CURSE THE DARK

Author: Laura Anne Gilman ISBN: 0373802277 7/2005 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: LUNA

And you think magic is complicated? Once more Wren Valere's game plan has taken an unexpected direction. She'd agreed to a bargain with one supersecret magic-watching outfit to protect her partner and herself on their last job. But now the Silence is trying to wedge them apart. On the one hand, ever since she and Sergei began to talk about their 'relationship" things have been tricky. On the other, though... Well, no one better try to stand between Wren and Sergei when danger is near! So now they are off to Italy in search of a possessed parchment (or maybe not possessed—all they know is that whoever reads it disappears). Still, when compared to what's going on at home (lonejacks banding together, a jealous demon, tracking bugs needing fumigation, etc.) maybe disappearing won't be so bad.... As if!

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Boring. Sorry, to those fans anxiously awaiting the follow up to STAYING DEAD, but that is the way I feel about CURSE THE DARK. Maybe disappointing is a better choice of description, but both words translate into mediocre in my mind. This is sad to me because Gilman's writing style is fantastic, as are all of her characters. With such talent and material to work with, I guess I just want something off the charts. CURSE THE DARK isn't it.

Wren and Sergei are back and contemplating the next level of their relationship, while doing a retrieving job for the Silence. The romance is not as tension filled as it should be, given their history, and their passion is just kinda...there. Not hot. Just...there. It's taken for granted or assumed, even. Not the stuff to make me feel anything about them as a couple.

As for the plot involving a cursed artifact, well, that should be so much better. So should the part involving vigilante humans trying to rid the world of anything not human. In the end, those vigilantes are never dealt with, and the dreaded evil artifact is not half as powerful as I want it to be. Despite a big loss to Wren, the whole scene is a let down. Well, so is the rest of the book, so I guess that should not surprise me.

I wish I had a better review for a book that had me so excited to read it. I still like the characters and the writer, so let's hope the next one will involve a plot the characters deserve.

Shannon Johnson