Bitter Night: A Horngate Witches Book

One of the worst books I have ever seen.

Plot Summary: 30-years-ago Max got drunk one night, and woke up months later no longer human. She was tricked by a witch into a lifetime of service as a Shadowblade - a supernatural fighting machine compelled to protect the witch by a web of compulsion spells. Despite the magic, Max remains defiant, stubborn, and a thorn in everyone's hide. While on reconnaissance in another witch's territory, Max meets another Shadowblade who may just be her equal, but their attraction takes a back seat when all hell breaks loose. The god-like Guardians who control magic are determined to wipe out humanity, and every creature of the Divine and Uncanny must choose sides. It has been a long time since I gave an urban fantasy my top rating. In fact, it's been so long I'd be hard pressed to name the book. So good-bye to that hot, nasty, dry spell! I'm elated to find a new UF that fulfills everything on my wish-list, and my only regret is that Diana Pharaoh Francis is still writing book two, so I must curb my impatience. At the risk of sounding like Jim Cramer, urban fantasy fans should put "Bitter Night" on their Buy list. Before I even got to the end of the second chapter I knew this was going to be excellent. Max is such an embittered heroine (I don't think the title is a coincidence), and yet she has a spunky attitude and a wicked mouth. She's been enslaved by a witch, but she's often the one in control because she doesn't care whether she lives or dies. Max will just shrug at the most desperate situations because it's always win-win to her. If she wins, all is good, but if she loses and dies, then she escapes her enslavement. This frustrates everyone else around her to no end, but she doesn't give a hoot. I love her character. Max's attraction to her fellow Shadowblade, Alexander, added just the kind of unfulfilled romantic tension that makes a UF complete for me. I also found myself fascinated by Giselle, the witch who holds Max's leash. It was easy to hate her at the beginning, but by the end I wasn't so sure. Is she truly an evil woman, or does she serve an end that justifies her means? Only more books will tell. According to Ms. Francis's website, she's currently working on the sequel, called "Crimson Wind", and she expects it will be released in October 2011. Why the long wait? Well, she also writes another fantasy series called the Crosspointe Chronicles, so I imagine that she's juggling projects.

I REALLY enjoyed reading this book. It was jam-packed with harrowing fight and escape scenes, and it was impossible to put down. I liked the way she had just a touch of romance. It is so rare to read an urban fantasy that has a romantic angle but doesn't overwhelm you with sex scenes. What was most compelling about this book though was the main character. Max is tough, smart, and willing to do whatever she has to do to protect her friends. She is also a conflicted character, whose internal struggles make the book that much more interesting. Mostly, I just want to know when the sequel is coming out!!!

*Bitter Night* is undoubtedly the most kick-ass book I've read all year. Considering that this year I've also read Patricia Briggs' Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Book 4) and Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, Book 2) as well as Jim C. Hines' The Stepsister Scheme (PRINCESS NOVELS) and The Mermaid's Madness (PRINCESS NOVELS), `most kick-ass book of the year' is extremely high praise. But in addition to tons of fast-paced martial and magical action, *Bitter Night* has a whole cast of lovable, believable characters whom I cared deeply about; a plot packed with edge-of-your-seat surprises that kept me guessing and gripping the pages; a rich, vivid, and fascinating world believably woven into present-day California and Montana; and excellent, wry humor even in the darkest, scariest moments. Fans of Francis' earlier heroines, Reisil (Path of Fate), Lucy (The Cipher: A Novel of Crosspointe, Bk. 1), and Fairlie (The Turning Tide: A Novel of Crosspointe) will not be disappointed with *Bitter Night's* sardonic, passionate, reckless, tough-as-nails Max. You'll also love Max if you are into Patricia Brigg's Mercy Thompson or Joss Whedon's Captain Malcolm Reynolds or Jayne Cobb. The only concessions I have to make about this book are minor and have to do with my own conservative tastes. First the nature of the story requires a fair amount of involvement with things of the occult. Second the language has its rough moments. Even from a conservative standpoint though, I feel both of these things were extremely well done and never more than the story needed. Brilliant. Amazing. Excellent. A must read for fans of urban fantasy, action, and paranormal romance.

I admit it. I was one of the lucky ones who got to read this book early. And O.M.G. It's awesome!! Bitter Night is an Urban Fantasy that takes place in the Western US. There is magic in the world but most humans are oblivious to it and poor Max gets entangled right in the middle of it. In college, her friend Giselle tricked her and made her into a Shadowblade - a fierce magic warrior that can only be out at night - a very reluctantly, Max is serving her. Now the Guardians of the earth want the witches help in spreading chaos and destruction over the world and if they refuse, their coven will be destroyed. Can Max help Horngate, her home, stand up to such an attack? Now, Diana Pharoah Francis has six books published, all fantasy, all amazing. I found her when her third book, Path of Blood, came out. Then was so excited to see the Crosspointe series (which has another book coming out next year!!). How this effects her writing is in the richness of her world. UF takes place basically in the here and now - everyone know Walmart, everyone knows McDonalds - but you still have to create an underlying world to go with that. And with her experience creating whole entire new worlds through her fantasy, Di is able to really make her UF world all the more full because, yeah, we have McDonalds but there are so many little details she slips in that I don't think all UF writers give to you. So you NEED to pick up Bitter Night when it comes out TOMORROW!!! You'll love it!! I put it up there with Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews and Mark Henry... amazing, rich, believable, with a strong plot that will keep you turning the page. I know I'll be first in line at my Borders!!

Max was bound to a witch, someone she previously trusted as her friend, against her will. Max was forced to become the witch's Shadowblade Prime--the witch's elite protector, bound to shadow and poisoned by sunlight. Understandably, Max bears her burden with a surly attitude and much rebellion; however, little does Max know that her world will be utterly changed when she comes across an injured Hag and another witch's Shadowblade Prime. There's a war coming, in which the Guardians of Earth wish to wipe out the human population. The war will force Max to reassess what's important to her, what's worth protecting, and how much she's willing to sacrifice: "Max tensed. Though she already knew the answer, she had to ask, 'If I do? What will you give me in return?' Giselle shook her head. 'You want me to say I will free you. When it's all over. But I don't know if it will ever be over, and I won't lie to you and say it will be. I don't think I can ever let you go.' Max's teeth bared in a snarl. 'You ask too f***ing much. You always have.' " BITTER NIGHT is not just another entry into the huge urban fantasy genre. Though it seems a bit like any other as the story begins, before long it becomes apparent that the scope of BITTER NIGHT has much more in store for the reader. Max, the protagonist, has an incredibly refreshing humanity. The reader comes to discover Max's personality more and more as other characters in the story begin to understand Max. Additionally, Max's character seems more emotionally genuine to me than pretty much any other heroine I've read in fantasy. Really, the characters and their interactions are what make this story so top notch. The whole team is so devoted to Max--and Max, in her own way, is more devoted to them than she realizes. These are the ties strong enough to bind them together against all the threats that stand against them. Really, there are too many things I love about this novel and cannot say for fear of giving away too much. I'll have to leave it at: BITTER NIGHT is a must-read. It's Armageddon wrapped up in fantastic characterization, compelling plot, and constant twists. Mark your calendars for late October, because BITTER NIGHT is one of those books I recommend without reservation. In the tradition of heroines like Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels, Max is ready to take the stage and fight at the end of the world.