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.
