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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Action-Packed Sequel, April 6, 2010
This review is from: The Mage in Black (Sabina Kane, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
Former assassin, Sabina Kane has decided to travel to New York to meet her long lost twin at the Hekate Council. And being a vampire/mage hybrid, she can begin a more thorough training of her magical abilities. But after a couple attempts on her life, it seems that someone within the haven of mages wants Sabina out of the way. Meanwhile, her demon familiar decides to join a fight club, where the last rule is `no mercy.'
Sabina is a strong, kick-butt female, who doesn't easily trust people after the betrayal of her grandmother. Her sister and demon familiar are more light-hearted and upbeat characters that have a great contrasting affect on Sabina. They bring out a different side of her. Sabina also grows in her magical abilities, and is put to the test in several ways. And along the way, we learn that she has a mysterious destiny involving the unity of all the dark races.
There is no sophomore slump here. This second Sabina Kane novel was even more fast-paced and action packed than the first. Once I started, I couldn't put it down, and read it in just a few short hours. Wells' fantastic world of a vast array of magical and mythical creatures focuses more on mages, werewolves and demons in this installment. With mystery, danger, suspense, magic, and a bit of romance, this urban fantasy series has it all. Last year, The Red-Headed Stepchild made my list of favorites, and having enjoyed The Mage in Black even more, I'm sure it will make this year's list as well.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Campy, cheesy, predictable., July 6, 2010
I'm all for a good vamp novel, don't get me wrong, and I've been reading everything vamp/mage/demon I can get my hands on for the past few years now but this one doesn't stand out in a good way. The characters are flat, the writing is one-note, the story is predictable and the dialogue is cheesy. She sets a picture for everything that happens so that, as it's happening, you know what's coming next. She writes well enough that the book plays out like a movie in my head, which is something I really like (hence the bonus star she got from me) but the movie was just like every other gun toting, gas station exploding movie I've ever seen in theaters without the benefit of surround sound and popcorn.
Certain moments of in-opportune sexual distraction make the story feel immature and unrehearsed, like the writer wanted to be shocking by adding sexual undertones but lacks the real-life sexual experience to make it believable. There are also peppered moments of silliness meant to be comedy which happen at the oddest times and make you wonder if you're reading a parody. Should I laugh? It seemed so serious but maybe I should laugh now?
It's hard to understand her vision, or maybe her vision is just so common that it's overly simple and doesn't need to be understood.
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14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The writing is simplistic and the plot is predictable., May 19, 2010
This review is from: The Mage in Black (Sabina Kane, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
Entire paragraphs start with "I", and the contradictions are endless.
In the first book, Adam gives that whole spiel about using magic carefully, lecturing about the butterfly effect. Yet the mages use their magic liberally, ranging from simple wardrobe changes to being too lazy to physically haul a practice dummy out of a closet. The mages are capable of teleportation, but Adam and Sabina waste time and risk lives on a road trip from California to New York. Couldn't he just teleport them and Sabina's precious Ducati? Why risk The Chosen One and their lives on a week-long cross-country journey? The dark races are careful about keeping their affairs secret from humans, yet three vamp assassins pull up on a gas station and start gunning down Adam and Sabina through the glass without any regard for security cameras or the gas station attendants. Sabina saves the attendant's life by shoving him to safety but she later realizes that they can't leave a human witness behind so she's ready to kill him. Why save him in the first place?
Sabina claims to be a good assassin yet attackers always catch her off-guard, she's always conveniently without a weapon when it's time to fight, and makes the dumbest decisions that would have most assassins killed. She asserts that she's not stupid, but she blurts out "You said they were supposed to throw the fight!" in the middle of a gambling arena. She's fleeing from a top secret organization that froze her bank accounts, but she doesn't withdraw emergency cash from her only working ATM card, and then goes broke after even that card is frozen.
The only 'strong' characteristic in her is her will to kill, but a strong compulsion to punch first and ask questions later =/= a strong woman.
I wish sentences started with something other than "I", and narrated more than "I did this" or "I felt that" and "I saw those" or "I blah blah". Or "He did that", "He did this" etcetera. Show, not tell.
Bottom line is, this is just another unimpressive vampire series. Not worth your money.
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