Read This F@!%ing Book 43

Welcome to a feature we're going to post on Mondays called:

Read This F@!%ing Book!

This is a feature for us to push our favorite reads that just aren't getting enough attention! 

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  This week's post comes from our very own: 
Gretl!

Read This F@!%ing Book Post 43: The Cassandra Palmer series by Karen Chance

I've been having a Cassie Palmer craving lately. I think I've reached the limit for how long I can go without a new book from Karen Chance. (Her latest release was delayed by a year when it wound up over 500 pages long.) So I'm going to revisit the series now and tell you why you should all catch up in time for Reap the Wind's November release.

 

 

I See Dead People (in more ways than one)

Cassie Palmer starts out as a pretty normal girl (who happens to be clairvoyant) on the run from a vampire mobster. She soon finds out that she's heir to the Pythia throne - she's The Oracle and all the supernaturals want her for themselves. Cassie ends up under the protection of the Vampire Senate and hiding out in a Las Vegas hotel, which is of course staffed mostly by demons. But when she gains the power to teleport and travel through time she's kind of hard to watch over. Her lack of training, and general desire not to be held captive in her own room, get her into trouble in some really fun ways.

 

I may have mentioned (about a hundred times) before that I love supernatural politics. Cassie aligns herself primarily with the vampires, but not all of them are happy to see her. Spy Master Kit Marlowe, for example, doesn't trust anyone and makes his opinion known. Yes, he's that Marlowe, and he's not the only character you might recognize from history and literature. Cassie's world features lots of other supes as well, primarily demons, mages, and Fae, who want to use her skills or kill her to keep anyone else from using them.

 

PRITKIN!

As part of the effort to keep Cassie out of trouble, she's assigned bodyguards, mostly the stereotypical big, burly vampire kind. But then there's Pritkin. He is absolutely my favorite thing about this series! He also has a really interesting history, which is revealed in later books so I can't spoil it. Pritkin is a former demon hunter and War Mage (think magical Special Ops) who doesn't usually play well with others. He's sent to kill Cassie, but isn't very good at following orders he doesn't agree with. He becomes Cassie's bodyguard/ personal trainer and the two have great chemistry.

But there was a lot more to Pritkin than looks, although even there I'd started to come around recently. The strong, stubborn jawline, the rock-hard body, and the flashes of humor behind the taciturn expression -- hell, even the rigid blond spikes he called hair might not add up to handsome, but they added up to something. -Tempt the Stars

With his combat skills and potion bombs, Pritkin is a part of many of the action scenes that make this series so much fun. I always say it's like reading an action movie. With his often surly attitude and questionable fashion sense, he's also a big part of the comedy. I love Pritkin so much and I can't even fully explain why because spoilers. He's the reason why the wait for Reap the Wind is so excruciating too - in my head, he's been in the same tough spot for over a year now.

 

Wide World of Shorts

Another thing I love about Cassie's world is that it's so much bigger than her series. The Dorina Bassarab series features several of the secondary characters from Cassie's books. Dory, a dhampir, works as something of a mercenary so her books are action-packed. They also provide more insight into the world's Fae than the Cassie books. (The relationship between the two series is a lot like that between the Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega series, which we've featured here recently.)

The Lia de Croissets stories feature a half-were member of the War Mage Corps and can be found in various anthologies. They give more insight into the Mages and were politics. The author's website has several free short stories, many of which were only available previously in anthologies, starring secondary characters like Marlowe and Pritkin. Chance's website also has the series timeline, including the proper reading order to avoid spoilers. You might find that helpful if I've confused you with my attempt to explain everything.

Are you interested in starting this series? Did we persuade you to add it to your TBR mountain? Or have you read it and love it as much as I do? Let us know in the comments below!