Customer Reviews

Tempest Rising (Jane True)

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

A entirely original yet familiar introduction to a new world of urban fantasy. Jane True is stuck in a ho-hum life in small-town Maine as the village pariah. Because of the nature of her parentage (child out of wed-lock, gasp!) and a freak accident that left her crippled by her own grief and the town's collective hatred she has little to look forward to. The death of another local thrusts her into a paranormal society she didn't know existed let alone was part of. In walks Mr. Steamy/Sexy vampire, Ryu, and out pops a host of unique, colorful, lovable, crazy, weird, and/or interesting characters.

Jane True is somewhat reminiscent of Sookie Stackhouse as she tumbles down the rabbit hole and doesn't know who to trust. But she is her own character entirely. And I love her internal ramblings. They seriously made me laugh out loud. Nicole Peeler puts the mental ramblings we all have, but never admit to, on paper. Or at least I hope I'm that funny in my head. I especially love the whole devil on one shoulder and angel on the other inner dialogue. Only it's Jane's libido and her guilty common sense that battle. Especially when her libido was that carnivorous plant from Little Shop of Horrors. (Feed meeeeeeee!)

I also love that while there are vampires in this book it is not a vampire book. Matter of fact, vampires aren't even the "ancient all powerful, apathetic to the workings of us puny humans" characters in this book. So while this is a paranormal book and the characters are similar to the myths of vampires, shapeshifters, ect, they are original but without being TOO off the beaten path.

I love, love, love this series. Nicole Peeler has carved out the perfect little niche for her world and her characters and I can only hope it's long lasting. Plus, I can tell she could do side-stories on other characters because she sets this up so well. Tempest Rising fell in the same category as Halfway to the Grave, Some Girls Bite, Stray, and Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs: Books that started up an AWESOME series and that I couldn't put down.

They live among us. And who are they? Supernatural beings, of course. Gnomes. Vampires. Genies. Half this, half that. They're all here. The dog you walk day in and day out may not be just a dog. Of course, they don't want us to see their true nature, so we don't. This would, however, explain a lot about my cat -- I'm going to start watching her more closely. Perhaps her glamours will slip one day.

Like all of us, Jane never saw any of these beings, despite being half one herself -- until one day they make themselves known to her. They'd watched her from afar and would have let themselves be known to her -- someday, if they felt it necessary. And then she stumbled upon a murder scene that affected their world. So, of course, they were forced to welcome her with open arms. Or some were, anyway. This turns Jane's otherwise boring life upside down. In good and bad ways both. The town outcast can always use some excitement, after all.

There's a fair amount of pop culture references in this book, which typically makes me a little nervous. It makes me feel as though it might leave some readers out. Sure, my mom will get the MC Hammer reference, but some other the other songs or movies that were mentioned? Maybe not. Still it worked in this book, most are popular enough that almost anyone would have at least an idea of who/what they were -- that or the names alone gave you an idea of what they were about. So, my usual pet peeve when it comes to this, went right out the window and I ended up finding it charming -- That Jane was so often chatting with herself using books, movies, songs, etc as reference points to compare her own situations to.

The cover explains to us that this book is a must for Sookie fans. I agree. It's written in the same fun spirit as the Southern Vampire Series. A totally different world though. The Sookie world really focuses on Vamps and shape shifters. This is a bit of wow who ISN'T here. 5/5. I'll be back for the next book.

I am new to the urban fansasy genre, but I'll tell you now that I'm standing and saluting for it! I suppose I didn't know what to expect when I started reading this book but what I got was a story that I couldn't get enough of--I flew through it in four days. I've never been addicted to any illegal substances but how I ached to read the book and my constant obsession with getting my next fix is the way I'd imagine it to be. It's an easy read but also creative, intelligent and hilarious. I found Jane's internal dialogue to be one of the highlights of the book and her witty, observational commentary allowed me to relate to her easily. It contains a few words that (at the risk of making myself sound dumb) made me go grab a dictionary. If I can have a laugh and expand my vocabulary at the same time, I am in!

I was a little skeptical going into this, mainly because I had an issue with the cover looking very YA and none too appealing. But I pushed my worries aside when I saw that Rachel Caine had leant her opinion to the back-cover, calling `Tempest Rising' a "fascinating, fast-paced, sexy storm of a book".
Oh Ms. Caine, how you've led me astray...

The plot isn't all that bad - it's a very slow wind-up and a hurried conclusion. Ms. Peeler also makes the mistake of telling, not showing - by including endless descriptions, scene summaries and internal monologues that make the book drag. But it is bearable. Even though, to be honest, I think a better book would have been based on the back-story of Jane's Selkie mother and human father. *That* story was more intriguing than the whole of 'Tempest Rising', complete with romance, tragedy and mystery.

No, the biggest problem with Peeler's book is the protagonist, Jane True.
When you find yourself wanting to give a fictional character a wedgie, you're in trouble.

Jane is boring (hence the name?), weak-willed and all together awful. She is also thoroughly uncouth - at one point she hocks her gum out the window while her sexy vampire lover looks on. Ew! In another instance her vampire lover places a hand over her stomach, and her response is "are you checking for food babies?" `Food babies'? Are you serious? And it's made worse by the fact that Jane can't carry off these social faux pas' with the same zany grace as someone like Jane Jameson in Molly Harper's series could. Jane True just comes across as a hillbilly. Peeler tries to make up for Jane's lack of character by having her described as looking like a `young Selma Hayek' - which does nothing to endear her to me, especially when you consider the fact that for the entire book she keeps up a `woe is me' schtick that begins to grate to the point of antipathy.

Her vampire lover, Ryu, isn't much better. He's a cardboard cutout gorgeous vampire with all the usual biting mojo. Nothing original here.

The one character who intrigued me was relegated to secondary status, with hints that he'll have a bigger part in future books. Anyan is a shape-shifting `hell hound' who has been lurking on the periphery of Jane's life for some time now. His story reminded me a bit of Sam Merlotte from Charlaine Harris's `Southern Vampire: Sookie Stackhouse' series, for his unrequited love for the heroine.

The one redeeming feature of `Tempest Rising' is the possible romance between Jane and Anyan - for that I *might* consider buying the e-book of the second novel, `Tracking the Tempest' (July 2010) but I highly doubt it.

I am really surprised by the number of positive reviews for this book. Jane is a weak heroine. The story/plot spins around her and she has no control over anything that happens. Her love affair/relationship with Ryu happened without really any character development. The author also spends way too much time describing the details of a meal versus giving us more insight into the characters.

I read Tempest Rising on my Kindle. It has some good longer reviews here on amazon, so I will just make a couple of comments about what I didn't like about the book. I didn't hate this book and I will probably read a second book in the series to see where the story is going, but if the second is as disappointing as the first, I won't continue the series.

Reviewers keep comparing this to Sookie Stackhouse but it reminded me more of Laurell Hamilton's work. There was waayyy too many pages devoted to sex in this book. I felt the sex distracted from what is otherwise an interesting premise for a story. Poorly written paranormal romance books are a dime a dozen these days, whereas interesting new takes on the supernatural world are actually rather rare. This book doesn't seem to know which it is.

I think what bugged me most was its 'romance-y' tone. It has all the elements of a romance, including a makeover, and the heroine's internal dialog is annoyingly coy. I far prefer to figure things out as a reader than to be told play-by-play what the meaning is of everything single thought or feeling the heroine is experiencing. But, at the same time, I was interested in the fantasy aspects of the story, so I kept reading.

Also, as other reviewers have mentioned, the Cover Art makes the books in this series look suitable for 8-12 year olds. I almost didn't buy it for that reason. The publishers need to re-think the audience they want this series to appeal to. This book is definitely NOT for kids or young adults.

Jane True: social outcast of a tiny Maine town with a strange history and even stranger inclinations. When Jane discovers that she's part of a hidden supernatural world, her past and all the unanswered questions begin to make sense. But not is all sunshine and moonbeams as the reason for her sudden awareness--a murder has taken place that has forced Jane in a world where giants are real, vampires exist and dogs can talk. To help ease the transition is Ryu, a sexy vampire that is investigating the murder.

What I like about the book is the writing, which is quirky and Jane's voice is very clear cut and focused, even humorous inner monologues, which I found appealing and cute. Peeler had a very sensible and coherent direction for the most part and nothing was illogical. The world building is well done, thoughtful and introduced in an organic way, that is, not random or thrown at the reader whenever convenient. There's always a reason and explanation. Peeler is a talented writer and she's got a gift in telling a story. However, I'm just not sure if it's enough to make up for the book's shortcomings or keep me going.

The advice (on the back cover and description) to see Tempest Rising like the Sookie Stackhouse series just made me think how SIMILAR the two books are and, unfortunately, how different as well and not in a good way. Where Harris managed a stronger, more engaging plot with vivid and luscious characters that don't read so sedate and dull and so...*blah*, Peeler's characters lack any sort of vibrancy or energy and plot lacks immediacy and delicious tension. The 'emotional' pull, which is fully put on Jane, is woefully non-existent. I like Jane, I do, and she's got some depth and she's sort of wises up but I just couldn't relate to her at all and she's more of a caricature than anything else, all the characters are. She is neither a hero or a sidekick or anything...she's just...there. The plot, and there is one, is weak and uninspiring; worse, it sort of dead drops in the middle, doesn't get better and is as interesting as observing socks drying on the hanger--in the dark--which might be more interesting actually. The surprises, revelations, the a-ha! moments just didn't interest me. The romance, which became the center of the 'plot', was okay but rather formulaic, i.e., unexciting. Ryu as the love interest and Jane's go-to for the weird wasn't fully fleshed out, their tango going from strangers to the bed in 0.5 seconds with no real build up or growth other than lust at first sigh. Eh.

Things are wrapped up in a timely fashion and without any bumps. Ultimately, Tempest Rising is--technically--a solid, chick-lit paranormal romance, but I was just unimpressed and a tad disappointed, overall. It took me two tries and my first impressions were confirmed that while Tempest Rising's got its good, it's mostly a forgettable book. For those who are tentative about UF, or sub-genres under UF, might find this a nice, easy intro but for those who are ardent readers of the real stuff, may find this a somewhat...underwhelming and boring. At the moment, I have no plans to pick up the second in this series.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I bought it because I read an excellent review. But when it arrived, and I noticed the recommendation on the back cover ("If you love Sookie Stackhouse, then you'll want to dive into Nicole Peeler's enchanting debut novel"), I had a bit of trepidation since I'm not a fan of the Sookie books. Since I'd already bought it, I gave it a chance.

There were things I enjoyed about this book, but I also had some issues. First, there's the main character. Jane True is an outcast in her small town, and the only time she feels truly comfortable is when she's swimming in the ocean. Her outcast state should make her sympathetic, but she's so downtrodden that she just ended up annoying me. I just wanted her to tell the people who treat her like pond scum to go to hell. On the other hand, she's pretty funny so I enjoyed a lot of her first-person narration, at least when she's not being a doormat.

Jane learns she's actually half-selkie, the non-human half coming from her long-lost mother. She's soon embroiled in the supernatural world, after she stumbles upon the body of a fellow half-supernatural. Someone is killing off half-supernaturals, and Jane gets caught up in the investigation. The plot isn't bad, but it's not very complex, and it mostly feels like an excuse to introduce a love interest, Ryu the sexy vampire (urban fantasy cliché: check). Ryu and Jane are soon ripping each other's clothes off, and then he buys her lots of expensive clothes. This isn't exactly plot development.

What does work is the world that Peeler builds. There are lots of different creatures in this supernatural world, and Peeler has created some potentially interesting characters. The idea of a secret supernatural world coexisting with the normal world isn't original, but Peeler clearly has some good ideas and she's begun to create a world with excellent potential. Although I had some issues with this first book, I'm going to give the sequel a try. I just hope the second book has less of the clichéd romance.

The value of this book is possibly summarized by that of its cover: it appears cute at first and it is somehow professionally done but it does not hold in the long run because it turns saccharine and sticky.

Jane is wasting her life away in a small Maine village, hunted by the memory of a lost love, a loss she is partially responsible of, and this is a theme which is well if not originally handled. Even the predictable but sensible realization that her suffering is mostly self induced that comes at the end of the book is well done. Jane is also more than meets the eye -a common fact in fantasy novels- and this novel is about her discovering and coming to terms with the fact that she is only half human and that the the world the other half belongs to is fascinating but dangerous.

While the premise could have led to an interesting read I find myself dissatisfied by what could have been done with such a story and was not.
The writing is in order (and yet I am amazed by the fact that a professor of creative writing should be taught grammar -not when a schoolchild but while writing the book- as she not so covertly admits in her acknowledgements), the plotting simple but consistent and some tension always there, though it rarely peaks to engaging levels.

One problem is that Jane (the main character) is constantly dialoguing with herself and if some lines are funny, most are just redundant, not to mention that the many pop-culture references spattering these reflections might be lost to many readers and make the book a very ephemeral read, as in a few years many readers will not get them. Jane also mentions several songs that were entirely unknown to me: more the pity as they are supposed to convey the atmosphere of the moment.
Another problem are sex scenes which are shabby and could probably have been just hinted. The fact that Jane is constantly debating with her constantly horny nether regions and her constantly hungry belly is not as funny as one could think.

I also dislike (but of course this is a matter of taste) that the author chooses to people her fantasy world with every possible supernatural creature. Imagining that every possible human superstition was originated by an existing supernatural species(from gnomes to dryads to elves to genies) and that all these species made up the different clans of one supernatural world seemes an interesting assumption at first but in the end it leads nowhere: all these creature are just there, garish but useless as the events of the book are hardly related to their belonging to a specific order. The plot could have remained the same if all of them had been elves or vampires or whatelse.

Characterization is not a particular asset: Jane is overdone and the others are dim or clichéd or both.

I think I will not be reading the following instalments.

I laughed all the way through this book. It was a refreshing change to the usual urban fantasy genre and I liked the twist to the typical vampire mythology. I particularly enjoyed the humor, a book is a lot more fun when the hero/heroine don't take themselves too seriously. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.