Storm Born [Mass Market Paperback]

I was recommended Storm Born by Amazon, because my 'purchased' list is full of paranormal/fantasy novels, and pretty much ever cover has a semi-naked or tightly-clad female on the front...so yup, I was interested in Storm Born.

I've never read anything by Richelle Mead before, so I looked up her previous works and she has a series about a succubus - a demon who very much likes sex as far as I can work out, which didn't appeal to me as much.
The blurb for Storm Born made it sound like it was yet another story about a Heroine magical powers that she uses for good, but oh wait, she's pretty hot too and everything in sight wants to get into her pants (because of some prophecy about her first born child)...uh and she has a hot sexy love interest.
Now, I like fantasy romances as much as the next girl, but I also like there to be a plot and some originality surrounding the Heroine and her single/many conquests, so this put me off and I didn't look at Storm Born again until a few weeks later when I was desperate for something to read. Still not 100%, I looked up Mead's website, read a few excepts, liked what I was reading and took a risk...

Needless to say, It IS a book about a Heroine with powers she uses to save the world/okay maybe just a few people, but there is something...different about this novel. I grew very absorbed very quickly, and I found it pretty original in an already swamped market with very similar books. There's a plot, and a good one too, interesting and engaging second characters, two love interests for the Heroine, some nice power-wielding and some exciting encounters with the bad guys. All in all, a very enjoyable read.

Richelle Mead is a talented writer who makes her world believable and yet still otherwordly and dangerous at times, and personally I can't wait for the sequal. I'm even tempted to read her series about sex-loving demons :) (the first of which is SUCCUBUS BLUES I do believe, if anyone is interested)

I definitely recommend this book and I think most fantasy/action/romance lovers will enjoy it. My only words of warning is that there are some very hot sex scenes, so anyone with more delicate sensibilities might not enjoy Storm Born as much as I did.

I have read other works by Richelle Mead and enjoyment of those books inspired me to pick up this one- I am glad that I did as I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found it original and fun to read, with wry humour in places as well as sensitive writing on more emotive subject matters. Well deserved 4 stars.

The book is set in an alternative reality where our world exists alongside a well established otherworld inhabited by what we would call Fairies (not the tinkerbell sort exclusively, I mean magical beings similar to humans) Our heroine is a shaman who keeps the nastier variety out of the human world and is happy with her lot, until the plight of a 14yr old girl spirited away by fairies entices her into entering the 'otherworld' to try and get her back. Doing so exposes things about herself and her possible future that shake up all her expectations and beliefs.

Well written, well rounded storyline with a good central character and the promise of future books without leaving the reader disappointed with an annoying cliffhanger meaning the book is wholly unresolved. Excellent

Richelle Mead has a very readable style. Although her books look like lots of others in this genre, indeed they often follow similar patterns in terms of plot and action, this author's ability to write in an interesting and well-paced style marks these books above many others. This latest book, 'Storm Born', takes a break from her Succubus series and introduces us to a very different heroine - Eugenie Markham - living in a different world. Eugenie is a powerful shaman, someone who banishes the gentry (spirits, fey and otherworldy beasts) to the Underworld or the Otherworld. She's been trained by her stepfather Roland to help dispose of the odds and ends that can irritate people's lives - running shoes that are possessed, that kind of thing. However Eugenie has begun to find that things seem to be different in her world. For a start, most of the spirits and fey seem less interested in killing her and more in romancing her; secondly they all seem to know her name now; and, thirdly, the hot man she's just met is definitely something out of the ordinary.

Eugenie is discovering that there's more to her than she originally thought. Is she destined for something rather more than just exorcising spirits? With the help of her very reluctant and potentially murderous bound spirits, with her rather foxy boyfriend, with a fairy King who has an unusual taste for tying people up, can Eugenie uncover her full powers and can she understand her role in the history of war between the gentry and humans?

This book appeared to be the first in a series in that although it reached some sort of a conclusion there were many ends left open. The focus of the story wasn't just on Eugenie's powers and battling against evil spirits but was also about Eugenie learning about herself and reading other people. The book focused a great deal on the fairy King Dorian and his training of Eugenie. The author wrote well the way that everyone involved in Eugenie's life has their own reasons for doing things and that she doesn't necessarily understand all the politics of the worlds in which she is living. There are plenty of secrets, many of which Eugenie hasn't yet uncovered, and there are reasons for peoples' actions that she doesn't understand. What stood out about this book wasn't so much the plot or the characters, although they were good, it was the author's ability to write in a flowing, interesting and descriptive style. It was easy to get drawn into this story and it was never boring. I look forward to the next in the series.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008