Dead and Loving It by MaryJanice Davidson
Apr. 10th, 2006 08:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksI've been on a paranormal anthology kick lately. Anthologies because my reading time has been limited and the novellas are just the right length. I can finish them and not feel irritated that I have to put the book aside to work on other things. Paranormal kick just now because three offerings I was looking forward to came out all at once.
Dead and Loving It includes three novellas that were previously e-published, along with a new novella. Interesting to me is the fact that the copyright for the entire book is 2006, with a mention that the three were previously e-pubbed. But no earlier copyright date for those three. Does that mean that they weren't copyrighted then? Or that they are re-copyrighted now? Or that they were modified sufficiently in the paperback format to warrant a new copyright? I don't know enough about intellectual property law to answer these questions, but I may look it up if I have time later.
Santa Claws is the story of Alex Kilcurt, a Scottish werewolf who meets his mate during the Christmas season: she's wearing a Santa suit and swinging a bell for the Salvation Army. This novella is set entirely in the Wyndham werewolf world. Giselle Smith is suspicious of the gorgeous man who accosted her at her ringing station, but decides to have lunch with him, and things go on from there.
In Monster Love, Janet Lupo, a Wyndham werewolf, meets Richard Will, a vampire...but he doesn't believe in werewolves. Can two different types of monsters fall in love? Especially when the vampire refuses to believe that werewolves even exist?
There's No Such Thing as a Werewolf is the third previously published novella. An outcast of the Wyndham werewolf circle because he is blind, Drake is a doctor living independently when he meets Crescent Muhn, whom he can see. Crescent is another supernatural being, but exactly what she is isn't revealed until late in the novella. It is fully revealed to her at the same time the reader learns.
The new novella is A Fiend in Need. Antonia, a member of the Wyndham werewolf pack, is a seer. She isn't psychic, she just gets these camera shot-style visions of scenes that will happen. She had a small part in the book Derik's Bane. Despite her ability, or maybe because of it and because of the fact that she cannot Change, she's kind of alienated. She has a vision that sends her to the queen in Minneapolis. Queen of what? Queen of the vampires, Betsy Taylor. When she arrives on Betsy's doorstep, Antonia meets George the Fiend. Who turns out to be Garrett Shea the Fiend, and the result of the the vision that brought her west.
The stories are shallow but entertaining. I liken MJD's books to cotton candy -- tasty but insubstantial. The pace moves fast enough that you don't really notice all of the holes or things that are missing until after you've finished. The first three novellas share POV between hero and heroine, more or less. In Fiend, the POV is Antonia's entirely, which weakens the story somewhat. Garrett/George speaks, but only a little bit, and the reader never knows what he is thinking. Antonia likes the fact that he is not wordy, but otherwise it's hard to see what either has fallen in love with. In terms of hotness/sensuality, all three are average MJD. In comparison to other Ellora's Cave stuff that I've read, all four are quite mild.
I read the first three novellas earlier, back when they were e-published. But for the fact that my computer crashed and I lost all of the e-books I had stored on the hard drive, I probably wouldn't have purchased the TPB. On its own, the fourth novella wouldn't have been worth the TPB price. Overall, this anthology worked better for me than the last couple I read, in part because there was only one new story, but also because they were all written by a single author. Having a single voice and style creates a cohesiveness that is missing in other anthologies, even if its characters and stories aren't linked. My grade: B.
Dead and Loving It includes three novellas that were previously e-published, along with a new novella. Interesting to me is the fact that the copyright for the entire book is 2006, with a mention that the three were previously e-pubbed. But no earlier copyright date for those three. Does that mean that they weren't copyrighted then? Or that they are re-copyrighted now? Or that they were modified sufficiently in the paperback format to warrant a new copyright? I don't know enough about intellectual property law to answer these questions, but I may look it up if I have time later.
Santa Claws is the story of Alex Kilcurt, a Scottish werewolf who meets his mate during the Christmas season: she's wearing a Santa suit and swinging a bell for the Salvation Army. This novella is set entirely in the Wyndham werewolf world. Giselle Smith is suspicious of the gorgeous man who accosted her at her ringing station, but decides to have lunch with him, and things go on from there.
In Monster Love, Janet Lupo, a Wyndham werewolf, meets Richard Will, a vampire...but he doesn't believe in werewolves. Can two different types of monsters fall in love? Especially when the vampire refuses to believe that werewolves even exist?
There's No Such Thing as a Werewolf is the third previously published novella. An outcast of the Wyndham werewolf circle because he is blind, Drake is a doctor living independently when he meets Crescent Muhn, whom he can see. Crescent is another supernatural being, but exactly what she is isn't revealed until late in the novella. It is fully revealed to her at the same time the reader learns.
The new novella is A Fiend in Need. Antonia, a member of the Wyndham werewolf pack, is a seer. She isn't psychic, she just gets these camera shot-style visions of scenes that will happen. She had a small part in the book Derik's Bane. Despite her ability, or maybe because of it and because of the fact that she cannot Change, she's kind of alienated. She has a vision that sends her to the queen in Minneapolis. Queen of what? Queen of the vampires, Betsy Taylor. When she arrives on Betsy's doorstep, Antonia meets George the Fiend. Who turns out to be Garrett Shea the Fiend, and the result of the the vision that brought her west.
The stories are shallow but entertaining. I liken MJD's books to cotton candy -- tasty but insubstantial. The pace moves fast enough that you don't really notice all of the holes or things that are missing until after you've finished. The first three novellas share POV between hero and heroine, more or less. In Fiend, the POV is Antonia's entirely, which weakens the story somewhat. Garrett/George speaks, but only a little bit, and the reader never knows what he is thinking. Antonia likes the fact that he is not wordy, but otherwise it's hard to see what either has fallen in love with. In terms of hotness/sensuality, all three are average MJD. In comparison to other Ellora's Cave stuff that I've read, all four are quite mild.
I read the first three novellas earlier, back when they were e-published. But for the fact that my computer crashed and I lost all of the e-books I had stored on the hard drive, I probably wouldn't have purchased the TPB. On its own, the fourth novella wouldn't have been worth the TPB price. Overall, this anthology worked better for me than the last couple I read, in part because there was only one new story, but also because they were all written by a single author. Having a single voice and style creates a cohesiveness that is missing in other anthologies, even if its characters and stories aren't linked. My grade: B.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-04-10 04:50 pm (UTC)Secrets anthologies
Date: 2006-04-11 01:21 am (UTC)I was a little disappointed in the Fiend story. It wasn't bad, but it could have been more. George was a blank slate that could've been used to work all kinds of stuff into Betsy's vampire world. Instead his story didn't really advance much in that world and he remains a cipher.