I was given this book to review by the author.

I’m a big fan of Snyder’s Jessie Shimmer series, which is often considered by readers more horror than urban fantasy. I expected much the same going into Sparks and Shadows. But instead of a rich, dark collection of horror I found Sparks and Shadows to contain Snyder’s other trademark, sexy, playful stories, that just happen to be science fiction, fantasy or horror. There are poems, fantasy, horror and science fiction stories bound together on these pages, most of which, despite the terror or pain the characters go through, left me smiling.

Sparks and Shadows is a great read, particularly for those who love dark humor, or readers who love seeing writers play with all manner of storytelling tools, from regional mythos to genre. And of course, it’s a must have for Snyder completeists, or even Jessie shimmer fans as it contains side stories from Snyder’s dark, demon-ridden world. Sparks and Shadows is definitely an excellent read for fans of the fantastic dark.

I bought this book.

Welcome to what will be a rather bi-polar review. Let’s start with a total fan-girl squee because years and years ago (and I do mean YEARS) I was a die-hard, balls out fan girl of this series. But wait, it only came out in August 2010? Au contrair my friends. Dianne Sylvan is the rocketh-verily author of my favorite fan fiction series of all time starting with Queen of All Shadows (I even have the books printed out and everything).

So even if you haven’t heard of this book and author before, you’re getting the point, Queen of Shadows is my favorite fan fic of all time de-fan ficced and published by Ace. When I picked it up I was biting my tongue to keep from squeeing aloud in the store.

But I’ve come a long way as a reader and writer since I read the first version. And what changes could the author have made to de-fan fic it? (Really I didn’t think it would take much because it took the original characters and spun them out into a completely new world setting.) and how has the flux of the genres changed this story. All really interesting questions, and all why I’m ranting here instead of doing a proper review.

Queen of Shadows started out as a Vampire Diaries fan fic, around the height of L.J. Smith’s first round of popularity. By this point she was a few books into the Night World series and right up there with Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine in the whole domination-of-YA-fiction game. Back then if it was vampires it was horror. Urban fantasy was what we call now magical realism and the vampire detective was just stumbling onto the scene (check out my vampire time line for an idea of where the literary world was then) So while the YA horror section was kickin’ PN Elrod and Tanya Huff and Laurell K Hamilton were bouncing around between horror (because it’s vampires) and SF/F (because it’s alternate worlds). Urban fantasy just didn’t exist the way it does now.

Any way, Sylvan’s tale was always my favorite for two reasons. 1) It was so much better than the originals, in emotional resonance, conflict, world building and character building. 2) It’s really well written, then kind of well written than keeps you reading even if you hate something that’s just happened.

But years later, I’ve changed, the genre has changed (most notably now it’s established enough that there are cliches and tropes and all that instead of stories like this being brave new tales of daring genre bending) and definitely the story has had to change to stand on its own. Three days later I’ve finished reading every word and now I’m sitting here trying to work out how I feel.

First, it is very close to the original and has all the world building, emotional resonance, characters and conflict I loved. Seriously, I loved Damon Salvatore more because of this fan fic than because of the original series. And David Solomon has every bit of the complex character and charm as Sylvan gave that other guy. Likewise the slowly going mad lead, Miranda Gray is vulnerable, but not whiny, fierce, while being completely outmatched by being of super human strength, and stronger in spirit and determination than kick-ass like a trope.

Second, over the years, yes innovation has turned to stodgy cliched writing, and since apparently the author isn’t big on reading UF some aspects of the book have become less innovative (and charming). At its core we have a damsel in distress because of a power she can’t control that makes her dangerous to other people and herself, and the charming, powerful vampire who falls for her and saves her.

Not far into the book Miranda is gang raped in an alley, a issue many readers have disliked. Today, apparently, if you want to make a strong female character vulnerable and have to depend on other people you have to rape them. (because lord knows they can’t just be like Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels and have the struggle to learn to trust people be a valuable part of the character growth.) However, when you consider the truth of the real world, and you have an alcoholic, more-than-half-mad, really attractive and budding in popularity woman walking the streets at night alone in the bad part of town rape does kind of seem like a viable threat.

It’s a tired cliché, you can argue. It wasn’t when the story was written, you can argue back. It’s not like other stories meant to be a short cut to making the reader sympathize with the lead. And, the damsel save herself, all while this serves as the straw to break the camel’s back and propel the story forward (because honestly if she wasn’t broken Miranda never would have be whisked away to be saved in the first place). Point grudgingly given to the cliché category, with a note that if it wasn’t already cliché this would be a more appropriate scene for the rape trope’s use.

After that you have a human (not quite) getting caught up in vampire politics. Next cliché: the “good” vampire under attack for not letting other vampires kill humans. There’s no debate on this one. There’s little effort to make it anything but David=good, other vampires=bad.

Third major cliché: vampire with foresight makes prediction of Miranda’s death which stops David from acting on the budding romance and extends the book when he kicks her out of the the Haven and refuses to talk to her for six months. But of course it’s a self fulfilling prophecy, yadda yadda. No avoiding the cliché point.

Now to the good. Great, I mean, phenomenal writing. The kind that makes you not care that the book starts out as a gritty UF and ends as a violent, but sappy paranormal romance. Almost every character comes alive, the twists are just enough off from the cliché to remain compelling and the world comes alive with a vividness and texture that many authors waste on soap opera character drama and wangst.

I still adored this story and will be rereading it, and grabbing up the second in the series.

But, here comes the but. I’ve already sneaked a peek at the second in the series because I know where the originals went and let’s just say there are some aspects of the story beyond this book that will really piss readers used to modern UF/PNR off. I’m a little surprised readers weren’t complaining more that David slept around after rescuing Miranda (despite them not being together). Like the list of cliches it looks like the author’s (purposeful?) ignorance of the market she’s selling to will come back and bite her on the ass.

This is in no way at all a suggestion that any writer should write to market. But we should all be aware of the market and not be surprised if the opinion of the masses comes and bites us on the ass. That Sylvan’s book is so incredibly readable and madly popular despite these strays and cliches is a testament to her writing skill. Alas it seems right now that rather than sneak in and blast the genre apart from the inside, she might just plant her feet firmly in the flow and let reader expectations wear her career away.

So, final thoughts. I loved it. I still love it. And it’s not just loving the memories, the prose still zings like it did the first time. I get a little shiver when I see it on my bookshelf because on one hand it’s an amazing reminder of the victory a writer can see in their career. It’s very well written and compelling and exciting, with characters to die for, well-timed conflict and pings of satisfaction along every reader nerve. The story beneath the writing is more ordinary than it used to be, and plays on tropes that are getting almost dangerous to toy with. And there, sadly, may be a case here for author action bittering a fan base’s taste for her tales, but I’ll have to get back to you on that after the second book, Shadowflame, gets here and I devour that one as well.

ISBN: 9780312598341

I bought this book.

Anthologies are increasingly serving as “samplers” for hungry paranormal readers, but books like this one prove anthologies can be more. In fact, the tales in this book all carry such depth and weight it’s hard to choose a favorite.

“A Questionable Client” by Ilona Andrews is from one of my favorite series and focuses on one of my favorite characters, the Frost Giant/shape shifter Saiman. And true to the full length novels in the series Andrews packs the pages with humor, magic and rich mythos-inspired adventure. The story is independent enough to be enjoyed by pure newbies to Andrews work as well.

Butcher’s Dresden Files series is another one I enjoy, but I have to say I liked even more that “Even Hand” was told, not from the hero’s point of view, but from reoccurring villain, Gentleman Johnny Marcone’s head. This tale is exciting and ruthless as well as leaving readers delightfully confused on just how much of a bad guy the king pin is.

I’ve never read Shannon K. Butcher before, but her tale, “The Beacon”, was surprisingly dark and very, very good. It has a distinct Lovecraftian feel with a nomad man forced to sacrifice the innocent to save the world from creatures from beyond, leaving me to believe she could have horror fans eating out of her hands as much as romance readers, if the mood struck her.

Another new one to me, Rachel Caine’s “Even a Rabbit Will Bite” is about the classic battle between knights and dragons, even after the world has moved on. While a distinctly European in a flooded field, it touches on themes of war, justified or not, and the gluttonous, self-perpetuating fallout of the fight.

P.N. Elrod’s “Dark Lady” is a Prohibition tale of her classic vampire detective (Dracula-style, not Cullen-inspired) and his quest to help all the damsels in distress (living and not) who stumble into him. Here he has to help a woman set up by the mob all for the sake of true love. The alt-history adds another rich level of flavor to this anthology.

Deidre Knight’s “Beknighted” goes a completely different way, both with the conflict being less direct and the heroine’s “magic” being less super-power-y and more alchemical. It could have benefited from a touch less atmosphere and more world explanation, but the premise and challenge is quite intoxicating.

“Shifting Star” by Vicki Pettersson is another new world to me, which probably explains why I was a little lost during this story. The writing is engaging and the lead (a creature birthed from a magical being’s thoughts and willed into true life) and her struggle to be independent in a human world is quite compelling. But the world setting, I think, was designed for readers already familiar with Pettersson’s Zodiac books.

“Rookwood & Mrs. King” by Lilith Saintcrow is a passive aggressive tale who’s narrator switches suddenly between a snide aloofness to desperation Sometimes he seems to just be telling readers “you have no idea” with an all knowing look, then in the next scene he’s passionately grabbing us and explaining a great deal, begging us to believe. It does lead to an off-kilter, mad feel to Saintcrow’s half-vampire hero, but leaves readers less invested in this story than the others.

“God’s Creatures” by Carrie Vaughn closes the anthology. Since I wasn’t quite a fan of her Kitty series I went into this one with some trepidation and discovered a tale of instinct, morality and cowboy justice in what should be a more logical world.

Its a perfect tie-in between the previous stories and a reminder of the book’s theme, tales of the knights, unlikely and obvious, who stand between people and the darkness that seeks to devour them. A powerful, wonderful paranormal read, I’d advise readers to make this anthology one of the ones you pick up first.

I believe in magic. I know this is illogical, but I see magic in how my garden grows from a seed to the ten pounds of tomatoes I pulled Sunday. I see magic in how flowers evolve to reproduce best, but that means becoming beautiful. I feel magic on the cool breeze after a summer storm and smell it in the way my dinner teases my nose before my lips.

Most of all there’s magic in timing, like how when we lost our last house in pretty crappy circumstances within two months (by chance we closed on Halloween) we found another house that was cheaper, we liked it more and it had these perfect little touches, like a dog house and a basket ball pole already in the yard.

A month or so ago I got a job at Burger King. I was very pessimistic about it because of what I saw on my interviews, but after being out of work for three months I needed something. At one of my two interviews I was sitting in the car because I’d gotten there way too early. I was reading when I saw movement. A giant flipping crow swooped over me. Then it landed on my sideview mirror and stared in the window at me. After the interview there was a butterfly resting on my windshield.

Freaking omens.

So I took the job. It was a complete disaster. My schedule was changed 4 times in the 3 shifts I worked. I was left alone on the drive thru for hours on my second day. I was told I didn’t get a break because I wasn’t a minor. On the day of the 4th shift I showed up, only to find the manager hadn’t shown up to open the store, so I drove 20 minutes across town, and had to hire a babysitter (because Jason was out of town) and couldn’t work.

I called to talk to my boss about it and was told it wasn’t his problem because he wasn’t supposed to be there that morning. Then, over the next four days I called a total of seven times trying to quit (I was out of town at that point, so going to the store in person was not an option. The next day I didn’t show up, because after all that I wasn’t going to show up and get yelled at, or be guilted into working anyway.

I have never, ever quit like that before. I’ve always finished out the schedule at the very least. But at that point I still hadn’t even gotten paid, and I was in debt over $100 for uniform shoes, gas and a baby sitter for a minimum wage job in fast food where I was just another box of supplies to be used up. (In the end I still lost $30 to that job.) But, I don’t get it because there were omens.

That experience made me so furious that I lit up the job application process again. A week later I’d had an interview and landed my current job at the U of L bookstore. It was a temp job, I knew, but my manager said all the employees had started as temps and there were also reoccurring temps who worked for them every three months or so. I hoped it would turn to something more regular.

Yesterday when I left work I turned the corner to where I’d parked and this was on my car:

It’s either an American Bittern or a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron (I’m leaning toward the latter).

Today I was told that my boss can only guarantee me two more weeks of work. Also, I found out two of my friends lost their jobs, which did in one case, and probably will in the other case, end up with them losing their home too, since the home came with (or was related to) the job.

But when I started this blog, then stared out into space thinking of how I wanted to say something I saw a hummingbird hovering in my petunias outside my window.

Birds, in almost every single mythos, are messengers of some kind. They’re really strong symbols. So I think, again, I’m being send omens. But I don’t understand why. I don’t understand why I was sent positive omens about a job that was beyond crappy and dipped several times into illegally abusive. (Crows/ravens are positive omens in the Norse religion, which figures very prominently into my life.)

I don’t understand why I’m getting so many positive omens when I’d been flirting with the edge of depression again. When the only job that wants me long term wants to abuse me, and by the end of next month I’ll have lost a second wonderful job that I really love.

In some ways I’m amazingly lucky. I have a fantastic family. I have the best support network I’ve ever had in my life. I have friends who love me and truly care about me, just because I’m me. I have a partner who works hard to support me, emotionally and in my various careers. I’ve hit two of my major writing goals this year, including selling my first novel. I have two fantastic, smart, healthy kids who are conquering school one grade at a time. I have a house I love, a working car, and currently, at least, have more hours and thus more paychecks coming.

But we’re one big bill (with a few big bills coming up) from a downward slide into bad territory. My writing career has been rocked by the change in the publishing landscape. Jason’s job has cut benefits, cut hours and cut pay and there’s a shadow growing over his job security. How can I not worry? How can I not be overwhelmed?

How can I not wonder why I’m being given such clear, positive omens when my life feels so shaky? It’s so hard to have faith (but you can’t even picture a god to give that faith to) that your life will get better, when you feel like there’s a countdown hanging over your head.

But you can’t help it, because there’s a heron on your car in the middle of the city. And a bird you’ve only ever seen twice before in your life is peeking in your window at you. So instead you wish the smell of the lavender plant your husband ran over with the mower right after you planted it, that grew back could pay your overdue water bill and that you could pay this month’s car insurance bill with some of the salsa and pickles from your garden bounty, because you’re running out of room to put it all.

As the other reviews say, Peter the Wolf is brutal tale of a sixteen year old boy who was traumatized well past human limits (his sister was killed in a snuff porn orchestrated by his parents, who employed both the kids as prostitutes, film stars and “trainers” for people who wanted to molest their children but needed them “broken in” first). Peter is a sex addict, and a werewolf (but that part comes up much, much later). And throughout the entire book he is attracted to his gymnastic neighbor, Alice.

What the other reviews don’t tell you is that Alice is ten years old.

What good writing there is has been buried under a progressively smothering pile of abuse, as if Peter must prove to the reader that his abuse was way beyond anything anyone else has ever dealt with, which supposedly justifies his actions. Make no mistake—Peter is a pedophile, a predator, and the long list of abuse becomes farce-like, shutting readers’ suspension of disbelief down in its sheer overwhelmingness.

Not to mention this is not the story of one teen trying not to act on the bad wiring he’s gotten, but instead Peter repeatedly uses his abuse and his “messed-up-ness” to justify his pursuit of Alice the ten year old. Peter bemoans his sexual addiction, but then masturbates to memories of sex with a six year old. He complains about being messed up mentally, but refuses to seek help because psychiatry doesn’t work. He says he doesn’t want to hurt Alice, but then comes the sex scene between them. Peter tries to justify this because ten year old Alice initiates the sexual activity.

At this point I have to interject. My son just turned eleven. He likes attention from girls but doesn’t try to grab them, grope them, doesn’t ask them to date him, and doesn’t try to kiss them. Yet it’s supposed to be realistic that a healthy ten year old girl pushes graphic sexual activity on a sixteen year old guy? This becomes Peter’s justification for a relationship with TEN YEAR OLD Alice.

She wants it so much so that after they’re caught she sneaks out of her house, climbs the window of Peter’s room and makes out with him again. Did I mention SHE’S TEN?

While Peter does find some emotional stability in his relationship with ten year old Alice, enough so that he seeks psychiatric help, the relationship is NOT healthy. Alice repeatedly pushes sexual activity on him and Alice’s uncle actually sets the two up with alone time (which Alice shows up to in lingerie). When the pair get caught the Uncle outright states his consent (for a child that’s not his, and when Peter is seventeen and Alice is twelve).

Meanwhile the whole werewolf plot doesn’t come in until around page one thirty (of one ninety five), which is convenient because it allows Peter to save Alice from a mad woman, prove he really loves her and get Alice’s father’s approval to be with her. In fact Alice’s whole extended family gleefully accepts Peter at this point.

And by the way, Alice is still twelve.

In my opinion, Peter the Wolf is ridiculous. The level of abuse in this book is overblown and ridiculous. The idea of a character that repeatedly fantasizes and sexually acts out on a ten year old being a sympathetic hero is ridiculous. A ten/eleven/twelve year old girl explicitly and obsessively pursuing Peter is ridiculous. And the idea that her healthy, normal, sane family would embrace this is utterly ridiculous. I would like to say that the writing isn’t bad, and stylistically it’s not, but the story is so foul and worse—triggering to any molestation victims who might stumble upon it—that expecting unprepared readers to buy this book is ridiculous as well.

This is not a sassy urban fantasy about an abused werewolf who finds his salvation through gymnastics. Peter the Wolf is an elaborate, sadistic, explicit account of a pedophile stalking and assaulting a victim, but it’s all okay because the child victim wants it and her family approves. This book is a concrete example of the BS excuses real pedophiles use to justify their violation and victimization of others.

And I really wish I hadn’t read it.