2007 Book Log #50: Witch Fire, by Anya Bast

[annathepiper]

There is an audience for Anya Bast's Witch Fire, but unfortunately I am not it.

Here's the Not My Cup of Tea part: this is one of those paranormal romances that's very heavy on the sex and fairly light on the plot, and for that matter, fairly light on the romance. I knew Bast had lost me when I'd gotten sixty or seventy pages into the book and knew little more besides that 1) our heroine Mira was an air witch, 2) our hero Jack was a fire witch who had been surreptitiously keeping watch on her because bad guys were out to get her, and 3) they were hot for each other. Especially #3, because the vast majority of the first sixty or seventy pages are devoted to telling the reader in very blunt and straightforward language about the effects Jack and Mira have on one another's libidos. This continues through much of the book, with our heroine in "zomg he kidnapped me and yet I find him strangely sexy" mode a lot, and some mild bondage play as well.

Here's the part I did like: the setup isn't anything terribly new or different. You can't swing a stick in the fantasy genre without hitting a series about elemental-based magic--and certainly it's hard to top the fun that rachelcaine is having with that exact schtick over in the Weather Warden novels. That said, I do actually like that schtick, and I wish that Bast would have spent more time describing how magic works in her world and less on how Jack and Mira wanted each other's pants off, because she does seem to have an interesting take on magic. She's also got some promising politics set up between her good witches (the Coven) and her bad witches (the Duskoff), which I expect will provide the fuel for the series in general, unless she's planning on introducing other supernaturals into the mix. Her prose is readable, and once we finally got some action scenes and plot developments, my interest did pick up a bit.

Had there been a bit more plot setup at the beginning and some time taken to let the reader better get to know our heroine before smacking her upside the head with Le Sexx0rs, and more plot in general to balance out all the hormones flying around, I think I would have liked it better. I will say that unlike some authors who write heavy sex, I can actually see why others would find her sex scenes sexy--so if they do sound like your cup of tea, three stars for you. For me, since I prefer a subtler brew, two and a half.

Comments

[awritersweekend.livejournal.com]

To be fair to Anya Bast, she writes for the audience that demands the heavy sex thing.

[annathepiper]

Well, sure. As I said--I'm just not that audience, but unlike with other authors, I can see why her books would appeal to people who are in that audience. Even if she doesn't appeal to me specifically, I can see potential appeal for others there. Hence three stars for target audience, two and a half for me. :)

[awritersweekend.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I see...I see...I've actually thought about reading one of her books, or one of Megan Hart's, since they both are alums of AWW, but haven't gotten to it yet (still reading the stack of books by speakers at the past events...I'm such a slow reader!).

[annathepiper]

Heh, I hear you about being slow to read--I've managed to plow through 50 books so far this year, but this is only due to conscious, ongoing effort. ;) And I'm only just now hitting a few things that have been on my shelf for YEARS. I'm not allowing myself to buy any more physical books (though I'm thinking of some e-books for the coming trip to Japan) until I clear out more shelf space!

Anyway, there were aspects of Witch Fire that I did like--the general premise did seem interesting to me. So if you like a lot of sex in your paranormal romance, this book could be fun. :)