An Easy Death by Charlaine HarrisMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Just as the cover implies, An Easy Death is a cowboy shoot 'em up style book. In the classic comedic style of Charlaine Harris we are introduced to our bad-ass heroine who doesn't like anyone meddling in her affairs and has kept her hand on her gun mos of her life just to survive.
Characters
Something Harris is a master at creating are characters. Her original series 'True Blood' characters are unforgettable and as such so are the ones in An Easy Death. Not only is our lead gal likable, she has many traits readers may wish they had; including a fearless personality. Additionally Harris introduces us to a whole host of characters you come to care about. Although fair warning there are a lot of people that don't make it in this wild west dystopian environment; so try not to get too attached.
Alternate Dystopian History
The setting of Harris' new series is really interesting. It's back in the 1930-40's or so (I think) and yet the USA has been split into factions/areas that are no longer one country due to a rise in magic and magical abilities. This has led to outlaw areas, new regimes and intense politics. My fave part (because I'm very biased) was that Canada held onto their land and got a chunk of the northern United States. So I just have to say thanks to Harris for not assuming my country would fall. ;)
The other side of the split of the USA is that the Russians have taken over portion of the former country including what was California. They are the ones with the most magic and a royal bloodline that includes the original royal line whom all suffer from hemophilia. There's no lack of politics in this world and yet it's not complex or heavily set. A perfect balance to the wild west feel of the show.
Action
An Easy Death is primarily a bunch of action scenes strung together with some mysterious plot. But don't be fooled into thinking there is a complexity to this story. At the end of the day it's just like your average John Wayne style story. Except our lead gal doesn't end up with near as many people in bed with her as Wayne might have had back in the day. (lol)
Overall
This is a fun, take a break and laugh book. Just like the Sookie Stackhouse series (True Blood on HBO), Harris has taken a relatively simple approach to let us know that the books are really all about having some laughs, shooting up a lot of places and our heroine surviving. As our lead gal is only 19 (or so) she displays a strong desire to survive that is admirable and reminded me that I can totally handle -35C (on one of the days I was reading this) so long as no one is shooting at me.
While no one is likely to give out a literary award for this new series, I know I will look forward to the next book. And I hope that this series can go on for 3-6 books and be decent additions to my TBR as 'break' reads from some of the heavy literature out there.
To read this and more of my reviews visit my blog at Epic Reading
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
Follow me on Goodreads...
1 comment:
Sounds fun! It's always nice to have a few lighter books that let you take a break from heavy-literature stuff (or even your favourites that you become too emotionally involved with, that can be exhausting as well!)
Post a Comment