The Hollows Series Book Review

Posted by Saluki in Stray Thoughts with Saluki | 2 comments

I’ve been reading a ton of books lately.  In fact, I’ve been reading so many books that I’ve fallen behind on my fan fic updates.  It’s supposed to rain this weekend, so guess what I’m going to be doing instead of yard work.

Today I want to tell you about a new series I discovered, quite by accident.  I have a Sony eReader, and every month they feature free books.  Of course, I snap up as many free books as I can since I spend way too much money on reading material as it is.  A month or so back, “Dead Witch Walking,” by Kim Harrison was featured.  The title alone was enough to catch my attention, but from the first chapter I became sucked into this fantastic series.

The books are set after what is know as the Turn, when Interland Species: witches, vampires, pixies, weres, elves and the like came out in the open after the T4 virus attached itself to the genome of a genetically engineered tomato and wiped out half of the human population.

Rachel Morgan is a runner for the Interland Species Bureau, or I.S., which is basically the law enforcement agency for non-humans.  She becomes bored and miserable in her job, so she decides to break her contract with the bureau and go out on her own as an independent runner.   She partners with a living vampire, Ivy Tamwood and a pixie, Jenks, to form Vampiric Charms.

This odd trio of interlanders live and run their business out of an abandoned church.  Well, Jenks lives in the garden with his wife and 54 pixie children.  Ivy and Rachel are an odd pair, since vampires generally stay with their own kind.  However, they form a bond based on friendship, even as Ivy struggles with her blood lust.  She has sworn off blood, and as a result, Rachel incites her craving for blood constantly.  A living vampire doesn’t need blood to survive, but it makes them stronger, sharper, and all around happier.

Kim Harrison does an amazing job of creating a world where humans and non-humans have learned to live together, though not always peacefully.  On top of tensions between humans and interlanders, there are tensions among the various non-human groups.  Vampires hate Weres, Pixies hate Fairies, Wiches hate Elves…it seems no one gets along.  But, through her unique blend of stubborness, street smarts, bravery, and sometimes stupidity, Rachel Morgan works with them all, and even gets them to work together on occasion.  She also does a great job of creating rich, believable characters.  You would almost think she knows a few Interlanders herself *wink wink*

I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys the paranormal genre.  Kim Harrison has created a fascinating world where the lines between human and non-human, right and wrong are constantly blurred.  I think that Rachel Morgan is probably one of my favorite female characters of all time.  She can bring a living vampire down with a round house kick, trick a demon, become a member of a wolf pack, and still get upset when Jenks’ cat doesn’t like her.

I just can’t say enough about how much I love these books.  I hope you give them a try - I give them five out of five fangs!