@Janine: Thanks, Janine; the original comment mysteriously unspammed itself overnight, apparently (Jane said by this morning it was posted). Must have been a glitch.

I love her heroines. They are such admirable, complex, difficult women, and all strong in different ways. I think of the Guardians as a literary vision of some forms of feminism: difference without hierarchy.

I tend to do almost no rereading, and that applies to series as well, so when I pick up a new Guardians book, I haven’t been in that world since the last one came out. Something I noticed about DF was how seamlessly the world was rebuilt by Brook without infodumps and plot holdups. I didn’t even have to visit her site for the cheat sheet!

So I do agree this is one you can jump into. On the other hand, the events in the book will have more significance for readers with some background.

Personally I think Meljean’s pacing is getting better with every book and the characters, dialogue and world-building were brilliant from the start. So the crisis at the end of the book was expected (things had been building to a head) but not the exact nature of the crisis – and considering the novella in Must Love Hellhounds which is set after this novel – the fact that it has consequences that will take years to work out was a surprise (superhero comics can rarely afford that sort of time jump unless they restart the universe and that breaks all the old connections you’ve built with characters there).

This is my favourite after Colin and Saavi’s story.

Here’s the text of Robin’s post:

@Anthea Lawson: Wow, what a great, well-articulated comment! Thank you, especially since I really struggled with not feeling I could do the book justice with this review.

@katiebabs: I didn't have that strong of a response, but I am extremely anxious for the next book now.

@Jocelyn: The line about him not wearing shoes had me laughing out loud for several pages afterward!

@Bonnie L.: Oh, I knew someone was going to ask me this! I do think, Bonnie, that you could pick up this book blind, but I'd at least recommend reading the link I referenced. It has great sections like ‘if you are starting with Demon Forged,' etc. I do think that reading the second book before this one (Demon Moon) would give you even more background, but it may be more that you will *get* more stuff that way rather than that you willl be lost if you start with this one. There is enough explanation in the book, I think, to get the major concepts and characters. Does that answer you question, lol.

@katiebabs: I didn’t have that strong of a response, but I am extremely anxious for the next book now.

@Jocelyn: The line about him not wearing shoes had me laughing out loud for several pages afterward!

@Bonnie L.: Oh, I knew someone was going to ask me this! I do think, Bonnie, that you could pick up this book blind, but I’d at least recommend reading the link I referenced. It has great sections like ‘if you are starting with Demon Forged,’ etc. I do think that reading the second book before this one (Demon Moon) would give you even more background, but it may be more that you will *get* more stuff that way rather than that you willl be lost if you start with this one. There is enough explanation in the book, I think, to get the major concepts and characters. Does that answer you question, lol.