Steven Allen > Recent Status Updates

I've had a bit of a hard time getting into this second book in the series.

I recently bought the first book in this series on a whim. I liked it enough to buy the entire series (so far). I found the story to be an interesting twist on the paranormal urban fantasy harem genre.

I've liked most of this author's works. I started the first book in this series with some trepidation. The first book started slow, but picked up. This, the second book in the series, started out much better. Interesting look on how to be a "bad guy" without being a "bad guy."

This is a new author for me. I noticed some of the other readers that I follow also were reading this series. So far so good - starts with a rather gruesome murder.

This is the second book I've read from a Unit veteran. As with most senior enlisted soldiers, I'd heard of the Unit. I probably saw a few around the chow halls in Iraq, and Afghanistan. The super secret squirrels were easy to spot - they had beards, wore 5.11 tactical gear head to toe, & wore Oakley sunglasses. Cool guys, but not my cup of tea. As Army Corps of Engineers my D9 at full throttle is high speed for me.

I have really enjoyed this series. I enjoy the light heartedness of the story and the sarcastic, snarky overpowered MC. I like the uniqueness of the magic system and appreciate that there is no free lunch. Someone cannot run around tossing magic like Gandalf without having an anchor to dump magic into.

This has been a great read so far. Since the author and I served in the same branch and at about the same time (I wonder if I ever met him?) it brings back a lot of memories.

I have read other books by the authors. They are hit and miss for me - sometimes they write something I enjoy and other times I find their writing meh.

I have read and enjoyed most of this author's SciFi. So far, I have not gotten into this book, but I will give it a bit.

I have only read one other Isekai Western Fantasy series (the Luck's Voice series by Daniel Schinhofen) and have enjoyed both. The author is correct that there are not many books of this type out there. I am not sure how this book sold, but Schinhofen has been very open about how his Luck's Voice series has sold compared to some of this other series.

While I was never one of the Super Secret Squirrels, I did serve with several who were. I always admired the SF guys, but knew it was not a career path for me. I have heard of the Unit before as it is fairly common knowledge of its existence, especially in the US Army.

I do not like this series as much as I loved the Binding Words series. This series is good and as I love Westerns was immediately of interest to me. A good series, but not the author's best. I keep hoping that the author will return to the Binding Words series, perhaps detailing how Myna's grandfather, an Imperial Japanese soldier, ended up on the world ruled by the Queens of Fae.

I've had this for a few days, but had other books ahead of it that I needed to finish. I have enjoyed most of these Mercy Thompson books.