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Rhapsody of Blood #2
Reflections
Two Women - and the workings of Time and Fate
Mara, tasked since the dawn of history with destroying those who use the magic of killing and torture to become as gods. Emma, who with her ghost lover Caroline fights smaller evils on the streets of modern London and LA. What is the connection between these two? Apart from all the people they seem to know in common - the sorceress Morgana, the cockney spymistress Polly, the god Jehovah - they have the same enemies.
In the streets of Paris and London, the mountains of Afghanistan and a dusty car park in Iraq, these two dangerous witty women confront thugs, magic assassins, zombie gods and some of the worst villains in history, with allies that include Voltaire, the Duchess of Devonshire and a Yorkshire jihadi with serious demolition skills.
Mara, tasked since the dawn of history with destroying those who use the magic of killing and torture to become as gods. Emma, who with her ghost lover Caroline fights smaller evils on the streets of modern London and LA. What is the connection between these two? Apart from all the people they seem to know in common - the sorceress Morgana, the cockney spymistress Polly, the god Jehovah - they have the same enemies.
In the streets of Paris and London, the mountains of Afghanistan and a dusty car park in Iraq, these two dangerous witty women confront thugs, magic assassins, zombie gods and some of the worst villains in history, with allies that include Voltaire, the Duchess of Devonshire and a Yorkshire jihadi with serious demolition skills.
328 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 9, 2023
I find the standout sections of this volume to be the adventures of Mara in 17th and 18th century France and England. The monsters are creepy and I would have liked more descriptive action scenes, but I enjoyed the truly epic scale of the storyline.
March 25, 2026
Imagine a uniquely gruesome amalgamation of Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, and some of the best historical volumes you own.
September 8, 2015
Simply wonderful! Gorgeous wit and brilliant characters. Even the side characters are complex and well thought out, and you get the impression that outside of the book they go off and have their own extremely interesting lives.
The only thing is--and maybe it's a silly thing, but it did affect my reading of the book--that some of the chapters are very, very long. If I'd been in a position to curl up with it and spend an afternoon reading, I don't think it would have mattered, but as it was, the most I could do was a few minutes a day, before bed. Normally that would be a chapter, but when the chapters are 100+ pages that gets a bit difficult. I would have to read in little nibbles, and break off in odd places, and lose the thread of things. But my goodness, it was a thread worth pursuing until the end!
The only thing is--and maybe it's a silly thing, but it did affect my reading of the book--that some of the chapters are very, very long. If I'd been in a position to curl up with it and spend an afternoon reading, I don't think it would have mattered, but as it was, the most I could do was a few minutes a day, before bed. Normally that would be a chapter, but when the chapters are 100+ pages that gets a bit difficult. I would have to read in little nibbles, and break off in odd places, and lose the thread of things. But my goodness, it was a thread worth pursuing until the end!
November 21, 2013
Somewhat different in tone from Book One, but that's as it should be, because of the historical figures concerned. I loved this almost as much -- and definitely still enough for 5 stars! It took a little while for some of the new characters to grow on me. I eagerly await Book Three.
November 12, 2013
Very good, even if ending on a cliff-hanger... when is the next installment due?
(2026: I am now going straight on to Resurrections.)
(2026: I am now going straight on to Resurrections.)
February 3, 2014
Lots of fun, one of the liveliest books I've read in awhile!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews