Rating: 
Summary: Forecast calls for a rollicking good time...
Review: All I want to know is - when does the next book in this series come out!! Highly original, hugely entertaining, I couldn't put this book down once I started reading it. Without repeating the plot, I'll just say that the story was well crafted, and the premise original. The characters were interesting and well-developed, and the tension between Joanne and David, the Djinn in disguise, is, well, pretty darn delicious! Highly recommend, and I will be keeping my eyes out for more books by Caine.
Rating: 
Summary: A fun little book!
Review: As a fan of the Harry Dresden books, I was both pleased and disappointed with this one, for different reasons. On the one hand, the heroine is smart, funny, sexy and kind...just the sort of person you'd like to hang out with. She's a little flighty at times, but it only accents her personality: like the wind she commands, she spends the whole book zooming from place to place, thinking about what she's going to do only once she's on the way to go do it. I liked her. On the other hand, one of the things I liked best about Harry Dresden was that the reader always had some idea what the heck he was doing, because either Harry or Bob the Skull would explain it. His magic was carefully and artfully described, so that when Harry whips it out, the readers can imagine it easily. With Joanne, I often found myself rereading a half-sentence here or backing up several pages later on... She controls air and water and thus weather...so how is she heating up the air? Or cooling it down? In one scene she creates a powerful updraft of hot air, and in another she drops the temperature fast enough to make frost appear on someone. Earth Wardens and Fire Wardens had some impressive scenes but were even more baffling. At first I thought it was because the main character, who narrates the story, wasn't very informed about the Wardens outside her specialty...but then she flashes back to her college days, when she was trained to work effectively with the other Wardens.The only reason I withold a star is for the technical vague areas, which only bug me because I'm that kind of guy. I know it's just a fantasy novel, but I'd like to understand it better. It doesn't mean I didn't read it in a day, and enjoy it immensely! By all means, check it out for yourselves...if you lack my retentive issues, it'll easily make five stars for you!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting read
Review: Being a Laurell K. Hamilton fan, I picked up a copy of Ill Wind based on a comparison in a magazine. The Wardens concept is a pretty cool one; I enjoyed the premise and for the most part the evolution of the story. I liked the characters, but this is the first book in a series so there is definitely room for development (I hope) in the future. I liked the technical content, but it definitely isn't for everybody. If you really aren't interested in the weather and you're definitely not interested in learning technical aspects of it, you may want to skip this one. I thought that at times the story drug on a bit. I also thought the ending was abrupt. I realize it's trying to lead into the next book, but I felt that there should have been something a little more to the ending. I liked the book, I thought it was fun and interesting overall. I gave this book 4 stars mostly because of the potential for the future of the series.
Rating:
Summary: One to buy and keep
Review: Fantastic - really! A great book, a great read, a real page-turner - one of those books where I rush to the end of a page to see what will happen on the next page. The premise is made believable (weather is caused by evil somethings, djinni can be sources of power to magicians - including weather wardens), a secret coven (?) of weather wardens, housed at the UN Building, really save the world - almost daily. This author makes her world and premises believable, her characters human (even the djinni), and the dilemmas truly frightening. As twists in the plot reveal new information and new factors they fit in nicely - no deus ex machina for this author. Lots of adventure, lots of risk, many moments of humor along the way, and a happy and tricky ending which I won't reveal. I will be watching eagerly for the next book in this series and will buy it on the spot.
Rating:
Summary: Whirlwind ride! Please give us more!
Review: First, I can't believe this book is being even *remotely* compared to the works of ANY other writers--Rachel Caine totally blows them out of the water! Second, believe yourself that THIS is one rollicking face-hugger of a read. It was physically impossible for me to put it down once started. I am a notoriously PICKY reader, and if there's one thing I hate is a writer who wastes my time. So far as Rachel Caine is concerned I'm already in line for her NEXT TWO BOOKS in this amazing new series. ILL WIND is a book I call a 'repeater'--once finished I turned to the front and read it all over again, and it was STILL a face-hugger! I'll have to do that a lot to try and tide myself over until the next ones are released! It is so RARE to find anything on such a level of quality these days so she's going on my shelf of Special Writers and lesser works won't be allowed near it. Joanne Baldwin is the kind of gutsy heroine I wanna grow up to be, and ohmuhgosh how she deals with the other characters--good, bad, and just-WHO'S-side-ARE-you-on???!--is a total treat. The other treat is the smooth, sensual writing that either sooths you into an oh-so yummy mood or winds you into something more intense than a triple tornado. The twists and turns of the story are expertly balanced with Joanne's past history and that of the Weather Wardens--a truly scary bunch! I'm crazy to know MORE about them and to see what happens next. Do yourself a favor and GET THIS BOOK, and then TRY to watch an "ordinary" weather report ever again without wondering, "Yikes! What if....???"
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch Read!!!
Review: Heads up to Laurell K. Hamilton fans. This is a book worth the read and then some. In a contemporary earth like ours where elemental magic and djinns are as much part of normal life as necromancy and vamps are in the Anita Blake world, Joanne Baldwin is powerful, tough, and desperate. She's in a mad race to find a way to get rid of the Demon Mark forced on her by a rogue Weather Warden while being hunted by the authorities who believe she is a murderer and rogue herself. If the "good guys" catch her, she dies. If the "bad guys" get her it'll be much much worse. The plot line is wonderfully well woven, and there is plenty of edge of your seat suspense as you read through a fresh new world with well fleshed out characters. Great descriptions, places and people are given vibrant life, and there is a lot of wonderful sensual imagery to kick it up a notch. I came across it by chance, and opened it up to read a few chapters before bed tonight. Couldn't Put It Down!!! My eyeballs hurt because I did a hard straight read through, and this after a totally exhausting day. It was worth it though, and I'm eager to see more from this writer. It's good stuff. LKH and Tanya Huff, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Jane Lindskold good. This is a first class read all the way, and I recommend it to anyone who likes the authors I listed above. Action adventure, intrigue, romance and mystery, it's a smooth blend in this great new fantasy series. I want more.
Rating:
Summary: The Secret Reality of Weather
Review: I don't usually read a book in a series before I can get them all, but I made an exception for this one and was happy to do so. This is the first book in the Weather Warden series and the world is our own. During the course of the book we learn the truth behind the weather, earthquakes and forest fires. We learn much of this during a series of flashbacks from our main character who starts the book by going on the lam. Humanity, it turns out, would be dead if it were not for the efforts of the Wardens who lessen the severity of storms, quakes and fires. They are often augmented by pairing up with a Djinn. But Djinn are not the only magical beings around and there lies much of the heart of the story. Throughout the course of the book we get a very full picture of the life of Joanne Baldwin, Weather Warden. From her earliest days of being aware of the weather through her present crisis. It is all very nicely blended between high-speed chase and fascinating history. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves a good yarn, secret histories, against-all-odds thrillers, urban fantasies or similar tales.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: I enjoyed Ill Wind tremendously and look forward to the next book in the series. On the nitpicking front, it was interesting that in the book, tropical storm Samuel was early in to the Hurricane season, but starting with a letter "S". Assuming in this alternate-universe, that the same naming scheme is followed, that means there were an awful lot of named storms early in the year.
Rating:
Summary: A good start to a new series
Review: I found Ill Wind, what with its darker edges and snarky wit, somewhat similar to Jim Butcher's fantasies and Tanya Huff's "keeper" books but the premise of weather wardens is one I haven't read about before. The weather, for me at least, has never been so wildly dangerous. The writer literally throws you into the story with very little in the way of back story or introduction and, initially, this was a bit of a stumbling block for me of the limited patience and very few working brain cells. Once I got used to the writing method and the frequent flashbacks I was able to figure a few things out and stopping saying "huh?" every few pages as I did early on. This technique of writing and the lack of shorter chapters to break things up often brought the pace of the story to a screeching halt for me and it took a bit of an effort to continue turning the pages on more than one occasion. Fortunately, after the bumpy beginning things began to move along at a faster clip (this may stem more from the fact that I just decided to accept the storytelling method and began to expect the abrupt jumps back to the past). Joanne is a Weather Warden and possesses the power to control the weather. When the book begins she's on the run from both the weather (which is verrry frightening when it decides to turn on you!) and wardens who will end her life once they discover she has been poisoned some sort of magical demon mark. She's desperately searching for her missing uber-powerful friend Lewis who apparently stole three djinn, which is a major offense as djinn apparently help Warden's become even more powerful. What follows is a magical road-trip filled with one adventure after another and lots of hunky men (wish I lived in Joanne's universe!). It was a decent start to the series and intrigued me enough to want to pick up the next book but I can't say with any honesty that I'll be remembering the details of Ill Wind when the next book comes out.
Rating: 
Summary: If you look at the whole thing...
Review: I liked this book as an overall concept. Unfortunately, I sometimes see a reoccurring flaw within in a story, and I can't shake it to the point where it ruins the whole thing for me. In this case, not to be blunt, but has Joanne Baldwin ever met a man she didn't think was gorgeous and wanted to sleep with? I'm far from a prude, but I find it hard to like a character who seems so hard pressed to sleep with any guy she meets, human or otherwise... If you can get past that, it's a nice read.
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