Magic in the Storm

It seems like I'm ripping through these books, but the truth is that I read some of them and just waited a few days before posting.  But I am finally caught up in the Allie Beckstrom series.  And wow, did it ever end in a cliff hanger!

The magic in Portland is being drained and a wild storm is approaching.  The Alliance is split into different factions and Terric, Shame's possible Soul Complement, has returned to help save the city.  Allie is called away to hound a scene involving one of her Hounds and at the hospital learns that Greyson has escaped.  Chase and Shame go to hunt Greyson while Zayvion goes to Allie to protect her on the off-chance that Greyson has found her there.  When they arrive to help Shame and Chase, they learn that Shame has been attacked by Chase.  Enlisting the help of Terric, they attempt to locate her.  In the process, Shame is manipulated by Chase to attack Allie and Zayvion takes a big hit, with his soul being sucked in to a gate.  Terric and Shame, both injured, help Allie to keep Zayvion's body alive.

When Allie wakes up the next day, magic is gone.  She learns that her step-mother's house has been ransacked for secret technology: disks that hold magic.  She also learns that the Authority is behind it.  Finally, there's a meeting in the park in St. Johns and Allie is ordered to ground the wild magic to the disks.  And that's when all hell breaks loose.

Chase and Greyson crash the party, splitting the Alliance down the middle.  With the help of Jingo Jingo (a death magic master), Greyson opens a solid gate and the only thing holding back the Hungers is the spirit of Cody.  Allie's dad convinces Allie to rescue Cody and that Allie's mom, of all people, will protect him.  Somehow, through the part of him still attached to Greyson, Allie's dad was able to talk to Allie's mom to strike a bargain.  Anyhow, Allie also learns that by closing the gate, Zayvion will be permanently stuck and will consequently die.  So, what does she do?  She goes in.  Of course.

Umm, yeah.  She has the same reckless attitude and she's still being manipulated by her dad, but at least her heart is in the right spot, even if her head isn't.  So, needless to say, I will be reading the next book, even if it's just to see what happens next.  Sometimes I really hate reading series.

Magic in the Shadows

Magic in the Shadows is book 3 in the Allie Beckstrom series by Devon Monk.  This time around, Allie is dealing with spirit of her dead father taking up residence in her head.  Nola, her best friend in the whole wide world, is also staying at Allie's place while she deals with the custody battle surrounding Cody.  And Zayvion?  He's helping Allie cope with the stresses and training involved with the Alliance, because if the Alliance decides that Allie is too unstable, they will Close off her magic, and memories, of anything to do with the Alliance, including Zayvion.

And Allie is definitely unpredictable.  Using tricks that she learned from her father, the Alliance is scared of her.  However, despite the fact that she opened a gate in a highly warded area, they need Allie and decide to keep her around (memories intact).  This has some of Allie's new found friends pleased (Shamus, Zayvion's best friend, and Maeve, Allie's teacher and Shame's mother) while pissing off others (namely Chase, Zayvion's ex-girlfriend and possible soul complement to Greyson, the fellow who killed Allie's dad and was also the necromorph running around town killing things and setting the Hungers free).  Did I mention that Allie animated a gargoyle that now lives with her and likes to talk to her sink?

Yeah, Allie's life does sound like a rather ludicrous soap opera, hey?  And it sort of reads as one, since Allie acts like a girl who has something to prove.  The Alliance is afraid of her because she holds the power of light and dark, on a scale that may be greater than Zayvion's (who is a Guardian of the Gates), but Allie is almost too stubborn to take the training properly, making her dangerous since she has a hard time controlling her magic.  Now that they are recognized Soul Complements (magic users who, on top of being able to use their magic in such a way to enhance the other's powers, are also able to touch each other's minds in the process - a technique that is rare and has the tendency to drive the couple involved insane) they are even more dangerous.  And Allie can't even take that seriously.

The storyline is interesting.  Some of the people are interesting.  But the rest of the time they're angsty and read like teenagers.  I keep thinking that they're around my age, but they're not (I think they're in their early 20s?) and that makes a world of difference.  And the main thing that annoys me, is that when Allie is thinking sex, she can't keep her head in the game.

I'm hoping that now that Allie is taking self-defense training and magic training that it'll make her a more capable character who won't rely on her tough girl attitude to bluff her way through situations.  I just hope she doesn't turn in to a character with superhero abilities.

I've already started book 4, Magic in the Storm, so I hope that I'm not getting in to things that haven't started since the end of book 3.