Unclean Spirits (The Black Sun's Daughter, #1) by M.L.N. Hanover

Apr 13, 2012 Seak (Bryce L.) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-review, 2012

I don't read a lot of Urban Fantasy, but when I do, I read the Dresden Files.

Now, I read The Black Sun's Daughter as well.

(After putting this up, I realized that Stephen has a much better and awesomer review on this same concept. I didn't copy his [promise], but do check his out, that's the way to do it)

Unclean Spirits is the first of M.L.N. Hanover's Black Sun's Daughter series. As you may or may not know, M.L.N. Hanover is the pseudonym of the author Daniel Abraham (Abraham talks about his ma ...more

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Nov 14, 2011 Jen (Red Hot Books) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: black-suns-daughter, urban-fantasy

Unclean Spirits puts a new twist on the standard urban fantasy fare. Yes, it's got vampires, lycans, and demons of a fashion, but the ideology is different. Here, otherworldly spirits can transcend out of their own world into ours and latch on a human. They become "riders" --taking over their host's body and wreaking havoc.

Jayné knows nothing about riders or magic. But when her Uncle Eric dies, she inherits his home and his money; his secret life is an unexpected part of the deal. Eric fought th...more

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Feb 14, 2009 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, 2009, review-copy

Jayné (Zha-nay) Heller is a twenty-two year old university drop-out, alienated from her upright, conservative family, and doesn't even know where she's going to sleep next month when she gets the call about her uncle, Eric. The black sheep of the family, he's dead and has left her everything: his numerous properties around the world, his vast fortune, his friends ... and his legacy. The fortune was hard enough for her to swallow, but when she learns that Eric was involved in a battle with evil w...more Jayné (Zha-nay) Heller is a twenty-two year old university drop-out, alienated from her upright, conservative family, and doesn't even know where she's going to sleep next month when she gets the call about her uncle, Eric. The black sheep of the family, he's dead and has left her everything: his numerous properties around the world, his vast fortune, his friends ... and his legacy. The fortune was hard enough for her to swallow, but when she learns that Eric was involved in a battle with evil wizards known as the Invisible College and their "demon ridden" leader, Randolph Coin, she's sceptical - until they come for her.

She soon learns all about it: spirits from another plane are brought into this world and take host bodies. They're called "riders" and they can be vampires, werewolves, demons of various sub-species, and undetectable unless you can use your spirit energy, your "qi", to see the world clearly.

With the help of gorgeous scientist Aubrey; former Jesuit priest and weapons expert Ex; magically empowered Buddhist Chogyi Jake; and a desiccated corpse-like man who was cursed by Coin, Midian, Jayné believes she has all the assistance she needs to complete Eric's plan to kill Coin.

Written under a pseudonym for sci-fi author Daniel Abraham, Unclean Spirits reads like the script of one of those TV shows that's so popular since Buffy, and with an uncomplicated plot to match. It's a fun ride but I'm big on character development and I didn't get all that much here.

Jayné is engaging enough and has pleasantly human responses to shock, fear, abject terror etc., but she also conveniently, suddenly has expert fighting skills and magical protection - I hazard a guess it has something to do with the unfinished tattoo on her back that she woke up with after a binge-drinking session when she was sixteen. She lacks the charisma of Kelley Armstrong's Elena Michaels, or the refreshing candour of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse, for instance, but we have caught her at the beginning of her story arc and subsequent growth, and already in the space of one book she's grown some. One of the nice things about her, actually, is how her flaws are subtly presented and you don't even notice them until someone else points them out. Which makes a lot of sense, since she's the narrator and sometimes we don't see ourselves the way others do.

The other characters were more thinly sketched, which speaks badly for Jayné's perceptiveness and interest in others: frankly, it makes a protagonist seem rather selfish.

I did have the niggling thought that, what with Aubrey, Ex, Chogyi Jake and a hefty dose of sexual tension, if this were an erotic kind of book it'd be quite the party. As it is, there's already a bit of a messy love triangle developing, since it's pretty clear that Ex has a big thing for Jayné and she's too distracted - or dense - to notice.

There were a few small inconsistencies or implausabilities that bothered me but they weren't huge, and I loved the fact that these people actually ate. I know, it's a small thing, but I've read so many urban fantasy or paranormal romance books where the characters just run on adrenaline for several days straight - yeah Christine Feehan I'm looking at you.

I do like what Hanover's done with a well-worn premise, combining demons with Invasion of the Body Snatches - though the tone and descriptions brings to mind Men In Black instead - with Midian providing the snarky humour. The fighting scenes were hard to follow but otherwise the writing was smooth and the pacing in particular was just right.

It's a pretty straight-forward, black-and-white, good vs. evil set-up, but I appreciated and enjoyed the theological dilemmas and complicated positions of the main characters, which provided a bit of a balance. It's a very quick read, engaging and enjoyable, if you're not looking for anything more complicated or deep.(less)

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Sep 26, 2010 Felicia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: vaginal-urban-fantasy, urban-paranormal

One of the many many UF series out there, this one a tad less romancey than usual, i suspect that MLN Hanover is a guy by the way he writes. Mmmm...what I liked: really good dialogue. I thought the setup was a bit hard to buy I can overlook that, I guess the thing that bugged me most is that i didn't buy the romance at all. On PAPER it's really interesting actually (no spoilers, but the romance takes nonstandard twists that i hadn't seen before) but i guess i felt the secondary characters were p...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Marc rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pas franchement convaincu par ce premier tome qui n'est pas vraiment passionnant ou haletant. OK, un premier tome sert généralement à poser les bases de l'univers et de la mythologie mais ça n'empêche pas de mettre en place une intrigue intéressante.
(view spoiler)...more

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Jun 03, 2011 Ghadeer A rated it 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars
It was not impressive nor was it extremely boring . But I imagin the next book would be better.
The main characters were ok and I like the fact that Jayne had to grow up throughout the book it made her failure less annoying .
I am not sure I like the idea that all the riders are bad it seemed religious thinking more than rational to me and I also did not like it when the author says something like " and he said something vulgar " like she did not want to write a bad word other than fuck w...more

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Mar 06, 2011 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy

Didn't finish this one. It strikes me as just another attempt at the antihero, ain't I tough and nonconformist urban fantasy niche that is showing up now. I didn't care much about Jayne ( zha-nay not Jane) nor her adventures. Doesn't mean it won't suit you but I've got hundreds of books waiting to be read...and many that I'd rather read than this one. If it's your "cup-of-tea" as I've said before, enjoy. I'm old enough and have enough years behind me and few enough ahead that I don't make myself...more

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Dec 10, 2011 Rie Conley rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book and I’m excited to start the next in the series. This is a urban fantasy with rich characters and a paranormal mythology I hadn’t read before. Where vampires and all other paranormal creatures are a parasitic being from another realm that take over the host’s body.

The action starts on page one and doesn’t end until the very end, but there is still plenty of time to come to know the characters within. Each one of the characters is loveable it their own flawed way. None...more

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Mar 15, 2009 Spectre rated it 3 of 5 stars

The world in which Unclean Spirits exists offers a new twist on a well-worn genre. This world mixes science, paranormal, and religion, yet the author does not come across preachy or judgmental. This world simply is, and that is the main strength of this novel.
The downfall is in the partially developed characters. Jayné, the lead character, has an appealing first person voice that shows promise but lacks development because Jayné herself is not completely sure who she is. While that might be acc...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Blood Rose Books rated it 4 of 5 stars

M.L.N. Hanover's Unclean Spirits is for you if you are looking for something new and different in the paranormal genre.

The novel is centered on a young women named Jayne (pronounced zha-nay, not Jane, no idea why you would make up a name like that, anyways, I just continued to read it as Jane.I don’t think how you say her name really matters), who has lost everything in her life. Her parents want nothing to do with her, she was just dumped by her boyfriend and the friends she had made in College...more M.L.N. Hanover's Unclean Spirits is for you if you are looking for something new and different in the paranormal genre.

The novel is centered on a young women named Jayne (pronounced zha-nay, not Jane, no idea why you would make up a name like that, anyways, I just continued to read it as Jane.I don’t think how you say her name really matters), who has lost everything in her life. Her parents want nothing to do with her, she was just dumped by her boyfriend and the friends she had made in College don't seem to care what happens to her. To make it all worse is her Uncle, the only one who cared about her, has died. Only when she arrives for his funeral she discovers that she knew nothing about him. She has inherited his fortune and properties around the world. She cannot get around the fact that she knew nothing about his life, therefore, she decides to visit some of his properties around the city to attempt to discover who he was. Jayne enters into a downtown apartment, that has strange glass objects over the windows and stranger yet, a corpse (or an extremely bad burn victim) on the bed that opens its eyes and talks to her. Jayne has discovered someone who knew her Uncle but she cannot logically believe what she is being told. There is a different world out there with creatures called Riders and that are responsible for her uncle's death. While attempting to digest everything Midian (the burn victim) is telling her, the door is forced open and people are attacking her. Jayne fights back, with talents she never knew she had. Now there are bodies in her uncle's kitchen, a Corpse that can talk and one phone call brings three other men into her life, all of whom have worked with her Uncle. All these men believe the same thing that there is a group called the Invisible College, where the Riders that are attempting to grow in power and dominate the Earth. Jayne finds herself in the middle, wanting revenge for her Uncle's murder and attempting to believe in something she never thought possible and to top that all off, the leader of the Invisible College Cain, wants her eliminated. Jayne had better start believing in the impossible quick or she is going to find herself dead.

Sorry the premise is a little long winded there, but I wanted to do justice to the plot, but not give everything away. This is a good start to a new series and it is nice to have something different in the Genre. I like the ideas of riders. Riders are a parasitic demon spirit that takes over a human body, and gives that body extra powers and abilities. However, the individual who is infected does not retain their personality they become someone completely different. In other words they take on the personality of the spirit parasite. Additionally, magic, werewolves and vampires are found within the book but the werewolves and vampires are second fiddle to the Magic and the Riders. There is quite a bit of action in this book too, which I really enjoyed and a little bit of romance for those who like that (but not that much). One of the main things I liked in the book was Jayne's character. She is extremely Real, in the way she acted and approached situations, she is not perfect, she's flawed, and unsure of herself and yet somewhere within her there is a heroine. It’s nice to have a heroine that does not always think that she is always right, kickass, and sometimes a bitch to everyone around her.

I have picked up the second book and it is on my TBR shelf. I will post a review about the second one once I am able to read it.

Enjoy!! (less)

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Jan 18, 2013 Barac Wiley rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have been an enduring fan of the urban fantasy genre, but it's certainly true that certain paths in it seem rather well worn, and many of the authors that work in the genre are what I would describe as competent, perhaps with a few particularly good ideas, rather than exceptional. M.L.N. Hanover is an example of the latter. The concept behind this series' version of urban fantasy is solid and reasonably original (supernatural creatures are all variations on the theme of parasitic extradimensio...more

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Dec 07, 2012 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars

This one gets a big fat "meh" from me. The warning signs are there. It opens with a prologue. The prologue opens with a description of the weather. It's a dark and stormy night. A man's going to die.

The funny thing is, for me the prologue is the most lively and energetic chapter of the whole book. I'd happily forgive the weather descriptions because I was enjoying the writing style and the character of Eric. Unfortunately, he's the one who's going to die.

As soon as we get to Chapter 1, it feels...more This one gets a big fat "meh" from me. The warning signs are there. It opens with a prologue. The prologue opens with a description of the weather. It's a dark and stormy night. A man's going to die.

The funny thing is, for me the prologue is the most lively and energetic chapter of the whole book. I'd happily forgive the weather descriptions because I was enjoying the writing style and the character of Eric. Unfortunately, he's the one who's going to die.

As soon as we get to Chapter 1, it feels like all the life drains out of the writing, and that the author is trying to write urban fantasy by the numbers. We have a clueless heroine. Check. She has an assortment of cool, potential love-interest associates. Check. She can kick arse. Check. She goes shopping when she's nervous. Check. What we're left with is in an exercise in plot mechanics.

So, for the record, Jayné (pronounced Zha - nay, yeah, I know) is sole inheritor when her Uncle Eric dies. Not only does he have way more money than Jayné ever knew, and houses all over the world, he's also involved in some heavy occult stuff, which is what got him killed. Now Jayné's also inherited his problems and his business and the same trouble could be gunning for her.

I'm all for a kick arse heroine, so why didn't I like it much?

The prose is competent, but nothing special. There's a tendency to over-describe, especially food, and doubly especially omelettes. There's some indulgence in dodgy similes. A lot of people go around raising their chins. Every character is one dimensional, and for me, their relationships and motivations, including Jayné's, are deeply unconvincing.

Most of the story seems to take place outside of the book. Jayné's dropped into a complicated situation, but she doesn't have to find anything out. She's told all about it by her helpful associates who immediately appear. She can kick arse, but through no effort on her part, and it doesn't really cost her anything to do it. She's a college dropout, but she now has an ocean of money to throw at any problems, and a law firm who can find out anything she wants to know, no questions asked.

Jayné doesn't have to make much of an effort to do anything. She makes an unconvincing and ill-advised romantic attachment, and spends far too much time mooning around about it. She does have some run-ins with things that go bump in the night and the stakes do increase as the plot goes on. Later she (view spoiler). Although intellectually I understood that the stakes were building, I never really felt the tension or threat.

I didn't especially like Jayné and I got the impression the author didn't like her much either.I didn't really feel anything much about her because for me she had no presence. I do get that you can write a plot with a shallow, self-absorbed main character who isn't immediately all-likeable, but who has has to live up to the role that they've been given, and grow along the way. Writers have been doing that since "Emma" (and no doubt long before). But for me, that is just not happening in this book.

Ultimately, I just didn't care. I read to the end to see how the story turned out (so there was enough plot to keep my curiosity engaged that far), but I won't be following the series.(less)

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Nov 26, 2012 Jacob rated it 1 of 5 stars

Probably one of the worst Urban Fantasy novels I've ever had the pleasure of reviewing. Hanover's characters are so two-dimensional they're practically cardboard and he has an odd way of emphasizing names. Jayne is constantly inner monologueing about people saying it wrong but calls another character by his full name even though he tells her to just call him Jake.
The plot was entirely story driven and I'd challenge anyone who says they don't know what the big "twist" is going to be, (heres a clu...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Lightreads rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, mystery, urban-fantasy

Daniel Abraham under yet another pseudonym. Typical urban fantasy setup -- attractive and disaffected girl in her twenties inherits untold wealth when her estranged uncle dies, and also his supernatural fight with creepy demon thingies.

I always react a little . . . complicatedly to men writing female POV urban fantasy. And by "always" I mean here and for Tim Pratt, the only other example that springs to mind. These guys write books that actively respond to all the bitching I do about urban fanta...more Daniel Abraham under yet another pseudonym. Typical urban fantasy setup -- attractive and disaffected girl in her twenties inherits untold wealth when her estranged uncle dies, and also his supernatural fight with creepy demon thingies.

I always react a little . . . complicatedly to men writing female POV urban fantasy. And by "always" I mean here and for Tim Pratt, the only other example that springs to mind. These guys write books that actively respond to all the bitching I do about urban fantasy written by women -- need better worldbuilding, less bad sex, tell me more about the cool magic -- and it obscurely pisses me off. That it's happening, that I'm categorizing it that way, etc. A lot of women's urban fantasy is pretty crappy, but it's hugely popular, and in the same way I try not to judge the romance field, I don't want to judge urban fantasy as inferior just because it's a women's literature. Women like things! That's okay! And then these guys come along and write stuff that is higher quality in many respects, and it pisses me off that my brain takes their stuff more seriously without passing go. Like it's more urban fantasy and less paranormal romance just by having a dude's name on the cover, and like that's automatically a good thing. Complicated, like I said, and I don't really know what to do with it.

(Though I find it obscurely pleasing that the guys tend not to do hugely well with the female POV urban fantasy, in a market sense).

Anyway. File this one under 'wanted to like more than I actually did.' It's doing some amusing things. The heroine has the requisite ridiculous name (Jayne pronounced Zha-nay, doncha know), but everyone spends the entire book mispronouncing it. Ha. And she also has a lovely habit of calling men on their patronizing bullshit, including an excellent "I already walked away from my real daddy, what the fuck do you think I need you for" speech. But . . . eh. The romance is irritating, the plot straightforward and uninspired, the characters relatively static. Nothing to see here.

Daniel Abraham is a better writer than this. Hell, James S.A. Corey is a better writer than this.
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Apr 27, 2012 Petit-lips rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

- A la suite de la mort de son oncle Eric, la vie de Jayné Heller va être bouleversée. Elle se retrouve avec une fortune colossale, et hérite également des problèmes de son défunt parent. En effet, Eric a été assassiné alors qu'il était sur le point de tuer le plus puissant cavalier (ou esprit parasite) du coin : Randolph Cain.

- L'histoire en elle même est plutôt banale, mais n'est pas dénuée d'intérêt pour autant. L'action est bien présente, la trame principale est prenante et on a même droit à...more

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Apr 25, 2012 Tyraa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Unclean Spirits is captivating story of a girl named Jayne whose Uncle, Eric, has unfortunately died at the hands of the enemy. With the help of some of her uncle’s colleagues Jayne must fulfil Eric’s legacy and go on the mission to destroy the unclean spirits that have taken hold of innocent bodies. The story line kept the pages turning as the plot differed from the norm dabbling in the supernatural realm.

Unclean Spirits was fast paced and intriguing. Although it starts out slow, as I kept read...more Unclean Spirits is captivating story of a girl named Jayne whose Uncle, Eric, has unfortunately died at the hands of the enemy. With the help of some of her uncle’s colleagues Jayne must fulfil Eric’s legacy and go on the mission to destroy the unclean spirits that have taken hold of innocent bodies. The story line kept the pages turning as the plot differed from the norm dabbling in the supernatural realm.

Unclean Spirits was fast paced and intriguing. Although it starts out slow, as I kept reading the action and supernatural pull was enough to keep me reading. The world building was superb and with appearances from creatures such as spirits, vampires, werewolves, demons thrown in the mix, it truly made things interesting, like nothing I’ve read before.

It kept me engrossed almost the whole way and I found that the cast of characters were very appealing. Choygi Jake was one of the characters that caught my eye with his respectfulness and patience towards Jayne. He has a quiet but forceful demeanour, calm in any situation without getting angry such as when Jayne was having a meltdown in the car – “I started crying harder but somehow I wasn’t ashamed. He didn’t touch me. He only stood witness”.

I also found that the main lead, Jayne, was annoying and although I tried I couldn’t connect to her as much as I would have liked. Maybe it was just her personality but she came across as being stuck up and thinking she always knew what was best – taking charge of situations that she didn’t need to. But even though I did not like her I can respect the fact that she was able to adjust to her surroundings. She adapted to the setting that she was thrown in to and welcomed her new duties. Full of solitude and far different from her old life she deals with things quite well as it forces her to grow up and mature quickly.

As to the romance in the story, I was a little hesitant between Aubrey and Jayne because it seemed a bit sudden. Then when things got complicated I thought that Jayne was a bit of an idiot for rejecting Aubrey after he had explained himself. She didn’t accept his reasoning even though he was trying hard to please her and obviously liked her a lot.

The ending for me was very satisfying and left me wanting to read the next one. I would recommend this to urban fantasy lovers who like it bold and fast paced.

Rating: 3.5/5

Series Order
2. Darker Angels
3. Vicious Grace
4. Killing Rites(less)

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Mar 09, 2012 Caci rated it 5 of 5 stars

Title: Unclean Spirits
Author: M.L.N Hanover
Year of Publication: 2008
Publisher: Pocket Books
Page count: 357

Unclean Spirits is the first book written by M.L.N Hanover, a new name in the scene of urban fantasy. With some digging it’s discovered that M.L.N Hanover is a pen name for established author, Daniel Abraham. Abraham revealed some time ago that he choose that particular pen name for two reasons; the first being that potential readers generally assume that when an author uses initials that t...more Title: Unclean Spirits
Author: M.L.N Hanover
Year of Publication: 2008
Publisher: Pocket Books
Page count: 357

Unclean Spirits is the first book written by M.L.N Hanover, a new name in the scene of urban fantasy. With some digging it’s discovered that M.L.N Hanover is a pen name for established author, Daniel Abraham. Abraham revealed some time ago that he choose that particular pen name for two reasons; the first being that potential readers generally assume that when an author uses initials that the author is a then a woman. Second the name Hanover would place the books directly between two extremely well known urban fantasy authors on the shelf, Hamilton and Harrison, awarding the books more face time with potential readers. Despite the origins of the author’s name, Unclean Spirits is a rock thrown into the proverbial bucket of urban fantasy and it’s making a big splash.

The story starts out by throwing you into Eric Heller’s dying scene, strange happenings and good build up keep you going through the introduction. Chapter 1 promptly drops you into Denver and the mind of a young woman, Jayné Heller (her first name is pronounced zha-nay) who has arrived on scene with the purpose of settling her uncle, Eric Heller’s, estate.
Jayné’s uncle has left every bit of his wealth and property to Jayné. As his heir, not only did Jayné inherit the responsibility of settling his estate, but also a corpse, seemingly undiscovered, in her uncle’s apartment. Thus begins the violent push into a world of magic, demons and wizards when the corpse wakes up and begins speaking to her. Not to mention the four attackers who break in minute’s later unearthing Jayné innate, and completely unknown, ability to kick some supernatural butt.

Jayné starts piecing together who and what her uncle really was, and more importantly what he was really doing with his life, and she with hers. She begins this undertaking by working with the un-dead corpse from the apartment, an ex-priest, her uncle’s assistant and toss in a few extremely well connected lawyers.

Particularly impressive throughout the book was the way all the characters were written, with real true human emotions instead of the canned non-emotional responses that are displayed of some author’s side characters, even in intense situations. Especially Jayné, she’s very human, and responds very appropriately as a woman, even while being written by a man. Jayné is thoroughly unaware of how sexy, smart and strong she’s capable of being, but instead struggles with what most women do, low self confidence.

By the end of the book we find that Jayné’s only scratched the surface of the world she’s been thrust into and is now deeply into something about which she knows next to nothing.

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Jan 31, 2012 William Bentrim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Unclean Spirits by M.L.N. Hanover.

This is book one of the series The Black Sun’s Daughter. This is urban fantasy at its best. Jayne Heller discovers that her favorite uncle is a butt kicking demon chaser.

I read the fourth book, Killing Rites, in the series first. Although that book did quite well is a stand alone I wanted to find out more about Jayne.

The author does an excellent job of making the occult believable. The author doesn't paint a fantasy hero with no flaws instead she paints a young...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Alexia Chantel rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars

If you were to suddenly inherit an obscene amount of money and property do you know the first thing you would do? Find out how much you inherited, go shopping, check out one of the places you can now call home, kill some demons. Check, check, check, and...well most of us would skip on that last one.

JaynÉ is a young woman whose world gets turned upside down. When she finds out her uncle left everything to her she sees it as a chance to change her life. But the moment she steps into her...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Dark Faerie Tales rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-by-rachael

Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A unique world with interesting and likable characters.

Opening Sentence: It was raining in Denver the night Eric Heller died.

The Review:

Unclean Spirits is the first book in M.L.N. Hanover’s series, The Black Sun’s Daughter. M.L.N. Hanover is just one of the pseudonyms for science fiction/fantasy author, Daniel Abraham.

Jayne Heller’s uncle dies and leaves her with a fortune and his unbelievable work as a paranormal hunter. She is thrown into...more

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Jan 12, 2012 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

This series arrived mysteriously—almost as mysteriously as the fortune that Jayné inherits from her Uncle Eric.

This is a very well constructed novel. While it falls under the heading of "genre fiction," it is well written, neither too expository or chatty. The male writer does a reasonably good job with the young heroine's voice; alrthough I disbelieved her ability to recognize the scent of oil and metal that indicates weapons. Perhaps the character's father was a hunter.

Hanover brings together...more This series arrived mysteriously—almost as mysteriously as the fortune that Jayné inherits from her Uncle Eric.

This is a very well constructed novel. While it falls under the heading of "genre fiction," it is well written, neither too expository or chatty. The male writer does a reasonably good job with the young heroine's voice; alrthough I disbelieved her ability to recognize the scent of oil and metal that indicates weapons. Perhaps the character's father was a hunter.

Hanover brings together characters, a world, mysterious forces and just enough romance to pull you in to the story.

I found it easy to identify with Jayné (mostly the religious parents and being woefully under prepared for life) and I think there is something there that we could all identify with.

We've had a lot online these days about character development and their changing through the story. In this books a shell of a frightened little girl arrives to a world so completely unfamiliar to her that she have to feel like Alice in a more menacing Wonderland, but she sucks it up and rises to meet the challenges while retaining her own personality. The voice may slip a bit there as her personal growth feels a little masculine. She gets girly by going shopping (and that's bad because,...?).

Pacing is a trifle slow—some drag building to the climax with a few scary interludes and a bit of romance. I really enjoyed reading it.

World building is not overly detailed but has enough structure and good continuity. I like that Hanover tells the story with mostly standard genre language for the paranormal elements. Some are obscure but recognizable. But, no learning Elvish or trying to figure out meaning or pronunciation for a particular word. It makes for easy suspension of disbelief.

In short, other than that slight drag as Jayné slowly grows a pair into the woman she needs to be it's hard for me to find much that's flawed. If anything it's a little too well-done; it needs to be edgier and not as careful.

I highly recommend this to Urban Fantasy lovers. On his website Hanover /Abraham points to the pseudonym of Hanover being born of Buffy and Anita Blake. I don't feel much of Anita here. First, Anita always feels older to me that the character's given age, where Jayné feels on the cusp of adulthood. And, second, her baggage, a deeply as the religious wounds her family inflicted on her go, her baggage feels much lighter and she is far less encumbered by religion than early Anita. She feels a bit more like Rachel Morgan but without the humor; Not that it is a downer but it seems darker.

Original Post: http://fangswandsandfairydust.blogspo... Jan. 12, 2012
A set of all FOUR Black Sun's Daughter Books via Simon and Schuster for Giveaway to one winner over review period 1/12.12 to 2/8/12. Weekly entry.
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Dec 06, 2011 Fangs for the Fantasy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mln-hannover

When I finished reading Unclean Spirits, I found myself staring at the cursor on my computer screen, not sure about what to say about this series. I certainly am not overwhelmed by the story, but the book sorts of leaves you with a blank feeling.

It begins with Eric Alexander Heller, sitting in a dive bar attempting to hire a few low lives to do a job. He seems to have a sort of special sight that allows him to determine if someone is really human or, nosferatu or loupine. Apparently, these crea...more

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Nov 30, 2011 Lisarenee rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Your uncle was a very rich man," she said."He left all his assets specifically and exclusively to you. And you had no idea that was his intention?"

When Jayné (pronounced Zha-nay) Heller's uncle, Eric, died she thought the reason he'd fallen out with her overly religious family was that he was gay. Her father had called his brother "a pervert and an abominations before God." She'd just assumed he must be gay. In reality, the truth was something entirely different. Her uncle was not who she tho...more "Your uncle was a very rich man," she said."He left all his assets specifically and exclusively to you. And you had no idea that was his intention?"

When Jayné (pronounced Zha-nay) Heller's uncle, Eric, died she thought the reason he'd fallen out with her overly religious family was that he was gay. Her father had called his brother "a pervert and an abominations before God." She'd just assumed he must be gay. In reality, the truth was something entirely different. Her uncle was not who she thought he was, and she was just finding out she really didn't know the man she depended on to get her out of jams when she was younger.

"The generic term's riders. They get inside a person, and they change them. Make them do things, make them want to do things. Give them freaky powers. Normal people who've got a feel for it and the right training--call 'em wizards or witches or cunning men or whatever--they can do some pretty weird sh*t, but nothing compared to what riders are capable of."

He'd never told her anything about his life. She hadn't known what he did. Her uncle, she was finding out, had been a self appointed vigilante on a mission to rid the world of unclean spirits (aka riders). Little did she know when she stepped off the plane in Denver, she had just walked into Eric's world, and her life would never be the same...

This was a really fun story. I loved the mystery of who Eric was and that we didn't get the full picture in this book, just a taste. I enjoyed finding things out as Jayné did. I think having Jayné go in clueless was a brilliant way to introduce us to the world Hanover created--a world which is dangerous and intriguing. It reminds me a touch of 'Invasion of the Body Snatcher', only the snatchers aren't aliens but rather spirits, demons if you will, instead. The invasion of these creatures explains how werewolves, vampires, and other such creatures came to be.

Jayné is a strong and smart young woman who is almost as mysterious as her Uncle Eric. Everyone believes that her uncle must have put some sort of ward on her for protection, but I'm not sure about that. An incident which Jayné recounts having happened when she was 16 makes me wonder if there isn't more to the story than you take note of at first glance. When Jayné finds herself in dangerous situations she goes from untrained young woman to a kick@ss heroine. It's almost like a switch has been flipped.

The secondary characters are as interesting a Jayné. They all knew her uncle and help her fill in some of the blanks about him. There's Aubrey, who is a research biologist whose expertise is in parasitology. Ex is an ex-priest who can perform exorcisms. Chogyi Jake, whose background I'm unsure of, reminds me a bit of a young version of Mr. Miyagi from from the Karate kid. He tends to guide Jayné and make her work things out. There is also a character named Midian who introduces Jayné to the world of the riders. He's a vampire who her uncle had formed an alliance with.

Besides inheriting her uncle's assets, it appears she's also inherited his enemies. While checking out one of her newly inherited properties, she comes across Midian. While the two are chatting, they are attacked by the people who Midian believes killed Jayné's uncle and that's when she realizes she herself is in danger.

The story flows at a good pace. It's filled with lots of action and keeps your attention. Definitely a series I'd recommend and I'm already hooked on. I can't believe I hadn't heard of this series before. I gave this one 4 out of 5 roses.
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Nov 21, 2011 JenniferJ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Unclean Spirits was action packed..always had something happening to keep me on my toes! It was a pageturner that I had trouble putting down and found myself waking up at night to read just a few more pages. Jayne is basically a loner with no friends, boyfriend, nor any family left that wants anything to do with her. She's sort of the black sheep because she wouldn't follow her father's rules. I felt kind of sorry for her not so much for the obvious reasons but because she just seems to have hit...more

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Sep 12, 2011 Holjo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Rated 3.5/5

Jayne Heller (pronounced zha-nay) has been summoned to Denver to sort out the details of her Uncle Eric's estate. Jayne is expecting a brief trip with perhaps a small financial windfall, but instead discovers a side to Eric that she never knew about before he was murdered.

Not only was Eric Heller filthy rich, but he was also deeply involved in hunting paranormal creatures called Riders. Riders are spirits from a parallel universe who require a host body in order to exist in our world....more Rated 3.5/5

Jayne Heller (pronounced zha-nay) has been summoned to Denver to sort out the details of her Uncle Eric's estate. Jayne is expecting a brief trip with perhaps a small financial windfall, but instead discovers a side to Eric that she never knew about before he was murdered.

Not only was Eric Heller filthy rich, but he was also deeply involved in hunting paranormal creatures called Riders. Riders are spirits from a parallel universe who require a host body in order to exist in our world. They come in many different forms: vampires, werewolves, demons, etc. Once every seven years, the purgatory between the universes is opened to the Rider spirits, who then infiltrate the bodies of their human hosts in order to function and live amongst us.

Eric Heller was killed in an attempt to stop the pending 7-year ritual. The concept of the Riders is difficult for Jayne to fathom at first, but she has no choice but to accept the truth as her world begins to change around her. As Jayne learns about Eric's plans through his associates, she decides to pursue the dangerous man, Randolph Coin, who was responsible for Eric's death. Taking on Coin also means taking on the Riders. In order to do so, she will require the help of her new team of misfit friends.

There are a lot of holes in this story. Every supernatural/paranormal book needs an element of plausibility in order to capture an audience. In this case, I bought into the paranormal plotline, but I did not buy into the execution/use of magic or the interpersonal parts of the book at all.

We've got a melting pot of characters who, for no apparent reason, trust each other with their lives within days after meeting. They suddenly become a family of sorts. It isn't only their unexplained loyalty to Jayne that seems implausible, it is also their dedication to each other.

The main characters all have different levels of magical powers, but we never hear what was involved in learning the spells or what exactly they do to invoke the magic. In most cases, we read all the action up until magic is performed, then we are suddenly in the aftermath without reading anything about what was actually done or said. The exception is when Jayne uses her qi to see riders without their glamour. Although the author does describe how she uses it in this case, I think it is a critical omission that Jayne suddenly knows how to use her abilities with literally zero explanation of the training involved. This is the pattern throughout.

Another critical omission is the complete lack of explanation as to what the series title means. This series is called The Black Sun's Daughter. Why? No clue. It is never discussed at all.

In place of the missing magical detail, which I think would have been interesting, we instead get a relatively detailed log of every meal the characters eat and every time Jayne takes a shower throughout the book. It seemed strange to me that so much detail was put into the mundane events of eating, showering, and picking out clothes for the day - rather than putting that attention to detail into the paranormal elements.

In spite of what I thought was poor world-building and weak character development, I enjoyed this book. Why?? I'm really not sure! The criticisms I've outlined above would usually be enough for me to feel like a book was a waste of my time. But in this case, I was truthfully entertained. I plan to read the second book in the series, Darker Angels, if for no other reason than to try to figure out how this book got past my normal filters when other books with the same issues would not have.

Do I recommend it? Well, sort of. I'd recommend it for entertainment value only. I could not in good conscience recommend this book to the paranormal purists out there. But it might be a good option for readers who are tentatively exploring this genre.

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Aug 30, 2011 Melinda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was surprised at how much I really enjoyed the main character. I recently read a very stupid, simpering and silly female lead and was somewhat reluctant to pick up a book with another female lead. As it turned out I need not have been worried, she was a strong character but not super woman. She had her shortcomings, her human moments but was still able to succeed at her task. It was also clear that while she was the heroine she was lost without the rest of her merry gang.

The cooperation of the...more I was surprised at how much I really enjoyed the main character. I recently read a very stupid, simpering and silly female lead and was somewhat reluctant to pick up a book with another female lead. As it turned out I need not have been worried, she was a strong character but not super woman. She had her shortcomings, her human moments but was still able to succeed at her task. It was also clear that while she was the heroine she was lost without the rest of her merry gang.

The cooperation of the different personalities was very interesting, and the author was very smart to choose characters with such wildly varying backgrounds. He was able to use these different backgrounds to get the characters in and out of many interesting situations. Sometimes it was sheer human stupidity that got them into a rough patch, sometimes it was sheer determination and will power.

I was at first a little staggered by all of the magical terms that came about, the introduction literally throws you into this completely new world. However once the real story gets going things clear up a bit, much of the beginning is still exposition but it was done well and in a way that I felt developed the characters and their relationships.

I did think the romances came on a little strong, they were a little out of left field considering the rest of the story. I didn't hate the romances and triangles that cropped up but I didn't feel they were completely necessary. And not that I wanted this to be a romance novel but I would have appreciated a little bit more from the sex scene, it happens almost in passing and ends up being quite a big deal for a lot of the rest of the plot.

One thing that did really bug me was the naming. Jayne is such a pretentious name and I never felt like it fit the character. Also he mentions the mispronunciation of her name altogether WAY too many times. The first time was really enough, and we don't particularly need to know who pronounces her name the correct way and who pronounces it the wrong way upon meeting them, it does not help develop her character or those who are saying her name. Also the character Chogyi Jake annoyed me as a name, not because there was anything wrong with it but because he introduced him self as Chogyi and then said "call me Jake" which one would assume means to call him Jake. That however is apparently mistaken and we spend the rest of the book, except for ONE reference calling him Chogyi Jake, it just rubbed me the wrong way, if that was what he wanted the character to be called then fine, but please introduce him as such.

I am looking forward to the next in the series, I think this team will make for some interesting discoveries and I look forward to learning more about the world the author has built. I just hope that IF there is any romance that it is handled in a more appropriate way, some way that fits with the feeling of the story.(less)

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Jan 11, 2011 Ithlilian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Jayne is a bit of a black sheep in her family, she has very few friends, and an annoying ex boyfriend. Actually, she is on the verge of having to crash on someones couch for a place to stay when she learns that her uncle Eric died. Not only did he die, but he seems to have left a large amount of money and property all to Jayne. Uncle Eric was a bit of an outcast in the family as well, and Jayne mistakenly thought it was because he was gay. Turns out he wasn't gay, but more of a demon hunter. The...more

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Jan 02, 2011 drey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-reads, ebooks, urban-fantasy

Jayné Heller is twenty-two, aimless, and alone when she finds out that her uncle Eric is dead (murdered) and she's his heir. She also finds out that he was involved in hunting riders--beings who possess humans and take 'em over. Kinda like parasites. Yes, this means believing in demons and magic and all that stuff...

While checking out one of her new living quarters, she comes across Midian, who's a corpse-like vampiric creature who can cook like a superstar chef. And then the bad guys come a-vis...more

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Jan 01, 2011 Deanna Knippling rated it 4 of 5 stars

My opinion might be influenced by the fact that I started with reading the author's actual byline, Daniel Abraham,and liked his Long Price Quartet quite a bit (although I didn't care for the last book quite as much).

So, 1) I was cracking up over the main character, who acts like a man most of the time, except for one memorable shopping scene. It's hard to explain, but female characters who have spent their whole lives either being crushed by their fathers or rebelling against them don't suddenly...more

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Jun 01, 2010 Ellen rated it 3 of 5 stars

After the fiasco with the Kelly Gay book, I was a bit worried about trying this new series. But it's set in Denver and I used to live in both Denver and Boulder (albeit not simultaneously), so I thought I'd try it.

I liked it. It has its faults, but it works. The idea is that our heroine has inherited a lot of money from an uncle she didn't know that well -- and she gradually learns about his secret life and winds up taking over his role. The requisite romance was far too obvious, but there was...more

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