Tempest Rising (Jane True)They live among us. And who are they? Supernatural beings, of course. Gnomes. Vampires. Genies. Half this, half that. They're all here. The dog you walk day in and day out may not be just a dog. Of course, they don't want us to see their true nature, so we don't. This would, however, explain a lot about my cat -- I'm going to start watching her more closely. Perhaps her glamours will slip one day.
Like all of us, Jane never saw any of these beings, despite being half one herself -- until one day they make themselves known to her. They'd watched her from afar and would have let themselves known to her -- someday, if they felt it necessary. And then she stumbled upon a murder scene that affected their world. So, of course, they were forced to welcome her with open arms. Or some were, anyway. This turns Jane's otherwise boring life upside down. In good and bad ways both. The town outcast can always use some excitement, after all.
There's a fair amount of pop culture references in this book, which typically makes me a little nervous. It makes me feel as though it might leave some people out. Sure, my mom will get the MC Hammer reference, but some other the other songs or movies that were mentioned? Maybe not. Still it worked in this book, most are popular enough that almost anyone would have at least an idea of who/what they were -- that or the names alone gave you an idea of what they were about. So, my usual pet peeve when it comes to this, went right out the window and I ended up finding it charming -- That Jane was so often chatting with herself using books, movies, songs, etc as reference points to compare her own situations to.
The cover explains to us that this book is a must for Sookie fans. I agree. It's written in the same fun spirit as the Southern Vampire Series. A totally different world though. The Sookie world really focuses on Vamps and shape shifters. This is a bit of wow who ISN'T here. 5/5. I'll be back for the next book.
Tracking the Tempest (Jane True)This, the follow up to Tempest Rising, is sort of a mixed bag. On the one hand the overall story is pretty dang good. Even the supe characters are for the most part pretty believable. On the other hand some of the dialog seems awkward which is sad as the rest of it felt really natural, but that awkward dialog really does hurt the story flow. Some of the actions seem to contradict others, not many - they mostly involve is Jane powerful or weak which can be chalked up to Jane still being a newbie in the supes world. Still some of the discrepancies seem awkward. I felt this book wasn't as good as the first, but still it's a series to watch as it's still good and definitely has potential to get better again
