So... I binge read a series

From the desk of Kate:

I first picked up the Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson series before the birth of my child... which was almost seven years ago. I will admit I got a bit frustrated by the irregular publication schedule and stopped keeping track of the series. I was a three or four books behind. I was in the mood lately to pop in and see where Mercy was and decided to reread the whole series... and its companion series, Alpha and Omega.

The great thing about Briggs two series is that they run in the same world, intermixing with each other and referencing each other with characters that pop into both but you can read them independently if you so choose. I like the freedom of that. However, I highly recommend reading them together in the right timeline order. There is a depth of character and story that happens along the way that is quite delightful.

Originally, I was going to post individual posts about each book. But I figured that might get old for you pretty quickly. Instead here is my review at the tale end of my reread (see what I did there). 

This series is a lot of fun. It's a wild romp in the land of werewolves, vampires, fae, shifters, mythology, nerd references, and chaos. The fae came out of the closet in the 80s. We keep them on reservations and the werewolves are up next. This allows Briggs to play around with some social and political issues while her character bound through the traditional urban fantasy landscape.

Much like Jim Butcher, you have to give her a little runway to take off; she takes a few novels to hit her stride.

And much like Jim Butcher you find yourself questioning how much Patricia Briggs likes Mercy, who is not as tough as her werewolf co-stars. If you have read The Dresden files, you will know what I mean. Poor Harry... and poor Mercy. 

You see Mercy doesn't change into a werewolf; she changes into a coyote. This means she is more mortal than they are, but she likes to play with the big tough supernatural crowd all the same. She gets hurt... a lot. Just when you think, man, Briggs can't possibly rough Mercy up anymore... guess what... she does. I think her and Harry Dresden would be drinking buddies. (Let's not put them in the same novel though... they may actually get each other killed... for real this time.)

Also, unlike the werewolves in this one, who trace their origins to Europe, Mercy's roots lie in the Native American culture of the US. When too myths collide, fun ensues. (Although if you know anything about the Native American Coyote myths... chaos was kind of his stick.) 

My husband picked them up after I chattered about how I had forgotten how fun these were and rapidly read them behind me. He remarked that he really didn't like her character at the start. He didn't like the way the werewolf view on women impacted her and how she related to them. (God love my husband and his love of independent women). To someone who didn't know what was about to happen, I can totally see that view. I was hesitant the first time I read them as well. I like my female characters strong and fully capable of saving themselves. (See Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness and thank me later.) I will tell you what I told him: hang in there. Trust Briggs. She is building. She is building to somewhere wonderful. Not even I was disappointed when I hit this latest one.

I just finished Silence Fallen, the 10th Mercy Thompson novel for those of you who would like to keep score (and like to know what you are getting in to). After a long line of books with titles themed to their bad guys with twists and turns that are pleasant and unexpected most of the time, this book was the first to see me hitting the end and flipping back to chapters in the beginning to figure out where the clues I missed were. That doesn't happen to me often... just when you think the series can't take you anywhere else... just when you think that surely Briggs can't maintain the pace she has been keeping for the last 9 books... she gives you a gem. To keep up The Dresden Files comparison, I would compare it to Changes by Jim Butcher. 

There are a couple more out there in both series... but I have this thing with hardback books that my coworker Phil would disagree with... he takes the opposite approach... 

Once I have a series in one form or another, I like to keep up that trend. I tend to favor paperbacks. I love the well-worn feel they get and they are a lot easier to carry to and from work. These two series I have in paperback... so I will watch until the newer ones are released in paperback... I am an odd one, I know, but that's just the way I roll.

I could keep going on and on about this one... but I won't. Go enjoy it for yourself. 

Up next... I owe you posts on the two books I have finished for my work book club: Pillars of the Earth and Frankenstein.