Saints Astray (Santa Olivia) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

I love Jacqueline Carey as much as the next groupie that imaginary Loup Garron is shoving away. I fell in love with Kushiel's Legacy. I enjoyed Naamah's Legacy. I own every book set in Terre d'Ange.

I would argue that Santa Olivia is Carey's strongest work. It's not crappy paranormal romance, and it's not your typical science fiction novel. In fact, Santa Olivia's quality and content approach the kind of "classic" status I would confer on such authors as Ursula LeGuin, Kurt Vonnegut, or Margaret Atwood. I read the book while taking a class on Social Justice in Catholic Social Teaching, and found it addressed so many of the arguments we debated in class. Christian morals are hotly discussed -- with views on both sides of the spectrum -- among Los Santitos (I'm looking at you, Matthew 10:34), and I believe those discussions enriched the text substantially. Finally, the book addressed homosexuality, a hot controversy these days, in a way that was empathetic but not confrontational. It was an exceptional work.

Saints Astray ruins Santa Olivia. I wish it had never been published. This book _is_ crappy paranormal romance: the characters are canned; the plot is predictable; at least a third of the book is simply sweet talk between the characters. And yet, we barely see any sex scenes, and the ones we do see are unremarkable and repetitive. (Not that I read Saints Astray for the sex scenes, but if it's going to be paranormal romance, it might as well deliver.) What happened to the kind work Carey produced with Phedre -- or even Loup, in the first book? I'd expect this kind of work from a beginning writer or perhaps a hack writer, one whose goal was to write marketable romance novels without much concern for the quality of the work, but not an author who has proven her brilliance time and again.

All authors write bad books, sometimes more often than good ones. The difference is that when a beginning author submits a bad work to a publisher, it's usually rejected. However, a publisher will sometimes accept a bad novel from an author with a large fan base -- like Carey -- especially if it's a sequel to a successful work. And Carey makes money from publishing work, so why would she choose not to publish a bad book? She has nothing to lose.

Or does she...? First Naamah's Blessing and now Saints Astray -- two inferior sequels to excellent works. Carey, I fear your reputation may be wandering astray.

In Santa Olivia, Pilar compares Loup to fine tequila, saying everyone else is "the cheap stuff". Sadly, Santa Olivia is the fine tequila that goes down so smoothly it makes the drivel that is Saints Astray even harder to choke down. In Santa Olivia, Loup was driven to avenge her brother and fight the injustice of the military running her hometown. The book had drama, romance, action, and characters you couldn't help but love even though they didn't all love each other.

Saints Astray reads like poorly written fan-fiction by comparison. Everywhere they go, everyone loves Pilar and Loup to the point where they begin wearing t-shirts with their images emblazoned on them. There is absolutely no conflict, no drama. Everyone is happy, including Loup and Pilar whose biggest crisis is when Pilar suddenly cuts Loup off from having sex while they go through basic training to become bodyguards for spoiled rich people. This is why she trained herself as a boxer for all of those years? So she can get rich protecting drunken, spoiled rock stars? In the first book, she was actually trying to help people. Plus, there are typos and grammatical errors that made me cringe. I'm so disappointed that this book has Carey's name on it. I only hope she gets enough tough feedback to recognize it was not her best work so she can avoid publishing anything this awful again.

I find myself wanting to give Saints Astray two different ratings: one for how happy I am for its heroines, Loup Garron and Pilar Ecchevarria, and the other for how well Saints Astray works as a novel. I love the characters and am glad their lives have become easier since the events of Santa Olivia, but the result is a book that does not have enough tension or conflict.

Loup and Pilar have escaped Outpost and travel to Mexico, where they enjoy a brief idyll in the company of Loup's relatives on her late father's side, many of them genetically modified organisms (GMOs) like Loup. Then they take jobs with an elite bodyguard service and travel the world in the company of a string of wealthy clients: a fashion designer, a Mafia bride, a businessman, a rock band. Later they return to the States to rescue a friend, and become involved in a political battle for the rights of GMOs. All the while, they are adorably in love.

The problem is that there's not much grit or real adversity. Even when situations do look dire, they tend to be resolved much more smoothly and easily than expected. The bodyguarding adventures are fun, but they feel episodic rather than connected to the main plot arc -- and we're seldom really worried about our heroines. The novel becomes more moving when the girls return to the US, where Loup is considered "stolen military property" rather than a human being. That too, however, is a less insurmountable problem than it might appear. Favorite characters can start to feel like old friends, so it feels somehow wrong to wish more trouble on Loup and Pilar, but Saints Astray simply doesn't continue the level of tension established in Santa Olivia.

The best stuff here is character-related. Loup is noble and fierce, but I want to give a special shout-out to Pilar. Jacqueline Carey is great at subverting expected character types. We've seen it in the KUSHIEL'S LEGACY and NAAMAH novels with characters like Barquiel L'Envers and Balthasar Shahrizai, who turn out to be nobler than you might guess from their snarky disposition and decadence, respectively. Pilar is a busty, flirty girl who likes pretty clothes and has a sexual history, and in a hundred other books she'd be the mean girl or the comic relief. Instead she's Loup's girlfriend and co-heroine, and much braver than she thinks she is. The two girls face the same situations, but unlike Loup, Pilar can feel fear and doesn't have superpowers. My two favorite passages in Saints Astray both center on Pilar: first, when she struggles in bodyguard boot camp and discovers new strengths within herself; and second, when she takes a courageous stand during the latter events of the book.

Saints Astray is fun but lacks the darkness that made Santa Olivia compelling. With less tension and danger built into the story, the triumphs don't resonate as strongly this time around. Yet the leads are still lovable and there's something to be said for savoring their new, less desperate lives.