Customer Reviews

Demon Forged (The Guardian Series)

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Demon Forged is absolutely the best of Meljean Brook's Guardian series to date. Character rich and well crafted, Demon Forged is equal parts romance and a story which builds on and adds some surprising developments to the overall arc of this excellent series -- I thoroughly loved this book and I am only barely resisting the urge to gush and rave.

Guardians Irena and Alejandro - whom Irena calls Olek- have a history, in fact they have 400 years of history. Originally teacher and student, Irena and Alejandro had been stoking an attraction and headed toward an eventual consummation until a fluke and a bargain lead to hurt, shame and anger which causes them to separate for 200 years and which hangs between them for 200 years more. For the past 2 centuries Alejandro and Irena have been antagonistic `friends', dancing around the anger and need that still burns between them - both wanting more, both unsure of the other's feelings, and both too stubborn and proud to take a chance on breaching the distance and facing the truth of what happened to force them apart.

Demon Forged is probably the steamiest of the Guardian books. Somehow the sensuality level in Brook's books always seems to fit the leads - and both Alejandro and Irena are passionate and intense. And even though Brook makes us wait 400 years for the pair to finally come together, she builds the anticipation by giving us a glimpse from the past of the barely leashed attraction between Irena and Alejandro, so that we truly understand the depth of the need that both have suffered. So it is not surprising, that when the pair - who have spent hundreds of year verbal sparring as `foreplay' - finally connect, it is so hot that it is literally on fire.

Demon Forged is really hard to summarize, there is a lot going on here as Irena and Alejandro's story is woven tightly in with the Guardians' struggle to prevent pieces of the prophecy from falling into place, and that part the story was amazingly good too. I can't really talk about most of the things that I loved about the book without heading into spoiler territory, but with two more books to go Brook adds new characters, begins threads for future pairs, and continues the development of what now is a fairly large cast. Probably the most impressive was Brook's development of Irena who was not a sympathetic or particularly likeable character in Demon Bound (The Guardians, Book 7). Irena is utterly fascinating here and she is so much more than what she first appears to be. At the start of Demon Forged, I couldn't have imagined Irene and Alejandro together - they seemed to be polar opposites, her brash directness to his subtle manipulations, her rough power to his grace and finesse - but as Brook delves into their histories and personalities and gives us a chance to watch how Irena and Alejandro interact with the rest of the Guardians, it is clear that they are just what the other needs. Brook also makes good use of the rest of her cast of Guardians, vampires, demons and Grigori. As one of the characters who clearly has an increasingly important part as the series moves forward, I found Khavi's expanded role in the book to be really interesting, as she appears, pull some threads to redirect the future, drops her often embarassing announcements of what she has (fore)'seen' and then vanishes. And, always a nice reward for fans of the series, many of the past and future leads have small but significant parts to play in the story - including sad, poignant and shocking parts.

Personally, I think that to appreciate Demon Forged readers should have at least read Demon Bound, but for readers new to the series - and for those of us fans who are a bit on the memory challenged side needing a refresher - Brook starts out Demon Forged with a dump of the history of the Guardians and if that is not enough, Brook also has collection of "if you are starting with this book..." summaries on her website which have only moderate spoilers for previous books, but have enough information to catch new readers up on the series arc. So if you want to start here and then go back and read the earlier books later - you're good to go.

Demon Forged is the eighth book in Meljean's Guardian series and will absolutely, positively blow your mind. Where as Demon Bound was a bit restrained, Demon Forged explodes with such rich dialogue, descriptions and remarkable characters we have all grown to love.

The two main characters here are Guardians Irena and Alejandro who I first met in Demon Night. They really didn't make much of an impression on me at first. But after reading their story, they have become my second favorite couple behind Hugh and Lilith. Irena and Alejandro have a relationship much like the one Hugh and Lilith have. Alejandro loves Irena so much, but because of a very horrible event from their past, Irena keeps him at arms length. Alejandro will do whatever he can to have any type of relationship with Irena. She knows that she is his weakness and flaunts it to the point where he is at the breaking point. He thinks he knows why Irena can't love him and be with him, but how so very wrong he is. When he finds out why, he is shocked to his core. I certainly was.

The other side of Demon Forged deals with the ongoing fight between the Guardians and those various creatures of pure evil. The prophecy that has been foretold since the beginning is about to come to a head and the Guardians, as well as their allies, need to take up arms because what is about to happen is quite the doozy.

Now this doozy, as I call it, is in regards to a certain character and his reaction to his future told by Khavi, who has the Gift of foresight. When Michael figures out some very important things in regards to the prophecy, his part in it, and the one he is meant to love and be with, will send a tidal wave of shock and awe like you wouldn't believe. The way Meljan ends Demon Forged takes us in a direction no one would have expected. Meljean could have gone a different way with this book, an ending that would have been just as good, but perhaps not as profound. It's a big chance she takes and it works in so many ways.

Everything in Demon Forged seems more intense. The action and suspense will have you clutching the pages. Your heart will race. There is a great deal of suffering and a few deaths you won't see coming. (Meljean also made me care for Colin, that slick SOB vampire, as I call him. I am not a big fan of Colin, but that all changes because of one scene where he shows his deep love for Savi.)

There is also some freaky stuff Irena does with one of her statues she has created. This goes down as my favorite sex scene I have read in any book this year and it's very eye popping and so very naughty. If you were disappointed in the lack of sex scenes in Demon Bound, Meljean has delivered and more so. What Irena and Alejandro share starts out as a bit kinky and then transforms into something so very special. These scenes will not disappoint.

I can say hands down that Demon Forged is a well written near perfect read.

Katiebabs

Four centuries ago Irena's shame and Alejandro's pride destroyed a love that could have withstood an eternity. Now Irena's heart is as hard as steel and it only melts beneath Alejandro's dark and smoldering stares whenever they're forced to be in each other's presence.

Irena's sixteen centuries as a Guardian have sharpened her into a quick and blunt instrument delivering pointed comments with developed wisdom and at times, with unveiled anger. She is also often misinterpreted. Recently betrayed by Michael, leader of the Guardians, her mentor and the one she looked up to above all others, Irena's disappointment is known throughout the Corps but she'll not allow it to prevent her from protecting those who need it. She's a warrior, a hunter, quick to react and quick to judge every situation. Her hatred for demons is soul deep and the fact that the Guardians, in her mind, have become subservient to them only deepens her disappoint with Michael. As far as Irena's concerned, she's a being who lives for the hunt and the kill and her skills are not useful to the scheming minds of her fellow Guardians and their alignment with the hellspawn Lilith and the Demon Rael. Given the chance she'd slay them both.

Alejandro has loved Irena from the moment he laid eyes on her in Caelum four hundred years ago. He knew that it was she who made the beautiful weapons that the Guardians used with her Gift of manipulating metal. Her demon kills were and still are legendary and one would be wise to be worshipful and intimidated by her but instead Alejandro challenged her the moment their eyes locked. She kissed him that day after bringing him to the ground with merely a knife. Instead of humiliation he felt lust and determination to satisfy her wild soul.

No woman could be more Alejandro's opposite. He's well read while she could care less for words. He doesn't cultivate hated for demons while she burns with it. Irena was and still is warrior to the soul. A woman who detests politicians while Alejandro, a politician in his human life, has also played that role as a Guardian. And if called to do it again, he will even knowing that it will take him further and further from Irena's heart. It's only Alejandro's Gift of fire that meshes with Irena but it's also enough to fuel a combustible passion.

The world that the Guardians find themselves in DEMON FORGED is darker and more desperate then ever. Their numbers are devastatingly low while their threats have multiplied and converged into a power greater than they've ever faced. Emotions are taught while they all await the moment that their skills are tested and their lives may be forfeit. It's in this time that Irena's strength and natural ability to lead are needed. When the Demon Rael, a.k.a. Senator Stafford and political backer of the Guardians and their Homeland Security division of Special Investigations, is struck by the bullet that kills his wife during a political rally, the Guardians suspect foul play on the demon's part and launch an investigation. Because of the Rules, Rael could never directly kill his human wife but he could bargain with another being not bound by the Rules to commit the murder. If Rael is responsible, the Guardians will slay him and Alejandro will assume his position as Senator Stafford. Both Alejandro and Irena are assigned to the investigation.

For four hundred years, Irena has allowed Alejandro to think the worst of the catalyst that had ultimately drove them apart. Her shame forced distance between them but perhaps it's the recent doom that has settled over her and her fellow Guardians or perhaps she's just tired of fighting her desire for Alejandro but she feels that now is the time to tell him the truth. He's punished himself long enough. At the same time, Alejandro makes the decision to fight for Irena. He let her walk away four centuries ago and every day since then. Enough is enough. And when Alejandro and Irena finally come together, they collide like two fierce predators, each fighting for dominance, each stripped to their hot cores. They're rough with their strength, explosive with their emotions and blistering with their heat.

When the Guardian's worst fear becomes a reality, Alejandro and Irena are willing, determined even, to sacrifice their lives to destroy the evil intent on enslaving humanity despite the fact that they've have renewed their love and cemented their bond.

DEMON FORGED is by far the darkest novel in the Guardian Series and it's not just because of the events that occur but also because of Alejandro and Irena, their past, the dilemmas they face and the fact that they're more serious and seasoned Guardians. Alejandro is dark and sultry and embodies the deadly precision of a very skilled swordsman. Irena is solid in her stance, brutally direct with a temper that's like a constant lit fuse just waiting to burst into flames.

With Irena, you always know where you stand. She's not one to play games, she's lived too long. She's also a bit barbaric, a hunter of large game that eats the hearts of her kills. She's raw and simply fascinating. Although, having lived sixteen centuries, she's a bit set in her ways and a times, quick to judge without looking at all angles. But like the steel she works with, she will bend but not for just anyone. Her anger with Michael is justified and I felt deeply for her reasons. But even though she disagrees with her leader, she never abandons their cause.

Alejandro is achingly intense and a man who prides himself on his control. This is a common trait in Brook's heroes but to witness them when their rigid control snaps is like ambrosia for the hussy soul for it usually shatters during sex. But while each of Brook's heroes share this trait, they all break their control for different reasons. What was interesting about Alejandro was that although he was prideful, he wasn't necessarily arrogant. He's a silent man who rarely speaks unless the situation calls for it. He's dangerous and mysterious - a predator. Alejandro broke my heart on two specific occasions, both of which were incredibly heroic and are burned deeply within my reader heart. He and Irena were more than worthy for one another.

Obviously there is a lot more to DEMON FORGED than Alejandro and Irena, much of which are best experienced on ones own. I will mention though one new aspect to Brook's Guardian novels and that is the time she spends in POV's other than the lead hero and heroine. There are two other romances cultivating in DEMON FORGED in addition to Alejandro and Irena but all three snagged my undivided attention. Brook never fails to astound me. The world is evolving. Several plot arch's are converging and the novels are taking on a more Urban Fantasy feel but the romance is still very much center stage and the sex is still very integral to the growth of her characters. What Brook ends up delivering is my perfect romance novel.

DEMON FORGED took me on a journey through a miasma of emotions. I cried tears of indescribable awe. I laughed and cheered. I held the pages with white knuckled fingers and bated breath. I flung myself back into the couch with shock. I smiled and frowned. To encapsulate it all into one sentence: I loved.

Gentlemen, let me introduce you to Irena, the Russian/barbarian assassin that kills just about anything and everything that pisses her off which is pretty much anything and everything. She has a quick temper and kills with gruesome efficiency. She doesn't ask alot of questions and she doesn't like being asked questions either. Her motto in life is "Kill it! Kill it NOW!" Don't you just love her?! I mean, c'mon, just look at those round, pointy, firm....Kurki Knives. Pretty cool huh? This is pretty much the outfit she runs around in the entire novel so keep that mental image in your head. The only thing missing from the artist's rendition is some snake tattoos going up her arm that move/change according to her mood. *Sigh*.....

Ok, now clean that slobber off your keyboard while I tell you about the novel. Demon Forged by Meljean Brook focuses on Irena and her man-meat Olek/Alejando. They are both Guardians. Guardians are...well...they are basically angelic assassins - they kill and they kill alot. What do they kill? They kill nosferatu, demons and nephilim all the time. Grigori and vampires meet ends from these killing machines ocassionally. And yes there is a difference between nosferatu and vampires - read the book to find out. I will not attempt to explain what exactly grigori and nephilim are other than to say they are pretty evil creatures and Ms. Brook does a great job of describing them and their origins in the book. Irena and Olek have spent the last 400 (that's right 400) years apart due to some evilness performed on them by a particularly nasty demon. Not that there are any nice demons but this one is especially wicked. And is evilness a word? I digress. Now these two Guardians are thrust back together to answer a distress call of a vampire. The book and plot progress nicely from there into a fast paced action adventure worthy of a Jason Bourne novel.

This book falls into a genre known as Urban Fantasy. Urban Fantasy is an offshoot of the Romance genre so I was a bit hestiate to pick this book up. But everything I read about this book told me it was very good so I decided to give it a shot. In my feeble brain, I have always imagined Romance novels as poorly written, character driven stories full of cliches and "love" scenes not worthy of any decent erotica story i.e. "He saw her across the smokey bar and knew at once the she would be his; that he would engulf her in his throbbing love that very night." - bleh! So, that did not interest me at all. Let me say that Demon Forged is not like that at all. Do not get me wrong, it is very character driven but there is a plot so strong that Ms. Brook could've written her novel just around that. And different characters drive the story at different times not just Olek and Irena. And, AND, that is what makes this an amazing novel. Not only do you have this story about long lost lovers reuniting and working things out but you also have this slash and kill action adventure surrounding it. Ms. Brook makes those transitions almost effortlessly and, more importantly, believeably (is THAT a word?). There is no perfect timing; there are awkward moments between lovers; there are no Mary Sues (i.e. perfect characters); the plot is wholly believable in an unbelieable world. Overall Meljean Brook has created a novel that can be enjoyed on almost every level - it is extremely well written, the charcters are well developed and are flawed, the story and situations make sense and it urges you to turn the page to see what happens next.

This book is also part of Ms. Brook's Guardian series. The Guardian series is just that - a series of books and short stories about different Guardians set (mostly) in the present day. This was another hang up for me. The Fantasy part of this genre. I am not a fan of Fantasy books mainly because they can not entice me to suspend disbelief. The only one I could bare to read were the Thomas Covenant Chronicles by Stephen Donaldson because he created a scenario where the whole fantasy world might just be in the lead character's head. I did not have any problems with Ms. Brook's world at all. It seems, again, wholly believable even in its outlandishness. She has relied on Christian myths/stories/gospels to create a basis for her fantasy world i.e. Heaven and Hell, Angels and Demons, Purgatory, saints and sinners that I believe just about anyone can associate with. She sets her stories in real locations (mostly) in (mostly) the present. So in my opinion it is a fantasy novel but just barely.

Now, the romance. Although I was waiting for Olek to say something goofy like: 'Yo te quiero mucho' (he is Spanish by the way) it never happened and that is a credit to Ms. Brook's writing. The romance in this book is not cliche - not in the least. She does give a lot of sexual tension between the main characters and good amount of build up. But she gives us missteps between the characters; she gives us fumbling and miscues that seem all too real. When she does get around to giving us the goods it is not C level erotica. It is full on XXX, avert your eyes, OH MY GOD type stuff that is not for the prudish out there. You are hereby warned! Proceed at your own risk during these passages for things may arise and cold showers (unless you are a vampire) may be in order.

Ok, what didn't I like about the book? Honestly, not much. The only thing I shake my finger at Ms. Brook for is the perfection in appearance for the majority of her characters. All the men are tall, dark and handsome with chiseled appearances. The women are gorgeous with bodies that seem to be lacking in very little (maybe a good haircut). And everyone has ample everything that harden quite easily and can throb from time to time. To me, that is the easy way out and probably what the vast majority of her readers want to read about. Still, she has the talent to do more than that. She could probably write about George Costanza in such a way that more than a few women may squirm in their seats. But, in her defense, there is a very good reason for the perfection in appearance in her characters. The Guardians are supposed to be angelic and who has ever heard of a fugly angel? Also, it provides for a nice dicot...dikot....difference between their flawed personalities.

I say pick it up and be transported to a realm of fierce enjoyment!

Man oh Man. I really enjoyed Demon Forged. I thought Brooks did a fantastic job in Demon Bound where she took a different heroine and made her story perfect.This is what compelled me to purchase Demon Forged. I am all caught up on the back Guardian stories and was ready to dive in. I cant give a better rehash of the story line then Katie so just a brief summary. Alejandro and Irena were old lovers until a tragic event causes them to go their seperate ways. Alejandro has an affinity for fire and Irena has an affinity for metal. I love this story for so many reasons and cant put my finger on everything. I loved watching Irena and Alejandro realize that they both still love one another, I love figuring out whats going on with the battle between good versus evil and I most especially love knowing that Michael is going to get someone. For fans following the Guardian series, you will not be disappointed. For those new to Meljean Brooks work I dont recommend starting here. There are so many complex things going on and without the background story that I had, it would not have been easy to follow along. Irena's character is just so clear to me and she was a kick butt heroine. Brooks had some BIG things happen that worked perfect for the story and the ending is just gasp worthy. .In fact that last 30-40 pages were great and leaves you going WOW!!

this is the first book i have read by ms. brooks. it was a good read and i look forward to the rest (and future) books in this series.

This author is just as good as JR Wards brotherhood series and Jeanin Frosts series! Love the world created! A must read!

"While this is a great story that can stand on its own, it definitely has a huge impact on the Guardian series as a whole. The sequence of events throughout this book grips the readers, leaving them on the edge of their seats, and the ending will leave them anxious for the next book and loathing the wait until its release. Meljean Brook has truly outdone herself with this one, which is my new favorite in this spectacular series." - Karin

SPOILERS

I really did love the book. The pacing was non-stop, and I loved seeing more of both new characters and old characters. There were also some seriously cool gifts in evidence like Irena's ability with metal and the other gaurdian's ability with shadow. The plot twists kept coming hard and fast, and I never did feel like I could relax and catch my breath.

I will admit that--as much as I like Irena and Alejandro--I was more interested in the subplot with Michael. He's intrigued me since "Falling for Anthony." He's powerful enough that when anything frightens him my automatic reaction is to read faster so I can see what kind of hell is going to be unleased. I never saw the ending coming, and I'm seriously ticked off that we don't even stand a chance at getting a resolution until next summer. I really hope he gives her nightmares, and I'm looking forward to seeing how she gets him out of this mess. Of course, I'll go to throwing-the-book angry if she doesn't resolve this situation soon.

If you like the rest of the series, I definitely recommend reading this book. Just be warned that the cliff-hanger ranks up there with the ending of "Empire Strikes Back" and "Two Towers" for being a filthy, rotten, no-good way to leave the readers hanging.

I very much enjoyed this book. I usually enjoy Meljean's work a great deal, and I think this might be the strongest of the series. Of course, I am probably biased since I really like Irena and was waiting for her story. At the core, this is a book about redemption and finding happiness despite yourself and I believe that almost everyone should be given a chance to redeem themselves.

It made me happy.