. Finally, although I can occasionally enjoy a good sex scene, this piece of trash is nothing but one soft porn scene after another and take my word for it this porn is BORING! Save your money.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful taste of a new world.
Review: This book leaves you craving for the dark sensuality of this world, the torment the pleasures the unspoken rules of this mysterious reality where magic lives. Which again is a parallel of our own world of dreams and myths and legends made into a written believable creation. Goblins, faeries, brownies oh my. I can only hope that this will be a long lived series. If the fate of the 'Nightseer' (Keleios Incantare) will be forever unfinished I will be more than happy to visit Merry & Anita in their world. A wonderful dark book for the senses. A must for those who don't always stick to fairytales and enjoy L.K. Hamilton's work.