City of Souls by Vicki Pettersson

Vicki Pettersson's Signs of the Zodiac series was the third Urban Fantasy series I tried. I gave the series a try because Kim Harrison and Kelley Armstrong both had blurbs on the front covers of the books.

Here's a little background on the series. In Las Vegas, the Agents of Light and the Agents of Shadow are battling to keep mankind safe. Each troop consists of agents that correspond with each sign of the Zodiac. Joanna Archer is raised human and has no idea any of this world exists until her 25th birthday when she gets her Zodiac powers. The series follows Joanna as she tries to accept her new life and responsibilities.

It takes Pettersson a little while to get her world up and running. I really enjoyed the first two books, but it wasn't until the third book in the series that everything clicked for me. Joanna Archer is a great character. She's dark and tortured. Fans of Kim Harrison's witch, Rachel Morgan, will definitely like Joanna. Of all the Urban Fantasy that I've read, this is one of my favorite series. Pettersson creates her own world rather than putting her own spin on vampires and other supernatural creatures. Her superheroes get their powers from comic books (it's a little more involved than that in the books), and it can seem a little precious, but it's almost tongue in cheek. Vegas is so prominent in the books that the City is almost like a character. I can't imagine them being set anywhere else.

City of Souls is the fourth book in the series, and it's very transitional. In this installment, Joanna must venture to Middleheaven to fix the changeling she broke. The Manuals of Light (the comic books they draw their power from) aren't being written, and her troop is weakening. A lot goes on in this book. It's big stuff for the series too. I can't spoil any of it for you, so I won't say much. I'll just say that Pettersson takes everything you know about the series and turns it on its head. The fifth book, Cheat the Grave, comes out this summer and I'm dying to see how she's going to continue the series.

If you like your heroines dark, check out The Signs of the Zodiac. They've got plenty of action, and the world that Pettersson has created is very unique. The Scent of Shadows is the first in the series. If you're already a fan of the series, make sure you check out Unbound, edited by Kim Harrison. Pettersson has a story in it called Dark Matter. However, I recommend waiting until after you've read City of Souls before you read Dark Matter. The reveal in City of Souls is more dramatic if you haven't read Dark Matter.

And just for fun... In the books, the Agents of Light enter their sanctuary through the old neon sign that used to be on the Silver Slipper in Vegas. The sign was recently restored, so I had my picture taken in front of it with City of Souls. Here's my picture.

Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison

Kim Harrison's Hollows series is one of my favorites. In fact, I'd probably rank them right behind Kelley Armstrong. They're funny, action filled, and Rachel is a great character. She's a mess. It's one of the things I love about her. Throughout the series I've enjoying watching Rachel make her own rules and figure out what to do with her life. Her relationship with Ivy and Jenks is what keeps me coming back to the series.

In Black Magic Sanction (BMS), Rachel finds herself shunned, and under attack from The Coven of Moral and Ethical Standards. They want to lock her up in Alcatraz, and take away her ability to have children and do magic.

Sadly, BMS was my least favorite of all the books. Action is great. Harrison is wonderful at writing fight scenes and keeping things moving at a quick pace. The action starts right away and never stops. It felt like every chapter started or ended with some epic showdown between Rachel and The Coven. I got that Rachel was under constant attack, but after a while it gets old.

Ivy is almost non-existant this time around. She exists as little more than Rachel's sidekick. Jenks is always there, but little is done with him until later in the book. I felt like all of the action overshadowed everything else going on. Harrison does some really great stuff with Rachel's relationship with Al and Trent. The glimpse into Rachel and Trent's past is too brief to do anything but leave the reader wanting more.

White Witch Black Curse tied up a lot of things that were going in the series. I think BMS suffers because of that. If you watch soap operas there's always a build up to a big climax of the story. Often, most of the subplots of the show are tied to this one big event. After it happens, the show suffers for a few weeks while the writers try to set up the next storyline. BMS felt like those few weeks after the big reveal. New plots are introduced, but they're not completely formed yet.

My biggest issues was that Rachel was too much of mess this time around. She has completely lost control of her life, and constantly blames everyone else for the chaos around her. She's always been impulsive and gets herself in trouble. The series was working towards her realizing that and trying to grow. BMS just through all that previous growth out the window.

Overall, I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars.