In the tiny village of Rockabill, Maine, Jane True—26-year-old bookstore clerk and secret night swimmer—has no idea that her absent mother’s legacy is entry into a world populated by the origins of human myths and legends.  It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: vampires are not quite what we think; dogs sometimes surprise us; and whatever you do, never—ever—rub the genie’s lamp.   For Jane, everything kicks off when she comes across a murder victim during her nightly clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean.  This grisly discovery leads to the revelation of why she has such freakish abilities in the water: her mother was a Selkie and Jane is only half human. With this knowledge, Jane soon finds herself mingling with supernatural creatures alternately terrifying, beautiful, and deadly—all adjectives that quite handily describe her new friend Ryu.  When Ryu is sent to Rockabill to investigate the murder, he and Jane fall hard for each other even as they plummet into a world of intrigue threatening to engulf both supernatural and human societies.  For someone is killing half-humans like Jane.   The question is, are the murders the work of one rogue individual or part of a greater plot to purge the world of Halflings?

Jane True is a character that the reader begins to empathize with almost immediately. She is fun, sarcastic, and just a little unsure enough to make her downright lovable. Jane spends her days caring for her father and going through the same motions day in and day out, all the while never directly asking questions about her mother. In fact, the first few pages gave me sudden Twilight flashbacks (Bella cooking for her dad) but the comparison ends there (thank god).

Given that Rockabill, Maine, is such a small town, everyone remembers Jane’s mother, who showed up in the middle of town one day completely naked. Her father offered her a jacket, and the rest is history. Except her mother disappeared a year later, leaving her young daughter to fend for herself in a town that was more that happy to see their fears about ‘that woman’ confirmed.

Now, at 26, Jane is having a hard time moving on and starting her own life, since it’s hard to meet a good man that doesn’t already know your life history in Rockabill. However, after she finds a dead body, a new world is uncovered: Jane is part Selkie, thanks to her mother. She meets the very handsome Ryu, a vampire who is investigating the murder on behalf of the Court. Through Ryu, Jane is introduced to a whole new world and the beings that inhabit it.

I knew my swimming was the key to something, but it was that annoying, anonymous key that hung on every inherited key ring. The key that didn’t fit any door in the house, or any drawer in the office, or any suitcase in the attic. Swimming was my mystery key that constantly nagged me with its presence. But, no matter how many locks I tried, it never revealed anything about what it concealed.

“Selkies and other two-formeds can shift into the one alternative shape, but they have more power. Like you do when you swim, they can manipulate the elements”…Ryu’s casually telling me that I used some kind of magic when I swam was completely crazy at the same that it struck me as completely logical. It answered so many of my questions. Why I didn’t drown, or freeze. Why I was so strong in the water.

The thing that really made this book fun was the “new” supernatural take, not to mention the the quirky supporting characters. Selkies, kelpies, and gnomes abound– not the usual urban fantasy fare. Jane’s coworkers at the bookstore include a very much in love lesbian couple, one of whom (a former porn star named Dusty Nethers) gifts Jane with all sorts of naughty gifts. Jane herself is hilarious, talking to herself and swearing like a sailor.

My only nitpick is that Jane’s guilt over her ex boyfriend’s death is truly crippling and even the town won’t let her move on–dates are called off when men are told about “her history” and she is hounded and bullied–so much that a visit to a local bar prompts a scene where she is even called a ’stupid cunt’. There’s a lot of buildup until Jane finally tells Ryu (and thus the reader) about Jason’s death, but I still didn’t understand the need for such hostility from the locals. I get that Jane is an outsider, and maybe that was to drive it home, but the personal persecution squad was a little overdone.

You may remember hearing about Tempest Rising from the cover controversy it generated on the web. I think the cover is a totally new and fresh, a perfect complement to the content. Well worth picking up, regardless of how you feel about the cover.

Read what I tell you: check out the first chapter here. Perfect for the urban fantasy fan who’s sick of hearing about sparkles.

Tia says:

Anyway. The new blog is called Debuts & Reviews. It’s basically just like Fantasy Debut, except it’s different. There’s a post up over there explaining why I did this.

There are directions at Fantasy Debut to update your feed, so head over and update your information and blogroll!

Our bestselling Kindle is now $259, down from $299. Second, we are introducing a new addition to our Kindle family of wireless reading devices: Kindle with U.S. and International Wireless. Our newest Kindle can ship to customers around the world so you can take advantage of referring Kindle sales to customers outside of the U.S.

With this new Kindle, you can receive your books, newspapers, and magazines wirelessly while at home or abroad in over 100 countries. Whether you’re in New York, Paris, São Paulo, Mumbai, Beijing, Tokyo, or Sydney, you can think of a book and be reading it in less than 60 seconds.

Our $259 Kindle with U.S. Wireless is available for immediate shipment, and our $279 Kindle with U.S. and International Wireless can be preordered today for delivery starting in two weeks.

Kindle utilizes the same 3G wireless technology as advanced cell phones, so you never need to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot. Unlike cell phones, there are no monthly wireless bills and no yearly contracts. There is no software to install, and no syncing required.

Kindle is as thin as most magazines and weighs less than a paperback—but can hold 1,500 books. Its electronic-ink screen looks and reads like real paper with no glare—even in bright sunlight. A long battery life means you can read for up to two weeks on a single charge.

The U.S. Kindle Store has more than 350,000 books, including 107 of 112 New York Times bestsellers, plus top newspapers, magazines, and blogs.

I love that for a mere $20 more, you can purchase an international Kindle that will work just about everywhere. Even better, there’s no monthly fee!

Like most people, I probably think about/plan reading books the most when traveling.  I often have to pick books vs. clothes and other necessities!

This may just be the push I needed to try a Kindle out for myself…

I thought Fire rocked.

Now, with that out of the way, Fire is a very intriguing book, different from anything else I have read. It takes place in a war-torn land called the Dells. Fire, a young 17 year old girl, is the last human shaped monster. The land is rife with beautiful creatures called monsters: birds, cats, lizards, etc. but they have gorgeously colored feathers, fur, and scales. And they have the power to control the minds of humans.

Fire is stunning beautiful, so beautiful that people (men especially) can forget themselves and proclaim their love for her, resulting in small scale battles, violence, etc. You get the idea. Unlike animal monsters, Fire has morals that she lives by and so does not abuse her powers, often keeping her fiery red hair under wraps. And so Fire lives in her own little corner of the world, until the day her King needs her. What happens after Fire leaves her comfortable niche is  a stunning story with love, war, and everything in between.

What made this book really interesting is that we don’t meet Fire for several chapters into the book. Instead, we meet a little boy with different colored eyes and his father, who leaves his home so that his boy (a Graceling because of his telltale eyes) will not be taken away for the King’s personal use. Those first few chapters are chilling. This boy is everything that Fire is not. While he wants to get to know Fire, she wants nothing to do with him, and so Fire finds herself in the center of a disastrous plot.

Miss Cashore does an excellent job driving home that even though Fire is considered “monstrous”, she is still human at heart. Her love of her horse, Small, is so innocent and girlish that it makes the reader smile. Fire also has a difficult time removing herself from the shadow of her monster father, adviser to the old king. Her father was the cause of much dissension in the kingdom, and many people hate Fire simply because of the deeds of her father. Poor Fire has to navigate through a dangerous castle with people that either hate her, or love her because of her overpowering looks.

Fire is an excellent read, though at one point I felt as though almost every character was the victim or participant in rape, adultery, or some other deviant behavior. Members of the royal family turn out to have not-so-royal lineage, and it gave the characters a soap opera-like air. Otherwise, the writing and worldbuilding were excellent, and I plan to read Graceling very soon, followed by Bitterblue, which does not currently have a release date.