Are you my mummy?

 I finished Tanya Huff's second collection of The Blood Books yesterday, consisting of Blood Lines and Blood Pact, both of which having a few emotional land mines in the prose. 

The first section deals with a pre-dynastic Mummy waking up in modern Toronto and essentially trying to set up shop on behalf of his own power and that of his Deity, who got folded in with Set after the Dynastic era started. As such, the Mummy more or less takes over Provincial police and government, while also deciding he wants to eat Henry's ka, while his god wants to eat Vicky's suffering. This does lead to some changed relationship dynamics in Henry and Mike's interactions, as both begin to realize that Vicki loves them both, but is not inclined to settle down with either of them. While this is all well written Dark Fantasy, Vicki's tortures while locked up by an out of control Mummy is a bit hard to get through. 

The second part, though, is really where the triggers are. Vicki spends the first part of the book avoiding talking to her never really seen mother in Kingston, mainly due to the ongoing rivalry between her suitors. Which doesn't work so well when Vicki figures out the reason behind the calls is that Mom was dying, and indeed is now deceased. Which leads Vicki to take the train to Kingston in a daze, without telling Herny or Mike what's going on. Both, of course, follow her, which leads into finding out that Mom's body isn't in the casket. Given this is horror and not the Christian Bible, it should come as no surprise that the resurrection of the body in this case has nothing to do with divine intervention, and everything to do with a crazed grad student, her greedy advisor, and a third assistant, who are using computers and bacteria to reanimate dead bodies.One of which happens to be Vicky's mom. Who manages to scare the heck of of everyone when she tries to walk home. By the finale, one student is dead, Henry gets captured, and eventually Mom and Vicki find each other. Which is by far one of the absolute hardest scenes to read in a book filled with reanimated corpses. 

This book ends with a fairly large surprise, although one that I knew about thanks to starting with the follow up Smoke series. I also wonder if, given some of the hints in the text, had these been written later, would Mike and Henry formed a true triad with Vicki, had social mores of the mid 90's likely dragged it down?

Seriously though, these are stil fun reads, although as I said above, a bit emotional.

Bad Jhorlac!

 I'm always so happy when Seanan McGuire releases a new book, and Calculated Risks did not let me down.

Picking up where Imaginary Numbers left off, Sarah, the Price family Cuckoo is tied to a chair in another dimension surrounded by people who have forgotten who she is. As such, most of the action takes place over roughly two days, as they try to find survivors among the University of Iowa campus that got transported with them, find the locals, and figure out how to get home. All while dealing with Clydesdale sized spiders, locals who while humanoid, aren't, flying millipedes, and the remnants of the Jhorlac race, all of whom got reduced to burnt out husks by the spell that crossed the dimensions. 

Through the course of this, we get more details on Cuckoo/Jhorlac and Lilu (incubus/succubus) history and physiology, as well as Sarah finally figuring out that the family will like her regardless. We close with a novella set before book 1, as Antimony, Sarah, and Artie go to emerald City Comic Con with Verity in tow to track down a siren. 

This is a wonderfully weird series that never fails to charm. Sarah, despite not being wired like a normal human, remains relatable none the less, and her pain is well conveyed through the narration. 

Well done. Read this series.

Poor Henry

 I'm a bit delayed in this write up, but my free time also has been rather tied up of late. I had occasion to get my hands on Tanya Huff's Blood Books and the sequel trilogy The Smoke Series, and I'm starting through the original. 

Which, due to availability, means reading the former as the 2-in-1 versions. 

We start with the initial book in the series, Blood Price, which introduces us to former cop turned Private Eye, Victoria Nelson, who left the Toronto Police Department after a storied career due to retinitis pigmentosa destroying her peripheral and night vision. This also lead to some very major rifts with her at the time boyfriend Mike Celluci, who remains at TPD in Homicide. We find out bits and pieces of this history as Vicki walks into a subway station only to witness a murder. One where the murderer manages to disappear in a crack in the wall.

This, along with the girlfriend of the victim hiring Vicki to find the "Vampire" (the local newspapers have dubbed the killer as such) gets Vicki involved in a series of murders involving exsanguination. Which leads to her eventually meeting Henry Fitzroi, bastard son of Henry VIII, loyal Catholic, romance novelist, and vampire since the Sixteenth Century, who is not involved in the murders. We also meet Tony, a male hustler who is also one of Vicki's contacts.

Anyway, by the end, we find out the murderer is a demon, using victims to spell the name of a Demon Lord. Said minor demon being summoned by 1991's version of what we know today as an "Incel". 

Then begins book 2, Blood Trail, in which Henry drags Vicki off to London, Ontario, to solve a case involving werewolves getting shot on their farm. We find out Henry has been feeding on Tony, the street kid, as well as helping Tony get off the streets. 

The weres follow a bit of a dated code (the whole Alpha gendered thing), but generally open up the series to rubbing rough edges off the human characters, particularly Mike when he drives over. We get a really good object lesson in the differences between a Lawful alignment and a Chaotic alignment 

Honestly, these are a bit rough around the edges, particularly book one, but the story is engaging nonetheless, and only gets better if I remember correctly.