Micah and Strange Candy by
Laurell K. Hamilton
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
THIS IS NOT ONE BOOK!!!!
This book consists MICAH, a novella that follows on from Incubus Dreams, and STRANGE CANDY which is an anthology of short stories/ ideas that never happened. Not all of these short stories are set in Anita's world. Because of this I'm gong to go through the individual parts that make up this book, for the simple reason that I wouldn't give them all the same rating (It will also explain how this is on both my Favourites shelf and my Not-My-Kind-Of-Book shelf). I felt that Five stars overall was to generous, as there were some shorts that I didn't like, and yet three stars seemed to harsh as I didn't feel the it was just okay overall.
Micah. - 5 stars.
This is just over a hundred pages long and follows on from Incubus Dreams. Anita has to go out of town to work, and due to having to feed the ardeur needs to take someone with her. Micah is that someone. It gets pointed out that this is the first time that Anita and Micah have been truly alone together with none of their other friend around them. This means that Anita is forced to face up to exactly how she feels about Micah and it is also where we learn what the story of his past is.
I really enjoyed this short story. I feel that after reading it we have a better understanding of who Micah is as a person and what motivates and drives him. It also shows exactly how much that Micah cares about Anita, as well as highlighting how little they know about each others past.
It's worth picking this book up for this novella alone.
Strange Candy - Overall 4 stars. - contains 14 short stories all around the length of a an average chapter.
Those Who Seek Forgiveness - This is set in the world of Anita Blake. It could easily earn itself 4 - 5 stars. This shows how different the series could have been if Laurell K Hamilton hadn't tweaked the originall idea. It's about a zombie raising that doesn't go to plan. A very enjoyable short story.
A Lust Of Cupids - This is an idea that didn't go very far. Again I'd give it 4 - 5 stars. A very light hearted, enjoyable short story. Cupids go around hunting down people over the age of 30 and make them fall in love whether they want to or not. I would have been interested to see where this idea could have gone.
The Edge of the Sea - A very dark story in contrast to the previous one. I loved this and it could have made a good full length novel in my opinion. Definitely a 5 star story. A mysterious man that comes seemingly from the sea and lures people to their death.
A Scarcity of Monsters - This was again, a story that could have made a very good full length novel (dare I say series) this is about sea monsters. I really liked this story 5 stars hands down.
Selling Houses - 4 - 5 stars. This s set in Anita's world. However Anita nor any of the other characters, main, secondary or otherwise are in this short story. This looks at how the whole Vampires being legal thing effects people in other, more mundane lines of work, such as real estate. It was certainly interesting to see things from a different perspective.
A Token For Celandine - This was set in the world of the Nightseer. This is a book that I haven't read, and therefore I am unfamiliar with the world that it is set in and who and what the characters are. Because of this I found it really hard to get into the story that was trying to be told and therefore I didn't finish this short story. I would probably give this only the 1 star, simply because I wasn't drawn into the story and fond it really hard to understand the characters. I don't know whether this would still be the case however if I had read the main book in which this short story is set.
A Clean sweep - This was a cute superhero story that we all wish could be true. I feel that 3 stars is fair for this story. Its about a superhero that cleans your house. This is fairly sweet and enjoyable.
The Curse-Maker - This was also set in the world of Nightseer, though I managed to finish this story, I really had to force myself to do so. I just couldn't connect with the characters and the world that it was set in. Its about a Bard that has had a death curse placed on him and the other characters (with their talking sword) are against the clock to find the right person to lift the curse. I would give this 1 star, maybe 2 at a push; it's just not my kind of story.
Geese - This seemed promising at the start, but this was another story that I just didn't click with and lost enough interest in, that I didn't finish so it only gets 1 star from me. It's about a girl that has shape shifting magic and changed changed into a goose. It has something to d with her past; but I can't really tell you anymore as I never read enough.
House Of Wizards - I loved this story. I think that this could have made a good, funny series. This easily get 5 stars. It's about a wizard that brings his new wife that has no magic to meet his powerful magic using family and how she has to win them over. Very enjoyable.
Here Be Dragons - 3-4 Stars feels fair. This is a Sci-Fi story. I think that it could have done with a little more in the way of a back story to explain things a little more clearly. This was very dark story that revolved around a Government project that dealt with people (kids) that have the power to kill you in your dreams.
The next two stories Winterkill and Stealing Souls were both set in the world of Nightseer, and as I hadn't enjoyed the previous two short stories that were set in this world I decided not to read them. I therefore can't review or rate them.
The last story in this anthology is The Girl Who Was Infatuated With Death.- This is set in Anita's world and takes place before Narcissus In Chains. I would give this 4 stars as I found it quite enjoyable to read. Basically it's about a 17 year old girl that has disappeared with a vampire so that he can turn her and her mother has come to Anita for help. We also get a bit of Jean-Claude in this. Good story.
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Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton
