Elitist Book Reviews

Six hours. Six. That'd be how long it took me to devour this book once I finally got my hands on it. Started at 10:30pm, and by the time I finished my wife was considerably less than pleased with me, but DANG was it worth the ride. Now what to do with myself though, with no obtainable news about when the next one is coming out? Eek! No, no. Double eek!

GRAVEYARD CHILD is the fifth of a planned ten-book urban fantasy series by M.L.N. Hanover, pseudonym for the very prolific author Daniel Abraham. With the end of this book being the halfway-point of the series, I was expecting some awesome goodness. I mean, I'm used to Mr. Abraham delivering, but it was time for some big guns. And yes, they were there.

At this stage of the series, it's very difficult to write a good review of the entry without including spoilers for previous books (read EBR's review of book four KILLING RITES here). So, if you haven't read anything in this series yet, stop reading now, visit the bottom of this page for links, buy several copies for you and your friends, and by that point you'll probably know exactly what to do next. If not, here's a very cryptic clue: buy the next in the series, read, buy, read, etc. until you get...here!

As for the rest of you...

At the end of the last book, Jayne Heller has finally come to the conclusion that she has to turn back to the place where she never wanted to go again. She has to go home. It takes very little time at all for Hanover to get things moving. From head butting with her VERY religious father, to the return of the Invisible College, to the introduction of the Graveyard Child itself, this story runs from one surprise to the next and takes a couple loops besides.  Honestly, I didn't expect it to get so crazy so fast.  I expected lots of conflict with the dad, based on the building Hanover has done over the past four books. What I wasn't ready for was another complete upheaval of the story and how the characters, and thus we the readers, understand everything there is to know about their world. There were reveals in this book that had been set up in early scenes of the very first book, UNCLEAN SPIRITS. Great job of planning and execution in my mind. So good.

Hanover does two things really well in his writing, and they shine again in this book. The first is to create very real characters. They're flawed.  In many ways, they're failures, and he portrays them and their concerns and worries and heartache in a very direct and sympathetic way.  The second thing he does well is relay a large amount of information with as few words as possible. You won't find any mellifluous constructions of pontification in this book. No frilly frills. No lengthy filler. It's straight. It's lean. And yet it relays so much.

All of the books in this series have felt to me like they contain some of the highest story-density of any books I've ever read. They're short.  Did I mention how little time it took me to burn through it? And yet when I was done, it felt like I had read a much larger book. Like I got more story than I should have, given the size of the book. Just used to authors that meander a little more, I guess.

The one that thing that this book didn't have, that most of the other has had, is a definite direction for where it was going next. There are a few doors that have opened with regard to the Daughter of the Black Sun and the source of Jayne's fortune, but the characters aren't being driven in any single direction like they have before. Maybe that's a kind of a little breath of relief after the craziness of the events they just went through, but it almost feels like that sensation of reaching the top of an arc, right before the descent begins and your stomach drops down into your toes.

Can't wait for the next installment. No word about it yet that I've been able to find, but I'll definitely be ready when it gets here. Black Sun's daughter is a great spin on urban fantasy, with strong characters, and a roller-coaster story line that'll keep you guessing and wanting for more.

Recommended Age: 15+
Language: Fairly tame, but gets strong in a couple places
Violence: Doesn't get very gory but there is quite a bit of intense violence and threat of violence here
Sex: Mentioned a few times, unmarried girl is pregnant, not much besides that

Here's links to 'em all:

UNCLEAN SPIRITS
DARKER ANGELS
VICIOUS GRACE
KILLING RITES
GRAVEYARD CHILD

Over a year ago when Jayné Heller's uncle died, he left her as his heir. Little did she know at the time that she'd be inheriting the equivalent of a small nation in money and property. Then she spent the next year learning what Uncle Eric really did for a living: he hunted riders, the demons or malevolent spirits that take over human bodies and minds. As a result, not only does she take over his fortune, she takes over his job. She has no idea what she's really getting into.

After three completely amazing books detailing her adventures (see the list at the end of this post), we now come to KILLING RITES by M.L.N. Hanover (aka Daniel Abraham), and Jayné must now deal with the horrible fallout resulting from the evil defeated in book three--at great sacrifice to her relationships and her own self worth. The bummer is that I can't tell you much more than that because it would spoil the first three books in the series. The bonus is that you can read these books for yourself and experience your own joy at finding a gem in an over-populated Urban Fantasy genre.

What makes it a gem?

Well, let's start with the main PoV character herself, Jayné, who's a great female lead. In her early twenties, she still hasn't lived a "real life", but despite her big learning curve she isn't written with the overbearing emo-chatter some authors think is required when writing about women experiencing difficult circumstances. She feels a responsibility to fulfill the void left by Uncle Eric's death, and does her best to learn. She's admirable in that even though she's in over her head, she still wants to do the right thing. But she realizes she can't do it alone and finds old compatriots of Eric's to build herself a cadre to help fight the bad guys. There's parasitologist Aubrey and his ex-wife Kim, and their messed up past; there's Chogyi Jake, the guy with a zen-like attitude, who centers Jayné and gives the group focus; there's Ex, the former priest and talented exorcist;  there's Midian Clark, vampire-like former rider and chef. Then there's Eric himself, who's absent, but definitely influences the stories. It's easy to love these characters in spite of (maybe because of?) their foibles, and focusing on the smaller cast gives us a better view into what makes them tick.

Hanover also develops a well-conceived world of riders. It's easy to wonder: is everything that black and white? But Jayné thinks that perhaps not all the riders are evil. Fortunately, as the rider hunter she seems more open-minded than most, including Ex, who's seen first-hand the damage that riders are capable of. All the main characters use magic to an extent (as qi from within themselves) for wards, protections, and as rites to rip rider from human. But a single human's magic isn't enough to fight the magical strength of a human with a rider. Readers will enjoy watching the team work around the problems associated with hunting and defeating a rider.

The prose hums with energy. Told from Jayné's first-person PoV, the books show how she sees the people she works with and comes to love and consider her family, how she deals with the difficulty of the situations--and all of it is realistic and easy to read. Sure she's got a sarcastic streak, but her personality isn't overdone. Even better is Hanover's superior attention to detail, which really helps readers feel in the moment, as we travel from city to city, but also the things you notice just sitting in a restaurant or talking to someone.

But best of all are the stories themselves--even the little sub-plots. KILLING RITES is the natural progression of the series, and Hanover isn't afraid to take the story in a difficult direction, and he does it with style and subtlety. The fight scenes are easy to visualize and unpredictable and fun. Each book has consistent pacing and well developed plots with mind-blowing endings.

The only thing I'm worried about? How in the world is Hanover going to keep up the rest of the series (anticipated to be a total of ten books) with more amazing novels like these? He's kept this series consistent and forward moving, building on each book, even when each would do fine as a standalone. That is some serious writing talent (can't really be surprised with the likes of Abraham). And considering the last page teaser of KILLING RITES, I can't wait to find out what's in store.

Recommended Age: 16+
Language: Strong in some places, otherwise scattered; not for the easily offended
Violence: Fighting riders is never pretty, there's details and pain, but not excessively gory
Sex: Detailed references and innuendo; previous books have a few detailed scenes, but they don't distract from the story

Check out this awesome series so far:
UNCLEAN SPIRITS
DARKER ANGELS
VICIOUS GRACE
KILLING RITES