Cari Z.

This is a prose novel about Elsa Bloodstone, part of a line of YA tie-in books about female Marvel characters. It seems to take place in the regular Marvel comics universe, if somewhat genericized.

I was a bit surprised, then, at how deeply this book dove into Bloodstone lore. Most post-Nextwave takes on Elsa and her father haven't really used the details of the characters established in their original stories. Sure, we're always told Ulysses Bloodstone is an immortal monster hunter with a bloodstone shard embedded in his chest, but none of the other elements of the very complicated backstory John Wagner gave him in the 1970s ever come up; the 2001 miniseries gave us Elsa herself, but every other aspect of her from that series has pretty much been ignored.

But Bequest has multiple callbacks to the 1970s series, revisiting some of its locations as well as a forgotten member of its supporting cast, the journalist Samantha Eden. It also very much considers the 2001 miniseries to be in continuity, bringing back Adam, the Frankenstein caretaker of Bloodstone Manor (which is back in Boston for this story) and the vampire lawyer, as well as a genie's lamp that Elsa used to travel the world in that story. (There is no mention here of the "Mordred's Causeway" Elsa used to get around in Monsters Unleashed!) But as you can see on the cover, this is clearly the post-Nextwave Elsa, a hardcore redheaded monster killer (who was trained by her father, as we saw in flashbacks in Nextwave and Marvel Zombies: Battleworld), not a naïve blond one (who didn't even know her father, as we saw in the 2001 miniseries). Lauria doesn't spend a lot of time reconciling these discrepancies, but she does have Elsa briefly think to herself that she's not sure if her memories of her father training her are real or not! I appreciated the book's inclusive approach to continuity (though I imagine there wasn't much alternative, as if you jettison the 1970s stuff and the 2001 miniseries, the character ceases to have much of a history), and I liked this vague attempt to make it all stick together. Lauria says, it all counts, don't worry about the details.

Okay, okay, that's great to know about the continuity, but what about the book!? Well, I would describe it as... aggressively okay. It seems to me that the book has two main problems. The first is that the plot is very repetitive and very simple. Elsa discovers someone is out there ransacking old haunts of Ulysses Bloodstone, trying to collect bloodstone fragments, and she teams up with her newly discovered half-sister to find out who is doing this. (This is a totally different newly discovered half-sister to the one subsequently introduced in The Death of Doctor Strange.) So Elsa and the sister go to a place, fight some monsters, go to another place, fight some more monsters, and so on. There's no sense of advancement, they never learn anything in one particular place, they never accomplish anything. They just keep doing the same thing until at the very last place they found out who did it. (It is a very underwhelming reveal.)

The other issue is that nothing really seems to be a stake personally for Elsa. The power of a prose novel over comics is that it ought to be able to let you dive into interiority more, giving more depth to a character. But I don't think Elsa has a lot of depth here, and honestly she has less depth than in stories like Marvel Zombies and Death of Doctor Strange. Sure, she has a sister... but this doesn't seem to meaningfully change her conception of herself or her father or anything, there's no development of the character arc just like there was no development of the plot arc. In a secondary issue, Elsa very much comes across as a Brit-written-by-an-American rather than an actual Brit. A few too many "blokes," especially in the early parts of the novel. I'm sure I could not do better, but why not hire a UK author to write the book if it's going to be a first-person narrative? The Elsa stories by Warren Ellis, Simon Spurrier, and Tini Howard have been among the most successful ones for this obvious reason.

Outside of all that, it is a quick, easy, action-packed read; it's hard for me to imagine any reader wouldn't blaze through it as quickly as I did. Plus it does have some good jokes. So, worth you time because it won't take a lot of your time!

Elsa Bloodstone: « Previous in sequence… (meer)

4.5 Seriously Impressed Hearts!

The title is so appropriate, for this is beyond any shifter book I've ever read, and it was quite the fabulous refreshing BR with Sara!

I don’t know if I can do this story justice but I’m gonna try…

What one has to know first is that this is a world where werewolves obviously exist. They’re a government experiment gone wrong decades ago and the age old debate did come up as to what to do with this new subset of humans with extraordinary abilities but potentially scary ones at that. There’s unfortunately now a very strict divide between “species” and once a person goes werewolf, they are pretty much separated from their human life and brought into the fold of a pack. Werewolves are basically second class citizens - highly monitored, regulated, and restricted as they pose a perceived danger to the masses should one go rogue. To keep them in line and to insure their safety, a pack’s alpha is basically conscripted to serve the government in any nefarious ways they deem necessary, using their deadly skills in the name of national security.

Knowing that, this book starts off with Ward. He’s desperately trying to find his newly shifted daughter Ava. By law, she is no longer legally his and has been unfairly taken away from him to an unknown destination to be raised by her “own kind”. Well fuck that. Ward is not going to give up that easily. His daughter is the only family he has left, and he is determined to be a part of her life, regardless of the fact that it’s basically unheard of for a human to live among werewolves. Luckily, he has a friend in high places that helps Ward track Ava down, and once he arrives, he staunchly refuses to budge.

Enter Henry. He’s Ava’s alpha, and though he knows Ward’s presence is probably the best thing for her, especially since she has yet to shift back to human and is slowly failing to thrive, his first inclination is to say no because it’s against the rules and Henry always follows the rules. Ward’s presence and how he came to find Henry’s pack puts all of them in danger, shining an unwanted spotlight on Henry as he essentially takes the “blame” for this breach in security.

With pressures and demands coming at Henry from all directions, the last thing he needs is to feel attraction to the newcomer. However, he can’t deny that Ward’s tenacity and bravery grounds him like no other, and though Ward was never something Henry ever imagined he could obtain, he sure is something Henry wants. In turn, Ward feels the same attraction and hesitation. Henry is prickly and intimidating but his consideration and care for all of those under his protection cannot be ignored. Ward realizes Henry is admirable in his acceptance to be an instrument for the government to use and abuse, taking their shit over and over for the good of the pack, sacrificing his happiness, his soul. If Ward can give and get some measure of comfort with Henry, he’s going to try his darnedest to do what feels right by him and what he starts to feel is now his pack too.

Perhaps as a warning, this isn’t a fluffy shifter romance. It’s so much more.

This had grit, an urgent seriousness to it. Life isn’t pretty nor kind. Responsibility weighs heavily, and it takes every ounce of willpower and determination and obligation to survive the unfairness of it all. Perhaps though, finding someone special to care for and to be cared by, can ease that burden. For those that need to know, the doling out of yummy bits between these two are small and far and few between. However, the gradual build and the UST are palpable and oh so strongly felt, and despite the low smexy level, this still kept my avid interest. Have no doubt though, I would’ve hungrily gobbled up more if given.

I obviously loved this. I want Cari Z to write at least 10 more books in this compelling complex world she has created. She better, because I have to know the fates of Tennyson and Davis!! Puh-leeeeasse don’t leave me hanging!!!

Like I said. Unique and wholly captivating. It sucked me in, caught me, and wouldn't let go. Very very highly recommended!

Thanks to the author/publisher for a copy in exchange for a honest review

… (meer)

Dark doings!

First up, I felt I was at a huge disadvantage, I know nothing about Lovecraft or the world of Cthulhu.
I thought I was getting a Regency novel with some Gothic aspects thrown in. There’s a bit more than that.
Cassandra Wright, a gentlewoman with a ‘single trunk’ was on her way to Tarryford to find out what she could about the powerful James Fraser and her dead father’s stolen journals.
Cassandra was sure Fraser had something to do with her father’s untimely and disquieting death five years ago.
Cassandra had all but been engaged to Fraser’s son, Gilbert. That had quickly became a non event at that time.
When Cassie arrives at Tarryford she’s shocked to run into Thomas Griffith, a friend of Gilbert’s.
There are dangerous times ahead for her.
The Beast of Avon Vale, as it’s called, has been eviscerating live stock. Humans might be next.
Than Mr. Fraser, and the darkness that surrounds him, comes home. Shiver!
Eldritch happenings and arcane methods are being employed to summon creatures not of this world, and Mr. Fraser is right at the core, supposedly to counter creatures Napoleon has been summoning. He has acolytes, guests at a so called hunting party.
There are some frightening and shocking moments but overall I felt Cassandra and Thomas are too simplistic in their rush to counter evil. Cassandra walking in to face the enemy with a hat pin is more foolish than brave. Their romance is a bit too good to be true, a bit wooden. However it works.
It didn’t take a lot of insight to predict what would happen on the Eldritch and the romance front.

An Aconyte ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.… (meer)