I follow Felicia Day on Google+ where I watch her show, Flog. It is her own personal vlog, and every week she posts her top fave five things of the week. She mentioned an interesting series she reads about Djinn called the Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine. A story of Djinnis! Count me in. I hurriedly requested the first book, Ill Wind, from my local library and started reading it the minute I could (which was after several days of sitting on the to-be-picked-up-by-her-holding-highness-princess-jami and then only after I had finished the two other books I had recently started). I quite enjoyed Ill Wind and the new universe the Rachel Caine gifts readers with in her Weather Warden series.
Joanne Baldwin is on the run, once a Weather Warden, her own colleagues are out to get her and bring her to justice. Which means a lobotomy for Jo. She insists that her death match with a fellow warden was a move in self defense, but nobody will listen. That is, not until she meets a hitchhiker and decides to give the average looking man, David, a ride. A storm, both literally and figuratively, is following Jo as she races across the country with a stranger as her passenger and she must not only diffuse the gathering hurricane with her powers but must also decide who to trust along the way.
Apparently googling, “Woman controlling storm” is computer code for “Show me a pap smear test.”
Jo has been marked, and her time is running out. She is searching for the one other Warden she can trust, but it is doubtful she will get to him before the storm catches up to her.Then Jo discovers, that in spite of his normal looking face, attire, and aura, David is actually a powerful Djinn. Djinn are enslaved by the Wardens to use as a power source to up the Warden’s abilities. The Wardens justify the enslavement because the Djinn must be controlled and contained or chaos would ensue. And, as mankind’s protector from Mother Nature, the Wardens must use every available resource to save humanity. David provides a unique perspective on being Djinn and Jo begins to question all of her long held beliefs. However, even with David’s help, Joanne is on the loosing side, and betrayal from multiple sides strikes at the most inopportune time.
Jo is a powerful woman with some really cool powers, and I was so happy to have picked up this book. So, thanks Felicia Day! I enjoyed reading Rachel Caine’s elaborate mythology of Djinn’s and the Wardens who source the Djinn’s power. This is also one of the few books where I was drawn so far into the story that I even read all the descriptive paragraphs. Seriously. That is huge. What was most intriguing, was Rache Caine’s knowledge of how weather works, and how Jo could possibly affect the weather based on how her powers worked. I not only enjoyed the fun escapism the book provided, but learned a lot about weather patterns in the process.
A quick read, Ill Winds, delves into a new type of mythology as well as the intricacies of relationships among people of power. Plus, I didn’t see the ending of the book coming, and for me that is always a plus. It makes me doubly excited to continue reading the series. Which, you guessed it, is currently on hold at the library. The book is very reminiscent of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series, especially having the non-normal human council titled Wardens. He has an author blurb on the book, and it is fitting. I like to pretend that all my sci/fi universes exist as one universe, in my head (well all of the contemporary ones anyway). While Jo is racing across the country to save her butt, somewhere in Chicago, Harry is fighting vampires, ogres, and himself.
I love Joanne as a protagonist, I love her spunk, her can do attitude, and her ability to use the information she has to make tough decisions without breaking down and crying about it. Even if those decisions send a twister after her.
Read another review here and here.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Absurdly Nerdly 