Comments on: REVIEW: Raintree: Inferno by Linda Howard

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:33:13 +0000

I too liked this book and I am looking for # 2 . My library only had #1&3. I will submit a request for them to purchase # 2

By: Norma Taylor

Norma Taylor — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:17:33 +0000

I have read the series and enjoyed them all. I would nlike to know more about the then survivers of the last war and the children of the main characters. I guess it is like everything else, all in the eye of the beholder. You can get something out of every book you read no matter what.

By: Letha Manous

Letha Manous — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 21:52:26 +0000

I agree with the readers who instruct others to “enjoy and suspend disbelief”–after all, don’t we do that with all fictional books? I absolutely think that Linda Howington is the best of the best–I even prefer her over Gabaldon, who is extremely great.
I believe too many readers simply interject themselves into a story–looking for bits of themselves and not understanding that the story is meant to entertain; may have nothing of the author’s actual experiences or even closely held values in it; and should be approached as such.
Too much introspection has been known to ruin the best of books–I too prefer her old stuff; but all her books are well worth reading. The only one I haven’t read x2-12 is “Cry no More”–too sad for me.

By: sheri

sheri — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 18:28:14 +0000

Totally loved the book, can’t wait to read the next series. Finished it in a day! Agree w/ Michele…”a quick bit into a series”. Very enjoyable read. Read it for what it is…leave the dissection out of it.

By: Michele

Michele — Wed, 23 May 2007 19:49:02 +0000

I allows buy LH books. – Love her. I will admit some of the recent books have been so / so – but hey everyone goes through a dry patch. As for this book – LOVED IT – for what it is. A quick bite into a series – have any of you every tried writing the first book of a series that will be finished by other authors, knowing your job is to introduce everything and tell the first story in what a few hundred pages? This is a GREAT fun book – read it on a Sunday when you just want something easy.

By: JAMIE

JAMIE — Sun, 13 May 2007 17:30:41 +0000

So i love LH books, and i picked this up with out even reading the back. I LOVED this book and I can not wait for the next in the series by Linda Winstead Jones. It may be just because I enjoy these type books (Kay Hooper like). Everything from the “Mind-Rape” to bomb the homeplace has reason and im sure they will come in the end. I hate people that judge readers when you know nothing you could ever write would be anywhere near something LH wrote on a bad day, so if you dont like the book take it to a trade in used books store and just get over it. I doubt LH or any other author cares about your opinion of it. I still found the book to be facinating. I think it is worth the $5.00!

By: PatW

PatW — Sun, 06 May 2007 05:32:32 +0000

Well Ladies, so it’s not just me. I have cherished Most of LH’s books. I’m not going to sit and pick out the ones I didn’t care for as much as others but let’s say for the most part, I have loved her books. Her EARLY books. But after buying a couple books after Mr. Perfect was released, I made some resolutions. I don’t buy her books new anymore, and I do not have to finish reading a book I don’t care for. And I am so glad I looked at your reviews on her new Nocturne because I just spent my book club’s money and bought 10 copies of that ’sucker’, one for each of our group. Well who is the ’sucker’? Not me! They ALL go back tomorrow. THANK YOU for the straight forward review. I find that most of the reviews on a favorite writer or popular writer always say ‘the book is great/wonderful blah blah blah’. Even when it stinks! So many of our beloved favorites have fallen from our ‘must buy’ lists. They have given in to the pressure to write chic-lit topics, a different style of writing and the ‘hot’ genre. They have given in to their editors when the editors have wanted a romantic suspense, a paranormal or a different book. Oh yes the authors have the right to try something different, a different genre. But what the editors, and the authors, have forgotten are the fans that Put the authors on the Top Writers lists. As one of the reviewers so beautifully put it, they took the ‘heart’ out of the characters and the stories. You don’t Care about the hero or heroine or other characters. There is plenty of death, gore, evil, profanity and filth of all kinds for Shock Value. But the hero and heroine are so bland and one dimensional, you just want to turn the page and to keep hoping it gets better. And when they finally do make love, it’s so brief and inadequate, it could have been edited out. It’s called a Romantic suspense. Shouldn’t there actually be Romance in the book? Aren’t they called Romance writers? If I want death and destruction, all I have to do is watch the news or read the paper. Yes, death and destruction can be powerful incentives that drive the story but it is still called romantic suspense, so please Add some romance. I don’t mean they have to date and fru-fru stuff, I mean add tension, passion, desire… some feeling! And the list of the romance authors that have forgotten their roots, their fans and their unique quality that made their books so special, is getting Longer everyday. Sometimes I wonder if MISTER (fill in the blank with the author’s last name) wrote the book, it is so different from her other books? Then there are the authors that have a ‘formula’, just change a few names and places. It’s like reading the same book over again. And how many times now do you read a book and there are terrible mistakes in them: she went out of the house in pants and she pushed down her skirt when the wind blew? she mounted her black stallion and she dismounted from her white mare? in 1812 she was 6 and 10 yrs later she was 18? she looked out the rain spattered window and on the next page she was squinting into the sun? that’s extortion or let’s get going (in the same medieval) ?, he left with the Sioux he returned with the Shawnee (I guess that’s okay, they both start with s)?, he turned to check his bearings, and with the sun on his back, he was going north (not in my country)? he fell asleep at 10:15 and when he awoke an hour later it was after midnight? Does no one edit any more?? (these were all taken from actual books and I could continue with more examples.) My book friends laugh at all the errors I have found. So I will dismount from my soapbox, and again say a heartfelt thank you to all of you and your truthful reviews!

By: Shawnee

Shawnee — Wed, 02 May 2007 01:21:05 +0000

I had every book that Linda Howard has ever written. Even Snow Bird which is very hard to find. She is my favorite author of all time even though I prefer her older books. I was very disappointed in this book and I could not even finish it. But I have hope for the future, we will see better from Linda Howard in the future:)!!!

By: Holly

Holly — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 22:24:14 +0000

I’ve been seriously disappointed in her since..hmm, Kiss Me While I Sleep, I think it was. Before that she was good, but she hasn’t been awesome since Mr. Perfect (and I know a lot of people disagree with me there, too).

I’m sorry to hear she isn’t back with this one. I thought maybe moving back to category would save her. She’s definitely off my auto-buy list.

By: Roslyn

Roslyn — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 19:36:16 +0000

Keishon, I stopped buying her when she went hardcover as well. I got burned a couple of times, and let it go. I picked up one of hers at the UBS last year, and it was so godawful I really couldn’t get past the first few chapters. Hated the heroine so passionately I truly wanted to kill her. For me, she’s become like Jude Deveraux, cherish the backlist, the new stuff is a definite bleh.

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 18:17:18 +0000

I’m thinking sister too for the same reason.

By: Anji

Anji — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 18:13:22 +0000

[quote comment="26507"]

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER.

Yeah but that doesn’t coincide with the justification that they had to destroy all of the Ansara. It was clear to me that statement set up some romance between the Raintree and Ansaras in a future book. Not too obvious or heavy handed.

[/quote]

SPOILERS

Oh, I agree. Wonder if either the brother or the sister will fall in love with an Ansara? Bet it’s the sister, cause if she were to fall in love with a normal person (i.e. non-Raintree/Ansara), then that person won’t be able to become a ’super human’ (like the Raintrees) via pregnancy.

By: Keishon

Keishon — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:30:48 +0000

I started it and…let’s just say it’s not good.

My complaint with Howard started when she went hardcover. I can’t say that any of them I’ve enjoyed enough to reread compared to her original paperback novels like Son of the Morning, Kill and Tell, McKenzie’s Mountain, Diamond Bay, Midnight Rainbow, After the Night. All were solid r/s novels. I enjoyed Open Season, Cry No More, All the Queen’s Men but they were all one time reads, really. She has a new hardcover coming out and I used to kick myself for automatically purchasing them after several disappointing, lackluster reads but I am more than willing to wait or never read them. That “urge” to buy her stuff has long been snuffed out. I admire her for doing different stuff, pushing the envelope.

Anyway, it’s tempting to ditch this book and start my plate clean with another romance novel that Nath said she loved, Virgin River by Carr. I think Linda Howard’s muse has either been on strike or has left.

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:27:22 +0000

Yeah, but the magic is so poorly set up in the book – who would want to read another set in this world?

By: Kerry Allen

Kerry Allen — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:10:15 +0000

[quote comment="26516"]I’m not sure if I even want to continue reading the Raintree series either. This opener was a dud.[/quote]

Ah, the dangers of collaboration. I feel bad for the other authors involved. I’d go nuclear if I wrote a kick-ass contribution but nobody read it because a prior installment killed all interest.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 16:56:21 +0000

I bought this in ebook format like the first day eharlequin released it and wow, major disappointment to say the least. I couldn’t agree more with this review and it just really saddens me because, like you, LH’s categories are some of my favorites to this day! I can reread them and enjoy them over and over again, but this book… well, I won’t be buying the print version to add to my collection that’s for sure.

I’m not sure if I even want to continue reading the Raintree series either. This opener was a dud.

By: Rosie

Rosie — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 16:40:33 +0000

I’ll be reading this one today. Can’t wait to see how bad it is.

Will I be influenced by this review when I read this book? Probably. But I had to laugh when I saw Keishon’s comment, because I’ll have to read it to see the train wreck for myself.

By: Zeek

Zeek — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 16:19:24 +0000

Awww man, I do not want to hear this.

But it doesn’t surprise me.

Like Robin said:

I Heart Kell Sabin

I miss LH heroes like him and the Mackenzie men!

With everything after Mr. Perfect, I’ve been continually disappointed by what she’s putting out. I swear it’s not even her writing anymore- just a bunch of monkies typing away in some back room somewhere.

sigh.

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:51:07 +0000

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER.

To say I was disappointed is to put it mildly. I was more enraged by the “mind-rapeâ€�? in this book than I have been by the controversial scenes in Claiming the Courtesan, which I am halfway through.

The mind rape thing was so blithely dismissed. Howard has Dante saying that he doesn’t really like the term “rape” but never denies that was what it was and shows absolutely no remorse. Obviously he would do it again if he felt it was necessary.

gaps in logic that look like the Grand Canyon.

Like why not bomb the Raintree Sanctuary when they are all together instead of picking them off one by one?

The whole Ansara-Raintree relationship was iffy for me. Dante at some point even says that some Ansara may not be bad, that there’s a whole spectrum of human nature. But hey, if Lorna had been an Ansara, he would have killed her.

Yeah but that doesn’t coincide with the justification that they had to destroy all of the Ansara. It was clear to me that statement set up some romance between the Raintree and Ansaras in a future book. Not too obvious or heavy handed.

The whole magic thing is problematic too. Dante suddenly gets mind-control powers when he needs them. No explanation. And no explanation is made about stray magic users.

It’s because magic is not logical. How can you not buy into that explanation. Doesn’t it make perfect sense? No need for boundaries, rules, repurcussions.

if it had been written by another author, I would not have finished the book.

Yep, I kept hoping it was going to get better. Which it did not. I was actually giving myself pep talks in the middle of the book. Come on, Jane. You can finish it. You can, you can, you can.

And that strip search scene in the bathroom? Seriously ugly.

Yep, I felt sick reading it. I think Lorna was his dog rather than his partner because that is how he treated her.

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:06:53 +0000

Midnight Rainbow + Diamond Bay = I Heart Kell Sabin.

Sabin would be very disappointed.

And that strip search scene in the bathroom? Seriously ugly.

I loved how in the couple of days before the nookie, Dante gave Lorna the “choice” whether to stay home or come with him to work. Whooppeee — what a life!

What do you bet he’s locked her to the house again at the end?