THE LAST WIZARD'S BALL - Charlaine Harris

I was a little late to the game in reading this Gunnie Rose series, just as I was very late in reading Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse books (ie True Blood) but I've been pleasantly surprised at how much I've enjoyed both of these series.

The Gunnie Rose series is a sci-fi, paranormal western where the United States has been split into fragments and controlled by different countries after the assassination of Franklin Roosevelt. It is also a world where magic may not be the norm, but is most definitely possible.

Lizbeth "Gunnie" Rose is a mercenary who is wickedly deadly with gun. Her sister, Felicia, has indescribable wizard powers. Felicia is also an incomparable beauty and it falls to Lizbeth to keep her sister safe from the men who are always wanting to take advantage of her.

Felicia is about to attend the Grand Wizards’ Ball. As one of the most powerful wizards there, as well as the most beautiful, Felicia will get a lot of attention.

In distant Europe, war is on the rise and its effects can be felt in what remains of the United States. Both German and Japanese wizards are courting Felicia and neither will take 'no' for an answer.

This has been announced as the final book in the Gunnie Rose series and, well, as such it's a bit disappointing. I can't say as I had any desires or wishes as to where it should go, but ... I don't want to give it away, but it does end with more a whimper than a bang.

I really love the concept of this series (Bewitched meets The Wild, Wild West?) and I've enjoyed the books that I've read (I haven't read them all). The characters, especially those of Lizbeth and Felicia are quite outstanding, and Harris is really a very good storyteller. We can easily get hooked into the read and care about the characters and their situations, but the read as a whole, starts to feel a little flat.

I know we're in the right timeline in our alternate reality, but bringing Hitler into the book (yes, it's that war that's happening in Europe) really knocked me out of the story. I most definitely would have preferred if we kept the story in the southwest where it began.

Looking for a good book? If you've read the rest of the Gunnie Rose series, you'll want to read The Last Wizard's Ball by Charlaine Harris, though perhaps reluctantly after reading some of the reviews. You definitely don't want to start with this book.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

The Last Wizard's Ball

author: Charlaine Harris

series: Gunnie Rose #6

publisher: S&S/Saga Press

ISBN: 9781668038147

Kindle Edition, 272 pages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

KIM STANLEY ROBINSON: APPRENTICESHIPS IN NARRATIVE - Andrew Rowcroft

Image
I am a sucker for anything by or about Kim Stanley Robinson. Since I first read The Gold Coast sometime in the late 1980's or early 90's; I haven't missed any of his books since. So, when I see a book about Robinson, or examining his work, I'm all in. What I don't like, is reading a research paper, a university-style thesis, posing as a book. In classic research paper tradition, we begin with an introduction that tells us what we are going to read. Chapter by chapter, taking up nearly 15% of the book's pages, author Andrew Rowcroft tells us what we're going to read in. In detail. With 114 endnotes. There are six chapters .... well, five chapters and a coda ... dealing with different aspects of Robinson's work. But first ... what does "Apprenticeships in Narrative" even mean? In his introduction, Rowcroft notes: "This book argues that one of the most striking aspects of Robinson’s fiction is his concern with literary apprenticeship." ...
Read more

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS: ASYLUM - Una McCormack

Image
 Una Chin-Riley is the poster girl for Starfleet: smart, driven, and dedicated. She's a by-the-book student, not afraid to ask questions and to quote the manual when she thinks something is being done incorrectly.  And like all really good students, she's also active in extra-curricular activities.  She's often the lead in the Academy-produced opera and she has sympathies for displaced peoples and works with groups to help people seeking asylum. Christopher Pike is an ensign, having only recently graduated from the Academy, he's back at Starfleet waiting for a hearing for an incident during his short tenure on the ship.  He's asked to give a lecture to students ... he's closer in age to them  (compared to the usually retired people who lecture) and yet he's got actual starship experience. Pike takes a liking to Una, despite her being so by-the-book and his realizing 'the book' doesn't have all the answers out in space. 25 years later, Christopher...
Read more

LAW OF THE LAND - Elmer Kelton

Image
 In the 1950's (and a few decades prior) it was pretty easy to find and read some short western fiction if that was your literature of choice. There were scores of western pulps. Today, western readers are generally limited to a few publishers of western novels by a very few western writers. Law of the Land is a collection of short western fiction by Elmer Kelton, an author whose works have spanned many decades - from 1948 ("There's Always Another Chance" originally published in Ranch Romances ) to 2010 ("The Ghost of Two Forks" originally published in Ghost Towns , edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Russell Davis).  That's an incredible period of work for anyone! I enjoy reading western fiction (I think I'm among a dying breed) and enjoy short fiction, so a book like this is very much appreciated.  That said, everything included in this collection is very well written and an enjoyable read and at the same time, nothing here stands out as being excep...
Read more