A Kiss of Shadows - SFBA Book Club

480 pages

English language

Published June 14, 2002

ISBN:: 978-0-345-42340-5

(1 review)

"All it would take was my true name being mentioned after dark, and it would float back to my aunt. She was the Queen of Air and Darkness, and that meant that anything said in the dark was hers to hear, eventually. The fact that spotting the missing Elven American Princess had become more popular than spotting Elvis helped. Her magic was always chasing blind leads. Princess Meredith skiing in Utah. Princess Meredith dancing in Paris. Princess Meredith gambling in Vegas. After three years I was still a front-page story for the tabloids, though the latest headlines had been speculating that I was as dead as the King of Rock and Roll . . ." In fact, Meredith has been posing as a human in Los Angeles, living as a private investigator specializing in supernatural crime. But now Doyle, the Queen's chief bodyguard and assassin, has been dispatched to fetch …

"All it would take was my true name being mentioned after dark, and it would float back to my aunt. She was the Queen of Air and Darkness, and that meant that anything said in the dark was hers to hear, eventually. The fact that spotting the missing Elven American Princess had become more popular than spotting Elvis helped. Her magic was always chasing blind leads. Princess Meredith skiing in Utah. Princess Meredith dancing in Paris. Princess Meredith gambling in Vegas. After three years I was still a front-page story for the tabloids, though the latest headlines had been speculating that I was as dead as the King of Rock and Roll . . ." In fact, Meredith has been posing as a human in Los Angeles, living as a private investigator specializing in supernatural crime. But now Doyle, the Queen's chief bodyguard and assassin, has been dispatched to fetch her back - whether she likes it or not. And suddenly Meredith finds herself a pawn in her dreaded aunt's plans . . . plans that affect the future of the entire UnSeelie Court. The requirements of the job: to enjoy the constant company of the most beautiful - and immortal - men in the world. The reward: the crown - and the opportunity to continue to live. The penalty: death.

11 editions

Phil in SF reviewed A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton (Merry Gentry, #1)

Tedious

2 stars

There's a lot of sex in the first 31% (according to Kobo) of this book and I have to put it down because writing that makes sex this tedious ain't for me.

So far, Merry Gentry:

gets a microphone implanted in her bra with a roomful of men, many of whom leer because it's just polite to harass a faery
goes undercover and we get a magically caused but still lustful rape including a mysterious magical faery occluded in a darkened mirror and spiders
a near orgy when being questioned by skeptical police
magical sex that restores a seal faery's ability to become a seal again
an exhibitionist shower scene for the benefit of the boss
a boring ass chase scene on Sepulveda Blvd where unseen monsters poke holes in the side of a van
and an I'll show you mine if you show me yours scene with a stomach …

There's a lot of sex in the first 31% (according to Kobo) of this book and I have to put it down because writing that makes sex this tedious ain't for me.

So far, Merry Gentry:

gets a microphone implanted in her bra with a roomful of men, many of whom leer because it's just polite to harass a faery
goes undercover and we get a magically caused but still lustful rape including a mysterious magical faery occluded in a darkened mirror and spiders
a near orgy when being questioned by skeptical police
magical sex that restores a seal faery's ability to become a seal again
an exhibitionist shower scene for the benefit of the boss
a boring ass chase scene on Sepulveda Blvd where unseen monsters poke holes in the side of a van
and an I'll show you mine if you show me yours scene with a stomach snake faery

None of them make much sense and drag on with how sexy and good at sex faeries are because eye color and auras and somesuch

I gave up.