Customer Reviews

When Demons Walk (Sianim)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a fantastic book! I read it in less than twelve hours, and that's with working and eating in the middle of that!

Where to begin? The characters are wonderful. Sham is a complex character, with a painful past but the strong will to survive it and move on. She is wily enough to survive life in Purgatory, the Southwoods slum, yet tender-hearted enough to learn to care for people she was used to hating. Kerim is humorous, regal, dangerous, and intelligent--all the things we want from a hero! The supporting characters are wonderful; Dickon, Elris, Talbot, Lady Sky all make the story better with their special personalities.

The writing is great. The dialogue is excellent, with witty repartee between the characters that is absolutely believable and absolutely hysterical. The description of surroundings and clothes are wonderfully detailed. I could see the action in my mind as I read. My one complaint about the writing would be the infrequent shifts in the third-person point-of-view; usually the POV character was Sham, but very occasionally is changed to Kerim, the demon, and a couple others.

The plot is intriguing...a demon stalking the halls of the Castle, with a thief/magician hired to pose as the Reeve's Mistress in order to solve the mystery. And though you may have suspicions about the demon's identity, your first two guesses will be wrong!

I highly recommend this book, and I am actively seeking out others by this author!

I've read this book several times, and am entralled. The characters are extremely well-rounded, and their ability to infuse a nearly hopeless situation with both comedic reparte and a budding romance is delightful. The plot is basically a light-weight mystery, but is carried off with panache. The resoltion is spectacular and logically devolved. The writing is fluid without being flowery, and the world is richly woven. Unlike many fantasy novels, magic and mundane forces are well balanced, and the magic is constrained to follow some (fairly simplistic) rules. The culture and events are believable, detailed and provide an excellent and engrossing backdrop. In summary, this is a great tale wonderfully told. Kudos to the author.

In this book Patricia Briggs takes a old clunker of a romance theme-- the fake relationship-- and turns it into an engaging fantasy story with only one sour note.

Fake relationships litter the landscape in romance novels. It's a favorite way to get two individuals into proximity without too much work. Usually the reason for the masquerade is quickly forgotten and the snogging begins. However, Patricia Briggs uses this device instead to worm her engaging thief/mage into the Court and the company of the Reeve.

Bad things are happening at the Court and the Reeeve needs someone with Mage talent to help him ferret out the source of the trouble. Sham, who has her own agenda based on her past, agrees to masquerade as the Reeve's mistress in order to be brought inside the Court. During the masquerade she has to deal with the Reeve's mother, his best friends widow and assorted mysterious happenings.

The one sour note I mentions above happens late in the story and if the reader doesn't see it coming then the reader is asleep at the wheel. It does get the heroine where the author needs her to be but it definitely could have been better handled. However, after that misstep the book picks up and wends its way to a satisfying climax.

A happy combination of romance, politics and magery.

Hm, I'm a bit embarrassed. I mean here we have a book which is basically a romance, mixed with some mystery elements and set in a fantasy landscape (you can't get much lighter) and yet I liked it. I liked it so much, I gave it four stars.
The heroine is flashy and sassy, the hero well muscled and and has the famous soft spot under a crusty exterior. Their dialogues are fast paced and witty, the plot flows along nicely and never drags. The world (same as in STEAL THE DRAGON) could have had some potential if it hadn't been neglected so badly (Sham and Kerim need some place to hold their witty dialogues after all). Fortunatelly the novel was revised before being republished in Aug 05, causing a definite improvement of style and story line.
Cliche works, this novel stands prove.

This is an atypical fantasy novel of spys. The heroine is working for what is technically the enemy. Shamera is a native of Southwood who is asked to spy for the occupational force. Or one faction of it. The current leader of Southwood (Lord Kerrim) is doing his best to improve the conditions for everyone, native and occupier. However, the court in general does not seem to like this idea. There are plenty of options as to who is cursing - and killing - Lord Kerrim. Of course, first Shamera must figure out there is a curse at all.

As with all of the authors books (so far) the emphasis is firmly on character, and the character drives the plot, rather than the other way around. You can watch additudes change and mutate, and conclusions are reached in a seemingly logical fashion.

The world is built from the inside out, so that if you accept the mundane, it is easy then to accept the fantastic, as it ties into what is known.

Reccomended for anyone serching for a little escapism.

I love Patricia Briggs. She writes short -but vastly entertaining - reads...It is a refreshing change to see strong female leads in fantasy novels. Briggs also has a natural gift for adding just the right amounts of humor and suspense to her tales. The plot here is simple, yet engrossing. A demon has infiltrated the royal residence, and the Reeve hires a young female thief, Sham, to pose as his mistress, in order for her to investigate the strange happenings. There are plenty of twists and turns, and it culminates in a terrific book.
I am so glad that publishers have woken-up and decided to re-print her earlier works like Masques, and Steal the Dragon, as they, like When Demons Walk, are both masterpieces.

Thank you Mrs. Briggs

Relic113

First I should say I read this book straight through. The author's writing style is entertaining and easy enough to read. I've read some really bad books that I've had to struggle through. This wasn't one of them.

But it wasn't a great book either. I felt that the relationship was contrived and that it was hard to identify with either of the main characters or believe that they were attracted to each other. Many of the secondary characters were much more interesting and I would have liked to learn more about them. Much of the plot was supposed to revolve around the tension between the natives and the people who conquered them, but the conflict was never really fleshed out and I never felt as though I much cared one way or the other about either group of people. The dialog was decent with some fairly witty bits, but in general I was left feeling empty.

I bought this book because I've recently read a couple of other books by Patricia Briggs and really enjoyed them. This one simply didn't measure up to my expectations.

When Demons Walk is one of the most creatively narrated and written fantasy book I've ever read. The characters were well rounded and sounded realistic, plus the combination of magic and mundane were cleverly balanced (do I sound like a review?? well, it is!). Mystery and romance heightened the climax of the book, which unlike others, does not give away the identity of the demon summoner (or whatever) until the last minute. Also, the heroine and hero, though typical, were captivating in the least. If you have never read fantasy, try this book AT ONCE!

Waited forever for this book to be rereleased and oh boy was it worth the wait!

Sham is a great combination of tomboy and femme fatale when she wants to be, and her sarcastic mouth just sweetens the deal.

I think what I like the best is the possibilities inherent in the ending. We don't know exactly what will happen but there is hope for the future.

Wonderful read. Can't wait for more books by the author!

I'm always looking for books with a strong female character. I found this book to have a strong engaging female protagonist. The author did a great job of the fight scenes without being overly violent. I look forward to reading other books by this author.in fact I wish there were more of hers to be found.