Ascension (Dark Breed #1)

Jacket Back

The gates of hell ha

Jacket Back

The gates of hell have opened, and one woman will stand in the crossfire as the
Dark Breed—vampyre, demons, shape shifters—and mankind fight their last battle for survival.
Kyana is half Vampyre, half Lychen . . . and the last of her kind. Determined, dangerous, and damned, she has no love for the mortals who have imprisoned and misused her. But when the Order of Ancients entrusts her with a mission—to find the key that will send the Dark Breed back into Hell for eternity—Kyana has no choice but to accept.
She is furious to learn her assignment comes with an escort . . . Ryker, a demigod and fierce warrior who long ago found a way under her skin and stayed there. In a shaky alliance, they discover an ancient cult with dangerous motive and a god who seeks to destroy all others. And as Kyana begins to feel the heat that threatens to bind her to Ryker, she knows she has to resist. For it could only mean the undoing of them both .

About the Author

Sable Grace is the writing team of Heather Waters and Laura Barone, long-time critique partners and friends who came together by fluke to discover their voices fit together quite nicely during a writing experiment. The story became far too interesting to put down and Sable Grace was born.
Both Heather and Laura reside in Florida, are happily married to their real-life heroes, and are, well, complete opposites. Still, there's enough common ground for them to weave their words together in the voice of Sable Grace.

I was prepared to dislike this book. Mixing Greek Gods, Witches, Mystics, Lychans (werewolves), and vampires often results in a lot of names you have to remember and decipher, geography that is rather odd, and rules and politics that are too far outside my ability to suspend disbelief. It is the first book I have ever read that takes place in St. Augustine, Florida.

Greek God Ares Ares (Ryker's Father)Image via Wikipedia
But I was pleasantly surprised by an easily understood world, structured in an understandable way: Above—human world, Below—Non-humans with an artificial lighting that mimics the sun, and Beyond—where the Gods and Fates reside—a metaphysical plane. The characters were more or less predictable but each has some issues that render them unusual. The category is paranormal thriller-mystery-romance; and the plot is the supernatural equivalent of a coup d'etat. There are two love relationships—one barely grazed on in terms of the relationship but which has important consequences in the story, and one between the strong hero, Ryker and stubborn heroine, Kyana, who allow misunderstandings and circumstance to keep them apart.
The writing is good with a balance between dialogue, action and telling. It is quickly paced.

Ryker is half human half-Greek God—a Demigod, the offspring of Ares, the God of War. Kyana is half vampire and half Lychan. In this world, the pantheon controls an organization, the Order, that protects humanity from evil. Kyana, in service to the Order does not consume fresh human blood and has not for eighty years.

Like other vampires these can't take the sun, they live a really long time and have a special relationship with their sire. Strangely, in this world, the gods also have fangs, but usually don't use them.

Someone, we get to know fairly early on who, has let the demonic beings loose and they are wreaking havoc on the "Above." They are killing "the Chosen:" physical replacements for the gods and fates as their physical beings lose strength after aeons. What is never spoken of is whether the god takes up residence in the new body either replacing the host's identity or sharing it, or if just the powers and wisdom are transferred. We also do not learn whether the physical body of the god dies. What can I say? I like the technicalities.

There is little in the way of intimate relations between partners, and it is tasteful but passionate. There is quite a bit of violence but it is not depicted as pleasurable (mostly), nor is it too graphically described.

A woman with no family and plenty of reasons not to trust others, Kyana builds her own family in Ascension. To do so she has to let go of certain ideas about herself and others. She is not at all perfect, but she is brave and, woo-hoo, is she stubborn. She is also headstrong and tends to act in defensive mode all the time, without considering the consequences. Of course, all the characters are beautiful and have great bodies.

The characters do speak with some contempt for humanity as people who don't fight or protect their own but let others protect them.
So, despite my preconceptions this turned out to be a pretty good read. While it has merit, Ascension is not likely to win a Pulitzer, but I rather enjoyed it and it made my workout today go by really quickly!

Recommend.