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40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Is it too late for the ending Jo deserves?, August 10, 2008
Oh, Jo, you're sinking low.
If I had to name a favorite series, I think Caine's Weather Warden would edge out Harrison's The Hollows (Rachel Morgan), and Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld. I love the characters, I love the pace, I love the world Caine has created and the things these stories make me think about.
So it is with heavy heart that I suggest that Caine is losing her way. Gale Force is the next chapter in the saga, and we get the usual cast of characters - Joanne with her penchant for fast cars and designer shoes, her copper-eyed omniscient lover David, the best friend Cherise, the creepy-but-cool Rahel, the ever-sexy Lewis, and on and on. A few old faces have cameos in this book.
Again, Jo and friends are faced with some mysterious force that is threatening the lives of wardens, djin, and the Mother Earth herself. Again, Jo is the epicenter of the chaos, the missing piece to every puzzle. Again, there are quiet, tender, funny moments between Jo and her David, as well as some of the other characters. And again, those tender moments lead to a monumental choice that threatens to tear the fabric of their lives apart, that shakes the unity of Jo and David, and leaves us witnessing our star-crossed lovers saying goodbye... again.
See, I understand that all series are going to feel formulaic to some extent. Same author, same characters, same world, different bad guy. The problem that is happening with the Warden series is, as the reader, I am starting to feel like I'm being played. Each time something catastrophic happens, we see it through Jo's pain, and we are supposed to feel it with her. But seriously, how many times can people be killed, wiped from existence (because only in a series like this, is death considered an inconvenience compared to what ELSE can happen), turned bad, before none of it seems to matter anymore?
What, a djin has been captured and enslaved, which was NEVER SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN EVER IN THIS WORLD AGAIN? Meh. Jo will kill them.
Joanne's decision has broken the bond between her and David, and they may never speak to each other again? Meh. Jo will fix it.
Where is this going? I feel like this series has been amping up for the final act for a few books now, and if a character death is what we are being prepared for, then please, Ms. Caine, do it before it's so late in the series that nobody cares. Because if this is going where I think it is, I want to care. I want to weep. I want to curl up with my book and hurt with those characters, and flip the pages feverishly to find out what happens next, which is what I used to do... about three "deaths" ago.
I love these characters, and I want to feel their loss when they're gone, so stop giving me cardboard cutout stories and get to the meat of it. Git 'er done.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I wanted to love Gale Force, August 29, 2008
Rachel Caine is probably one of my favorite authors in the paranormal genre right now. Her books are witty and edgy, but at the same time, they have a lot of heart in them as well. And her Weather Warden series in particular is, without a doubt, one of my favorite series. That said, it is quickly losing favor and Gale Force (Weather Warden, Book 7) is far from Caine's best work. Indeed, this Weather Warden novel is a rather incomplete mess. One of the other reviewers described it as resembling a chapter in a bigger novel and I have to agree: Gale Force is an interlude. And not even a satisfying interlude at that.
After agreeing to marry David, Jo is on the hunt for the perfect wedding gown for the occasion when she is attacked in the bridal shop by something big, bad, and unrecognizable in the aetheric. With some help, Jo uncovers a dead Djinn whose body is a containment for antimatter large enough to virtually destroy the earth. Who created this antiparticle phenomenon which reacts with matter and tends to annihilate itself? Why, an unknown secret society that seems to have a whole lot of power from some equally unknown source, that's who!
And to add to the problem (or possibly to grasp for more concept in an otherwise lackluster plot), the Djinn cannot see/sense the antimatter, and any Djinn who die by it appear to be forgotten, as if they never existed. The reason for all of this trouble in creating antimatter and attacking at virtually any time is because, well, Jo is marrying David. Caine, being a logical author, gave a reason for both the Wardens and especially the Djinn to be opposed to the union, but for me it just didn't cut it. Even when the villain in revealed, all I could wonder was why he was so hellbent on stopping the nuptials. In fact, once it was known who the villain was, it became the weakest part of the story. There was absolutely zero attempt on Caine's part to give a logical explanation for why he was so hellbent on destruction. Mostly it came right down to the "well, it's because he's evil!" explanation, which is a piss poor cop out and well beneath Caine's writing ability. And just when it couldn't get any worse (but of course it could, because this is Jo), the media is asking questions about the Wardens, and Jo is the one they're connecting to the group. Oh no, says I, I didn't see that coming.
In the end, all of this trouble appeared to be well, not worth it. And possibly not worth reading as well. After the disappointment that was Thin Air (Weather Warden, Book 6), Gale Force is probably the worst book in the series and a huge step in the wrong direction. One of the problems that has arisen from this series is that Caine is just trying to do to much with it. What transpires is a book full of TOO much crap going on and not a lot of cohesiveness. Everything begins to be explained in a bit of a poorly conceived manner and dismissed quickly in order to fit in more conflict.
And this heroine is TIRED, that much is obvious. She's been on a roller coaster since Ill Wind (Weather Warden, Book 1) and nothing has let up since. Unlike other series (Jim Butcher's "Harry Dresden" books come to mind) where there's a long time lag between books to give the characters a period to recover, the Weather Warden series pretty much takes place in a single time frame. And with more assassination attempts than I can count or even recall, Jo is starting to show signs of wear and so is Rachel Caine.
The only reason this book is getting three stars from me as opposed to something lower is because Caine CAN write. This isn't a horrible book by any means, but she's done better and could have done better than this. Gale Force gives the impression of being rushed and not very well plotted. Even the portion of the story I was most looking forward to, namely where humans start following around Jo to find out more information about the Wardens, was treated passively as if it were of little importance. Even the "coming out", where Jo and Luis reveal themselves on national television is brushed aside with little consequence or even elaboration on how humans responded. Perhaps Caine will approach this in the next book, but she still has this mess with the Illogically Evil Villain to clean up.
And, yes, nothing was resolved. I've gotten used to Caine's cliffhangers and just kind of shrug them off as a signature of her writing. But even I have to admit that ending this book where she did was rather intolerable. It pretty much came off as, "well, I already wrote over 90,000 words, so I'll end it...here!" I'm all right with cliffhangers if the general plot in THIS book has been resolved and a new conflict has been introduced at the end. But this book dragged everything out and had every intention of never finishing it. Aside from seeing Jo and David married, there's nothing about this book that really stands out. And I never thought I'd say that about a Rachel Caine novel.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Always a treat, August 7, 2008
Excellent, as were the others in this series; this one was more action-packed, similar to the early books. A couple of observations:
It relies heavily on the previous novels, and if you don't know those story lines and characters you'd miss a lot. I strongly recommend that you read the whole set in order.
The number of secondary characters has reached the point where most are treated in a rather cursory manner, although Lewis, Kevin and especially Cherise have good-sized roles here.
SPOILERS:
There are (once again) major unresolved issues at the end, with Joanne (once again) infected and about to launch herself against the bad guy. This is rather frustrating, since it'll probably be a year before the next book comes out.
The whole coming out to the news media thing is kinda lame, and lamely done. Presumably this will make more sense in retrospect, in subsequent books.
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