Customer Reviews

Bring It On (Retrievers)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In this third Retriever novel, Wren Valare is going behind her partner and business manager, Sergei's back and taking on cases of her own without his advice. This is clearly a symptom of the restlessness she feels in their relationship and possibly a prelude to the end of their romance in the fourth Retrievers novel.

Also, the city of Manhattan looks like it's preparing for magical war. Someone's trying to cancel Wren's ticket with psi-bombs. Many of the lonejacks (mages who are unaffiliated with the Mage Council) are missing and the attacks on the fatae (nonhumans such as demons, etc) are on the rise.

The Lonejacks are blaming the Magic Council--maybe they're right, maybe they're blaming them because they are unaffiliated? In the middle of the book, Wren has an encounter with a 'chat buddy' who turns out to be Mage Council and burns up her modem. This is a mystery to be solved in the next Retrievers novel, I think.

Too much of this novel is unfinished business and left for Book 4. Although I realized when I purchased the book that it would continue on, prior to this point, Gilman has resolved enough of the issues to make the book satisfying. Reading this volume was enough of a slog to slow me down considering buying Book 4, though I probably still will because I very much like the characters.

This is the third book in the Retreiver series and it just keeps getting better! In this one, Wren decides to take on a project without Sergei, her business partner, manager and lover. After all, it's just a simple job.

Nothing is simple any more and Sergei is keeping his own secrets as well. There's something going on at the Silence and he's trying to keep himself and Wren out of it while holding the Silence to their promise to protect Wren.

PB, Wren's demon friend, has an agenda of his own, trying to promote harmony between the Fae, the Nulls and the Lone Jack Talents. Unfortunately, there's Lone Jacks missing, Fae dying and the hate groups rising. The Council (which rules the Talents and the Lone Jacks ignore)is definitely involved as well.

Between Wren & Sergei's attempts to make their relationship work, the "simple job", the problems with the Silence, the clashes of the Fae/Human/Talent and Wren's attempts to calm everyone down when her talent makes her "invisible", this is a very exciting book.

This is a well written series. The characters keep evolving. I can't wait for the next one!

This book is worth picking up and reading, but not terribly exciting. But, it nicely continues the storyline of the previous books.

So, if you enjoy this series, you will like this book as well. Compared to other sequels in this genre, this is better than most.

Wren Valerie is a Retrieval Artist (some might call her a thief) who is a Talent using a charge of power, many times electrical in nature to use her magic. Her latest case involves Anna Rosen, a Null (a human with no talent) who wants Wren to retrieve a piece of jewelry that is in her stepmother's possession even though it belonged to Anna's mother. She accepts the job without letting her Null business partner and lover Sergei Didier know as a way of asserting her independence.

Wren's attention is wrenched away from the job when it looks like the different factions in Manhattan are going to battle. The fatae (magical sentient creatures once though to belong only in fantasy or children's books) are the victim of human hate crimes, lonejacks, independent operators like Wren are disappearing and the fatae doesn't want to join forces with the lonejacks who have ignored them in the past. All factions think the Mage Council is behind the vigilante assaults, the disappearances and the forcible attempts to bring the lonejacks to heel. Wren proposes an alliance between the fatae and the lonejacks and is spearheading the unification believing they must to stand together to survive whatever the Council is planning.

The latest Reviewer novel is an action-packed romantic fantasy in which different factions of the magical community make alliances in preparation for a possible war with the Mage Council. Laura Anne Gilman is in the same League as Laurell K. Hamilton, creating a world where humans, magical beings and Talents all know about each other and sometimes even mange to co-exist peacefully. Ms. Gilman is a great world builder who makes readers desire to believe her world actually exists.

Harriet Klausner

I just loved the first two books in this series, and was definitely looking forward to a new book. This book seemed like it was the first part in a two-part story, it left everything hanging and didn't seem to complete or resolve any of the issues it presented, (the problems with The Silence and The Council). I do enjoy the independent spirit of her main female character Valere. Hopefully we won't have to wait another year for the finish of this particular story plot since this book presented more questions than answers.

Bring it On picks up the story right after Curse the Dark. Wren is still in grieving over *spoiler* over Less's death. However there are more important matters at hand. There is a battle growing between the fatae, Talent and the Council. The Council is getting stronger and the Talents and fatae are still refusing to work together. But Wren is determined to try to get everyone to work together for their survival depend on it. Wren's relationship with Sergei continues to grow more and more. She also decides to take on a simple retrieval case on her own without Sergei's help something she has never done before. But it is a Null who comes to Wren asking her to retrieve an item that is strangely odd, something that a Null shouldn't know about. Overall a good book and it's ending sets up the upcoming battle that is to come.

Although this was not as action filled as the first two books, it was obviously written to expand the plot lines. I think the next one will probably be more like the first two. That said, I did enjoy reading this book and will continue to buy the series. I like the dynamics between Sergei, Wren, and her Demon friend, who has decided to act in the role of familiar for Wren.

This is the third in the Retriever series and the books continue to get better. Of the urban fantasy genre, the book contains a nice mix of the magic and the mundane and makes the mix "believable". The books are well written with a good use of language. Plots are complex, characters well-developed (and quirky enough to be very human, even when they're not) and the pacing is good. Multiple story lines are well managed and keep you guessing - the great thing is, the author doesn't see the need to wrap things up quickly as so many other do, often to the detriment of the story - the plots all develop well and end at what seems to be an appropriate time, not all necessarily in the one book (which isn't a problem - you can still read them as stand alones and pick up a good read). Not all goes as planned, the main characters have flaws that make them even more interesting and generally I find I need to keep reading. They keep me engaged and looking for the next one. Highly recommended.

Usually I get bored by the third or forth book in a series, but not with this series. Each book is better than the one before it. You really get into the characters and the romance that is developing. And you really need to start with the first book.

Excellant book. Can't wait for the next Retriever adventure. I hope there will be a lt more coming out.