Matt Smith is not The Doctor…

Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mercy is kidnapped. Took long enough into the series to happen. This is the one set in Europe. I vaguely remembered liking it a lot, for the sheer difference in scenery. And other things. Larry, for example. Great addition to the cast of characters!
And The Doctor—I missed it again! Next time I will pay more attention…

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Reading order and progress of my chronological Mercyverse re-read:(view spoiler)[
– Moon Called, ★★★★★, Mercy #1
– Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson: Moon Called Vol. 1, ★★★☆☆, comic adaptation of the same…
– Alpha & Omega, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #0.5
– Cry Wolf, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #1
– Hunting Ground, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #2
– Blood Bound, ★★★★★, Mercy #2
– Iron Kissed, ★★★★★, Mercy #3
– Bone Crossed, ★★★★★, Mercy #4
– Silver Borne, ★★★½☆, Mercy #5,
– River Marked, ★★★★☆, Mercy #6
– Fair Game, ★★★★★, Alpha & Omega #3
– Frost Burned, ★★★★☆, Mercy #7
– Dead Heat, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #4
– Night Broken, ★★★★★, Mercy #8
– Fire Touched, ★★★★☆, Mercy #9
– Silence Fallen, ★★★★★, Mercy #10 (hide spoiler)]
– Next: Burn Bright, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #5
– Next: Storm Cursed, ★★★★★, Mercy #11
– Next: Smoke Bitten, pub date March 2020, Mercy #12

Complete time-line for the “Mercyverse”, including the short stories:
http://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/t…
————

First read in 2017: ★★★★★

“I’m a mechanic; I fix things that are broken. I turn into a thirty-five-pound coyote. I have powerful friends. But when it comes right down to it, my real superpower is chaos.”

Changing points of view, that’s a new one for this series! I liked it, although I am not quite sure about the off-set timeline. It added an interesting dynamic, but probably made it unnecessarily complicated.

Nice revelation there at the end, makes me want to re-read the whole damn book right away… I missed all the clues, if there were any.

Some great character additions. Libor was fun. Lots of vampire politics, which I usually find tedious, but they were well done here. Great visuals, good plot, entertaining, three very late nights of not wanting to put this down…

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Fae again.

Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one starts of with that highly entertaining fight scene with the troll…

“I don’t know if you and Adam can help us,” Tony said rapidly. In the background, sirens were doing their best to drown out his voice. “But we have a situation here. There is something, a freaking-big something, on the Cable Bridge, and it is eating cars.”

And this is the one where Aiden makes his appearance…

“He’s just human. But all I can think of is Star Trek and ‘Charlie X.’”
Maybe. Maybe not.

So, fae and Underhill and… it sort of meanders along. Attack on a house, attack on another house… the plot is not terribly suspenseful and doesn‘t really offer any great surprises. The beginning of the book is really the best part for me. The ending is not bad.

Knocking off one star, I am a little ambivalent about it.

————
Reading order and progress of my chronological Mercyverse re-read:(view spoiler)[
– Moon Called, ★★★★★, Mercy #1
– Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson: Moon Called Vol. 1, ★★★☆☆, comic adaptation of the same…
– Alpha & Omega, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #0.5
– Cry Wolf, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #1
– Hunting Ground, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #2
– Blood Bound, ★★★★★, Mercy #2
– Iron Kissed, ★★★★★, Mercy #3
– Bone Crossed, ★★★★★, Mercy #4
– Silver Borne, ★★★½☆, Mercy #5,
– River Marked, ★★★★☆, Mercy #6
– Fair Game, ★★★★★, Alpha & Omega #3
– Frost Burned, ★★★★☆, Mercy #7
– Dead Heat, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #4
– Night Broken, ★★★★★, Mercy #8
– Fire Touched, ★★★★☆, Mercy #9 (hide spoiler)]
– Next: Silence Fallen, ★★★★★, Mercy #10
– Next: Burn Bright, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #5
– Next: Storm Cursed, ★★★★★, Mercy #11
– Next: Smoke Bitten, pub date March 2020, Mercy #12

Complete time-line for the “Mercyverse”, including the short stories:
http://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/t…
————

First read in 2017: ★★★★★

There is humour…
Holy Avon, Batman, I thought as worry relaxed into annoyance-tinged humor, I’ve been attacked by a multilevel marketer.

And profound stuff…
Death is not to be feared. Death is easy. It is living that is brutal.

And swearing…
“My croaking fat frog will shag my fucking Aunt Fanny before I’ll go now,” he said.

And a very nice, feel-good ending…
“Nudge,” he said.

I took me a while to warm up to Adam, but by now I love him. And Mercy still is an excellent character. The Pack dynamics are very well done, truly believable, UF for grown-ups, without silly drama. Love the fae, love the settings, good action, great world building.

Still going strong. Looking forward to the next book.

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The one with the lava monster

Night Broken by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Upgrading this to ★★★★★, because I thouroughly enjoyed it. Well, ok, minus all the drama with Christy and the general bitchiness of the female werewolves. That almost makes it worth knocking off that fifth star again.

This one and the one with the River God are probably my favourite Mercy books. Because it‘s not just the same old fae, vampires, more fae, another vampire…, but a truly different and more interesting creature.

————
Reading order and progress of my chronological Mercyverse re-read:(view spoiler)[
– Moon Called, ★★★★★, Mercy #1
– Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson: Moon Called Vol. 1, ★★★☆☆, comic adaptation of the same…
– Alpha & Omega, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #0.5
– Cry Wolf, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #1
– Hunting Ground, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #2
– Blood Bound, ★★★★★, Mercy #2
– Iron Kissed, ★★★★★, Mercy #3
– Bone Crossed, ★★★★★, Mercy #4
– Silver Borne, ★★★½☆, Mercy #5,
– River Marked, ★★★★☆, Mercy #6
– Fair Game, ★★★★★, Alpha & Omega #3
– Frost Burned, ★★★★☆, Mercy #7
– Dead Heat, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #4
– Night Broken, ★★★★★, Mercy #8 (hide spoiler)]
– Next: Fire Touched, ★★★★★, Mercy #9
– Next: Silence Fallen, ★★★★★, Mercy #10
– Next: Burn Bright, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #5
– Next: Storm Cursed, ★★★★★, Mercy #11
– Next: Smoke Bitten, pub date March 2020, Mercy #12

Complete time-line for the “Mercyverse”, including the short stories:
http://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/t…
————

First read in 2015: ★★★★☆

I liked it. I am not ecstatic about it, but it was yet another solid read. Although it has been two years since I read Frost Burned, I had no problems getting back into Mercy Thompson’s world. Her stories were more fun, before she married Adam. Although he is obviously a very dishy character. I also like Jesse, Tad and Warren a lot. Good fights, good story, some nice character additions. The ending made me want to pick up the next book straight away. So now, a long wait ahead of me…

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Frost didn‘t burn, actually…

Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Who needs a slow build-up? Let’s just jump into the middle of that crisis in the first chapter…”

That‘s what I wrote in an update during my first read and it holds true. This story starts in the middle of the action and keeps going. Good tension and build-up, none of the issues I mentioned below in my first review.
Yes, getting a bit fed-up with the bitchy bitches in Mercy‘s pack. But the drama is bearable. I did enjoy the parts written from Adam‘s POV and the expansion of Tad‘s character. I would like it, if Briggs took a deeper look at Mercy‘s abilities and how to expand and make them play a bigger part.
Yes, again, almost no recollection of the storyline. Besides the parts with Zee, I remembered zilch.

————
Reading order and progress of my chronological Mercyverse re-read:(view spoiler)[
– Moon Called, ★★★★★, Mercy #1
– Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson: Moon Called Vol. 1, ★★★☆☆, comic adaptation of the same…
– Alpha & Omega, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #0.5
– Cry Wolf, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #1
– Hunting Ground, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #2
– Blood Bound, ★★★★★, Mercy #2
– Iron Kissed, ★★★★★, Mercy #3
– Bone Crossed, ★★★★★, Mercy #4
– Silver Borne, ★★★½☆, Mercy #5,
– River Marked, ★★★★☆, Mercy #6
– Fair Game, ★★★★★, Alpha & Omega #3
– Frost Burned, ★★★★☆, Mercy #7 (hide spoiler)]
– Next: Dead Heat, ★★★★★, Alpha & Omega #4
– Next: Night Broken, ★★★★☆, Mercy #8
– Next: Fire Touched, ★★★★★, Mercy #9
– Next: Silence Fallen, ★★★★★, Mercy #10
– Next: Burn Bright, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #5
– Next: Storm Cursed, ★★★★★, Mercy #11
– Next: Smoke Bitten, pub date March 2020, Mercy #12

Complete time-line for the “Mercyverse”, including the short stories:
http://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/t…
————
First read in 2013:

I liked the POV switching to Adam, the ghosts added a nice little extra, too. The Mercedes (the car, not our heroine) had me cracking up.
I took some smaller breaks in between and had problems keeping some of the characters straight, but that might have been me. Took me a bit to get back into it, the gap between this and the last book feels huge.
After reading Eileen Wilks I have to say I like the dynamic of her werewolf packs much better. The female werewolves here are so bitchy. Perhaps because they are bitches, literally… 😉

View all my reviews

Native

River Marked by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Next one in my Mercyverse re-read. So, finally…

(view spoiler)[“Pup,” he said into the sudden silence, “today, I’m giving you one of my treasures. You see that you take proper care of her.”
Mercy is getting married human-style to her werewolf mate and and her foster father Bran, the biggest, baddest wolf, is giving her away.
So off we go on honeymoon. Obviously, various things will hit the proverbial fan shortly. Mercy finally meets her father… (hide spoiler)]

This time around we get fewer werewolves, vampires or fae. Instead we dive into native American folklore. A little more romance, a rural setting, almost no Columbia Basin Pack, more of a fantasy feel. Different to the previous Mercy books. I like it.

————
Things I looked up while reading this:
– Columbia River Gorge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbi…
Multnomah Falls looks a little underwhelming online. The Cascades look pretty though.
Mount St. Helens, remember that? In the Cascades! Didn‘t know that… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade…
– Porcupine quillwork: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quillwork

————
Reading order and progress of my chronological Mercyverse re-read:
(view spoiler)[- Moon Called, ★★★★★, Mercy #1
– Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson: Moon Called Vol. 1, ★★★☆☆, comic adaptation of the same…
– Alpha & Omega, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #0.5
– Cry Wolf, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #1
– Hunting Ground, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #2
– Blood Bound, ★★★★★, Mercy #2
– Iron Kissed, ★★★★★, Mercy #3
– Bone Crossed, ★★★★★, Mercy #4
– Silver Borne, ★★★½☆, Mercy #5, next…
– River Marked, ★★★★☆, Mercy #6 (hide spoiler)]
– Next: Fair Game, Alpha & Omega #3

Complete time-line for the “Mercyverse”, including the short stories:
http://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/t…

————
1st read in 2011: ★★★★☆
What do you call Urban Fantsay without an urban setting? Is it just Fantasy? Because in this one Mercy and Adam are running around in the wilderness and get wet in a lot of rivers.

Good suspense, straight forward story, lots of action. It wasn’t breathtaking, but a good, solid read. Interesting detour into Native American Folklore.

View all my reviews

A little muddled…

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Do you remember that book explaining about fae from the previous Mercy Thompson novel? Mercy still has it and something is fishy about it.

And Mercy is still struggling with her new pack bonds and also with her mate bond with Adam. It‘s getting a little old. I can‘t remember how long this drags on, I hope not through too many more books.

I remembered almost nothing of the story. And this is the first book in my re-read, where I did not feel a great compulsion to pick it up and finish reading it. It was still well written and entertaining, the plotting just didn‘t work for me. So I am knocking off one star of my first rating. Well, honestly, this is more of a ★★★½☆, rounded up for old times sake…

————
Reading order and progress of my chronological Mercyverse re-read:
– Moon Called, ★★★★★, Mercy #1
– Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson: Moon Called Vol. 1, ★★★☆☆, comic adaptation of the same…
– Alpha & Omega, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #0.5
– Cry Wolf, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #1
– Hunting Ground, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #2
– Blood Bound, ★★★★★, Mercy #2
– Iron Kissed, ★★★★★, Mercy #3
– Bone Crossed, ★★★★★, Mercy #4
– Silver Borne, ★★★½☆, Mercy #5, next…
– Next: River Marked, Mercy #6

Complete time-line for the “Mercyverse”, including the short stories:
http://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/t…

————
1st read in 2010: ★★★★★
I read the first half of the book in one sitting, good stuff!

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Still those pesky vampires…

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The beginning of this is almost word for word the same as the end of the previous book. Which is odd, when reading them back to back.

Still trouble with Marsilia and her seethe. Developments with Stefan and a warming up of the relationship with Adam. We have more of the Walking Stick and Mercy practicing her skills as a Walker. This time she is off to Spokane about some ghost. Things happen that make it worse, as they tend to do with Mercy, and there is a vampire that is even scarier than Marsilia. Good fun, especially the finale.

————
Reading order and progress of my chronological Mercyverse re-read:
–
Moon Called
, ★★★★★, Mercy #1
– extra–
Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson: Moon Called Vol. 1
, ★★★☆☆, comic adaptation of the same…
–
Alpha & Omega
, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #0.5
–
Cry Wolf
, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #1
–
Hunting Ground
, ★★★★☆, Alpha & Omega #2
–
Blood Bound
, ★★★★★, Mercy #2
– Iron Kissed , ★★★★★, Mercy #3
– Bone Crossed , ★★★★★, Mercy #4
– Silver Borne, ★★★★★, Mercy #5, next…

Complete time-line for the “Mercyverse”, including the short stories:
http://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/t…
————

1st read in 2009:

Good fun. Mercy finally decided between her two potential boyfriends and life could be good, if that pesky vampire wasn’t after her. The usual mayhem, lots of action, witty banter.

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