Customer Reviews

Black Magic Sanction (Hollows)

5 star:		(87)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

You know the relationship you are in is in trouble when you start to be annoyed by your partner... a lot. They probably aren't doing anything different than they were doing a month ago, but one morning you wake up and think to yourself, "Man, the way she baby-talks to the dog is annoying" or "Oh my God, if he clips his toenails in the living room one more time I'm going to scream." I'm not saying your relationship is doomed, but you are now past being blinded by how great you feel when they smile at you, and you'd better hope there was more there than initial chemistry or it's over.

I woke up this morning and realized Rachel Morgan and Kim Harrison have begun to really annoy me.

Now, to be fair, I came to Black Magic Sanction pre-annoyed at having to wait an additional month for the Kindle edition. Yes, I realize that Ms Harrison had no control over that, but I was never-the-less annoyed. I also understand that this is the eighth book in the Hollows series, and that any review of something this far along is more to vent than anything else. My secret fantasy is that Ms Harrison reads all of these reviews and takes them to heart.

Bottom line. If White Witch, Black Curse already had you questioning Ms Harrison's abilities, then I would borrow her latest from a friend or the library. If you've been enjoying the series up until now, then a bunch of negative reviews aren't going to mean a whole lot. They wouldn't have stopped me from getting it. Until now, I've been a big fan. Black Magic Sanction is strike 1. I've not gone back to re-read earlier Hollows books to see if the bloom is off the rose or if this is really the first failure in the lot. I really hope it's the latter.

And now, a rant-ish list of spoiler-filled grievances...

**** MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT ****

I am annoyed that the rationale Rachel uses to not be with Ivy is "I don't swing that way, Pierce" when the far less homophobic, and compelling explanation is that to consummate the relationship with Ivy would mean to be essentially become enslaved to Ivy -- especially when (if) she turns. If the goal is to make Rachel a homophobe, fine, but just do it already. All Rachel's mewling and whining about wishing she could be the friend she wanted to be got old a while ago.

I am annoyed that Nick is still alive. Not because I find his character loathsome -- in that regard Harrison does a great job -- but because Ivy, Trent, and/or Al should all have killed him by now. We know that Rachel won't because we learn in this book that she is so adverse to taking a life that murderers go free, loved ones go unavenged, and she probably loses sleep at night for all the micro-organisms she kills from respiration.

I am annoyed that Nick is apparently a Master Thief, capable of figuring out Trent's vault: "I've been trying to get into my father's vault since he died... I didn't even know I could do it until Nick suggest you could.", arranging an insanely elaborate play of Trent versus Rachel, and when found out and captured by Trent, escaping as a trivial matter: "Nick is gone... he slipped my guards yesterday." He slipped my guards?! Really? How... eff'n lame. Why don't you check his mommy's basement. That's apparently where Master Thieves live when they're not stealing priceless magical artifacts, cracking impenetrable vaults or running elaborate cons.

I am annoyed that Pierce, who is essentially hundreds of years old with more tragic experiences than someone twice even that age, is apparently hopelessly in love with Rachel. Let me explain something to you, Ms Harrison, because you make the same mistake every other female author I have read makes when hooking up really old (steamy vampire, reincarnated spirit, angel, etc) men with twenty-something, kick-ass heroines. Take it from a man in his 40s, after Pierce (or Bill, or Dante, or Dracula...) is finished enjoying being with a way younger woman, he will grow annoyed to the point of aneurism with her because what he has in common with the person in his bed is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. In fact, the whole dynamic of you-aren't-even-10%-my-age is at best a creepy "I'm super-experienced and you're not" power play, and at worst, smacks of pedophilia.

I am annoyed that Ms Harrison's solution for how to get the Coven off of Rachel's un-shunned back is to have Trent and the Coven essentially go on record with a hastily concocted lie so preposterous that no one in their right mind would believe it. Never mind that just a few pages prior to the unveiling of Rachel's ridiculous plan, we learn that lie-detection rings are standard issue among reporters so the public statements Rachel needs to have made by Trent and the Coven will be known to be false.

I am still annoyed (prior book carryover) that Jenks is alive. Don't get me wrong, I love the Jenks character. It was with almost dread that I approached his (seemingly) inevitable demise, but at the same time I was wholly impressed by Ms Harrison's choice to make a pixy's life span so short and was really looking forward to how she would handle so traumatic an event in the dynamic of her characters. Oh, never mind. Silly plot contrivance and Jenks gets to live... apparently indefinitely... given how trivial the secret to pixy longevity is.

And on the subject of pixy death, I am annoyed... scratch that... enraged at the handling of the death of Jenks' wife, Matalina. As someone who found themselves a widower at 39, trust me when I say that a few heartfelt platitudes do not transform someone from suicidally-grief-stricken to I-miss-her-a-bunch-but-I'm-wholly-functional. I especially loved Rachel's whole, "I know what you're going through because my dad died when I was 10 and my boyfriend of... what was it?... a few months also died." But it was when Rachel said "Jenks, it's my fault that Matalina is dead. I'm the reason they attacked." instead of "Jenks, it's my fault that Matalina is dead because I was unwilling to kill the assassins that your family was defending me from" that I actually started to despise Rachel. I think, Ms Harrison, that either you or your editor need to have your world shattered by loss before attempting another such subplot. As it is, I found your handling of Jenks and Matalina sophomoric and offensive.

I am annoyed with Rachel's seeming inability to learn from repeatedly making the same mistakes.

I am annoyed with trying to understand why Rachel's cadre see her as some sort of leader when she is portrayed as an immature, serial screw-up.

I am annoyed the most interesting characters (Al, Trent, Jenks, Ivy and Ceri) are not the leads. Instead, we get Rachel, I never stop whining, Morgan and Gordian, I'm a one-note control-freak, Pierce.

And finally, out of the myriad other plot failings of Black Magic Sanction I've not mentioned, I am annoyed lawyering is apparently more binding that magic. "If you own me in the ever-after, I'm going to own you here, " says Trent who then produces not some arcane blood-drawn contract on human flesh, but rather some legalese that he wants Rachel to sign. Or how about the Coven? "Never mess with a witch. Never. They fight with magic and red tape." Hey Rachel. We want to abduct you, give you a lobotomy, and then use you as a vegetative baby maker... please sign this release. And let's not forget that the primary tension device in the climatic end-scene is whether or not David will show up on time with... a magic sword? a pack of werewolves? the power of love? Nope, a bunch of legal papers. I assume Matlock will be showing up as some sort of guardian wraith in the next book.

Please, Ms Harrison, find an editor who has both the intellect and the stones to tell you when what you are writing is stupid.

After reading the sample chapters put out by Eos, I was crazy excited to get my hands on this book. Having finished it, I'm happy to report that I'm not disappointed.

The whole story revolves around the fact that Rachel has been shunned by her own kind, the witches, for being able to kindle demon magic - which, since it's demonic, must be bad - and because any children she has will be demons - again, demonic babies = bad. Now everybody and their mama wants to control her: Trent, the coven, Big Al, even Pierce. Trent is angry because he's her nominal familiar and says that if she owns him in the ever after, he wants to own her in reality. The coven wants to either lobotomize and sterilize or lock Rachel away in Alcatraz Prison because she's a black magic practitioner. Al wants Rachel because, well, why does a demon want anything? I suppose he wants her for the prestige and for sexual reasons (or so he hints) and because any child she produces will be "demon spawn." Pierce is interested in Rachel because he thinks he loves her and could love her forever. Bleh.

**** One little spoiler ****

I really enjoyed this book. It gets going and doesn't stop. However, there's just something that I can't put my finger on that is annoying me about this book. Maybe it's Pierce and his antiquated vocabulary. Maybe it's Nick and his god-awful douche bag-ness. Maybe it's Rachel herself and all her whining and trust issues. Actually, there's something about the plot that just gets on my nerves - things are just a little too convenient and easy sometimes. For instance, Matalina, Jenks's wife, dies in this book trying to save Rachel from another fairy assassination attempt. To get him out of his funk, Rachel and Pierce "get small" and go into Jenks's stump and convince him to come out. Apparently, pixies usually don't survive long after the death of their mate. However, all we really get out of Jenks is, "I miss her so damn much," six lines of poetry, "Tink's titties, I miss her," and that's basically it. Later, Rachel comments that, "I was surprised he was talking about her already. Maybe the pixy psyche was like that, live hard and fast." I mean, come on! That's it? I guess Matalina didn't really mean that much to Jenks if she was that easy for him to get over. Jenks says, "Just tell me where to fly, Rache. That's what I'm here for." Yeah. He's only there as a prop for Rachel. I kind of wish he was given more time and space to mourn. Instead, he's at Rachel's convenience, making things easy for her - like bailing her out at the FIB in the first couple chapters. There are more instances of "Gee whizz, that was easy...too easy", but I won't harp on.

I'm looking forward to the next book and I hope Al plays a bigger role - which is not to say he wasn't big in this book, I'd just like more Al! Pierce is okay, but, I've got to say, I think Al is much better! And, certainly more fun! I used to like the idea of Rachel getting together with Trent, but the more I read of Al, the more I hope the two of them hook up. Pierce just seems too good to be true, even though he is a black magic practioner. He's just...well, just too perfect for Rachel. Ultimately, she should be with Al. As he says, "One night, itchy witchy, you'll come to me."

So, in conclusion, I've taken the one star because I feel that, sometimes, the plot is just a little too contrived and things are just a little too convenient. I recommend you read this series sequentially so you don't get confused about the back story and I definitely recommend you buy this book. Gentle updrafts!

I often find it difficult to review a new book from a favorite series because my feelings are pretty simple. They boil down to, "I love this series, I love this book, I wish I didn't have to wait a year for the next one!" That's how it is with Kim Harrison's books anyhow. I am totally hooked on The Hollows.

I figure if you're reading this review you're probably not new to Kim Harrison. The Hollows is not a series that can be read out of order (for any newbies who've found there way here: start with Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows, Book 1)). If you've enjoyed the direction that the series has been heading over the past few books, Black Magic Sanction will fill you with glee. If not, what's wrong with you?

What are some little plot teasers I can throw out. Well, the villain of Black Magic Sanction is the coven of ethical and moral standards. As judge and jury to the witch population, members of the coven tend to be ruthless and power hungry...so it shouldn't be any surprise that these ruthless, power-hungry witches have found a way to use white magic for dark purposes. I really enjoyed this aspect of the novel - seeing a witch with an aura as clean freshly windexed glass use white magic to do some pretty black deeds, for selfish reasons, really drives home the point that however ugly Rachel Morgan's sooty aura is, she's the one fighting the good fight. Sometimes appearances really are deceiving.

We see a lot more of Pierce, the former ghost, who serves as this book's dangerous love interest. We don't see enough of Trent, who makes a couple of brief yet crucial appearances. Nick turns up again, and boy, if you thought you couldn't hate Nick any more than you already did, you will find out that you were wrong. That little snothead is just about the most despicable fictional character I've ever encountered. But the sexy/evil enemy/ally that really shines in this book is Algaliarept. I've always thought Al was a great character; when he appears in a scene, I know it's going to be fun to read (even if I know Rachel won't enjoy what happens very much). But until Black Magic Sanction I was never even slightly tempted by him as a romantic interest for Rachel. That's right, I said "until," and no, I am not explaining any further.

There's one really major thing that happens in Black Magic Sanction that all of Harrison's devoted readers have been dreading for a while now. We know that pixies have short life spans - and Jenks and Matalina have reached the ripe old age of 20, the sunset years of their species. But just try to imagine The Hollows without Jenks. It's impossible, right? He's the magic ingredient. Him and his whole family. Well, we get a day of reckoning in Black Magic Sanction so keep your tissues handy. I cried big fat tears over this one.

That's about it. Ugh, another year until the next book!

I really enjoyed BMS. SO much better than WWBC! The action in BMS was fast-paced, there was more Al and Trent, and we got a charmingly described tour through a pixie stump (although the reason for the visit to the stump was a very sad one). Pierce grew on me in this book, though his awful idioms persist (even if people in the 19th century used those phrases I don't think they'd use them ALL the time). But he is scrappy and a little crazy, so he grew on me. It was also fun to be able to hate Nick even more, though something in me is proud of him for always getting away. Other characters constantly put humans down, but somehow Nick always gets the better of them. He's an evil jerk, but still - he always gets away. Speaking of admiring someone you shouldn't, I loved the scenes with Al. I'm not one of those who want to see Rachel and Al together (he is very evil...okay, maybe I do want to see them together a little) but whatever your opinion of him, he is a very compelling character. And I'm so glad Harrison didn't revisit the Ivy/Rachel thing! There were a few paragraphs about it, but not as much as in other books. That storyline was beat to death and I'm glad it seems to be over. Ivy and Rachel are such wonderful friends; they had great scenes in this book. I wish there had been more Ceri and Quen and Minias (is he dead?) but maybe we'll see them in the next book.

Harrison creates such a richly textured world and characters. Only JR Ward comes close. No wonder they are both best-sellers. I feel like everyone in the Hollows actually exist and can't believe I have to wait over a year to read more about what happens to them.

I truly love and enjoy the Hollows series, but I have to admit Rachel Morgan is in turns whiny and annoying in this novel. In Black Magic Saction, Rachel stops looking noble and is just a plain ole' bimbo. She went from being a kick-ass heroine to a punching bag. I have lost much of my respect for her.

Major Spoiler Alert

So like I stated the beginning was promising and fast-paced. Rachel is in the ever-after with Al learning new spells and tricks. Then the coven for moral blah blah blah start gunning for her. They either want to kill her or turn her into a lobotomized breeding machine. Ok cool. This was interesting. She gets sent to Alcatraz but is rescued (of course and like always) by Ivy, Jenks, and co. Then in the middle of the the book I completely had a WTF moment. The coven sends fairies to destroy the pixies and to poison Ivy, Pierce, and Rachel and destroy their property. Ceri comes to help and decides to twist a black curse to kill the marauding fairies. Rachel has an attack of conscience jacks up the curse and the fairies survive to kill Mattalina. Ok maybe I can understand this, Rachel doesn't want to become a black witch, we know we know right, but then in this scene she looks at her "bloodthirsty" friends and becomes afraid and disgusted with them. She states she even hates them in that moment. She starts to yearn for the simplicity of the ever-after and peace of Al. WTF. Her friends are "bloodthirsty" because she made them that way. They have to constantly bail her inept butt out of trouble. It pisses me off that she judges them for their willingness to protect her and kill for her and she cannot do the same for them. And she has the nerve to compare Ivy, Jenks, and Ceri to Al with Al looking better than them. Oh heck no. Al tortures and destroys for fun, her friends do it to save her. So now I'm pissed about this, but then later on in the book she willingly twists THREE BLACK curses for disguises and accepts the smut for them. Why would she not twist the earlier curse to save her friends? On top of all this Nick makes a reappearance with Rachel still defending him and refusing to give him up to Al and surprise surprise he calls her a "whore" and a "bitch" makes her feel like a slut and betrays her again for the upteenth time. Definitely a punching bag throughout the novel.
There is no sense of Rachel Morgan growing into her powers or even as a person. She was a clueless white witch (in this novel apparently white witches if they're smart enough can kill with white curses, sadly Rachel isn't smart enough), a useless ley-line witch, and completely worthless as a demon-kin. Will I continue with the series? (Sigh) yes, for Ivy, Jenks, Trent (I wanted them to end up together, but now I think he's too good for her), and Al (yeah, I even like Al. He is who he is and he is diabolical).

After reading White Witch, Black Curse, I was really hoping this book would bring the Hollows back on track, but it just falls flat. I was bored with the plot and Rachel just whines. The characters do stupid things, such as trust and even hire Nick. One scene Rachel is in a grocery store with Ivy and notices a woman following her. Rachel assumes the woman is a lesbian because the woman sees Rachel shopping with Ivy. Give me a break. Ivy has a new relationship with a recurrent character, but Harrison never showed Ivy and this character as having chemistry. That just showed up out of the blue. Rachel's new love interest, Pierce, is about as sexy as a brick. The love scene in this book is lame and lack luster. What happen with the steamy scenes Rachel had with Kirsten? Did Harrison forget how to write them? The only sexy man this series has left is David, and he has been missing for two books now. Good bye Hollows.

I started reading this series after I got the first one for free on Kindle. After I read it, I was hooked, and I downloaded and read the rest of the books in a week. I have really enjoyed the series, however this book was nothing but a repeat of the previous one. Harrison uses the same expressions for her characters over and over and over again, and although Rachel continually dwells on her "life lessons" in order to better herself, after 8 books the song is getting pretty tired, especially since she makes the same stupid decisions over and over again. The conclusion to Kisten's murder? SOOOOOOO anti-climatic. The conclusion to the book? Same. Read it if you are into the series, if not for just continuity, but borrow it- don't buy it. Maybe Harrison should start thinking of wrapping up "The Hollows" series; she seems to be having trouble with changing the plot and characters enough to be interesting.

Generally I am a huge fan of Kim Harrison, but lately she's taken the same stance other writers have taken, such as Laurell K. Hamilton and Rachelle Mead in they create this great female heroine, but they give her no character maturity at all and even though you expect a character in the beginning to be slightly naive and immature, you fully expect that eventually she'll wise up to her own mistakes and develop into a more versatile individual; that isn't happening here.

Ms. Harrison's character Rachel Morgan is supposed to be this tough bounty hunter / jack-of-all-trades woman for hire whose gone into business for herself with a `living' vampire named Ivy and a pixie named Jenks, and in the beginning books it was amusing to see all of them stumble and fall over each other as they became use to working together in their business "Vampiric Charms".

Plus, Ms. Harrison over the course of the series has given Rachelle more and more abilities, not only to do Earth magic, but ley-line magic and now we discover that she can kindle demon magic as well since she's not really a witch or demon for that matter, but she is demon-kin and therefore half-demon or as the book describes it a stunted demon who through genetic manipulation was able to survive and if she ever has any children they would be full-fledged demon progeny.

Yes to our disappointment, Rachelle continues to whine that she has to do demon magic, she continues to whine that nothing in life is fair, she continues to whine that "Al" her new demon teacher/master wants her to grow up and use the abilities given to her, and she continues to whine, whine, and whine because she keeps getting beaten up and abused by people she wants to leave her alone, but if she would just stop whining and use her abilities to fight back they would indeed leave her alone.

In short I expected more from the author and didn't get it and as an avid reader if the character doesn't shape up soon, Ms. Harrison is going to lose one more fan just as Laurell K. Hamilton then. Remember, writers, nobody likes a whiner!

In Black Magic Sanction long time fans of Kim Harrison's series about Rachel Morgan a bounty hunting witch living in Cincinnati, have a chance to truly appreciate and enjoy how Harrison has grown in her craft as a writer.

Building on the threads left at the end of the last book Rachel discovers that the coven of witches who ordered her shunned for dealing with demons is trying to capture her so they can surgically neutralize her. Unfortunately for them and luckily for Rachel she has not committed any crimes so instead of having the police arrest her they start a guerrilla war to capture or kill her. Since they are willing to torch a building she *might* be inside but Rachel holds back from using dangerous magic even in self defense it raises interesting moral questions about who really is a black or white witch.

Also in previous books of all the Inderlanders, various magical beings, witches seemed to be the weakest. Among vampires and were-wolves and things that go bump in the night, witches seemed like the innocuous wimps of the occult, support troops to the true monster. Here they are seen as a real threat not to be underestimated.

The real charm here is Harrison's writing. She has created a rich and well developed world and in her earlier books she was sometimes so eager to show off parts of it that the plots became very cluttered with sub-issues. Even more enjoyable as in what I think was the best book in the series, Fist Full of Charms, Harrison strips away a lot of the usual cast of characters and settings some of which could be seen as crutches for her writing. Before she had left town. In Black Magic Sanction her supports are pulled away by the enemy who start neutralizing her carefully built up support systems.

The book is so well put together that even though there are references to a lot that came before, you don't feel that you're missing anything if this is where you started the series. As the book unfolds so do hard truths and ugly lies and we learn that nothing is black and white. The effect on the character is that we see Rachel as more rounded and developed person as she becomes more adult. The effect on the book is a moving, in pacing and emotion, easy read that is quite enjoyable.

Maybe I am the wrong gender for this book but I have finally reached my limit here, I found myself turning pages and skimming just to get past all the "but I'm not a black witch" or the "oh gosh which of the handsome men will i finally give myself to" just to find some semblance of plot here.

So many things wrong here. For one, Ivy, easily the most interesting character is relegated to background prop. I guess Pierce is the new major character. Jenks, Glen, everyone else falls to the background. Such was a shame, the full cast of characters is great but we literally get just Rachel and Pierce. And don't get me started on Pierce. He did not even exist until the short story that was recently written and now suddenly he is the Victorian hero Rachel forgot she had fallen in love with? Shenanigans I say! Talk about lazy writing. Why bother introducing and exploring a new person in Rachel's life - just invent an old flame Rachel forgot about, mix water and then poof - instant love interest and major character without all the messy writing and such. .

There really is no plot to this book. Rachel is on the run from the coven who wants her dead or in prison so the entire book is one fight with the coven after another, separated by nail biting angst over Rachel's relationship problems and then her deciding what to wear to the fights with the coven. The ending comes with a sitcom inspired quickie ending where Rachel talks her way out of the life threatening situation with the most contrived solution possible.

Don't get me started on the horrible incident with Jenks' wife! I don't to spoil but there is such a thing as honor and respect for people's culture. Rachel talks Jenks out of a centuries old pixie tradition just to have her pal by her side longer? How insensitive is that?! I think the author just didn't want to lose a popular major character. This is what I detest about some book series - the author treats it like their meal ticket. They don't want to write anything in the books (end a plot line, kill a major character, etc.) that might cause readers to stop buying the books.

The author has created a fairly unique and interesting world, a shame she writes about mundane trivialities rather than explore some of the fascinating aspects of the world Rachel and her friends inhabit. Farewell Rachel, I wish you well.