by Terrance Mc Arthur
Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Dark Ascension, along with a link to purchase the book where a portion goes to help support KRL & an indie bookstore.
Diamonds are forever, but vampires aren’t.
In Dark Ascension, M. L. Brennan’s fourth Generation V novel, Madeline Scott, ruler of the paranormals in the Northeast US, is nearing the end of her existence. Who will rule her empire when she is gone? Prudence – whose problem-solving ends up with bodies needing burial? Chivalry – who wants things done the way Mummy always did them? Or…Fortitude (called Fort) – the youngest, who hasn’t crossed over into vamp maturity, and majored in film studies in college?
Fort still works part-time as a karaoke bar waiter (which is a step up from some of his earlier jobs), but he is doing more Scott family business, dealing with succubi refugees, were-bears with autonomy issues, witches with a need to get out of town, ghouls trying to maintain their human-organ-eating lifestyle and elves that are still upset about their elders’ breeding programs that didn’t always include choice. He doesn’t want to be a vampire like the others he has known. He’s more social worker than overlord, trying to find non-violent solutions for a violent culture. His sidekick and girlfriend, Suzume, is a kitsune, a fox who can appear as a sexy girl with ninja skills, and she’s always ready to help and add a daily requirement of snark to their activities…for a price.
Earlier books in the series focused on solving a mystery: who killed the head werebear, why are little girls disappearing? This time, Brennan has spun a political thriller, as the vampire siblings jockey for position in an atmosphere that is ripe for revolution. Brennan’s re-imagining of vampire reproduction has created a more volatile paranormal world, and the slacker hero who tries to live a human life, rejecting what he is becoming, is a welcome antidote to the sparkly blood-drinkers and the swashbuckling cape-flappers that usually inhabit paranormal literature.
Fort isn’t a wimp. When the time comes to fight a powerful enemy, he’ll jump into the fray and do battle, but the battle he’ll never win is the war of the sexes with Suze, because foxes with mind-altering powers are even more willful than cats. The couple’s badinage and their first big fight are sparkling highlights of a book filled with changes, but opening the future to many possibilities.
The Generation V franchise still has a lot of life in it, even if Madeline is losing hers!
To enter to win a copy of Dark Ascension, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Dark,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen September 26, 2015. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address.
Check out more fantasy book reviews in our fantasy and fangs section.
Use this link to purchase this book and a portion goes to help support KRL & Mysterious Galaxy:
Sounds like a series I want to try. Thanks for the chance to win.
We have a winner
Lorie Ham, KRL Publisher