The Turn by Kim Harrison

The Hollows, Book 0.1

Synopsis: Kim Harrison returns to her beloved Hollows series with The Turn, the official prequel to the series that will introduce fans and readers to a whole new side of Rachel Morgan’s world as they’ve never seen it before!

Can science save us when all else fails?

Trisk and her hated rival, Kalamack, have the same goal: save their species from extinction.

Death comes in the guise of hope when a genetically modified tomato created to feed the world combines with the government’s new tactical virus, giving it an unexpected host and a mode of transport. Plague takes the world, giving the paranormal species an uncomfortable choice to stay hidden and allow humanity to die, or to show themselves in a bid to save them.

Under accusations of scientific misconduct, Trisk and Kal flee across a plague torn United States to convince leaders of the major paranormal species to save their supposedly weaker kin, but not everyone thinks humanity should be saved.

Kal surreptitiously works against her as Trisk fights the prejudices of two societies to prove that not only does humanity have something to offer, but that long-accepted beliefs against women, dark magic, and humanity itself can turn to understanding; that when people are at their worst that the best show their true strength, and that love can hold the world together as a new balance is found.

Review: I loved Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan series and I was sad to see it come to an end. Yet, it was with joy that I discovered some little returns in the universe starting by this little prequel. If you do know the series, you know that the tomato story really touched the world, this epidemic that surprisingly led the world to the gates of its loss. We do not really know what happened exactly but we have clues that ultimately lead us to this story.

Do not expect a short story as is often the case with prequels because we have a full story here while following Kal and Trisk. It was really interesting to discover what ultimately forged the world we discovered in the novels.

I learned to discover their son along the stories going from this arrogant and pretentious man to someone that we like to meet again with and that we start to understand. Here, once again, we have the terrible man and I realized just how much I can hate a character again. Indeed, we discover a young woman, Trisk, full of ambition, hope for the future … until Kal destroys, as always, everything to put himself in first place. But in recent years, Trisk’s studies have once again brought her to the forefront, to the great displeasure of the latter. Hoping once more to ridicule her, our two heroes will turn around one another in a continuous dance. Everyone trying to get ahead, and believing they can manipulate the other but Trisk and Kal will quickly burn their wings.

It was very nice to discover the characters and their stories, be it Daniel the human, Quen we all know about, or this darling Pixie who brings a big touch of freshness to the story. I loved having the opportunity to come back into the universe even if I missed Rachel a bit anyway. It is a nice story and I confess that I am curious to see if we will have more novels as there is still matter to do!

4

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The Turn de Kim Harrison (VO)

The Hollows, Tome 0.1

Résumé (traduction personnelle) : La science peut-elle nous sauver quand tout échoue?

Trisk et son rival détesté, Kalamack, ont le même but: sauver leur espèce de l’extinction.

La mort vient sous forme d’espoir quand une tomate génétiquement modifiée, créée pour nourrir le monde, est combinée avec le nouveau virus tactique du gouvernement, lui donnant ainsi un hôte inattendu et un moyen de transport. La maladie s’étend, laissant un choix inconfortable aux espèces paranormales : rester cachés et laisser l’humanité mourir, ou se révéler dans une tentative de la sauver.

Trisk et Kal s’enfuient à travers une peste qui déchire les États-Unis pour convaincre les dirigeants des principales espèces paranormales de sauver leurs parents prétendument plus faibles, mais tout le monde ne pense pas que l’humanité doive être sauvée.

Kal travaille furtivement contre Trisk alors qu’elle combat les préjugés des deux sociétés pour prouver que non seulement l’humanité a quelque chose à offrir, mais que les croyances longtemps acceptées contre les femmes, la magie noire et l’humanité elle-même peuvent être remises au goût du jour; que lorsque les gens sont à leur pire stade, les meilleurs montrent leur véritable force,  en montrant que l’amour peut tenir le monde dans ce nouvel équilibre.

Avis : J’ai adoré la série Rachel Morgan de Kim Harrison et j’étais triste de la voir arriver à sa fin. Pourtant, c’est avec joie que j’ai pu découvrir quelques petits retours dans l’univers et cela commence avec ce petit préquel. Si vous connaissez la série vous savez que l’histoire de tomates a vraiment touché le monde, cette épidémie qui a étonnamment mené le monde aux portes de sa perte. Nous ne savions pas réellement ce qui s’était passé mais avions uniquement des indices qui nous mènent finalement à cette histoire.

Ne vous attendez pas à une histoire courte comme c’est souvent le cas avec les préquels car nous avons une ici une réelle histoire complète tout en suivant Kal et Trisk. C’était vraiment intéressant de repartir en amont pour découvrir ce qui a finalement forgé le monde comme on l’a découvert dans les romans.

J’avais appris à découvrir leur fil au cours des histoires, passant de l’homme arrogant et prétentieux à quelqu’un que l’on prend plaisir à retrouver et que l’on commence à comprendre. Ici, une fois de plus, on retrouve un homme terrible et on réalise à quel point on peut détester un personnage à nouveau. En effet, on découvre une jeune elfe, Trisk, pleine d’ambition, d’espoir de futur… jusqu’à ce que Kal détruise, comme toujours, tout pour se mettre lui même en première place. Mais les années passant, les études de Trisk la remettent une fois de plus sur le devant de la scène au grand déplaisir de ce dernier. Espérant une fois de plus la ridiculiser, nos deux héros vont se tourner l’un autour de l’autre dans une danse continuelle. Chacun essayant de se mettre en avant, et croyant pouvoir manipuler l’autre, Trisk et Kal vont très vite se brûler les ailes.

C’était très agréable de découvrir les personnages et leurs histoires que ce soit Daniel l’humain, Quen que nous connaissons tous, ou encore cette chère Pixie qui apporte une grosse touche de fraicheur au récit. J’ai adoré avoir l’occasion de revenir dans l’univers même si Rachel m’a un peu manqué quand même. Il se passe énormément de choses et j’avoue que je suis curieuse de voir si nous aurons plus de romans comme il reste encore matière à faire !

PS : Il existe quelques tomes traduits en Fraçais pour la série originale “Rachel Morgan”

4

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The Operator by Kim Harrison

The Peri Reed Chronicles, Book 2

Synopsis: On-the-run ex-agent Peri Reed returns bigger and bolder than ever in this second highly-anticipated installment in #1 New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison’s new suspense trilogy, The Peri Reed Chronicles.

Peri Reed’s job eats her mind, but for a special task agent in hiding, forgetting the past can be a blessing.

Betrayed by the man she thought she loved and the agency who turned her into the very thing she fought against, Peri abandoned the wealth and privilege of Opti for anonymity riddled with memory gaps and self-doubt. But when a highly addictive drug promises to end her dependency on those who’d use her as a tool for their own success, she must choose to remain broken and vulnerable, or return to the above-the-law power and prestige she once left: strong but without will—for whoever holds her next fix, will hold her loyalty.

Yet even now as then, a love based on lies of omission might still save her life.

Review: I liked the first book but it’s true that something was still missing for me. So I started this one while waiting to see what would be my feeling and I confess that I was a bit more taken by the story this time.

Peri Reed finally managed to flee Opti to try to build a simpler life even if it is still very difficult for her to deal with the betrayal and the consequences of the previous volume. Yet her memory holes remain a big problem and although she might prefer to remember everything, it is actually quite an unattainable dream. She suspected that the organization would not let her go that easily… But this time, their offer is quite attractive and they propose her an addictive drug which could help her remember everything, while enslaving her. As they alone hold the product. This is a very difficult choice that our heroine has to do but she knows that she can not trust Opti. Parallel to all this, we find all the characters of the first volumes including Michael who wants more than anything to get his hands on this drug and then have the power he thinks due to him. And for that, he’s really ready for anything!

It is true that I was easily carried away by the story while trying to understand how Peri was going to resolve all her problems. I must say that it is quite difficult and as if that was not enough, she begins to realize that her forgotten memories affect other characters that evolve around her and that she finally forgot some important events. Trying to oppose Opti, she will make new allies but also powerful enemies and this is how we enter a race against time where both parties will compete. I loved to learn more about our heroine and to see her realizing what she imposed on people she loved. Jake is here again and I admit that I was curious to see what she would do about him with all her contradictory feelings … It’s really not easy but the author has conducted her subject with a constant action throughout the novel.

To conclude, to me, this volume was a bit more than the first one and I admit that I’m curious to see what the author will offer us later. The idea is always original and it’s true that while Peri hopes to have a quiet life, she will realize that it is far from possible.

4 

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The Operator de Kim Harrison (VO)

Peri Reed, Tome 2

Résumé (traduction personnelle) :

Le travail de Peri Reed détruit son esprit, mais pour un agent spécial qui est entré dans la clandestinité, oublier le passé peut être une bénédiction.

Trahie par l’homme qu’elle pensait aimer et l’agence qui l’a transformée en la chose contre laquelle elle luttait, Peri a abandonné la richesse et le privilège d’Opti pour opter pour l’anonymat criblé de trous de mémoire et de doutes de soi. Mais quand un médicament hautement addictif promet de mettre fin à sa dépendance à l’égard de ceux qui l’avaient l’utiliser comme un outil pour leur propre succès, elle doit choisir entre rester brisée et vulnérable, ou retourner au pouvoir et au prestige qu’elle a déjà quittés : forte mais sans volonté – celui qui tiendra sa prochaine dose, tiendra sa loyauté.

Pourtant, même aujourd’hui, un amour fondé sur des mensonges par omission pourrait encore sauver sa vie.

Avis : J’avais bien aimé le premier tome mais c’est vrai qu’il m’avait quand même manqué un petit quelque chose. Je me suis donc lancée dans cette lecture en attendant de voir quel serait mon prochain sentiment et j’avoue que je me suis laissée un peu plus prendre par l’histoire cette fois-ci.

Peri Reed a finalement réussi à fuir Opti pour essayer de construire une vie plus simple même s’il est toujours très difficile pour elle de faire face aux trahisons et aux conséquences du tome précédent. Pourtant, ses trous de mémoires restent un gros problème et même si elle espèrerait pouvoir se rappeler de tout, c’est un rêve finalement assez inaccessible. Elle se doutait pourtant bien que l’organisation ne la laisserait pas partir aussi facilement et la traque a commencé. Mais cette fois-ci, leur offre est assez alléchante et ils lui proposent une drogue addictive qui pourrait l’aider à se souvenir de tout, tout en l’asservissant. Mais eux seuls détiennent le produit. C’est un choix très difficile que notre héroïne doit faire mais elle sait parfaitement qu’elle ne peut pas faire confiance à Opti. En parallèle à tout cela, nous retrouvons tous les personnages du premier tomes et notamment Michael qui lui, désire plus que tout pouvoir mettre la main sur cette drogue et enfin détenir le pouvoir qu’il pense lui revenir. Et pour cela, il est vraiment prêt à tout !

C’est vrai qu’on se laisse facilement porter par l’histoire en essayant de comprendre comment Peri va s’en sortir. Il faut dire que c’est assez difficile et comme si ce n’était pas assez, elle commence à se rendre compte que ses souvenirs oubliés touchent les personnages qui évoluent autour d’elle et qu’elle a finalement oublié certains évènements importants. En essayant de s’opposer à Opti, elle va se faire de nouveaux alliés mais aussi des ennemis puissants et c’est ainsi que l’on rentre dans une course contre la montre où deux parties vont s’affronter. J’ai beaucoup apprécié d’en apprendre plus sur notre héroïne et de la voir se rendre compte de ce qu’elle a dû imposer aux gens qu’elle aimait. Jake est de nouveau là et j’avoue que j’étais curieuse de voir ce qu’elle allait faire à son sujet avec tous ses sentiments contradictoires… Ce n’est vraiment pas simple mais l’auteur a bien mené son sujet avec une action constante tout au long du roman.

C’était pour moi un tome qui surpasse le premier et j’avoue que je suis curieuse de voir ce que l’auteur va nous proposer maintenant. L’idée est toujours originale et c’est vrai que bien que Peri espère avoir une vie tranquille, elle va réaliser que c’est loin d’être possible.

Le premier tome existe en Français chez Bragelonne

4 

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The Drafter by Kim Harrison

The Peri Reed Chronicles, Book 1

Synopsis: Detroit 2030. Double-crossed by the person she loved and betrayed by the covert government organization that trained her to use her body as a weapon, Peri Reed is a renegade on the run.

Don’t forgive and never forget has always been Peri’s creed. But her day job makes it difficult: she is a drafter, possessed of a rare, invaluable skill for altering time, yet destined to forget both the history she changed and the history she rewrote.

When Peri discovers her name on a list of corrupt operatives, she realizes that her own life has been manipulated by the agency. She joins forces with a mysterious rogue soldier in a deadly race to piece together the truth about her final task, unable to trust even herself

Review: I loved the whole Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison and it’s true that I was very sad to see it come to an end. However, with the release of a brand new saga, I was immediately intrigued and I threw myself on it as soon as I could get a copy of the first volume. I admit that I was really expecting a lot and I was very curious to be able to immerse myself in the story.

The world that the author has created is really rich and I was fascinated by all the ideas added there. Indeed, there are two types of people with quite extraordinary gifts. The Drafters are able to rewrite time and to change certain events to return to a life as if nothing had happened. The only problem is the consequences of this kind of act. Yes, the Drafters loose all memories of what just happened and it can mean losing hours, weeks, months or even years of their lives. This is also why each Drafter is associated with an Anchor, someone who can anchor them in the real by restoring the memories that the person has lost. But it is also possible to have some new problems, particularly when the Anchor manipulates the memories and gives some false ones.

It is in this context that we find Peri, a young woman working in a secret organization and who discovers that her Anchor has betrayed her as well as her agency, has obscured some of her memories to create false ones, while believing she was doing good things, making her a rogue agent. But due to her ability to draft and her memory loss, Peri will have some difficulties knowing who to trust, to understand how she should act but she will always take in high regard her moral code. Thus, the young woman will cross the paths of many players, including the truth that everyone is trying to hide but still supported by a man she does not know if she can trust to.

I had a good time with the story, Kim Harrison’s writing is always a treat to read but it’s true that I did not love it as I expected. The story is nice but a little something was missing. I had the same sentiment with the first volume of her other series, feeling which changed in the following novels and I must admit that I am very curious to see what will happen next.

3-5

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Temps à Tuer de Kim Harrison

The Peri Reed Chronicle, Tome 1

Résumé (traduction personnelle) : Detroit 2030. Doublée par la personne qu’elle aimait et trahie par l’organisation secrète du gouvernement qui l’a entraînée à utiliser son corps comme une arme, Peri Reed est une renégate en fuite.

“Ne pardonne pas et n’oublie jamais” a toujours été le credo de Peri. Mais sa journée de travail le rend difficile: elle est un drafter, possédant une rare compétence inestimable pour modifier le temps, pourtant destinée à oublier à la fois l’histoire qu’elle a changée et l’histoire qu’elle réécrit.

Lorsque Peri découvre son nom sur une liste d’agents corrompus, elle réalise que sa propre vie a été manipulée par l’agence. Elle joint ses forces avec un soldat mystérieux dans une course mortelle afin de reconstituer la vérité sur sa tâche finale, incapable de se faire confiance.

Avis : J’avais adoré toute la série Rachel Morgan de Kim Harrison et c’est vrai que j’ai été très triste de la voir arriver à sa fin. Pourtant, avec la sortie d’une toute nouvelle saga, j’ai tout de suite été intriguée et je me suis jetée dessus dès que j’ai pu avoir un exemplaire de ce premier tome. J’avoue que j’en attendais vraiment beaucoup et j’étais très curieuse de pouvoir m’immerger dans l’histoire.

Le monde que l’auteure a créé est vraiment riche et j’ai été passionnée par toutes les idées rajoutées. En effet, il existe deux types de personnes possédant des dons assez extraordinaires. Des Drafters, des personnes aillant la possibilité de réécrire le temps, de changer certains événements et de revenir dans une vie comme si de rien était. Le seul problème reste les conséquences de ce genre d’acte. Oui, les Drafters perdent tous souvenirs de ce qui vient de se passer et cela peut signifier perdre des heures, des semaines, des mois ou même des années. C’est aussi pour cela que chaque Drafter est associé à un Anchor, une personne qui puisse l’ancrer dans le réel en lui redonnant des souvenirs que la personne a perdus. Mais là aussi il est possible d’y avoir des problèmes, notamment quand l’Anchor manipule les souvenirs et en donne de faux.

C’est dans ce cadre que nous découvrons Peri, une jeune femme travaillant dans une organisation secrète et qui découvre que son Anchor l’a trompée, lui a occulté certains de ses souvenirs pour en créer de faux et que son agence par la même occasion, celle qu’elle croyait faire le bien, l’a trahie aussi, la faisant devenir un agent rogue. Mais cela dû à son habilité de drafter et à ses pertes de mémoire, Peri va avoir du mal à savoir à qui faire confiance, à comprendre comment elle doit agir mais elle prendra toujours en haute estime son code moral. C’est ainsi que la jeune femme va croiser la route de nombreux protagonistes, comprenant cette vérité que tout le monde essaie de lui cacher mais toujours épaulée par un homme auquel elle ne sait pas si elle peut faire confiance.

J’ai passé un bon moment avec l’histoire, l’écriture de Kim Harrison est toujours un régal à découvrir mais c’est vrai que je n’ai pas eu le coup de cœur que j’attendais. L’histoire est sympa mais il m’a manqué un petit quelque chose. J’avais un peu eu ce sentiment pour le premier tome de son autre série, sentiment qui avait beaucoup évolué au cours des romans et j’avoue que je suis très curieuse de voir ce qu’il sera avec la suite de la saga.

3-5

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The Witch with no Name by Kim Harrison

The Hollows, Book 13

Synopsis: Rachel Morgan’s come a long way from the clutzy runner of Dead Witch Walking. She’s faced vampires and werewolves, banshees, witches, and soul-eating demons. She’s crossed worlds, channeled gods, and accepted her place as a day-walking demon. She’s lost friends and lovers and family, and an old enemy has become something much more.

But power demands responsibility, and world-changers must always pay a price. That time is now.

To save Ivy’s soul and the rest of the living vampires, to keep the demonic ever after and our own world from destruction, Rachel Morgan will risk everything.

Review: And here we are with the end of the Hollows series! How sad it is to reach the end of some wonderful novels! But isn’t it always the case? Right out of after the release of the 13th volume, some very good reviews appeared everywhere on blogs. I admit that I am always very anxious with the latest books as we expect a lot about them and closing a series such as this one is not an easy thing to do. But all the beautiful reviews made me really curious and I must say that I now understand the reason. Yes, this novel presents a perfect ending! I’m really happy to have been able to read the entire series over the years, seeing Rachel evolving, facing her fears and becoming a full demon. Who knew by starting the series that she would end up like that, as we discovered a young woman frightened by all that was evil, trying to escape everything that could tarnish her aura.

Rachel has to face many problems in this novel. Indeed, Cormel has decided that he was tired of waiting for our demon to find a spell to recover the souls of the undead vampires. It must be said that while Rachel thinks about the problem, she has not made every effort to present some concrete results. But Felix becomes more insistent, and Cormel remains determined to reclaim his soul, and fast! For this, the master vampire wants to kill Ivy, and puts all his resources in place to complete this goal. Yes, would Rachel not be much more interested in finding a cure if her beloved had lost her soul as well? And indeed, it moves our witch who is determined to save her friend, whatever the cost! But now, after realizing what it means exactly (no I will not reveal it to you), it seems that giving a soul back to a vampire drives him to commit suicide because of the madness that comes up with it. Yet this does not change the greed of each vampire to recover his soul.

But in addition to this, the elves come into play and with them, Landon… Oh Landon, this man is a born manipulator who will not hesitate to make believe to everyone that he is capable of much more than possible and to blame his failure on the back of Rachel and Trent. And it must be said that the deal will be a complicated thing too! I admit that I am quite surprised that Rachel agreed to work with him after what happened before. But there is more, the demons are released from the Ever After and are now in the middle of everyone else. A great change is not it? One which is not also to the taste of everyone. And since the deteriorating relationship between she and Al, Rachel does not know whom to turn to. It’s pretty crazy to see that their relationship that started from something that did not please her at first, became that strong and important to her. That’s really sad to see that our demon is concerned as much for him, while he has a lot of resentment about her. Yet it is well known that both particularly appreciate each other and I was curious to see what would happen afterwards. In short, Al also really touched me in his achievements.

But that’s not all, oh no, because we also have the relationship between Rachel and Trent. Oh yes, because both have a big impact on the story. Between the elves trying to recover the children and Rachel who realizes more and more that she pushes Trent instead of helping him and that it would be better if she lets go of him. Yet despite her fears, our elf is determined to stay with the young woman whatever she might think of the whole thing. Their love story also touches us especially since all they had to cross to get there.

Apart from this, we will also see Rachel’s mother, as well as her husband. But Nina and Felix will also have a big influence on the history. Do you remember the goddess and her protected ones? We will also have the opportunity to see them here too and I must say that the whole is quite impressive.

So yes, We have a lot of things in this novel, and our heroine will really have a lot to do. I was completely carried away by all the events and I actually also loved discovering this final chapter which featured all our heroes 27 years later. What a pleasure to see how everyone had evolved and see a happy ending for our characters. I think the only thing that might have a little annoyed me in my reading was the redundancy of some dialogues at few intervals sentences. This is just a detail, however, and it does not change the fun we have in reading the last volume. So yes, I heartily recommend this series that it is a true jewel and I can tell you that I had a great time with all the novels!

5 

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