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Hounding The Moon (Tess Noncoire #1)

3.19 of 5 stars 3.19 · rating details · 146 ratings · 23 reviews

Tess Noncoire is a bestselling fantasy writer. She's also become a demon fighter trained in martial arts by the Sisterhood of the Celestial Blade Warriors and partnered with a mischievous imp named Scrap. Together they must find a young Native American girl who has disappeared-before she falls victim to a ferocious hound. As the hunt grows more desperate, the forces of dar...more

Paperback, 400 pages

Published September 4th 2007 by Daw (first published September 5th 2006)

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Sep 24, 2012 Lolly's rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: part-of-a-series

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I cannot believe I spent money on this book. Oh, it sounded good. A novel centered around a writer of fantasy novels, who uses her secret life as a demon fighting warrior as inspiration for her books, and her cigar-smoking, fast-talking imp companion. Intriguing, right? Well, it is an intruging premise, let down by a lackluster main character, a meandering, I would even say nonexistent plot, and a messy, jumbled, confused, mish-mashed storyline. Honestly, I've read some bad books in my lifetime,...more I cannot believe I spent money on this book. Oh, it sounded good. A novel centered around a writer of fantasy novels, who uses her secret life as a demon fighting warrior as inspiration for her books, and her cigar-smoking, fast-talking imp companion. Intriguing, right? Well, it is an intruging premise, let down by a lackluster main character, a meandering, I would even say nonexistent plot, and a messy, jumbled, confused, mish-mashed storyline. Honestly, I've read some bad books in my lifetime, but I think this is the worst, mainly because it does have so much promise. The other bad books were let down by badly drawn characters, poorly told stories, or just plain awful writing. This is let down by all three.

First, we have the lead character, Tess Noncoire, the fantasy writer who's also a member of the secret society known as the Sisterhood of the Celestial Blade Warriors. The sisterhood is charged with protecting "nodes," portals which lead from our world into the world of demons. After succumbing to a near-fatal illness, an illness specifically designed to bring a warrior's power to life and allow her to bond with an imp companion, Tess goes through a period of intense training to prepare her to fight demons. Essentially she becomes a fighting machine. At least, that's what we're told...over and over again. We have to take the author's word for it, though, because Tess doesn't do much fighting. On the two occasions she does fight, her "prowess" mainly consists of ineffectively thwacking the threat with her weapon with the attitude of "Ooh, go away you nasty thing!" Wow, that's some warrior you've got there Ms. Frost. Other than the fact that we're told she's a warrior and a fantasy writer, we don't know much else about Tess. She's basically a cipher. Oh, she's still suicidally mournful over the death of her husband (I'll come to him in a moment). That's it.

Second, we have the story. Or perhaps I should say stories as the author included several, none of which really went anywhere or had anything to say or even seemed to have anything to do with one another. Story #1: Tess is on tour to promote her latest book...sort of. Instead of making the rounds of local bookstores, Tess seems to limit her trips to sci-fi fan conventions. Yet, despite the number of cons she visits (and trust me, we're subjected to detailed descriptions of multiple conventions), maybe at only one of them does she promote her book. The rest are visited just for fun. Do promoting authors really have that much free time? Not from what I've been given to understand. Granted, you can sense the author's love of fan conventions, with their close-knit camaraderie, costumes, and filking (sci-fi riffs on folk songs), but do we need such lovingly detailed descriptions for every con, or, for that matter, do we need the character to endlessly go to con after con? Unless you're setting the entire book in one (notice I stress one) con, no, we don't, so leave off already. Story #2: A big dog, almost demonic-looking, is attacking Native American girls in the Northwest, eventually capturing one, Cynthia, who Tess "rescued" during a fight with the dog at the beginning of the book. We later learn that this dog and Cynthia, whom the dog is actually protecting, are part of a myth involving the weaving of a blanket and the end of the world. Once Cynthia is taken by the dog, Tess searches for her (in between cons) and this is where this particular storyline gets stupid (-er): When Tess hears of a sighting of Cynthia and the dog not far from Tess's hotel, does she immediately go out and look for the girl? No, of course not, why would she? Instead she eats her steak dinner which has just arrived. WTF? If you're so concerned about this girl, wouldn't you go out to look for her if she was seen close by not more than ten minutes ago? The search may be fruitless, but I sure as hell would. Story #3: Donovan Estevez, who gets Tess's loins all hot and bothered, seeks her out and beds her, making her heart go pitty-pat and her concerns about him fly out the window with every flash of his sparkling white smile. Tess's imp, Scrap, warns her that he's bad and should be avoided. Now, she's supposed to trust this imp with her life in battle, but she can't believe him when he says Donovan smells bad and doesn't seem human? Plus there's the fact that Donovan is jealous of Tess's husband, who died three years ago, after a liquor-fueled whirlwind weeks-long romance and quickie wedding. Oh, and said husband, Dill, is now haunting Tess, telling her to get rid of Scrap so Dill can be her companion and come back to her. Huh? After that, things start to break down (even more). We get other ghosts who haunt Tess's life, a magical haircomb which is bleaching Tess's hair, an Indian casino which becomes the scene of an armed standoff as the tribe which owns the land declares its independence from the U.S.A., Tess's interfering and rude family, her former in-laws who have declared her marriage to Dill null. Oh, and Sasquatches, which are actually demons guarding the chatroom which leads to the demon realms. Is your head spinning yet? I know mine was. And I'm sure I'm leaving some things out as it's possible Frost may have introduced a few other plot points in later chapters. I don't know because I'm weak. I caved, I tapped out, I cried "Uncle!" and stopped reading at page 257. I just couldn't take the ridiculousness anymore.

Which is where the bad writing comes in. This is such a jumbled mess of a book, with no discernible plot, no real character development, no cohesion, no sense of moving from point A to point B. Reading it was like being a hamster on a treadmill: Lots of moving, moving, moving, without actually getting anywhere. I still, scout's honor, couldn't tell you what the book is actually about.

I went into this with an open mind. After about fifty pages, I thought, "Well, not much is going on, but it's a interesting premise. I'll probably end up giving this 3 stars." After about 150 pages, I thought, "What exactly am I reading? I mean, it's not bad, it's just not that good. Probably 2 stars." I've come away with the opinion that one star is too good for Hounding the Moon. No, wait, the cover art is pretty, so I guess the star can be for that.(less)

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Aug 14, 2011 Solace Winter rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I first started reading this novel I thought, "Damn, another one of those spur-of-the-moment purchases that I'm going to regret." The main character was such an obvious Mary Sue and the nickname of Gollum for a character I'm supposed to somehow take seriously was ridiculous. I was prepared to write this book off.

I kept reading. And you know what? While I still thing the main character is a Mary Sue and I still think Gollum is a horrendous nickname, this was a decent novel. What I want to gi...more

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Jun 13, 2011 Lighthearted rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, supernatural-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Interesting premise—disappointing execution. My biggest complaint about the story is that Tess frequently finds herself in the middle of some scene which should be intense, like being questioned by the Marines or being held hostage by demons, and then ‘poof’ the scene is over and she’s safe. Frost needs to spend more time a) building the tension, b) developing the scene and c) making the logistics believable. I became exasperated with the back and forth between ‘dangerous’ situations and ‘easy’...more Interesting premise—disappointing execution. My biggest complaint about the story is that Tess frequently finds herself in the middle of some scene which should be intense, like being questioned by the Marines or being held hostage by demons, and then ‘poof’ the scene is over and she’s safe. Frost needs to spend more time a) building the tension, b) developing the scene and c) making the logistics believable. I became exasperated with the back and forth between ‘dangerous’ situations and ‘easy’ exits.

Other complaints:

* Throughout the story, we’re reminded of Tess’ intense bat phobia, but it seems to magically disappear at the end of the book. Even in a fantasy setting, I can’t believe that a phobia would lessen that dramatically, that quickly.
* The Dog/Weaver/Quilt storyline had a lot of holes in it. I’m okay with the myth itself—I just found myself confused by Frost’s treatment of it. So confused, I don’t care to elaborate on my confusion.
* Is Tess communicating with Scrap telepathically or is she speaking out loud? Seems like talking out loud would attract a lot of attention and it seems like she does this most of the time. Of course, it also appears as if she’s constantly wandering around in a cloud of cigar and farts smell so maybe no one’s around to notice . . . . *Incidentally, I don’t find a farting imp entertaining—it seems like a lazy way to try and get a laugh. Bartimaeus is a much better example of a wise-ass sidekick.
* Tess sleeps with and continues to hang out with a character that frightens the beejeezus out of her imp, but she gets on Gollum’s case because he has a cat and Scrap doesn’t like cats? Incidentally, when your imp is constantly smoking stinky cigars and farting in people’s faces, it seems like you don’t have much of a case for asking someone to give up their beloved pet.
* A good guy character who prefers the nickname Gollum. The nickname could have worked for me, had it been one that he was trying to get rid of but his own choice? No.

I could go on and on but I won’t. There are a few more books in the series so hopefully there’s improvement down the line but I doubt that I will give them a try any time soon; there are simply too many other books on my to-read list to give time to a series that began so poorly.(less)

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Mar 11, 2011 Kelly rated it 2 of 5 stars

Fantasy author Tess Noncoiré’s latest novel is her biggest success yet, but all is not going smoothly for her. She’s still mourning her late husband, Dill, who died in a hotel fire two years ago after a brief marriage. Then there’s the pesky issue of demons. Right after Tess was widowed, a mysterious fever led her to a secret Sisterhood dedicated to fighting demons. Tess never fit in and was asked to leave, but the training has stuck with her — along with her familiar imp, Scrap, who has become...more Fantasy author Tess Noncoiré’s latest novel is her biggest success yet, but all is not going smoothly for her. She’s still mourning her late husband, Dill, who died in a hotel fire two years ago after a brief marriage. Then there’s the pesky issue of demons. Right after Tess was widowed, a mysterious fever led her to a secret Sisterhood dedicated to fighting demons. Tess never fit in and was asked to leave, but the training has stuck with her — along with her familiar imp, Scrap, who has become her best friend and who can transform into a weapon when evil is nearby.

As Hounding the Moon begins, Tess saves a young Native American girl from a rampaging dog. When the dog and the girl keep reappearing in Tess’s life, she learns that they have a role to play in a Lakota myth, and that Tess’s help is needed to bring about a positive outcome. Meanwhile, she has to contend with her first romantic relationship since Dill’s death, and with the revelation that her marriage might not have been quite what she thought it was. Peppered among the present-day chapters told from Tess’s point of view are a number of “Interludes.” These feature Scrap’s point of view, scenes from Tess’s past in the Sisterhood, or both.

The storyline concerning Tess’s grief, and her coming to terms with it, is touching and emotional. These are some of the best scenes in the book. If I do go on to read more TESS NONCOIRÉ novels, it’ll be to find out what was really going on with Dill, as questions are raised but not exactly answered.

The plot of Hounding the Moon is confusing at times, and the book is filled with scenes that don’t do much to advance it. One example is the early scenes featuring Tess’s eccentric family. I usually enjoy domestic scenes that lend a little warmth to urban fantasy’s tough-girl heroines, but in this case, there’s so much domestic stuff that the story grinds to a crawl for it. Another example is the many SF conventions Tess attends. I’m a con-goer myself, so I know cons are fun — but it’s hard to capture their charm in writing. Too often, Tess’s con adventures feel like a recitation of the schedule: she goes to a panel, she goes to the dealers’ room, she goes to a party, and so on. There’s one con scene that worked really well, though: the filking scene at the end. “There’s a Bimbo on the Cover of My Book” is a funny little ditty that spoofs cheesy science fiction and fantasy covers.

I didn’t understand some of the decisions Tess makes. For instance, Tess spends much of the book searching for the dog and the girl, but when she hears they’re nearby, she… sits back down at her restaurant table and cracks open a book. Or, when a friend calls her multiple times during a convention to warn her she’s in deadly danger, she blows off his calls and carries on with her con socializing, even though P.R. Frost makes it clear she has plenty of downtime during which she could simply call the poor guy back and ask what’s going on. I also spent much of the book not understanding why she kept trusting Donovan, even though he came off as slimy, but (view spoiler).

Overall, Hounding the Moon is too muddled and suffers from severe pacing problems and a heroine who lacks common sense. The exploration of Tess’s grief for Dill is compelling, and the bits of SF-convention humor are fun, but they’re not enough to give me much impetus to keep reading this series.(less)

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Jun 02, 2011 Carolyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 04, 2012 Dana rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

This book was... not the book I wanted it to be. It has a good premise, but I found myself constantly waiting for it to get better. I don't really have an issue with stories that do a non-linear progression of present/flashback alternations, but in this case I don't feel like it was the right choice. More than that, though, I was really bothered by how much her companion imp's internal voice didn't match his external portrayal at all. I liked him when the POV was him, internally. I found him inc...more

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Oct 19, 2009 Emily rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-sf, series

This book showed a lot of promise. The story could be interesting--the main character is an author who writes fantasy novels based on her secret life as a member of a female demon-fighting order. Among many of my problems with the book, she really thinks she's better than all of the other women who have been fighting longer than she has. She's dismissive of their beliefs and advice, even while taking advantage of what they've given her. She's apparently the most apt pupil ever, though, because s...more

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Oct 06, 2007 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: urban fantasy lovers

This is a fun urban fantasy, and the first book of a new series! Tess Noncoire is a fantasy novelist, as well as a member of the Sisterhood of the Celestial Blade Warriors, a secret group of demon hunters. Each Sister has an imp as her companion; Tess's is an undersized fellow named Scrap (I love him!). In this first adventure, Tess makes her way 'round the usual convention circuit while solving a mystery involving Native American myth. Joining Tess and Scrap are Guilford Van der Hoyden-Smythe (...more

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Aug 08, 2012 Summer Ross rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: entertainment

I really enjoyed this first book in the series. By far the little Imp, Scrap, is my favorite. He is witty and charming in a grotesque way. I found the voice of the narration wonderfully done, good characterization.

The down side is sometimes the description and plot didn't mesh together quite as smooth as the characters do.

I'll be reading more from this author.

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Mar 30, 2010 Bronwen Stair rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, romance-fantasy

a bit shallow, but sometimes funny, liked the bits at the cons and the song at the end. imp was a foul Groucho Marx. Kept reading anyway and skipped the gory parts and the the endless drooling over the dark lover. will probably try the next one to see if she gets any better.

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Nov 26, 2011 Joy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal-romance, series, crap-that-sucks

first of four. Proof again that even bad writers can make it in romance. Poor segues, dull characters and terrible names.

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Feb 12, 2011 Shanshad Whelan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, series, urban-fantasy

Okay fantasy read--not terrible, not brilliant. Had some good parts but felt the pacing and tone were inconsistent on occasion.

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Mar 23, 2010 Kerri rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not being a huge fan of vampires and crappy writing, I usually avoid urban fantasy like the plague. I figured I'd give this a try though since I was familiar with the author (she's also the author of the Dragon Nimbus series under Irene Radford), and the premise intrigued me. I was a bit disappointed by the writing, the same descriptions were repeated over and over and things got really slow at some points. Still this book does have redeeming qualities, Scrap the imp chief among them. There's a...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy, super-natural-mystery, supernatural-paranormal-romance

This wasn't too bad, perhaps more like 3 1/2 stars instead of a full 4, but not so awful that I would run from the rest of the books. I got a little frustrated with the whole bat phobia business (I know, I know if it had been spiders I would have quit reading the book entirely) because I felt that the author over hammered the point. Not a bad story line, but a little disjointed for me, and dribbling of info kinda got on my nerves as well, but I may continue with the series despite all of this. I...more

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Jan 01, 2009 Dejsha rated it 1 of 5 stars

Could not finish.

Never connected to the main character.

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Nov 02, 2011 Karen Desmond rated it 2 of 5 stars

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Aug 05, 2010 Linda Irvine rated it 1 of 5 stars

Blech

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Jan 05, 2008 Donnae rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Donnae by: Ellen Braby

Shelves: fantasy-urban

Weakened by grief, Teresa--known as Tess to her fans--unknowingly contracts a virus that alters her mind and enables her to see imps, gives her superior strength (and a matching metabolism) and starts her on the path of demon hunting as a Celestial Blade Warrior with her runt-of-the-family imp, Scrap. Her first demonic encounter is with a large dog at a skate park that escapes from the fight, but as see seeks the demon she learns that many aspects of her earlier life are not as they seem.

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Jul 14, 2009 Janet rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal-fictional

Having an author as the main character is almost as cool as having a librarian as the main character. While shaky in spots, this first book in a new series definitely had its high points. I don’t think I’ve ever met a gay demon imp before.

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Sep 28, 2012 Ithlilian marked it as did-not-finish

Shelves: urban-fantasy

This book sounded interesting, and a bit different, but it was mostly a waste of time. The main character and the story are all over the place, and none of those places are good. I find myself immediately attached from the characters and the story, and there was no coming back. I could really sum Hounding The Moon up quite nicely in one word: nonsense.

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Feb 04, 2012 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have heard some really horrible things about this book, and guess what? I really liked it. There are lots of gaps and it jumps back and forth abit, but there is enough of a story to get into. I would love to hear more about why Dill continued to haunt her etc, must wait for the next book!

Fun, interesting and warming.

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Jul 24, 2008 Diane rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not bad--read the whole thing, and it was enjoyable. Won't make it to my "keeper" shelves, but worth the read.

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Jun 13, 2009 Lindig rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

too "funny" and "chick-lit"

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Jun 14, 2013 Sarina marked it as to-read

Jun 01, 2013 Reneerenee added it

Shelves: p-r-frost

May 31, 2013 April Thompson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

May 30, 2013 Kelli rated it 4 of 5 stars

May 29, 2013 Claire rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: claire-s-library

May 22, 2013 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 29, 2013 Melissa Crady marked it as to-read

Shelves: library

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About P.R. Frost

A pseudonym used by C.F. Bentley. Also known as Irene Radford.

P.R. Frost resides on beautiful Mt. Hood in Oregon. She hikes the Columbia River Gorge for inspiration. She is an omnivorous reader having taught herself to read before entering kindergarten. Her sister claims this was so she wouldn’t have to wait to learn how to write so she could begin penning her stories. At Science Fiction/Fantasy C...more

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Hounding The Moon (Tess Noncoire #1)

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