A Stroke of Midnight

I have to say, I have read the book and loved it, I have all of the Merry Gentry stories. However, I have found a new medium and love for my books. I drive alot because of work and I have found a new fascination with this series because of audio books. I have just finished the audio version. Like most busy people who live in ther cars, I tried it. It was spoken, as you should read it (slow and in the time of the characters) and I experienced it, without the pretense. Most dedicated readers go through the story (as most readers do, so fast that they miss the eloquences of the language play and the meaning behind the story), you should try a listen on a long drive. (We have). The voice, characterises each person perfectly, and draws you in like the first time.... It makes you want more, but this time not to read it but to listen .... and yes because you might have missed something or every nuance that you should have gotten but were to caught up in the drama that plays in your head). I am breathless again with anticipation, like I have never read or heard the story before... Try all the books in that way, that you put away in that nice orderly manner (book shelf or boxes) but hope to re-live again.....

This is the 4th book in the series about Princess Meredith of the faerie Unseelie Court. The faeries are broken up into the Seelie Court of Light and Illusion and the Unseelie Court of Air and Darkeness. To become heir to the throne of the Unseelie Court the Queen has set both Meredith and her sadistic son Prince Cel on a race to become/get someone pregnant, to insure that the blood lines will survive. Once someone is pregnant they will marry the mate and that will be the future ruler. Merry and her entourage of Raven Guards (who are also her lovers) are called back to the Unseelie sithen. On the way Princess Meredith avoids and attempted assignation and thwarts a coup attempt. The princess gives a press conference about the assassination attempt in the faire mound, unheard of before as the Queen is concerned about the Princesses safety. Unfortunately a photographer and another are found dead. Merry convinces the Queen to allow local police into the sithe, under her and her guard's watchful eyes. As the investigation is underway Merry and her guards thwart another assassination attempt. In addition Merry has gained another power to go with her Hand of Blood and Hand of Flesh powers and those who have had sex with her are coming back into their ancient powers, once thought lost. As the powers are brought back to individuals this causes the Queen to become very jealous and cruel. Merry on the other hand is doing what she can to protect her guards and any of the other Ravens that she is able to. Many people in other reviews have seen the sex in this book as over the top. If you don't like this then LKH isn't on of the authors you should be reading. In this case the sex is part of what is causing the powers of others to return. I found a lot of plot in this story and when Darkness and Frost are with Merry prior to meeting the police I almost wanted to cry for Darkness and his feelings. So if you are looking for a series to follow and don't mind erotica then this is the series for you.

I've read every Meredith Gentry and Anita Blake novel written by Laurell Hamilton to date. There is SOMETHING she's working out in these stories that addresses life, death, power, women and men. It keeps me coming back for more. Be warned, these are SERIES... I read the first 50 pages of Stroke of Midnight, then jumped to the last 50 pages to see where THIS installment would end, then jumped back to the middle and read the whole book. Each chapter and novel move Princess Meredith further and further along in her relationships with her guards, her Aunt the Queen, and her many enemies AND supporters. There is PLENTY OF SEX... I would call it soft porn, written by a women from a woman's point of view (lots of description of clothing and hair, for example!). But explicit enough for a man's point of view. Meredith is a fertility deity, entity, whatever you want to call it. But there is also a progression of power... in Meredith AND in her colleagues, allies, and lovers. Fascinating to note that the Meredith Gentry novels are about fertility and birth, and the Anita Blake novels are about the dead and dying. But BOTH are about POWER and especially about the power of WOMEN with respect to the power of men. They are also about the nature and ethos of power... which is part of the fascination that keeps me coming back.

Okay, let's get a few things straight. The Sidhe like sex, and they have no inhibitions about sex or nudity. A lot of people seem to have trouble dealing with that. As in many myths, Hamilton is tying sex in with magic and power. A lot. Hence, Merry's sex is tied in with rewakening powers of the Faerie world. If you can't handle that, don't read these books. The first two books basically had Merry trying to survive. As with Hamilton's Anita Blake series, she's outpowered by her big, mean enemies. By book three, she's coming into her power, and book four is all about the expansion of that power, and the way the Goddess uses her to bring power back to her people and to the Unseelie Sidhe. It's all about the disarming of enemies and the recruitment of allies within the Unseelie court. There is sex in this book, and violence, and the exploration of magic, as well as a little more insight into the way the Unseelie court works and the different aspects of it. Some have complained about a lack of progress or plot. That's like saying a roller coaster doesn't get you anywhere. The point, dear readers, is not to get somewhere, but to have fun on the ride. Don't get me wrong. Read some of my other reviews and you'll see I don't hesitate to come down on authors who bore me with long, pointless stories which go nowhere. This one is so entertaining, though, that I really don't see a lack of progress. It's true everything takes place in a short period of time, but I honestly never noticed because so much takes place. Among those things is not merely the rewakening of power to the Sidhe, but to their home, signified, in part, by the way time once again begins to move differently between there and the outside world. So no, Merry still hasn't gone to the Seelie Court, but I really didn't care. I'm sure Hamilton will get to it in the next book and I hope it'll be as thoroughly entertaining as this one.

I thoroughly enjoyed the latest Merry Gentry novel. Politics and Intrigue among the Unseelie Sidhe provide the back drop for Princess Merideth's further adventures as she dodges assassination attempts and the workings of enemies from both her bloodline, the Seelie Sidhe and unknown malefactors who may be targeting both Sidhe Courts. There is a wealth of sensual detailing and luscious erotic encounters as Merry plays conduit for the Goddess and is awakening ancient powers long lost among those who look to her. As well, Merry is in a race to prove her fertility against that of her cousin by getting with child, because to lose means not only her own demise but that of her people. Beautiful interweaving of relationships between Merry and the other characters in the book. I was a very satisfied reader. The only thing I could have wanted was MORE BOOK.