REVIEW x 2: Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs
PLEASE NOTE: Comments on this post are open to spoilers.
Dear Ms. Briggs,
Although I’ve only read the first book in your Mercy Thompson series, I’m a big fan of the spinoff series about Charles and Anna. When I first read the novella Alpha and Omega, I fell in love with Anna and Charles, the dynamic between them, and the world they inhabit. I’ve read that novella about ten times, and I have looked forward to each of the books that followed.
Burn Bright, the sixth book in the series if you count that novella, opens this way:
Once upon a time, there was a small spring that, touched by the earth’s spirit, bore a scattering of magic in its cold, pure water. It was only a little magic, but it brought good things into the world—tiny bits of goodness born of the tiny bits of magic.
There is a certain sort of evil that cannot abide happiness, even such humble joys as lived in that spring.
Thus begins a vivid, haunting prologue about an ongoing battle between good and evil. Chapter one then follows and we meet Jonesy, racing to contact Bran as his mate has instructed him to do, rather than defending her, if she is ever attacked.
But as it happens, Bran, leader of North America’s werewolves, is away, on a trip to Africa, and he has left his son Charles in charge of the Aspen Creek pack and of the wildlings, the unstable, powerful werewolves that live in the surrounding wilderness. Jonesy is not a wildling, but a dangerous fey. And although he is not a werewolf, he is mated to one, Hester—and Hester is in trouble.
Charles receives the call during an argument between his father’s mate, Leah, and Anna, his own wife. Jonesy’s message is cryptic and brief; he tells Charles that he is needed and there has been an incident, but doesn’t identify himself. Leah, however, is able to identify his phone number, and Charles and Anna head out at a leisurely pace, not realizing just how urgent the situation is.
I don’t want to reveal what happens after they reach Jonesy, but I will say that some violent struggles are involved and not everyone survives. Anna and Charles learn that the mountainside is being watched, strangers are turning up with strange weapons, the wildlings have been questioned for some unknown purpose, and, given that Jonesy and Hester’s location was discovered, odds are that there is a traitor in the pack’s midst.
Not only that, but powerful fey artifacts in the vicinity pose an additional danger.
Anna discovers that one of the dead attackers is someone she saw in Chicago, and this brings up some of her past trauma. Charles calls Boyd, the Chicago alpha, to identify the dead man, and Boyd reveals that before Bran left on his trip to Africa, he requested some notes from Boyd on the Chicago pack’s business dealings under Leo, the previous alpha. But Bran has said nothing of this to Charles, and when Charles tries to contact Bran to find out why, his father cannot be reached.
The concerns of the pack must be assuaged, and it’s decided that the other wildlings must be warned. To that end, three teams are formed, and Charles is paired with Sage, Anna with Asil, and Leah with Juste. But they are heading into danger, since anyone affiliated with the pack might be the traitor.
Burn Bright is a strong book with compelling characters and an eerie world. Magic in particular is so interesting in this world, and there’s a lot of it in this book. Charles and Anna’s relationship has progressed enough that there aren’t many issues left to resolve between them, making them a little less fascinating than they were early on, but I still love each of them and find some of their interactions very romantic.
There’s a lot of action in Burn Bright but also a couple of slower sections. It might have just been my distracted state of mind, or maybe it is because I don’t read the Mercy books but I found one of these slower sections, which dealt with Mercy’s backstory, unengaging, and I felt similarly about the pack’s gathering mid-book.
I felt tremendous suspense to know who the traitor was and what was going on the mountainside, so these two slower sections with little new information were frustrating (though thankfully, not long). At the midpoint, I put the book down to read Alpha and Omega again, and the first 20% of Cry Wolf. In doing so, I also found a couple of inconsistencies–Anna is thought or said to be pretty in the earlier books (not just by Charles but also by Hank) but average-looking here; Charles hates cars and drives differently in Alpha and Omega than he does here.
When I went back to Burn Bright the action picked up considerably–the second half was riveting. I couldn’t put the book down from that point on. From Asil and Anna’s confrontation of a dangerous wildling, to Charles and Sage’s encounter with menacing opponents, to the ultimate showdown with the traitor, and the greater power behind that person, the second half was wonderful.
We also get some of Bran’s POV in the book. When no one could reach him, I started wondering whether something bad had happened to Bran and didn’t understand why none of the characters seemed worried about this.
Spoiler (spoiler): Show
Much of what’s great in this book falls into spoiler territory, and that spoilery stuff more than makes up for the issues I had. So I will just say this—if you are a fan of this series, read this book! You will not regret it. B+.
Sincerely,
Janine
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I’ve opened the comments on this post to spoilers, so if you’ve read the book and want a no-holds-barred discussion, this is the place for it.
OMG Janine – I loved the character development of Leah in this book! It was so good to see a different point of view about her and to see her as a more fully realised character and not just the “evil harpy wife”. I had a lot more sympathy for Leah after I finished the book. And I think Bran might actually love her a bit too, despite his best intentions not too.
@Kaetrin: Yes, I agree completely. Ever since Bran’s reasons for marrying Leah were explained in Cry Wolf, I’ve held Bran partly to blame for Leah’s resentments. He’s been really unfair to her. In order to protect the pack, yes. But is it really protecting the pack? The fact that he suspected Leah of being the traitor argues otherwise. Anyway, since that book, I’ve thought that Bran / Leah could make for a great romance, but I wasn’t at all sure it would actually happen. So I’m very excited to see Briggs moving in this direction now.
The Leah POV section was a treat, glad its developing more.
@Janine: I’m looking forward to seeing where she takes it.
@Kaetrin: I am too. There are multiple directions it could go in, but it’s bound to be interesting regardless of which she chooses. I wonder if I will need to catch up on the Mercy series to see where this goes?
Up until the last few books, I had been getting a bit turned off by how many of the books in these two series have female jealousy as a major driving force for their plots, I’m really glad this book continues the trend of not having this be such a major focus.
I also liked the fact that Leah was fleshed out, she’s not a nice person but she’s an interesting character.
I sort of wish Hester could have survived, she sounded fascinating.
@Janine: With the exception of last year’s book, I have loved all of the Mercy books. And even last year’s was not terrible – it just didn’t work for me as well as previous ones. So I’d always recommend catching up on the Mercyverse. Also, I do think there is a lot of crossover in the two series’ now and purely from a practical perspective I think it’s worth being across both.
@Annamal: I felt the same way about Hester!
@Annamal: Yes, I agree with you on that. I’m not a fan of female jealousy either, especially if one of the characters is portrayed in a negative way.
@Kaetrin: I think I’ve read Moon Called twice, and both times I didn’t feel like continuing when I finished. Maybe the third time will be the charm.
Spoilers:
Honestly didn’t love this book. Kinda annoyed and creeped out how they tried to make a “thing” about Bran and Mercy’s relationship I don’t understand why they had to make innuendos that he has more than fatherly feelings towards her. Though I did like hearing the background of the “peanut butter story” and I did like them fleshing Leah out more though it’s hard to reconcile how shitty she comes off normally with how she behaved now. Pretty upset about who the traitor was. Between both series other than the main characters pretty much all the supporting characters are guys. Kinda sucks for Anna to basically lose her only friend and how the hell did she live in a pack for so long and no one suspected a thing. Plus after reading some of the short stories she’s in just seems so out of the blue and out of character it was hard to buy
@Leela Sirotkin: The Bran / Mercy thing did come a little out of nowhere. I wonder if the idea was that this was why Leah hasn’t been nice to Mercy? If so I think it wasn’t needed—Leah could have just had the same reasons she had for being unfair to Charles.
I finished reading this yesterday and I’m still sorting out how I feel about it.
One indication is that it took me almost a week to get through it. Granted, I had other books going simultaneously, but in the past I’d have camped out on the sofa and read a Briggs book from cover to cover. With this one, I’d read a page and remember something else I had to get up and do right then. The first third or so was especially slow for me. It reminded me a bit of Cry Wolf when Charles and Anna set off together into the wilderness, but I wasn’t nearly engaged as much this time.
I mentioned on Kaetrin’s review that I was going to wait ’til this was released in paperback and the Kindle price dropped to get it, but I’d heard hints about Mercy’s backstory that made me decide to get it right away. But when I read what it was I was mostly just disappointed (and more than a bit icked out) with Bran–although I was interested in Charles’s feelings about Mercy and how he subtly helped her out.
And, speaking of Bran, I was pretty much disappointed in his behavior and inaction throughout this book. I didn’t like that he kept Charles in the dark and put him in such an untenable situation regarding Leah–one that ended up tragically anyway and almost cost Charles and Anna’s lives. I’m also confused and sad about the Sage development. If there were any prior clues, I sure missed them. And it seems really strange that she’d be able to fool everyone so thoroughly for 20 years.
Despite my complaints, there were things I liked about the book. I like that Charles and Anna are getting so comfortable with each other and that Charles (and Brother Wolf) realizes he can’t smother Anna with overprotectiveness. It was good to see Leah more fleshed out in this book and wasn’t just a one-dimensional bitch type character. Asil is one of my favorite characters and watching him throughout the books in both series has been fascinating. He’s such a delightful mix of good and bad qualities. I was interested in the wildllings and would have especially loved to have seen more of Hester–those few scenes with her were heartbreaking to me. But Wellesley (sp?)! I loved his character by the end of the book and really hope we see more of him. Maybe he’ll make an appearance in the Mercy books. I assume the enemy that emerged in this book will be a problem for the other packs, as well.
I’ll probably listen to the audiobook in the near future, so maybe I’ll have changed my mind by then but, as of now, I’d rate this book as an ok B/B-. Maybe it was a case of unreasonably high expectations. I also wondered if the unexpected loss of her husband while this book was in progress contributed to a certain flatness. Regardless, I’m still eagerly awaiting the next Mercy book (which is my favorite of the two series).
@Susan: I didn’t mind the similarity to Cry Wolf at all, since it’s my favorite of the books in this series. I agree on Hester and Wellesley.
I was also rather surprised when Sage was revealed to be the traitor as I too had gathered a different impression of her from novels and short stories.
I would have liked more Charles and Anna time — I think I like the earlier books in the series because there are fewer characters taking page time away from those two.
I was taken aback to read about Bran’s less than fatherly feelings for Mercy.
@Susan
I too was conflicted about this book.
I was disconcerted by Anna’s surmise about Bran & Mercy–it felt more like she was trying to justify Bran’s actions in the last Mercy book rather than something” real” since Bran had known Mercy since she was a BABY. I’m sorry, but that’s *really* creepy to me. I’ve always felt that Bran’s feelings for Mercy was akin to Beauclarie’s feelings for his daughter, from Fair Game.
“It is not wise to give something old and powerful something they care about. And I am very old.”
I think that’s possibly why I’m so offended by the idea that Bran might have *those* kinds of feelings for Mercy. It feels like it cheapens things.
I don’t think it was unreasonable that Sage had hidden her true agenda for so long. It’s said that Bran takes a light hand with his pack, because most of them are so damaged. And although it sucks that one of the few female characters was killed off, the numbers of female werewolves are so low it makes sense that a female would be far better able be a traitor. IMO.
I do love Asil, and I think he saved parts of the story for me, since he is such a complex and complicated character I am always interested in learning more about him. I personally prefer the Mercy series, for a variety of reasons, so I think it’s Asil (and the political machinations that affect the Mercy timeline) that keep me reading this series.
I thought that many of the Leah parts were a strength, although I doubted she could really have deceived Bran for so long. Bran might have doubted her because of how complicated his relationship with Leah is, but I don’t see anyone else really believing that. But seeing how she loves Bran and how it hurts her that he doesn’t love her back makes it more clear why she dislikes Charles (and Mercy) so much.
But the Bran & Mercy thing?
No.
@Kareni: Perhaps having read only this series and the first Mercy book made it easier for me to buy Sage as the traitor? I started suspecting her when she showed up at Wellesley’s cabin. I was kind of sorry that it was her, though, since I had liked her in Cry Wolf.
I agree on more Charles and Anna time-it made the early books in the series so satisfying. Still, there aren’t many issues left to resolve in their relationship.
@Random Michelle: Quite honestly, the Bran / Mercy thing just bored me, because Mercy isn’t a character I’m invested in. I understand your feelings that it cheapens the relationship, though. If I had been invested in Mercy, I might very well have felt that way.
Asil is a great character.
Another reason to read Mercy’s books, Janine! Asil makes an appearance in Frost Burned, Mercy’s 7th book.
It was implied that one of the reasons Leah didn’t like Mercy was because she could probably bear children with a werewolf partner (though not necessarily children born werewolves, like Charles). The reason Bran didn’t personally adopt the infant Mercy was because he didn’t trust Leah with someone that fragile. On the other hand, Leah and Bran are serving as Kara’s foster parents, but she wasn’t an infant when she came to Aspen Creek.
I really liked Leah’s bigger part in this book. But I did think it sad that Sage ended up being killed by Asil, since they had been lovers.
Has anyone else read the Asil short story “Unappreciated Gifts”? It was published in 2014 in A Fantastic Holiday Season anthology. Asil’s concerned friends fix him up on a very strange blind date… For some reason the story wasn’t collected in Shifting Shadows, the Mercyverse collection.
@Karis: You guys are tempting me but there are so many Mercy books to catch up on now!
@Karis:
I loved the story unappreciated gifts–I bought the collection just for that story. :) Shifting Shadows and the Anthology were both published in 2014. So it seems unlikely it was unavailable when Shifting Shadows was published.
@Janine, one of the reasons I like the Mercy books so well is because Mercy doesn’t have the super powers of werewolves, and so when she gets hurt, she stays hurt for the time it would take a normal human to recover. And she has worked hard to make herself capable of protecting herself.
That and the fact that she is incredibly self-sufficient and generally rescues herself when something bad happens (which is why she tends to need so much healing). But her self-sufficiency is something that feels attainable to a normal human (ie she studies marshal arts, but is NOT a black belt).
Plus: Kyle & Warren.
Plus: Ben. Really, it might be worth reading just for Ben’s story arc. He’s a background character, but his changes over the course of the series are profound *and* very real. He doesn’t magically become less of a jerk: he slowly slowly slowly changes over time, and becomes a better person gradually. Very gradually. But then he has a lot of harm to overcome.
@Random Michelle: Those all sound like good reasons. I’ll see if I can convince my husband to read them with me—we’ve plowed through a few other UF series together.
Be aware that Bad Things happen to Mercy in one of the earlier books. It’s worth reading, but it was hard. Also, the end of the book in which Bad Things happen has a scene that *deservedly* gets walked back at the start of the next book, but in a way that is true to the characters. :)
I do hope you enjoy it!
Janine, I can promise that you won’t regret it! This is easily a series that a guy can enjoy; my nephew loves them. (His favorite series, however, is the Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels series. My nephew is 27 and we love a lot of the same books.)
Yes, bad things do happen to Mercy in one book. It’s the same book that begins the shift in understanding Ben’s character. I love Ben. I love Kyle and Warren. I love Stefan. And Zee, and Tad, and Jesse, and Gabriel, and Samuel… Recently I’ve become intrigued with Thomas the vampire, too. And I can’t forget Baba Yaga! How can you not fall in love with a series which includes several appearances by the Russian witch Baba Yaga? Uncle Mike is a great character, too.
Also, though Moon Called is the first book, I don’t consider it one of the best. You are more likely to fall in love with the series a few books down the road, especially after Mercy chooses her mate. Plus I really hate the cover of Moon Called. All of the other covers by Daniel Dos Santos are terrific, but Mercy looks kind of goofy in the the first cover illustration.
Which reminds me of a mild complaint I have about the covers of the Alpha and Omega series. Why do we see Charles the human only on the cover of Dead Heat? (Which is absolutely gorgeous.) Wolves are beautiful, but so is Charles!
P.S. Forgot to add that I really love Adam, too! My kind of hero. He’s really smart and he allows Mercy the space she needs. Mercy fights very hard to do what she feels she needs to do, even when it could end up killing her.
@Random Michelle: I don’t necessarily mind bad things happenings to characters–it depends on how it’s handled.
@Karis: Good point about Charles and the covers.
Is there somewhere where the order that all the books, novellas and short stories were published in is listed?
@Janine:
If you don’t mind me pimping my own site, here: http://klishis.com/Books/authors/briggsp.php
On my site I list all the books (I’ve read) in publication order, and if applicable, timeline order. And I found on Patricia Briggs’ site a timeline for all the books and short stories, which I put there as well.
Because I am a tremendous geek. :)
@Random Michelle: Thank you!
@Random Michelle: @Karis: One of the reasons I’m more invested in the Mercy series is that the secondary characters (including Medea) are so interesting–even the ones that aren’t as likable (or start out as likable)–and we’ve watched them develop as individuals and/or in relation to Mercy throughout the course of the series. Because a lot of Charles and Anna’s adventures happen away from the pack, there are more supporting characters that aren’t recurring. We meet them then they’re mostly gone by the end of the book.
This is part of the hard push to get Janine to dip her toe into the Mercy books. :-)
@Susan: Or pull out the big guns, like one of my all-time favorite geeky quotes from Shifting Shadows.
“All the main servers had names. Most of them were references to the usual geek favorites: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Dr. Seuss characters. The only server name that was out of the ordinary was the server someone had named Tree a couple of years ago. Word was that on the eve of transferring to Washington, D.C., a DBA who never read anything but nonfiction had named it in a fit of defiance.”
I’ve worked in tech, and at one point I got crazy and started setting temp passwords for equipment to Sesame Street characters. “Why did you set my password to Oscar the Grouch?” “Why do you think?”
Thank you Susan for mentioning Medea. She is adorable. Janine, somehow Mercy managed to find the one cat in the universe who likes both werewolves and vampires. (She actually appears to like anyone who will pet her.) Plus she has a stub tail, like my dear departed Piglet.
I do agree that it’s unfortunate that many wonderful characters in the Alpha and Omega books only appear once or twice. I love Leslie and hope she’ll return in a future story. Also I really liked the entire Sani family from Dead Heat and would like to see more of them. Since some of them are werewolves, I’m sure they could be worked into a future volume if a plot suggests itself…
I’ve really enjoyed the development of Honey’s character. I hope she and Mercy can form a real friendship, since most of Mercy’s other friends are guys, with the exception of Jesse.
Honestly, these books are part of my “comfort read” shelves, made up of books that I return to again and again when I want to spend a little time with friends.
I have to agree with Karis, Mercys books are some of my go to comfort reads, particularly when I’ve slogged through a fantasy or urban fantasy series that wasn’t my bag (or one that devolved into a misogynistic soup).
My main takeaway from this book right now was the Bran/Mercy thing. I realise it was an attempt to add some more depth to Leah, but honestly even before this book I’d begun to sympathise with her, so I don’t think this idea adds anything. Leah’s not a likeable character but we’ve had enough background for her actions to be understandable, at least, lashing out and being vindictive to mask her pain and inadequacy – most of us know someone like that. (She also reminds me a bit of Nesta in ACOTAR, if you’ve read those). There’s some opportunity for a Ben-like arc. I’m pretty interested to see where things lead between Bran and Leah, both of them are very flawed people in their own ways.
The whole traitor angle was interesting, though from the moment our suspects were laid out (Tag, Sage and Leah) Sage seemed the most likely. Bit sad for anyone shipping her and Asil, but definitely adds some story wiggle room for Asil.
Thank you all for the critical analysis plus thoughtful and considered opinions, it’s really nice to come across after being silly enough to read the goodreads reviews (when will I learn!)
@Sousy: I really enjoyed reading your thoughts. Leah and Asil’s future arcs both look more interesting now. Also, I expect to see more of Sage’s family members.