Reap the Wind,
by
Karen Chance
It is part of the Cassandra Palmer #7, series and is a urban fantasy in eBook edition that was published by Signet on November 3, 2015 and has 528 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Curse the Dawn, Death's Mistress, Hunt the Moon, Chicks Kick Butt, Fury's Kiss, "The Gauntlet", "The Queen's Witch", "House at Cobb End", Midnight's Daughter, Claimed by Shadow, Touch the Dark, Embrace the Night, Tempt the Stars, "In Vino Veritas", Updating Pritkin, Ride the Storm, "Black Friday", Brave the Tempest, Masks, Shatter the Earth, Shadow's Bane, Queen's Gambit
Seventh in the Cassandra Palmer urban fantasy series and revolving around Cassie, the unwanted Pythia with a common touch.
My Take
It’s a pivotal story in Cassie’s life, as she finally has a moment to realize what the vampires and the Circle are doing, their lack of respect for her, their belief in her, all the controlling they’re trying to do. The Silver Circle and Jonas and the Senate and Mircea won’t know what hit ’em. Each wants Cassie to do their bidding, claiming it’s for the good of “all”. I can’t really blame the Senate, as the Silver Circle expect her to do their bidding just as previous Pythias have done.
Can you believe the Silver Circle is furious with Cassie for rescuing her court? WTF? It certainly has done a lot of good for Cassie’s rep among a number of other groups, so it should be fun to watch the interactions change.
It’s a tricky path Cassie weaves, as she can’t tell Pritkin about the future, AND she has to make sure that certain artifacts remain where they are, so they’re ready to use in the future. For, well, you know, saving the world, etc.
It is rather funny with the young Pythian initiates from the London court being put up in a single hotel room, lol. It doesn’t make Marco feel all that good though, since Cassie is always running off on some quest. Makes that bodyguarding very difficult and Marco has to answer to Mircea.
That Rhea! Ooh, she may feel that she’s not worth much, but she steps up to protect her Pythia. Whoaaa… And she’s absolutely right. That Jonas would have let them all die!! Rhea has a lot of back history about the Pythias to tell Cassie as well as information about her power. And Jonas keeps digging himself in deeper: not protecting the Pythian court, kidnapping Cassie, trying, that is.
Talk about adventures!! First there’s the hilarity of Cassie time traveling with Rosier; the escape and boat chase by the fey, which turned into a party with a fey group; prison breaks; YOUNGer Pritkin’s tricks — he is a hoot. He’s carefree and laughs, which only makes Cassie incredibly sad that he’s lost this.
There is a lot of back history on Pritkin.
“They didn’t know that the curses were being fired at birds; they assumed they were being fired at them. And being war mages, they naturally didn’t stop to find out why.”
A few more good ones are Cassie wanting to make the girls’ lives brighter. That crack Marlowe makes when Mircea and Cassie have their confrontation about who’s in whose head cracked me up: “I’m starting to wish I had popcorn” and more, lol. And Rico. I like the sound of Rico. He does dishes, likes guns, hates rules. The troll dancing was fun, lol.
It’s a hectic pace Chance sets for Cassie; you’ll be exhausted by the time you finish reading Reap the Wind.
The Story
Those bloody Silver Circle guards were useless, and yet Jonas protests against Cassie relying upon anyone but them. But Jonas is learning that Cassie isn’t so easy to push around.
Too bad the betraying Initiates can’t be pushed around, as they have plans to bring back the gods.
The Characters
Cassandra “Cassie” Palmer, a Fey Friend, used to be a down-on-her-luck clairvoyant and ghost magnet, until the power chose her. Now she’s Pythia who has learned she’s also a demi-god, because of Mom, Elizabeth O’Donnell, a.k.a., Artemis. Roger Palmer, Cassie’s father, had been a necromancer and a member of the infamous Black Circle. Billy Joe is Cassie’s ghost “assistant”.
Marco, a giant vampire, is her chief bodyguard. Fred is very handy to have around the house, er, hotel room and had been an accountant. The perpetually cool Rico is one of Mircea’s first-level masters. Teddy works the safe; Roy is in love with Southern cooking; and, Jules is the bodyguard Cassie saved a few days ago.
John Pritkin, his demon name is Emrys, is a war mage and half-human, half-incubus; in his distant past, he’d been known as Merlin. His father, Rosier, is Lord of all Incubi. Caleb is a war mage friend of Pritkin’s.
The Pythia’s Court is…
…divided into two camps: Those who want Cassie and five who don’t. Those who do want Cassie include Rhea who has visions of the future and Phoebe who is a very young Initiate.
The betraying five include Victoria Roupell (the redhead); the now-dead Myra was the unexpected heir (and Apollo’s stooge); Elizabeth Warrender (the blonde); Amelie de Vielles (the long-haired brunette); Johanna Zirimis; and, Sara Darzi, the one Cassie threw out the window.
Agnes Wetherby, a.k.a., Lady Phemonoe, was the previous Pythia and originally from Pittsburgh. Mage Elias Royston was a guard on the London house. Various Pythias show up while Cassie is time-traveling: 1794 Lydia from Amsterdam, Cherries, and Gertie of London from the 1840s who designed the current styles for Pythian initiates. Themistoclea I was the tutor of Pythagoras, Lady Phemonoe I invented hexameter verse, Perialla VI discovered the ley line system, Xenoclea I ordered Hercules to be sold into slavery for a year, and Aristonice IX brokered the treaty between vampires and the Circle that holds today.
The Silver Circle is…
…the world’s chief magical authority. Jonas Marsden is the head, the Lord Protector, and technically Cassie’s colleague. If only… Saunders was the previous head who was deposed.
Dante’s in Las Vegas…
…is a casino that Casanova, an incubus possessing a vampire and cheaper than Scrooge, manages. Cassie is living there these days. Rian is a succubus and Casanova’s girlfriend. David is one of the front desk guys. Augustine is the designer of magical clothes. Françoise is a witch who works for Augustine. Tamika “Tami” Hodges, a.k.a., Vixen Vigilante, is an old friend and magical null who helped Cassie out in the past.
The Vampire Senate
Mircea Basarab is her vampire husband, per vampire law, and Dracula’s older brother. Horatiu is Mircea’s oldest servant and had been Mircea’s tutor. Kit Marlowe is the chief spy. Tony was the mob boss vampire who raised Cassie, using and abusing her. Rafe had been Tony’s resident artist. Lawrence is a servant at the consul’s house. Louis-Cesare shows up.
The three main factions of fey include…
…the Green, the Dark, and the Blue. The Green Alorestri, the Water Lords, are the ones who usually come to earth. The Svarestri are Dark and worship the Æsir gods of battle. The Blarestri are Blue and worship Vanir, the gods of nature; the Staff of the Winds is a weapon that belongs to the Sky King. The forest-dwelling trolls look like Wookies.
Shadowland is…
…a minor demon realm that serves as a gateway to the various Hell worlds as well as neutral ground for the demon council. Adramelech “Adra” is head of the demon council, and the one who cursed Pritkin (Tempt the Stars, 6).
The Tears of Apollo are a tincture that Pythias drink to boost up their power levels. The Circle’s “education centers” are prisons for people with power whom the Circle doesn’t like. The Spartoi were Apollo’s hunters. Seiðer is a “snare” in which the gods would establish a link with someone and then “hang up the phone” leaving that person forever in a dream world. The Push is a method used to turn a vampire into a master within a few days.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a mélange of deep and bright reds in the massing storm clouds shooting out lightning over the city while Cassie’s black-clad body overlooks the city, but her head, blonde hair flying in the breeze, is turned toward us. She seems to be asking if we can see what’s happening.
I have no idea where the title comes from. My guess is that Reap the Wind refers to Cassie using the power of the Tears for her wild ride through time and troubles.
