I love how Tanya Huff writes the perfect mix of sci-fi/fantasy that has both humor and a serious twist. No matter what series of hers I read I find myself thoroughly enjoying it. The main character in this is a kick butt heroine but not in the traditional sense and I love all of the secondary characters so very much, especially her cat. ( )

Tanya Huff The Keeper series
Summon the Keeper
The Second Summoning
Long Hot Summoning
An urban fantasy series of which there will sadly be no more. Huff's cats (who featured in the series) both died and she didn't have the heart to write any more.

Somewhat similar in premise to the Enchantment Emporium series, Claire Hansen is a powerful Keeper, a repairer of rifts to other worlds - which include Heaven and Hell. Keeper powers tend to run in families, and weak Keepers are known as Cousins. Claire and her sister Diana (who is even more powerful but is still at school) are the children of two Cousins.

In Summon the Keeper, Claire gets a summons to The Elysian Fields Guest House. Here she finds she has been gifted the property by the current owner, Augustus Smythe, a Cousin, who has disappeared leaving no forwarding address. There's a rift to Hell in the basement (which saves thousands on the heating bill every winter), a rogue Keeper in suspended animation in one of the bedrooms, a hellhound next door, a ghost in the attic, a mystic elevator which does not open onto the next floor, and one of the most grounded young men Claire has ever met. He is a wonderful cook and housekeeper. Claire has to figure out just why she's been stiffed with the hotel, close the rift before Hell crawls out, deal with the rogue Keeper, and try not to crawl into bed with either the ghost or Dean. Oh, and deal with the snarky commentary from Austin, her cat.

Yes, he talks. Mostly to her.

The Second Summoning has Claire and Dean on the road. Claire is having second thoughts about involving Dean in her life; he's a completely non-magical Bystander. Called to a rift in a country park, she manages to shake Dean off and sends him back to Canada. However, there's been a problem - in the bleed off by Claire and Dean getting back together - and getting it on, another rift has opened enough to let a piece of Hell out, and in balance, a piece of Heaven has come out as well. Claire, Diana and Dean have to deal with the two opposing powers, without letting them meet...

Long Hot Summoning has Claire and Dean back at The Elysian Fields. The normally peripatetic Keeper lifestyle is now longer necessary with modern transportation methods, so they can settle down with each other. Diana has finally finished school and has her first Summoning - to a shopping mall. Teens have been vanishing, and they've turned into mall elves - and they are ruled by an avatar of King Arthur. There's a rift open to the possibilities - and Hell is keen to make a come-back. Diana has to close the rift without ripping it wide open.

I re-read this every so often; I do love these. They're very tongue-in-cheek, and hang together very well. Not as demanding as the Enchantment Emporium series, they are a fun read and lighten the mood very well.

Recommended.

I'd been looking forward to this book--Diana grew on me during the second book. She's a pesky little sister, I have a pesky little sister, it was nice. I identify with Claire but I enjoy Diana enough that I thought the third book would be fun, and different enough from Claire's adventures that I wouldn't miss Claire and Dean. (Oh, Dean, hearts.) I thought it was nowhere near as enjoyable as the first two books in the series. It felt like Huff was trying to squish too much into this one book and in doing so the focus of the book got lost.

This book felt rushed. It felt as if it should have been two books but they were combined so as to not abruptly lose Claire and have another main character step in and take over the series. I don't think that was necessary, because the second book managed to have both Claire and Diana working together, so it would have served as a transition. Also, the banter between Claire and Diana seemed to go too fast, and without Austin around to explain it to Dean a lot of it got lost on me, too. Like the minivan thing. Minivans are from HELL, okay, I get that, it works out in the end, but so little is done with that aside from mentioning it that it seems pointless. And considering Huff uses the Chekov joke all the time in her books I know she knows that, too, so I was expecting a way bigger payoff from that minivan she hung on the wall. I wish more had been done with the janitor because he was one creepy-ass geezer and I think there was the makings of a story in him alone.

Here's the thing: I adore Tanya Huff's writing and her worlds. I find her repetitious use of "she is the cat's mother" to be way less annoying than, say, "he is the compass by which I steer my heart" and I've got no problem with the Chekov joke because I've made it too. That's why I like her characters so much, I think, because I'm like them, I hang out with them, I watched Buffy, too. So whoever made her do this needs to be stopped, because this book did not need all those plots. Sure, I would have missed Dean and Claire, but I would have been okay if that meant I got a good story about Diana. ( )

It still reminds me of Good Omens - especially the Rules - but a rather different setting. Same old villain, eventually - though I guess it always is, one way or another. The mall, the mall-elves, Arthur (and I'm as relieved as he is that he seems to have shed Lancelot and Guenevere) make for some interesting sequences. The whole teenage thing makes another appearance, rather nicely done - expectations carry a lot of power on the Otherside, and it's fun watching them use and evade that. Purple hippopotami. And the dual, unrelated threat is rather neat. So what is the thing with minivans? Hmmm...and if Diana had gone in, as part of solving the problem, would she have gotten out too? Willing sacrifice has interesting implications, with that. Or does it only work with Bystanders? Questions, none of which are likely to get answered - even if there's another book. Again, fun to read. ( )

Diana is about to get her own area as a keeper and stop living under the shadow of her sister. She never reckoned that her first summons would be to a mall. There are supernatural creatures working inside the mall who need to respect the balance of all things and it's her job to fix it, with some help from her sister.
I enjoyed this one, maybe not as much as some of the rest of the series but it was quite enjoyable. ( )