interesting idea but major faultline
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So in this world there are 'wardens', who are basically a bureaucracy of magicians with control over water/fire/earth/air operating for the 'greater good' and preventing natural disaster, supported by slave-like djinns and attacked on occasion by malignant demons. This world is reasonably well set-up and hangs together for the duration of the story well-enough to keep you engaged.
Where it starts to come apart is with the stereotypically feisty yet irresistible yet uber-talented heroine. She starts off quite well (compared to some others in this genre) but soon descends into ludicrously irrational acts - for example: falling in love at the drop of a hat (despite her oh-so cynical personality), at the height of trying to save those she loves from slavery/certain death she gets all excited about a new car, when offered a really obvious and easy choice for preventing the one she loves being attacked she refuses to on a point of principle (or is it to stretch the story out - you decide!)
I'm starting to lose faith in this urban-fantasy malarkey - I like the ideas, but the characterisation is so diabolical and the ploys so contrived and hackneyed that I think I might have to give up the ghost. The early Anita Blake books (before they turned into porn) are the best examples I have come across, everything else has disappointed.
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Looking forward to reading the rest of the series...
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I bought this book mainly because of the strength of the reviews on here. I love fantasy books, witches, werewolves, vampires, all that kind of stuff, so I thought I would probably like this one...needless to say I could not put it down, and read it in 6 hours!! If you like Kelly Armstrong and other books with female main characters, then you will like this book.
I remember feeling sceptical about just how interesting the weather could be, but Caine does a really good job in making it dangerous, unpredictable and often with a mind of its own...
ILL WIND follows Joanne, a Weather Warden, as she races across America, fighting for her life as those she flees from send the weather after her in various different forms, to try and kill her in new and unexpected ways each time. Each time she excapes, it's harder than before, and you get a good feel of the net closing around her...she's wanted for a murder that you're not sure she commited, or why.
I would get absorbed in the plot, for example when David is introduced (the hero and the main love interest), and completely forget her life was in danger. There was a good bit when she goes shopping for some new clothes. However, new dangers are always around the corner...
The world is introduced slowly and becomes clearer as the book goes on. She thinks about the murder she is accused of committing and the events leading up to it at relevent intervals throughout, further explaining her world and the Weather Wardens' way of life, and we get a better sense of her personality and her powers each time there is a flashback.
She is a Weather Warden, but there are Fire and Earth Wardens too. The Weather, needless to say, doesn't like being controlled, and so the Weather Wardens have to be really careful every time they deal with it, as it often will try to turn against them as they wield it.
The ending was refreshing because it was the only possible outcome, and Rachel Caine didn't feel the need to invent some new power for Joanne to have or some new thing in the world that has never been mentioned before, to magically sort everything out all hunky dory and with no one getting hurt.
I can't wait to read the sequal, although this bok could definitly stand alone too.
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great
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This book has become one of my favorites and certaintly lives up to my expectations.
Joanne is on the run because of a murder that wasnt her fault and is carrying a demon inside her that wasnt hers to begin with. Ill Wind tells of her panicked and desperate race across the country to find someone to hsave her from the creature gnawing inside her chest. But when something powerful and deadly starts attacking her, Joanne starts to get the feeling that someone evil is stalking her as well.
The added element of the Djinns makes the book brilliant. I fully recomend it to anyone.
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Great start to a fab series
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I love this series - and her other urban fantasy series, the Morganville Vampires. Great characters - who you care about - good dialogue, plenty of action, interesting ideas, well paced. The books don't last me long, but I have a huge amount of fun reading them, and that is exactly what I am looking for with sort of book. Thank you Rachel Caine!
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incredibly stupid
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I bought the first three books of this series because it got so many stars, bad idea! The heroine, Jo, is painted as sassy, kick-ass and honorable, which is mostly true. However she acts so so incredibly stupid!! She lets go of hero, David who is a Djinn, so that he can be enslaved by the bad guys, Star, knowing full well that this was going to happen. Unbelievable! And then afterwards Jo races across America in fast cars to rescue David. Hello! Looks to me like Jo deliberately let bad things happen so that the good guys could play hero. This theme goes on and on and on with the second and third books. Safe to say I'm not reading anything from this author ever again. However, for those urban fantasy lovers who are more forgiving than me of this fault, might actually enjoy this series.
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