Kiesha'ra — (2003-2007) Young adult. This series is finished. Publisher: DANICA SHARDAE IS an avian shapeshifter, and the golden hawk’s form in which she takes to the sky is as natural to her as the human one that graces her on land. The only thing more familiar to her is war: It has raged between her people and the serpiente for so long, no one can remember how the fighting began. As heir to the avian throne, she’ll do anything in her power to stop this war—even accept Zane Cobriana, the terrifying leader of her kind’s greatest enemy, as her pair bond and make the two royal families one.
Trust. It is all Zane asks of Danica—and all they ask of their people—but it may be more than she can give.
         
 Snakecharm: “Why Would a Child Born Here be such a Threat?”
It became apparent soon after opening Snakecharm that this was one installment in a series of fantasy-stories: there is little in the way of background or set-up; Instead, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes simply assumes you have already read the previous book (Hawksong) and are already familiar with the characters and their world. As such, much of this review will be guess-work (high-lighting one of the things I hate about fantasy-fiction: every author seems to think it necessary to split their stories in trilogies, sagas, or on-going serials).
With a population divided between two forms of shape-shifters, the serpiente and the avians, the ongoing feud has finally ended with a marriage between members of the noble families: Zane (a serpent) and Danica (a hawk). Although tensions are still high, the surprisingly happy couple is optimistic about the future, especially when they realize Danica is carrying her first child.
But then two problems appear: one being the realization that their child will be half-serpent, half-avian, and therefore a potential catalyst for more conflict, and the other being the arrival of Syfka, a shape-shifting falcon, who is hunting down a wanted fugitive. (Falcons seem to be a particularly antagonistic species of avian, at odds with serpents and other birds). Zane suspects that Syfka’s presence may simply be to stir up more trouble in their midst, particularly since she is irritatingly secretive about the so-called criminal that she’s after. On researching falcon-magic, Zane comes to the conclusion that Syfka’s prey could be just about anyone, given the scope and power of their shape-shifting abilities.
Snakecharm makes for a swift, diverting read, with a reasonably interesting set-up and a couple of nice twists (which I suspect would have been more poignant had I been familiar with Hawksong). The culture and magic at work is intricate and complex enough to have real weight, without destroying the flow of the story itself — though more often than not “magic” is precisely what it needs to be in order to for the plot to head in the direction Rhodes wants it to. Zane is a bland, but likeable narrator for the tale, and other characters come across as individuals (though it took me a while to realize that “Andreios” and “Rei” were actually the same character, the former name used as a nickname for the latter).
However, my main grievance is the fact that the entire story is told through conversations. Seriously — with a few minor scuffles (that are both short and inconsequential) all of the drama and conflict is presented to the reader in the form of one character speaking to another. It sounds hard to believe, but it’s true: the plot is not moved forward by action, just dialogue. Zane and Danica speak to their allies, Zane and Danica speak to their enemies, Zane and Danica move from one court to the other, Zane and Danica speak to each other, Zane and Danica speak to their people…that’s pretty much it.
To top it off, the resolution to both of the plot’s main problems are incredibly anti-climactic: the two main characters have virtually nothing to do with fixing either one, leaving it up to other characters to clean up the loose ends. I’m not sure what Rhodes intention in this was (perhaps to show that royalty are best at pulling strings?) but surely having Zane and Danica drift through the plot whilst making no real impact on it surely can’t have been the objective.
So, basically, I’ve visited the world of serpiente and avians (at least, I think I have — it isn’t too clear whether this takes place in a secret location of our world, or whether this is a self-contained fantasy world) but I don’t think I’ll be making a return trip in the near-future. —R.F.
|
Den of Shadows (Modern Nyeusigrube) — Amelia Atwater Rhodes' is currently writing Night's Plutonian Shore
  In the Forests of the Night — (1999) Publisher: I was born to the name of Rachel Weatere in the year 1684, more than three hundred years ago.
The one who changed me named me Risika, and Risika I became, though I never asked what it meant. I continue to call myself Risika, even though I was transformed into what I am against my will.
By day, Risika sleeps in a shaded room in Concord, Massachusetts. By night, she hunts the streets of New York City. She is used to being alone.
But now someone is following Risika. Someone has left her a black rose, the same sort of rose that sealed her fate three hundred years ago. Three hundred years ago Risika had a family — a brother and a sister who loved her. Three hundred years ago she was human.
Now she is a vampire, a powerful one. And her past has come back to torment her.
  Demon in My View — (2000) Publisher: Jessica isn't your average teenager. Though nobody at her high school knows it, her vampire novel has just come out under a pen name. Jessica often wishes that she felt as comfortable with her classmates as she does among the vampires and witches of her fiction. She has always been treated as an outsider at Ramsa High. But two new students have just arrived in Ramsa, and both want Jessica's attention. She has no patience for overly friendly Caryn, but she's instantly drawn to Alex, a handsome boy who seems surprisingly familiar. If she didn't know better, she'd think that Aubrey, the alluring villain from her novel, had just sprung to life. That's impossible, of course; Aubrey is a figment of her imagination. Or is he?
  Shattered Mirror — (2001) Publisher: Sarah Vida is a witch and a vampire hunter — and a loner. Christopher Ravena is a vampire trying to pass as a normal high school student who wants to know Sarah better. Drawn to him despite her better judgment, Sarah’s forced to admit that there’s room for gray in her otherwise black-and-white world of good versus evil — until she meets Nikolas, Christopher’s twin and one of the most hunted vampires in history.
 
Midnight Predator — (2002) Publisher: Though she was once a happy teenager with a wonderful family and a full life, Turquoise Draka is now a hunter, committed to no higher purpose than making money and staying alive. In a deadly world of vampires, shape-shifters, and powerful mercenaries, she’ll track any prey if the price is right. Her current assignment: to assassinate Jeshikah, one of the cruelest vampires in history. Her employer: an unknown contact who wants the job done fast. Her major obstacle: she’ll have to mask her strength and enter Midnight, a fabled Vampire realm, as a human slave. Vulnerable and defenseless, she faces her greatest challenge ever.
  Persistence of Memory — (2008) Publisher: Sixteen-year-old Erin Misrahe just wants to be like everyone else in her new school. But Erin has more to worry about than passing AP Chemistry or making friends. In times of stress, she has always been overcome by her alter ego, Shevaun, whose violent behavior wreaks havoc on those around her. Erin can never remember anything about these episodes, and she's grateful to have been spared them for a while.
But when a protective friend comes back into Erin's life, he insists that Shevaun is a vampire who actually exists apart from Erin. Shevaun has dangerous allies, like the handsome witch Adjila - and they're determined to sever Shevaun's connection to Erin once and for all.
|
