The Merry Gentry Series, books 6-8

By Laurell K Hamiltom
Read: April 2010
Rating: Phwoar

I tried really hard not to let them all run together, but they did. Rather than try to pull the last three books apart, I’m just going to shove ‘em in one post and mention what lasting impressions I have.

A Lick of Frost

I was all ready for this book to have NOTHING to do with Frost. But, important stuff does happen with Frost. So, bully for the title people!

However, I have NO FUCKING IDEA what is going on in the cover image.

Seriously, what is happening here? How many people are there? What are they doing? Is that hand attached to the back, or is it someone else? What possible sex act could they be doing? And if it is sex, that hand doesn’t look like a woman’s hand. And that back looks manly. Maybe the guys really are screwing each other?

Swallowing Darkness

That crown of thorns means nothing… unless you’re one of the guys crowned by fairy, and, really, neither of those crowns look like the crown in the image. So screw that.

You’d think this book has a lot to do with Doyle. Well, it doesn’t. Something major does happen, but he and Merry turn it down, for love. (Aww.)

Major shit gets wrapped up here. Showdown with Cel. Merry’s gran dies. And the power of faery makes its will known. If Merry weren’t only a month or two pregnant, the books could almost end here. Almost.

Divine Misdemeanors

I feel like this book marks a new act in the span of the series. For once they’re in LA and they STAY in LA. Merry is pregnant, major foes are defeated, etc. Still plenty of unresolved stuff, of course. But there’s more breathing room. It’s not just LIFE-THREATENING DISASTER upon APOCALYPSE upon DOOM. Nice change of pace.

We also get to catch up with Barinthus, who seemed like a major player in book one and then disappeared for the most part.

AND, AND, AND, omg, I’m so excited, the nail in the necklace is actually RELEVANT. And you can buy a necklace if you really want.

Again, I have general comments about the series as a whole. Make no mistake, I’m totally hooked. But I have my complaints.

1) Doyle is a nifty guy. Frost is a sexy guy. I still don’t really get why they own Merry’s heart and soul. I mean, noble and sexy is not to be sneezed at, but wtf.

2) Galen is a great dude. And now he’s basically been reduced to short order chef and housekeeper. This is not fair. Especially as he’s starting to get ruthless. He deserves to be taken more seriously.

3) Mistral is, like, meh. He hasn’t gotten much facetime at all, and I’m not terribly impressed with what I do see, which isn’t fair. He’s still recovering from Andais.

4) Sholto has been replaced in my affections.

5) Rhys is AWESOME. He is AWESOME IN SO MANY WAYS. Fuck it, he’s my pick. He’s intelligent, he’s even-tempered, he’s wise, and he’s who Merry talks to. They actually talk. Merry mentions that she doesn’t love Sholto or Mistral (yet) because she just hasn’t had the time to talk with them and know them. Well, she HAS done that with Rhys, even more than she has with Doyle and Frost. He’s the one who’s at her side, he’s the one offering comfort and wisdom, not just a muscle-bound wall. He’s the most fucking intelligent of them all. I SAY RHYS.

This means we’re in that hideously frustrating place where the heroine is head over heels for a guy who’s really not terribly interesting or amazing, and ignores the amazing guy who is actually her best friend and her lover. In Fushigi Yuugi, Miaka ditches Hotohori for Tamahome. It made me scream. Merry overlooks Rhys in favor of the other two. And of them, I would way rather have Frost than Doyle.

Just can’t please me, eh?