A Hollow Beginning

I was lucky enough to be at the top of the reserve list when Kim Harrison's prequel to The Hollows hit, meaning I'm one of the many who have now experienced The Turn.

For those who have never read The Hollows, this is likely not the place to start reading it, as the only human viewpoint character doesn't really get exposed to the Inderlanders until about 2/3 of the way through, which would likely confuse newbies trying to figure out what's going on with all the supernatural races running around.

Anyway, The Turn is set well before Dead Witch Walking, in the mid 1960's. We start with the graduation from Harvard of Dr. Trisk Cambri and Dr. Trenton Kalamak. Both are Elves, and both hate each other. (Trent is the last of his line, whereas Trisk is a "Dark Elf" with hardier genetics.) We learn that Elves in the 1960's either work in genetics or security, trying to fix the genetic curse leveled on them by the Demons and protecting their own masquerade.

Trisk and Trent used a similar doctoral thesis, in her case using viruses to insert genetic repairs, while he relied on bacterium. They also hate each other. Trisk is further hampered by the Elven predjudices of th etime mirroring that of the Human population, wherein a woman is going to wind up shuffling papers in a lab for old men. `

Trisk ends up on the West Coast working in a Human lab, the idea being that any major genetic discoveries can be passed on to the Elven Enclave. (There's a bit of alternate history here, since one point revolves around developing bioweapons that don't kill after a really ugly Cuban bio crisis.) Trisk develops the T4 Angel Tomato, which is a miracle crop able to grow in almost any environment. Her partner at the lab, Dr. Plank, develops a virus designed to make people sick for 24 hours rather than kill them.

As it turns out, other Inderland species have an interest in the research, leading to a Vampire supervisor and a Witch investor. Who in turn (along with the Were [Colonel Wolfe] and Sa'han Ulbrine) send Kal in to double check her research. Kal is accompanied by his Pixy friend Orchid, who is nowhere near as salty as Jenks in in the original series. (It should be noted here than Quen, who plays a large role in the main series is also in this one, having been hired by the Kalamaks as security. He's a friend of Trisk, and shows up intermittently in the proceedings.)

When Trisk finds out Kal is coming, assuming the worst (he's going to steal her research), she summons a demon of her grandmother's acquaintance, Algaliarept.

Anyway, to condense down a whole heck of a lot of plot, Trent in a fit of professional jealousy, modifies Plank's virus and makes it able to be hosted by the T4 Angel tomatoes. Which has the accidental side effect of making tomatoes toxic, starting off a world wide plague that eventually kills off 25% of the human population. Which starts off some unforeseen consequences, like the complete obliteration of Detroit following the breaking of the Silence by Witches and Vampires.

Eventually, we wind up in Cincinnati, wherein we see the set up of how the main series begins, but not before we come to realize there really isn't a single nice person in the book. Understandable and relatable, yes. But not a single one of them other than possibly Dr. Plank is motivated by anything other than self interest. From Trisk wanting her name on her own work, to Kal trying to bring glory to his family, to Saladan trying to make money on everything to Piscary starting his power play that eventually causes some mid series drama later on....

This is a really fun read for fans of the main series, as people we sort of know show up throughout the course of this volume. On the other hand, given how involved the main series got over 13 volumes, I ended up pulling up the character list on wikipedia to help me figure out who some of the people were with familiar names.

A Hollow Ending Part II

So, I was mildly wrong last year when I referred to Ever After as the last in Kim Harrison's Hollows series. Seems that title is actually The Witch With No Name, which actually is marked as the "Last of the Hollows". Well, other than a short story due out sometime next month.

Anyway. As the last book ended with Trent in financial and political straights and the demon Aligarept not speaking to her, we join Rachel and company in this one dealing with more limited resources than normal. We also have the undead vampire trying to give living vampire Ivy her first death, in an attempt to get Rachel to reattach their souls. (Which Rachel is loath to do, since it leads to the undead walking into the sun, consumed with guilt over what they've done without one. Think Angel/Angelus, only not as sexy, and much more angsty.) We also see the return of Landon and Ellsabeth, elves with agendas of their own.

Early on, during an escape from one of the traps designed to kill off Ivy, Trent and Rachel find what happened to the undead vampire's souls. Having this knowledge, Rachel, with help from Landon, reattaches Felix's soul under much duress. (Felix being the undead vampire currently acting as puppetmaster to Ivy's living vampire girlfriend Nina.) Which, of course, ends with Felix's suncide.

Mind you, regardless of how horribly the soul reattachment went, the undead still want them back. And Landon is more than happy to provide them. Which has the side effect of undoing part of the curse that binds the demons to the Ever After.

So, basically, it's mad chaos as Rachel is forced to try to save the world again, all while combating the Elven Goddess again.

Without going too far into the resolution here, it's very satisfying to read. Ivy plays a much bigger part in the proceedings than she has in a few books, which is good. (Ivy's been kind of fading from the series once the sexual tension between her and Rachel faded out.) Al gets his stuff together, which is also good, since he plays a trickster's archetype throughout the series. That he's also named guardian of Trent's children adds to his role.

It's kind of odd, looking back over the 13 books of the series, how two of the major protagonists (Trent and Al) started off as fairly nefarious antagonists. That they evolved into complex and compelling characters (even if that transition wasn't always smooth) that we care about is a testament to Harrison's writing skills.

It's even more interesting learning the details of the war between the elves and demons in more depth, seeing how the different strategies in the war ended up with unintended consequences and collateral damage.

In short, while I'm sad to see the series end, I think she ended it well and before it got stale the way other series fiction has become.

A Hollow Ending

In what's supposed to be, I think, the last book in Kim Harrison's The Hollows series (The Undead Pool), we get to see Rachel Morgan deal with Elvish religion in the only way she knows how.

We begin with Rachel, day walking demon who started off as an Earth witch, working security for Trent, the elf who's father developed a cure of sorts for Rosewood disease. Trent wants to date Rachel, but really can't because of his impending nuptials to Elizabeth, the elf who's acting as mother to two elven babies in Trent's care.

Then things start exploding.

As the book progresses, we find that Living vampires in league with the Dewar elves are using bits of the elvish goddess to knock out the Undead vampire, which is causing chaos with any form of magic. (It's a very convoluted plot.)

As an ending, it works, I guess. It's not nearly as bad as the epilogue Charlaine Harris gave her Southern Vampires, and thankfully, Harrison hasn't dragged the Hollows out the way Laurell K. Hamilton has dragged out Anita Blake.

There are things I really like in here. I love the idea of the elvish goddess being less a being than a collection of infinite awareness that form a kind of hive mind. I love that she's managed to give the cast a spot in here without having to shoehorn in stragglers.

There are things I wasn't as fond of, since Rachel and Trent's relationship over the course of the series is a bit like the early seasons of Moonlighting. You know, frenemies. In this book, it seems more than a little forced.

There's also some fairly uncharacteristic erotica slipped in the middle third. While the series has used sexual tension quite effectively, it normally doesn't delve that deeply into the play by play. On the bright side, it's as awkward for the characters involved as it is for the reader. (This is not some other series, where the sex is always mind blowing and perfect. This is much more of the "I just got an elbow in my face" variety.)

If this is indeed where Rachel's story ends, I'll miss her. If it's not, hopefully Harrison has a way to rekindle the magic after such a fairly final end.

Wow, something good came out of Cincinnati!

I really shouldn't insult the Queen City like that, but it has it coming.

Ever After, Book 11 in Kim Harrison's The Hollows series, starts with the kidnapping of Rosewood Syndrome babies and ends with more evolution in the relationships between the series' central characters.

For those who've never delved into The Hollows before, the premise is fairly simple. Several years before the series starts, genetically modified tomatoes ended up killing off a large majority of the human population. As such, the "Interlander" species (These include, but aren't limited to: Witches, Vampires, Weres, fairies, pixies, and only recently, Elves.) came out of the closet to save society.

Rachel Morgan is a witch. Over the course of the series, we've learned that she was a baby born with the normally fatal Rosewood Syndrome, and that a local businessman named Trent Kalamack's father ended up curing her. (Rosewood Syndrome being a genetic disorder in witches that is something of a failsafe to keep witches from kindling demon magic. Yes, demons.) Trent himself is a rather shady character, although as the series has progressed, he's become a heck of a lot more complex, rather than playing an eel Rachel can't quite get stuff pinned on, and instead become a morally ambiguous supporting character in his own right, working for the greater good, even if it is against the law.

Anyway, the kidnapped babies that start this installment have been taken by Ku'Kox (I may have that spelled wrong, I had to return the book today, so I can't reference it), a demon created by the other demons many eons ago because the only female demon is nuts, making sexual reproduction a lot chancy. Ku' is not a nice demon. That he was imprisoned beneath the St. Louis arch should say something to his power level. His goal is to cure the Rosewood babies (by blackmailing Trent), destroy the Ever After (the parallel reality on the other sides of the ley lines that demons inhabit), then use the rosewood babies as his own personal meat puppets so he can exist of the Earth side of the lines. All while framing Rachel for the gradual but rapidly deflating Ever After.

Unfortunately, Ivy (the living vampire business partner) is out of town for most of the novel, appearing in a very limited role towards the end. Even then, she's mostly relegated to entertaining a minor character introduced only a few books ago.

It's a good addition to the series, and more interesting than the last installment. I'm kind of happy I didn't give up on the series after book 4, when I felt Rachel was jumping every shark she could. As things have progressed, so have the characters and the writing, and the journey has been fun to experience.