I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
Portents
by
Kelley Armstrong
It is part of the Cainsville series and is a urban fantasy in a Kindle edition that was published by Amazon Digital Services on July 31, 2018 and has 330 pages.
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Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Broken, Personal Demon , Living with the Dead, Men of the Otherworld, Tales of the Otherworld, Frostbitten, Dates from Hell, Exit Strategy, Made to Be Broken, The Reckoning, Spell Bound, The Gathering, The Awakening, "Hidden", The Calling, Aftertaste, Kisses from Hell, The Rising, Omens, Wild Justice, Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions, Visions, Deceptions, The Masked Truth, City of the Lost, Empire of Night, Forest of Ruin, Betrayals, A Darkness Absolute, Indigo, Rituals, The Unquiet Past, This Fallen Prey, Stolen, Rough Justice, Dime Store Magic, Industrial Magic, Haunted, Broken, Waking the Witch, Missing, Alone in the Wild, Watcher in the Woods, Otherworld Secrets, Wherever She Goes, "The Case of the Half-Demon Spy", "Escape", Otherworld Chills, A Stranger in Town, "Bargain", Hex on the Beach, "Recruit", "Checkmate", "Framed", Cursed Luck, High Jinx, Bitten, Driven, "Forsaken", The Deepest of Secrets, "Dead Letter Days", Men of the Otherworld, The Boy Who Cried Bear
An anthology of seven short stories in the Cainsville urban fantasy series revolving around the tale of Mallt-y-nos and her relationship with Gwynn ap Nudd and Arawn.
Series Order
“The Screams of Dragons”, 0.5
“Devil May Care”, (Seanna gets pregnant)
“Gabriel’s Gargoyles” (ten-year-old Gabriel)
“Bad Publicity” (Patrick when 18-year-old Gabriel is in his first year of college)
“The Orange Cat” (Gabriel, two years after passing the bar)
“Matagot” (TC is following Olivia and then kidnapped)
“Lady of the Lake” (Olivia, who doesn’t have her PI license yet, and Ricky’s motorcycle road trip)
The Stories
“The Screams of Dragons” is a scary tale that is about a little boy with dreams of dragons, a superstitious set of parents and grandmother, and the part played by elders in the town of Cainsville. Nothing to do with Matilda, Gwynn, or Arawn. And it’s that nasty Gran who turns Bobby into a sociopath! Urk! A rather extreme example of why bullying and abuse is so wrong.
“Devil May Care” finds us looking through Patrick’s eyes at the original disaster that befell Matilda, Gwynn, and Arawn. It’s a long introduction into the legend of the three before the intended story begins with Patrick meeting up with Seanna Walsh, Rose Walsh’s niece and Gabriel’s mother. Hoo, boy.
I did love that paragraph about Patrick’s career: “…exploiting human emotions. A teller of stories, a merchant of fantasies, but mostly, a dealer in the drug of secondhand emotions.”
“Gabriel’s Gargoyles” is from Gabriel’s perspective, as he struggles to earn enough money to buy Great-aunt Rose that pack of cards. It’s a fascinating look into Gabriel’s struggle to survive and how he found that last gargoyle.
“The Orange Cat” is also from Gabriel’s perspective and gives us some background on his early start as a lawyer and the case that brings him that notoriety he craves. Although, that’s not the case that is the focus, which does provide more insight into Gabriel’s cold reasoning.
“Bad Publicity” is a one-two punch. One for the pushy new publicist who forces Patrick into an event, but even more important sorry, Patrick, for writers signing contracts!
“Matagot” is from TC’s perspective, the cat Olivia acquires in Cainsville, whose origins we learn. Of TC’s start as a matagot who has been given the chance to do better next time.
“Lady of the Lake” uses a dual third-person point-of-view, providing perspectives from Ricky and Olivia who are enjoying a motorcycle vacation and are currently in Canada where they encounter a water fae and a kidnapped baby. There are three angles: an aspect of the Cŵn Annwn, the parallels between Ricky’s birth and Maggie’s birth, and how Gabriel hurt Olivia.
I love, love that comment Ricky makes about the “bargains” they’re writing each other when he tells Olivia to “write it down … I’m starting a scrapbook.” Then there’s Ricky’s realization that he will die one day, and how he could choose to embrace the life he has while he has it. Deep.
There were a number of other scenes I enjoyed, including Jeanne’s horror of serving her guests lobster that reminds me of my school lunch days when I longed for the Wonder Bread of my peers instead of this homemade bread with peanut butter and homemade jelly! It does crack me up that Olivia describes Gabriel’s ethical code as so small that it could be written on the back of a postage stamp, lol. Yet another interesting scene is the comment Armstrong makes about how Olivia accepts Ricky’s illegitimate family business…turns out, poor Ricky, that girls think he’s boring…!
The Cover and Title
The cover is strong in its simplicity. A blurred background of grays with a close-up of three birds sitting on a bare tree branch. There is an info blurb at the top with the author’s name immediately below it in black. The title is below this in gold with the information about this book being a collection from the Cainsville series, also in black.
The title is the signs of future events, the Portents warning of Arawn, Matilda, and Gwynn coming again, and the chance for change.
