Customer Reviews

Embrace the Night (Cassandra Palmer)

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The third entry in the Cassandra Palmer Series, Embrace the Night (Cassandra Palmer Series, Book 3), kept me enthralled until the last word. What an incredible adventure this book was - I was breathless throughout!

First, let me say that the Cassandra Palmer series has been one of my favorite series since I read the first book.

The author, Karen Chance, wrapped up a bunch of open storylines in this book, but left some big ones open as well for future books in the series. The book has wonderful character development and continuity from the first two books.

The jumping back and forth in time didn't confuse me, but I suppose it could confuse some people. I love books with time travel in them, but sometimes I get irritated when authors ignore paradoxes. This book (and series) tackles time travel paradoxes head on and it was very believably handled. I didn't find any flaws with how the author handled the time travel and its consequent effects.

There was a lot of character development for Cassie, Mircea, and Pritkin in this book. There is a lot of history explained for each individual which continued to help to flesh them out.

I loved this book and can't wait for the next one in the series! In particular, I can't wait for more Pritkin - I adore his character! :)

This book strained my patience to the very limits, but my perseverance did pay off. ETN had a lot of back and forth just as book 2 did, which drove me to distraction, but unlike that one the ending has some satisfying resolutions and made me eager for the story to continue. The book does have issues, and it doesn't hold up to the quality of book 1, but it was far better than book 2.

The story starts out as anticipated - Cassie needs to find a way to break the geis Mircea laid on her. Her will to resist is fading, and Mircea is going insane. I have to admit, the author's resolution to the dilemma was smart if extremely simple, and had been hinted at several times to astute readers. Some readers may find it disappointing; I was just glad it was over. The downside is that readers have to wait to the very last chapter for that resolution. Cassie needs Merlin's Codex which should have a counter spell in it. But the Codex has been unwriting itself through the years, and so the complete text can only be found in the past. No problem for a time traveling clairvoyant. Wrong. Everyone either wants the book for themselves because it is so powerful, or they don't want anyone to have it because it is so powerful. Which side of this debate Pritkin falls on is critical to the story. Until that last chapter, Cassie jumps back and forth through time, with small battles sprinkled in here and there, to find it. The action is fast paced and mostly useless, as she skips around like a little girl at a party. The main intent of all these trips is for Cassie to learn just who her allies are (especially Pritkin), but this could have been done in a less muddled and exhausting way. At times I become so frustrated I literally growled at the book! Hopefully, the author will realize that the constant time shifting is distracting and annoying to a reader.

The awesome, and truly clever, revelations about Pritkin made the entire book worth reading. His character was beginning to get beyond aggravating as the author constantly had Cassie (and readers) guessing if he was on her side or not, just as in book 2. Yet, his involvement in the geis is much deeper than suspected, and he becomes a catalyst for the introduction of another powerful, and potentially plot inducing, character - Lord Rosier. Cassie also discovers some twists to her new power (even managing to duplicate Agnes' time freezing trick, by accident of course), and sees how much responsibility it is to be Pythia.

The ending saved this book from being mediocre. My fears that the geis would consume many books to come were laid to rest but the actions surrounding the geis provided lots of cool plotlines and enough resolution to make some progress. Readers learn who the golden god who calls Cassie "Herophile" is and the origin of the Pythia's powers; we learn more about Pritkin's past, the motivations of the Silver Circle; and, just what Mircea and Cassie truly feel. Cassie finally accepts the responsibility as Pythia, and makes alliances to protect herself and the timeline. Now that these things are tied up, the plot should be able to focus on the coming "war." Though book 2 was a disappointment, this makes up for it. I will read Curse the Dawn (Cassandra Palmer, Book 4) and have even ordered Midnight's Daughter (Dorina Basarab, Dhampir, Book 1) to see how she handles a story with a different protagonist. Recommended.

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Cassie Palmer has only had a few weeks to get used to her new position as Pythia, chief clairvoyant of the world and as such, the "official" head of the supernatural society, a position she inherited against all her wishes.

Cassie's latest is to track down the legendary Codex Merlini, a book of spells written by Merlin himself. She needs this book to find the only spell that can break the geis magically binding her to Mircea, (see Claimed by Shadow) one of the most ancient and powerful vampires around, brother to Vlad himself. If the geis isn't broken soon, Mircea will be driven insane and his second death will soon follow.

Cassie must jump through time and space to find the Codex, break the geis and save Mircea's life. Her only ally is a former enemy, War Mage John Pritkin, who has many secrets of his own. As she continues her search for the Codex, she begins to discover there is a very good reason why it has been missing for so long. If the wrong beings get their hands on it, it could bring about the destruction of all mankind, human and supernatural. And what is the huge secret Pritkin will do just about anything to protect?

I adore the Cassie Palmer series and I eagerly look forward to each new installment. Embrace the Night delivers more of the pulse pounding excitement that Karen Chance is becoming famous for. Keep in mind though, this is a series best read in order. Each book expands on the universe Chance has created, making many references to preceding books. While the stories do stand somewhat on their own, many of the delicate nuances to the story would be lost without knowledge of the earlier books.

Action begins immediately on the first page and the drive to the conclusion is so fast paced you'll be out of breath just from reading about it. The beginning to end of the story's timeline is quite short, covering about a week or so of time but with Cassie's shifting through time and space makes it seem like more time passes. We also have the pleasure of seeing Cassie grow in strength and pride, coming into her own magically. She also continues to explore her abilities, uncovering new talents at the exact times she needs them most. Unfortunately, her control of same abilities is lagging far behind, which makes for some lively scenes.

Fast paced adventures, physical attraction between characters that is positively electrifying, engaging characters, a whole passel of supernatural creatures from demons to fairies and everything in between, these are trademarks of Karen Chance's books. Embrace the Night more than meets the expectations of readers like me who have become fascinated with Cassie's story. I loved my most recent visit with Cassie, Pritkin, Mircea, and even Radella they warrior fairy. We have a very satisfying conclusion to the book though I sure hope we don't have to wait too long to visit again!

© Kelley A. Hartsell, March 2008. All rights reserved.

Cassandra thought she'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time...turns out tho, that her being made Pythia was actually the culmination of some truly long-range planning. I really enjoyed the first two books in this series and was waiting anxiously for this one. I enjoyed the book and must give kudos to the author for weaving a complex tale. She did a great job of weaving together the threads that had been cast in the first two books. I was breathless when I finished.

Cassie, as Pythia, can travel through time. Unfortunately, she never got any training and if there was a manual...well, let's just say that apparently nobody wants her to have one. Instead, it seems that all the people she meets just want her to trust them to tell her what she needs to do. The problem with that is she's not sure who, if anyone, she can trust. Cassie is involved with vampires, demons, faeries, talking skulls, magic books...well, the list is really endless.

But this is not a mindless tale of love. Everything is not laid out plainly--the intricacies of actions taken while traveling back in time are brought home in this final book. I can't say much else without giving away too much. I will say that I'm not sorry I read these three books and I hope the author will give us future glimpses into Cassie's world.

It was in this book that I finally found I really enjoyed almost everything that happened, plot-wise. I'm glad that Karen Chance dealt with the issue of the Geis, instead of trying to drag it out until it became teeth-clenchingly annoying. Also, Mircea and Pritkin have a lot of development in this book. I still find Mircea a bit of a stereotype for the genre (the older-than-thou vampire who also happens to be mysteriously sexy), but I found myself less annoyed with his character than I have been previously.

It was also in this book that I became a complete Pritkin fan. I suspect that Karen Chance has a lot of fun writing scenes with Pritkin, because it's those scenes that are really dynamic and pop.

Cassie is still dumb. She may SAY that she only "looks like a dumb blond" but she oftentimes acts like one, too. She says "What?" and "Huh?" so many times that sometimes I want to hit her, especially when the answer is painfully obvious. It seems like she needs EVERYTHING to be carefully explained to her. I suspect that's because Karen Chance uses Cassie as a device to explain things to the reader, but unfortunately, by making her so utterly obtuse about things, she makes it hard for me to respect Cassie.

Also, I don't know if I had a special copy of the book, but I saw many editorial mistakes. In fact, in the first few chapters of the book, Cassie comes to a realization...and then she comes to the SAME realization near the end of the book. I actually flipped back to see if I was just remembering things wrong, but no, Cassie actually comes to a conclusion for the first time...twice.

Because of these issues, the book didn't get above three stars, however it's still a fun, fluffy read that can be finished easily...and the humor between Pritkin and Cassie make the book worth the read.

Embrace the Night jumps straight into the action with no refresher for those of us fans who are mildly memory challenged and keeps up the exhilarating pace all the way to the end. Since it's been a while since I read the last book, it took me a few chapters to get up to speed with the characters and to recall the details surrounding Cassie ascension to Pythia and the Geis hanging over her head-- a spelled connection that threatens to either put her under master vampire Mircea's control or destroy his sanity -- but when I did Whoa what a ride! I loved this one. Watching Cassie grow into her new powers and the nuances of manipulating time while searching through time for the counterspell to the Geis along with delving more into her relationships with vampire Raph, war-mage Pritkin and Mircea all made for a fascinating story. Add in some starting revelations into Pritkin's past and I can't just can't wait for the next one, hope it's not another whole year.

I highly recommend Embrace the Night to fans of the series - but you might want to skim through the last book to brush up a bit so that you can truly jump into the action at the beginning of the book. If you are new to the series go back to the beginning, Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer Series, Book 1) and Claimed By Shadow (Cassandra Palmer Series, Book 2) and start there, because if you don't know Cassie's history or understand the dynamics of the relationship between Cassie and Mircea parts of the story just won't have as much impact. Next up Curse the Dawn: A Cassie Palmer Novel.

The first book in this series (Touch the Dark) was good but had problems with pacing - action interrupted by too much explanation - and lacked a little in terms of character development. But am I glad I kept with the series! #2 was terrific and Embraced by Night even better. Tons of action, terrific characters and an interesting and complicated plot. I especially like that Chance makes connections with historical and mythological figures. Even if she twists history, it's refreshing to have a book with vampires where someone exploits the fact that they've lived a long time and weaves their histories into the story. If you haven't read this series, definitely give it a try.

I don't want to be a spoiler, but this entire series is so chaotic and frantic that I found it hard to even understand some of the aspects of this story. In the end, I'm still left wondering what happened to Tomas? Why didn't someone remove the geis if it was so easy? Why are we suddenly riding on ley lines? What about the little fairy who wanted the fertility rune, did she get it? If not, what did she do? You know, when it comes down to it, it was like a wild goose chase that happened for no reason because the answer was right there the whole time. It just is not fun to read this anymore.

Better than any other author in this genre, punchier, and with a lot of humour. Chance writes so well - sexy enough to steam, but the action is always there to stop it from turning into a schlock-fest. I hope this series goes another few volumes yet, because she's done a great job of character development for Cassie, Mircea and especially Pritkin - my favourite character. You do need to read all three volumes of this series, and in order, to understand the whole plot, but anyone can enjoy the sexier side of the story lines.

If the author is reading this - get your pen out now please, and give me more Pritkin!!!! :)

The Silver Circle is stunned that untrained magic practitioner and vampire crime chief protégé Cassandra Palmer has been named Pythia, the chief seer as they expected one of their own to be honored as such. This has always happened for the past few millenniums. Cassandra knows she must become the one due to the domino chaos effect in which a chain of disasters pretty much left her the last one standing.

However to perform her new duties responsibly she has to rid herself of a minor problem. Cassie and sizzling hunk Mircea the master vampire are magically bound to one another; both find this arrangement abhorrent as it crimps their lifestyles. Research leads Cassie to conclude that the only way to survive breaking the link is through an incantation found in the long lost spell-book Codex Merlini. She decides to search the past for this ancient tome not understanding when she starts on her quest why the Codex Merlini vanished; but she will learn soon the hard way that possession places the world in danger from the evil she might inadvertently release as an unintended consequence.

The third entertaining Cassie Palmer dark fantasy (see TOUCH THE DARK and CLAIMED BY SHADOW) focuses on Newton's Third Law of Physics that "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". Fans will appreciate Cassie's escapades as she tries to end her magical tie to Mircea (though she would not mind a hickey or three from him) leading to potential pandemic peril. Sub-genre fans who have not read Cassie's saga should take a chance as these are well written horror-fantasy tales.

Harriet Klausner