Helpful Score: 10
This is the first book in the Jane Yellowrock series by Faith Hunter. Currently Hunter has three books sold in this series. The second book "Blood Cross" is due out on Jan 5 of 2010. I really, really loved this book. It was fast-paced action with a great world, great characters, and an interesting mythos behind Jane's character.
Jane Yellowrock is a Skinwalker, at least she thinks she is. She doesn't remember anything before her twelfth birthday and was raised in an Orphanage from that point on. She carries the Beast inside her and they dwell in harmony in one body. Her specific talents have lead her to hunting rogue vampires as a way to make a living. Her current assignment leads her to New Orleans to hunt a rogue that is taking out both humans and vampries alike. This time though, she may be in over her head, this vampire rogue is more than it seems. During the chase things get strange as she begins to regain memories from her past.
This is one fast paced novel. Jane is always on the go and there is a ton of action. The action scenes are very well done and, paired with Jane's humourous and sarcastic tone of voice, this book is a very fun read. All of the characters are very well-developed. There is a hint of sexual tension between both Jane and Leo (head vampire) as well as between Jane and Rick (a bad-boy who wanted the job that Jane got). Jane's a good girl at heart though and never lets things get out of hand with the boys. Really the things that made this book shine were Jane's unflappable personality and the tightly written action scenes; then there were the guns, the bikes, the dancing...all of those things made the book a fun and exciting read.
The plot was very well executed and very gripping. Definitely a page turner. I like the world that Hunter has created and hope that it is clarified better in the next novel. The writing style itself is very dense. If you miss a word you could miss something important; despite this it was a very quick read and hard to put down. If I have any complaints with this book it is a small gripe; I didn't like the writing style that Hunter used for the parts where Jane is Beast. I understood that she was trying to give Beast a distinct voice, but well, Beast sounded a bit like a savage or Barbarian and the halting writing style was tough to read at first. By the end of the book I got used to it, so I can't complain too much.
Will I read the next book? You betcha' I will. I am eager to learn the mystery behind Jane's past and to watch her further interactions with the residents of New Orleans. I think if you liked the early Anita Blake books, Jaz Parks, or Kate Daniels series you will get into this series. It focuses on the action and the mystery, not the romance, and was my type of book!
Jane Yellowrock is a Skinwalker, at least she thinks she is. She doesn't remember anything before her twelfth birthday and was raised in an Orphanage from that point on. She carries the Beast inside her and they dwell in harmony in one body. Her specific talents have lead her to hunting rogue vampires as a way to make a living. Her current assignment leads her to New Orleans to hunt a rogue that is taking out both humans and vampries alike. This time though, she may be in over her head, this vampire rogue is more than it seems. During the chase things get strange as she begins to regain memories from her past.
This is one fast paced novel. Jane is always on the go and there is a ton of action. The action scenes are very well done and, paired with Jane's humourous and sarcastic tone of voice, this book is a very fun read. All of the characters are very well-developed. There is a hint of sexual tension between both Jane and Leo (head vampire) as well as between Jane and Rick (a bad-boy who wanted the job that Jane got). Jane's a good girl at heart though and never lets things get out of hand with the boys. Really the things that made this book shine were Jane's unflappable personality and the tightly written action scenes; then there were the guns, the bikes, the dancing...all of those things made the book a fun and exciting read.
The plot was very well executed and very gripping. Definitely a page turner. I like the world that Hunter has created and hope that it is clarified better in the next novel. The writing style itself is very dense. If you miss a word you could miss something important; despite this it was a very quick read and hard to put down. If I have any complaints with this book it is a small gripe; I didn't like the writing style that Hunter used for the parts where Jane is Beast. I understood that she was trying to give Beast a distinct voice, but well, Beast sounded a bit like a savage or Barbarian and the halting writing style was tough to read at first. By the end of the book I got used to it, so I can't complain too much.
Will I read the next book? You betcha' I will. I am eager to learn the mystery behind Jane's past and to watch her further interactions with the residents of New Orleans. I think if you liked the early Anita Blake books, Jaz Parks, or Kate Daniels series you will get into this series. It focuses on the action and the mystery, not the romance, and was my type of book!
Helpful Score: 10
I have mixed feelings on this one. It's an urband fantasy, told from the first person point of view of a butt kicking female lead. Basic plot: Jane Yellowrock is a shapeshifter of mysterious origins who hunts vampires for a living. So, pretty similar to Anita Blake, Riley Jenson, Sookie Stackhouse, Mercy Thompson...
This opens me up to the cliche count. I think you can measure a book's quality by how many cliches it uses and how well in manages to pull them off. I don't want to imply that this book has no original ideas, because that really isn't the case. But there are so many barrowed bits here that I can't resist commenting on them.
1)The alpha heroine: I buy books with this cliche on purpose. The world of urban fantasy and paranormal romance has lately become populated with kick ass female voices. How does Jane Yellowrock measure up? She has the entire package: orphan of hazy origins, mysterious powers that make her able to fight the bad guys in the first place, loner/missfit tendencies, but enough humor and heart that she's likeable. And I did like Jane, despite the fact that she's in many ways the same as so many heroines that have come before. The few things that are really different about her are pretty cool. I loved her "Beast" and how that entire plot took the concept of alter-ego to a whole different level.
2) The vampires: In probably 90% of vampire based fantasy I've come across, vamps are orginized in some bizarre hierarchy with all of these elaborate rules. Almost as often in this type of book theres a vampire high up on the food chain that wants to seduce our plucky heroine. Usually of European origin, often French.(Did Leo remind anyone else of Jean-Claude from the Anita Blake books?) Leo was pretty disinteresting to me for these reasons. To be honest, all of the vampires were disinteresting. But Leo was especially disapointing because I so wanted him to stand out. But no, he's stuffy, commanding, self-possesed, and predictable. Only at the very end did I get the impression that he might have some deeper, more interesting place in Jane's life in future books.
3) Along the lines of the stuffy vampire cliche, there often seems to be the more down to earth counter part that the heroine is also potentially attracted to. In this case that person was Rick. I was crossing all my fingers that it wasn't going to turn into a love-triangle situation. It hasn't...yet. But Rick is about the same level of interesting as Leo in my oppinion. I just didn't care for him. Too average.
4) The villain: Actually, this one started out like it was going to be just another cliche but turned out much more interesting. I thought that Jane was dealing with some B-movie style monster that, while difficult to kill, is mindless and impossible to care about. This is done very often in urban fantasy (check the Riley Jenson series for examples). I was proven wrong when the end took a little twist that I won't give away. I wish that the author had done a better job of building up to that point. If only Jane had more one on one interaction with the villain prior to the climax, the villain might have come off as even less cheesey.
All in all, this was an ok book. I was pretty entertained. I hope it improves as the series progresses; I will be reading the other books.
This opens me up to the cliche count. I think you can measure a book's quality by how many cliches it uses and how well in manages to pull them off. I don't want to imply that this book has no original ideas, because that really isn't the case. But there are so many barrowed bits here that I can't resist commenting on them.
1)The alpha heroine: I buy books with this cliche on purpose. The world of urban fantasy and paranormal romance has lately become populated with kick ass female voices. How does Jane Yellowrock measure up? She has the entire package: orphan of hazy origins, mysterious powers that make her able to fight the bad guys in the first place, loner/missfit tendencies, but enough humor and heart that she's likeable. And I did like Jane, despite the fact that she's in many ways the same as so many heroines that have come before. The few things that are really different about her are pretty cool. I loved her "Beast" and how that entire plot took the concept of alter-ego to a whole different level.
2) The vampires: In probably 90% of vampire based fantasy I've come across, vamps are orginized in some bizarre hierarchy with all of these elaborate rules. Almost as often in this type of book theres a vampire high up on the food chain that wants to seduce our plucky heroine. Usually of European origin, often French.(Did Leo remind anyone else of Jean-Claude from the Anita Blake books?) Leo was pretty disinteresting to me for these reasons. To be honest, all of the vampires were disinteresting. But Leo was especially disapointing because I so wanted him to stand out. But no, he's stuffy, commanding, self-possesed, and predictable. Only at the very end did I get the impression that he might have some deeper, more interesting place in Jane's life in future books.
3) Along the lines of the stuffy vampire cliche, there often seems to be the more down to earth counter part that the heroine is also potentially attracted to. In this case that person was Rick. I was crossing all my fingers that it wasn't going to turn into a love-triangle situation. It hasn't...yet. But Rick is about the same level of interesting as Leo in my oppinion. I just didn't care for him. Too average.
4) The villain: Actually, this one started out like it was going to be just another cliche but turned out much more interesting. I thought that Jane was dealing with some B-movie style monster that, while difficult to kill, is mindless and impossible to care about. This is done very often in urban fantasy (check the Riley Jenson series for examples). I was proven wrong when the end took a little twist that I won't give away. I wish that the author had done a better job of building up to that point. If only Jane had more one on one interaction with the villain prior to the climax, the villain might have come off as even less cheesey.
All in all, this was an ok book. I was pretty entertained. I hope it improves as the series progresses; I will be reading the other books.
Helpful Score: 5
When I read the first few pages of Skinwalker I thought ho hum, an other vamp killer book. Then I read a bit more and at 4pm I was still reading. As usual, Faith Hunter has taken the ho hum and made it spectacular.
Helpful Score: 2
I'd like to give this book a 3.5 but I can't so I upped it cause it's definitely better than a 3.
Jane Yellowrock, Cherokee skinwalker plus (even Jane doesn't know what), is a rather unlikable heroine. She's standofish and really unfriendly except with the men. Those she likes plenty but more of a cock tease than anything else. I got vibes of an Anita Blake wannabe while reading this - the whole sexual thing (though Anita puts out while Jane doesn't).
I liked Rick even though he's secretive and a slut. I also liked the twins Brian and Brandon - they had promise though unfulfilled. I even liked Bruiser (George) and the Troll (Tom) - they both had potential too. All hotties and avaiable but to no avail.
I didn't like Leo at all. A typical master vamp - arrogant, know-it-all, want-it-all jerk. He's seriously gonna be a problem for Jane in future books. She pissed him off big time in this one and they never forget a slight...never mind what Jane did.
The areas of the book where Jane's Beast takes over are tedious and way too dragged out. However, the story really picks up about halfway through and grabbed me regardless of the less than stellular heroine. Though by the end of the book I really liked Jane, granted it took a while to get past her attitude. Definitely going to pickup book 2 - Blood Cross in January.
Jane Yellowrock, Cherokee skinwalker plus (even Jane doesn't know what), is a rather unlikable heroine. She's standofish and really unfriendly except with the men. Those she likes plenty but more of a cock tease than anything else. I got vibes of an Anita Blake wannabe while reading this - the whole sexual thing (though Anita puts out while Jane doesn't).
I liked Rick even though he's secretive and a slut. I also liked the twins Brian and Brandon - they had promise though unfulfilled. I even liked Bruiser (George) and the Troll (Tom) - they both had potential too. All hotties and avaiable but to no avail.
I didn't like Leo at all. A typical master vamp - arrogant, know-it-all, want-it-all jerk. He's seriously gonna be a problem for Jane in future books. She pissed him off big time in this one and they never forget a slight...never mind what Jane did.
The areas of the book where Jane's Beast takes over are tedious and way too dragged out. However, the story really picks up about halfway through and grabbed me regardless of the less than stellular heroine. Though by the end of the book I really liked Jane, granted it took a while to get past her attitude. Definitely going to pickup book 2 - Blood Cross in January.
Helpful Score: 1
What a wonderful, well written story! I just finished it and now must drive to the book store to get the 2nd installment that came out in January 2010. A different spin on a Skinwalker than I've read before, the development of the characters and mystery as to who "the bad guy" is was terrific. I also really liked how Jane Yellowrock was developed throughout the book - and her fight with Beast.
