Black Magic Sanction (Rachel Morgan, Book 8) [Hardcover]

Kim Harrison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 23, 2010

The latest stirring instalment of the urban fantasy-thriller series starring Rachel Morgan. A pacey and addictive novel of sexy bounty-hunting witches, cunning demons and vicious vampires. Having barely escaped being skewered by the criminal vampire overlord of Cinncinati, Rachel now has even bigger problems to contend with. The demon, Algaliarept, although banished back into the everafter has infected others of his kind with his interest in a witch who can channel demon magic. Rachel soon finds herself with not one but three hellions on her tail; and one of them is even crazier and more dangerous than all the fairy assassins, weres and vampires on the planet. Published as 'The Outlaw Demon Wails' in the US.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The eighth bewitching but overly dense Hollows adventure (after 2009's White Witch, Black Curse) updates the travails of Rachel Morgan, delectable magical jack of all trades. Having recently learned that Rachel is a witch-born demon whose children would be demons, a white magic coven is shunning her and accusing her of black magic. They offer her a terrible choice: sterilization or imprisonment in Alcatraz. Trent Kalamack, drug lord and elf in hiding, offers to get the coven off her back, but her double-crossing ex-rat ex-boyfriend, Nick, shows up and lands her in more hot water. As Rachel battles those she thought were on her side, her survival depends on a paranormal cornucopia of elves, demons, vampires, gargoyles, pixies, and even a leprechaun. This thrill ride celebrates the can-do spirit of one of urban fantasy's most charming witches. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

The current high tide of flip, hyperactive supernatural fiction has lifted Harrison’s Hollows novels about young, lovely, athletic witch Rachel Morgan onto best-seller lists along with similar series by Kelly Armstrong, Charlaine Harris, and Patricia Briggs. In her eighth outing, Rachel is still learning the ropes as far as her powers go. In the first chapter, she’s nearly seized by a lunatic demon. In the second, she has a blowout in a grocery store with a member of the coven of moral and ethical standards, who tries to take her directly to a judicial meeting concerned with her conduct. The third chapter is a kind of breather. During the rest of the yarn, Rachel bounces or gets bounced from one ouchy captivity or near-captivity situation to another, and by the end, it has been firmly established that she ain’t no ordinary witch; heck, she can hop cross-country in broad daylight! She can also dish it out and take it, verbally as well as physically. Lacking any plot, this, uh, adventure depends on the latter ability, on several other characters’ parts besides Rachel’s, to keep on keepin’ on. If it were filthier than it is (sorry, romance fans, no sex for Rachel), it might be amusing in the manner of early John Waters flicks (Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble). Consider it a for-fans-only volume. --Ray Olson

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Harper Voyager; 1 edition (February 23, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061138037
• ISBN-13: 978-0061138034
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (170 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,326 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times bestselling Kim Harrison was born and raised in the upper Midwest, but has since fled south to better avoid snow. After gaining her bachelors in the sciences, she moved to South Carolina, where she has remained since. When not at work in the Hollows series, she spends her time tending orchids, cooking with some guy in leather, and training her new dog. Her current vices include good chocolate, and exquisite sushi. She is a member of both the Romance Writers of America and The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Her bestselling novels include Dead Witch Walking; The Good, The Bad, and The Undead; Every Which Way But Dead; A Fistful of Charms; and For a Few Demons More.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

266 of 312 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars That was annoying, April 9, 2010

By 

D. Josephs "Book reader. Pie Baker. Slayer ... (Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Magic Sanction (Rachel Morgan, Book 8) (Hardcover)

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.

82 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Wonderful Additon, February 24, 2010

By 

J. M. Martinez "Eclectic lover of books" (Currently: Ft. Meade, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Magic Sanction (Rachel Morgan, Book 8) (Hardcover)

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!

46 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!, March 3, 2010

By 

mlle. x (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Black Magic Sanction (Rachel Morgan, Book 8) (Hardcover)

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!