Log in with Facebook 
I started this series quite a while ago and tossed it aside because I just couldn't get into it. This time I listened to it in audiobook format and loved it so much I listened to them in sequence. I enjoyed every moment of it.
I started this series quite a while ago and tossed it aside because I just couldn't get into it. This time I listened to it in audiobook format and loved it so much I listened to them in sequence. I enjoyed every moment of it.
"Silence Fallen" is the tenth Mercy Thompson book, a point where some series start to creak, strain and repeat themselves. Patricia Briggs avoided this by filling "Silence Fallen" with firsts: the first time Mercy has been to Europe, the first time sections of the story are told from Adam's point of view and the first time that the Patricia Briggs has gone with a not-entirely-linear timeline.
It mostly worked.
The parts told from Adam's point of view did give me a different perspective and also rounded-out some of the secondary characters but Adam lacks Mercy's snarky optimism and, surprisingly, her ruthlessness, which made him less fun to be around. The politics was interesting but went on a little too long.
Mercy sparkles from the first line:
"I died first, so I had to make cookies."
What a way to start a book.
The move from this kind of silly domestic humour, with werewolves LARPing as Pirates to Mercy taking sudden violence in her stride, is central to the appeal these books hold for me.
Moving the story to Europe was a smart idea and opened up some interesting back stories but Mercy sometimes sounded too much like a guidebook to Prague without really giving a sense of the place. I didn't like the World War II stories being woven into the werewolf world. It felt a little exploitative and wasn't entirely necessary to the plot.
I enjoyed Mercy's resourcefulness and the way she thought her way out of difficult spots. There were some new developments on her relationship with ghosts that seem promising and I thought having her fight using a scythe was inspired.
This was fun but not more than that. I'm hoping the next book, "Storm Cursed", will go back to a more Mercy-centric way of telling the story.
Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear the start of the book. The audio version gets two narrators this time and manages the shifting timelines without too much fuss.
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/310662490" params="color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true" width="100%" height="300" iframe="true" /]
Bingos seem to be beyond me at the moment so I'm just using the bingo calls to test my appetite rather than to plan a game strategy. Having "Shifters" called reminded my how much I've been looking forward to reading the 10th Mercy Thompson book.
I've barely started it but my body had that same learned response to it as to holding a warm cup in cold hands and inhaling the scent of my first cup of coffee.
Thank you, Patricia Briggs. My your words never desert you and my your character always blossom.
This book reminded me of how much I initially enjoyed this series! Everything was so interesting and kept me guessing throughout the story. I also liked how the story was told because (from the little I remember) the mercy-verse books don't usually switch character point of views.
Mercy proved to be an intelligent and skilled woman. I love how people underestimate her. I love it, even more, when she proves them wrong. I missed her humor in this novel though. It seemed that this story only included her in fight scenes and escaping places/people scenes.
Reading up on what Adam was doing while everything was hitting the fan with Mercy was entertaining. I adore how confident he is in her as a person and in her uncanny ability to survive what seems to be an impossible feat.
The ending with Bran was a surprise to me. Maybe there were hints dropped along the way before the reveal, but everything went over my head (if that's the case). I haven't read books in this series for a few years now and most of the storylines are one huge blur. Though it did get me thinking about Samuel and how I want a book or a series dedicated to him and his happily ever after.
The Audio Book:
The audio book narration was great! I've found yet another male narrator that doesn't give me a headache. I could tell all the characters apart in both narrations. In George Newbern's narration, I could even tell when females were speaking in contrast to male characters (which, strangely, has been difficult for me to find for the past few years that I've been listening to audio books).
I had a delightful time with Silence Fallen. I devoured this book and probably would have finished in a day if I didn't have to sleep and be an adult ^_^. It was fun visiting Europe and meeting The Lord of the Night. We see the different players on the other side of the world, not all but we get to see how things work over seas. I enjoyed and highly recommend the Mercy Thompson seers. 
