A Shiver of Light

Laurell K. Hamilton

Jun 2014 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

Merry Gentry, ex–private detective and full-time princess, is now the mother of triplets, a rarity in the high ranks of faerie. And not everyone is happy about it, including Taranis, King of Light and Illusion. He’s using the human courts to sue for visitation rights, claiming that one of the babies is his. To save herself and her children, Merry will use the most dangerous powers in all of faerie: a god of death, a warrior known as the Darkness, the Killing Frost, and a king of nightmares. They are her lovers, and her dearest loves, and they will face down the might of the high courts of faerie—while trying to keep the war from spreading to innocent humans in Los Angeles, who are in danger of becoming collateral damage.

Ratings and reviews

SURPRISE! Merry has triplets, nobles of both courts are courting Merry and her men and Taranis King of Light and Illusion has become an even more dangerous problem in this thrilling installment of the Merry Gentry saga. The story starts off with excitement and surprises and the reader can’t help but get caught up in the anticipation of more to come because as we all know Merry’s life is never boring. The emotional turmoil flows from every page with vibrant intensity as the babies bring more surprises as well as worries into their life and the toll all the danger takes on them continues to cause doubts and insecurities. Unexpected twists and turns keeps everyone on their toes as well and the Goddess continues to steer the direction that Merry’s life takes, unfortunately this story does have a very heartbreaking moment that will surely bring tears to your eyes but it also has some happy moments that will bring smiles to your face. Tension and excitement builds as Taranis has quite a few surprises in store for Merry in his bid to claim her and her children for his own which have them all facing down the might of the high courts as they try to keep the war from spreading to innocent humans. The well written scenes and details capture the imagination and bring this exciting world to life while the intriguing events guarantee that you can’t put the story down. Once again, the strong, compelling characters of this series demanded all my attention from the moment I picked the book up and I have to hand it to Laurell K Hamilton as she keeps surprising me with the direction the series takes. However, I am a bit upset at one of the events that happened in this story which makes me wonder just what will happen next as this will surely change things.

As always, the writing is fresh, descriptive and stimulating but I am disappointed at the fact there was little to no plot save the last couple of pages while the entirety of the book was a rehash of the previous novels. There were new bits of info very sparingly placed in the book, but the characters were really just reminiscing about prior events and it wasn't really worth the read.

The whole thing was rather like a famous bottle of wine with Thunderbird inside it. All build up, but the finish was too quick and rather uninspired. Some chapters were only a few short pages, and they seemed to skip over quite a bit. Like beginning with the birth and the next chapter is three days later when she goes home. I really had a lot of hope for this one, and yet it didnt pan out. Also, the fight with Taranis was over far too quickly.

About the author

Laurell K. Hamilton is a full-time writer and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series and the Merry Gentry series. She lives in a suburb of St. Louis with her family.