Review: Embers by Laura Bickle

Embers by Laura Bickle
An Anya Kalinczyk Novel
Publisher: Pocket
Pub. Date: March 30, 2010
Genre: Urban Fantasy
368 pages

Unemployment, despair, anger--visible and invisible unrest feed the undercurrent of Detroit's unease. A city increasingly invaded by phantoms now faces a malevolent force that further stokes fear and chaos throughout the city.

Anya Kalinczyk spends her days as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department, and her nights pursuing malicious spirits with a team of eccentric ghost hunters. Anya--who is the rarest type of psychic medium, a Lantern--suspects a supernatural arsonist is setting blazes to summon a fiery ancient entity that will leave the city in cinders. By Devil's Night, the spell will be complete, unless Anya--with the help of her salamander familiar and the paranormal investigating team --can stop it.

Anya's accustomed to danger and believes herself inured to loneliness and loss. But this time she's risking everything: her city, her soul, and a man who sees and accepts her for everything she is. Keeping all three safe will be the biggest challenge she's ever faced. (Summary from author's website)

Embers is the debut urban fantasy novel from Laura Bickle. Anya Kalinczyk is an arson investigator in Detroit, a ghost hunter, and most importantly a Lantern, the rarest kind of psychic medium. She also always wears a torque necklace around her neck that contains her familiar and guardian, Sparky, who is a Salamander, a fire elemental.

The book starts out with Anya helping out the Detroit Area Ghost Researchers (DAGR) where she must deal with a spirit in an old soda machine. Yes, you read that right a soda machine. As a Lantern she can destroy spirits, though it isn't something she likes to do. She helps out DAGR when they need her, but her day job is with the Detroit Fire Department as an arson investigator. She is currently dealing with a serial arsonist, who is leaving strange symbols at the scenes and causing impossible fires.

This case will bring her in to things she never expected, and make her face things about herself that she never wanted to face. Yet she may be able to learn more about what a Lantern is capable of and what really matters to her. You never know what you love until it could be destroyed.

I loved this book! Anya starts out trying so hard to keep herself so separate from everything so that she doesn't hurt anyone, yet she doesn't realize how many attachments to the world she really has. This book can be dark and gritty and show the darker sides to Detroit, but there're also lighter parts and beauty and hope.

Anya is a great heroine that goes through a huge transformation, and I loved taking that journey with her. The DAGR gang is fantastic, and I loved the whole dynamic of their little family. Brian, I want to know more about because he's my kind of guy, brainy, brave, and handsome. Drake is someone I ended up liking a lot too, though there were only so many ways that could end.

Then there's Sparky, the elemental familiar. My favorite familiar of all now. I absolutely adore Sparky! His Gloworm was awesome, I had one of those too! LOL His tendency to blow up things electronic was hilarious! He was fiercely protective of Anya and worried about her. I don't think I can explain how much Sparky had me laughing and smiling while I was reading this. Truly one of my favorite characters!

All in all this book is one of my favorite reads of the year so far! There are mediums, ghosts, demons, witches, people, and Sparky! It's urban fantasy through and through, and I can't wait to delve farther into this world Bickle has created. It's fantastic!

Anya Kalinczyk books:
1. Embers (available now)
2. Sparks (available August 31, 2010)

Writing as Alayna Williams
Dark Oracle (available May 25, 2010)

She will be here June 10th as a part of her Blog Tour for Dark Oracle, so make sure you check that out!




Discussion Questions for Blog w/ Bite:
1. So if you had the chance would you have a pet elemental, even with the inconvenience of broken microwaves?
Absolutely! I love Sparky! Of course, you probably already figured that out. LOL
2. What did you think about the relationship between, Brian, Anya and Drake?
I understood Anya's pull towards Drake, but I really like Brian and hope that thing escalate for them in the next book!
3. Did the book make you want to visit Detroit or steer clear?
I've been to Detroit before, and I really didn't feel a need to go back.
4. A big part of Embers surrounds paranormal activity and the whole Scooby style system....What do you think of shows like Ghost Hunter, Paranormal State and the such?
I really enjoy them, though I tend to forget about watching them unless someone reminds me. I don't think much of what is shown is real, but the entertainment is fun.
5. Do you believe in the paranormal world around us or chalk it up to complete fantasy and make believe?
I believe that there is plenty out there that we haven't discovered yet, and I'm open to things paranormal being out there, though I am a bit of a skeptic a lot of times.



*I purchased this book on my own.*

Review: Soulless- by Gail Carriger

Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she is being rudely attacked by a vampire to whom she has not been properly introduced! Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire, and the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate. With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?
(Summary from Gail Carriger's website.)

Soulless is the first book in the Parasol Protectorate series and the debut novel by Gail Carriger. It is set in Victorian England, but in an England that the supernatural are known about and live freely. In fact, two of Queen Victoria's most trusted advisers are a vampire and a werewolf. There is also an agency called BUR(Bureau of Unnatural Registry) that keeps tabs on and investigates all of the goings on of the supernatural and reports to the Queen's advisers.

Then, there is Alexia Tarabotti. She is not supernatural, but a preternatural. She has no soul and has the ability to temporarily make supernatural beings immortal while she is in physical contact with them. This is something that was passed down from her deceased father, though we learn very little more about it or him in this book.

All the trouble begins when Miss Tarabotti goes into the library at a ball to have some tea and eat and runs into a vampire who attacks her. It just goes downhill from there. First of all, she can not figure out why he doesn't know about what she is. Oh, and he lisps around his fangs! Oh, goodness me! Well, wouldn't you know it, she killed him with her parasol! Next, thing you know Lord Maccon from BUR is investigating and getting on her last nerves, the vampires want to meet with her, and her family is just kind of ridiculous.

I'll admit that it actually took me a little bit to get into this book. Even though it started out making me laugh with a parasol death scene, I still couldn't quite get into the dialogue or Miss Tarabotti's character at first. Though, that's really only probably because it's been awhile since I've read anything from the Victorian Era. When all I've been reading is urban and contemporary, Victorian is rather a switch.

After several chapters, though, I was hooked! Miss Tarabotti, is very prim and proper for the most part, but she is also a very learned woman, which was looked down on at that time. She also had some great sarcasm that would leak out at the most wonderful times. Not to mention keeping her trusty, silver tipped parasol on hand in case some vampire needed to be smacked in the head. She is a spinster, since her mother did not want to go to the trouble of trying to marry her off. Also, since she doesn't have any kind of classic London beauty, thanks to her father's Italian heritage, her mother just didn't think it likely anyone would want to marry her, and that mentality has been passed on to Alexia. Though that at least could be changing with the arrival of an intelligent American scientist into town.

Now, as for this being a steampunk novel, it does have elements of it, but that is not the main driving force. Actually that seems to be how everything regarding this book is, it's very hard to describe. It's paranormal, Victorian Era, with steampunk elements, comedy, mystery, and romance. I found it to be a very nice mixture of everything. There was only one small thing that I didn't like about this book and that was that every now and then the author got a bit too descriptive, but that is really the only bad thing I can think of to say. So, what do I recommend...this book!! Wonderful!

Oh, and don't forget to check out the blurb for Gail's next book in the Parasol Protectorate series, Changeless.






Blog With Bite Discussion Questions
1. With the rise in popularity of steampunk trends, do you think the dialog and environment created in Soulless fitting within the paranormal genre?
It didn't go really hard core into steampunk, but it did have enough elements of it mixed in with the paranormal that made for its own unique world. I always like it when I run across something that's a little different.
2. For better or worse, Soulless throws together a lot of unconventional story elements. What ones worked for you? What ones didn't? Will you be reading the next book in the series, Changeless?
I did really enjoy this book. It took awhile for me to get used to the dialogue, but once I did I thought it was great. The proper Victorian woman, who made sarcastic comments and killed vamps with a parasol, what's not to love? I also enjoyed her budding romantic experience throughout the book.
3. The comedic tone of the novel was ever present even when the novel was at it's darkest plot-threads. Do you think this added to the depth of the novel and characters or did it trivialize the plot?
I think it added to the depth. I could see where people that like really dark stories might not like it, but that's not what this novel what about. Personally, I tend to be one of those people that make sarcastic comments or jokes or just laugh at very inappropriate times, so I loved the constant comedic undertone!