Fantasy Dreamer's Ramblings

Front cover: Dan Dos Santos

Mercy Thompson: Homecoming by Patricia Briggs and David Lawrence, Illustrated by Francis Tsai and Amelia Woo
Graphic Novel
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Year: 2009
Pages: 112

My Ramblings:
I need to say upfront that I'm not a comic book connoisseur, so this review is strictly based on my thoughts as a Mercy Thompson fan.

Mercy Thompson: Homecoming is a compilation of the four comic book issues that give you four short stories on the beginnings of Mercy Thompson's life in Tri-Cities, a prequel to the Mercy Thompson series in comic book form. If you have already read the Mercy Thompson series, than you're in for a treat because throughout the graphic novel you get to see how Mercy met many of main characters. I enjoyed these first meetings between the characters.

I really liked the artwork. I loved getting a visual to a lot of the characters in the Mercy Thompson series, and comparing them to what I thought they looked liked in my imagination. You'll get to see Mercy (of course!), Zee, Tad as a boy, Stephan, Adam and several other characters. For the most part, I feel the artists were able to capture the characters as I pictured them, and even added a little to the visuals I already had.

I think Francis Tsai made Mercy look a lot sexier in the comics than what I was picturing, he was the illustrator for the first two comic books and all of the comic book covers. Amelia Woo illustrated the last two comic books, I prefer her rendition of Mercy much better. But I liked Tsai's portrayal of Adam better than Amelia's.

There is a bit a nudity in this, that I thought was done tastefully. It's in the scenes where the Mercy and the werewolves are shifting their forms. Since shapeshifting is a big part of who the characters are, the comics would've been remiss without them.

The dialogue is snappy and witty. I think it fell in line with characters as they are portrayed in the books in concise form, and had held the spirit of the books.

At the end of the graphic novel there is a short interview with Patricia Briggs by David Lawrence, that is very insightful on how they collaborated together and with other team members to pull together the comics for Homecoming. Patricia Briggs also plans on adapting the other books in the Mercy Thompson series to comics in the future.

I think this graphic novel is added plus to any Mercy Thompson collection and fans of Mercy Thompson will get a lot of enjoyment out of this graphic novel, especially those who are a fan of the graphic arts. It's money well spent!

Comic book covers by Francis Tsai

Comic Issue #1	Comic Issue #2	Comic Issue #3	Comic Issue #4

Mercy Thompson is a walker, a magical being with the power to transform into a coyote. She lives on the fine line dividing the everyday world from a darker dimension, observing the supernatural community while standing apart.

When Mercy travels to the Tri-Cities of Washington for a job interview, she quickly finds herself smack-dab in the middle of a gang war between rival packs of werewolves. And as if fangs and fur weren’t bad enough, Mercy must deal with the scariest creature of all: her mother, who is convinced that Mercy is making a mess of her life and determined to set her daughter on the right course

Patricia Briggs's Web site | Francis Tsai's Web site | Information on Amelia Woo

1. Moon Called - My Review
   
2. Blood Bound - My Review
3. Iron Kissed - My Review
4. Bone Crossed - My Review
5. Silver Borne - Feb. 2010

• Grasping for the Wind
• Janicu's Book Blog

Mercy Thompson Homecoming by Patricia Briggs
Graphic Novel

I pre-ordered this from Amazon.com and I guess what? I've already read it. Loved it!! I'm going to write up a review soon. Oh, and I'd like to note that on Amazon.com, a lot of a misguided individuals are giving this graphic novel a 1 and 2 star ratings because when they order it, they thought they were getting a full-length book.

Book Burb from Amazon.com

Mercy Thompson is a walker, a magical being with the power to transform into a coyote. She lives on the fine line dividing the everyday world from a darker dimension, observing the supernatural community while standing apart.

When Mercy travels to the Tri-Cities of Washington for a job interview, she quickly finds herself smack-dab in the middle of a gang war between rival packs of werewolves. And as if fangs and fur weren’t bad enough, Mercy must deal with the scariest creature of all: her mother, who is convinced that Mercy is making a mess of her life and determined to set her daughter on the right course.

The Darkest Whisper by Gena Showalter
Book 4, Lords of the Underworld Series

I pre-ordered this from Amazon.com.

Book Blurb from Amazon.com

Bound by the demon of Doubt, Sabin unintentionally destroys even the most confident of lovers. So the immortal warrior spends his time on the battlefield instead of the bedroom, victory his only concern…until he meets Gwendolyn the Timid. One taste of the beautiful redhead, and he craves more.

Gwen, an immortal herself, always thought she'd fall for a kind human who wouldn't rouse her darker side. But when Sabin frees her from prison, battling their enemies for the claim to Pandora's box turns out to be nothing compared to the battle Sabin and Gwen will wage against love….

Night's Cold Kiss by Tracey O'Hara
A Dark Brethren Novel

Bought this today at Barnes & Noble.

Book Burb from Barnes & Noble

For centuries war raged between the humans and Aeternus vampires—until courageous efforts on both sides forged a fragile peace.

But the rogue Necrodreniacs will never be controlled—addicted as they are to the death-high . . . and bloody chaos.

Since witnessing the murder of her mother, Antoinette Petrescu has burned with fiery hatred for the vampire race—even for Christian Laroque, the noble, dangerously handsome Aeternus who rescued her. Now an elite Venator, Antoinette must reluctantly accept Christian's help to achieve her vengeance—even as he plots to use the beautiful, unsuspecting warrior as bait to draw out the bloodthirsty dreniacs.

The Den of Shadows Quartet by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

I bought this at Barnes & Nobles today because Michelle at Michelle's Book Blog brought this omnibus to my attention and plus the fact that Anna at Anna's Book Blog mentioned that this series is one of her favorite rereads.

Book Burb from Barnes & Nobles

FOUR COMPLETE NOVELS—ONE CAPTIVATING WORLD
In the Forests of the Night
Three hundred years ago Risika had a family—a brother and a father who loved her. Three hundred years ago she was human. Now she is a vampire, a powerful one. And her past has come back to torment her.

Demon in My View
Jessica isn’t your average high school student—she’s an acclaimed published author of vampire fiction. Now two new students at her high school strongly remind her of her favorite characters. But those characters only live in her imagination—right?

Shattered Mirror
Christopher Raneva and Sarah Vida may look like a normal high school couple, but he’s actually a vampire who’s sworn off human blood and she’s an incredibly powerful, vampire-hunting witch. As if that weren’t enough to prevent their love, his past and her future collide when they get tangled up with Nikolas, one of the most reviled vampires ever.

Midnight Predator
Once a happy teenager, Turquoise Draka is now a vampire hunter. Her current assigment is to assassinate Jeshikah, one of the cruelest vampires in history. But to do that, she’ll have to enter Midnight, a fabled vampire realm, as a human slave. . . .

Blood Vice by Keith Melton
The Nightfall Syndicate, Book 1

I happily accepted this one for review since it was a book on my wishlist. It is currently available in ebook format but will be published in print this coming December.

Book Burb from Samhain Publishing

Business has never been better for hit man Karl Vance. Boston is awash in mafia blood, and Vance has a certain fondness for blood. He’s a master vampire—one of the most powerful of his kind. Having sworn to never again feed on the blood of innocents, Karl preys instead on Boston’s criminal underworld. Which makes him a valuable asset to those who deal in death.

Maria Ricardi intends to use that asset to its full extent in order to gain power within her patriarchal crime family. Vance thinks he’s been hired to keep track of the family’s princess, but she’s got a plan to get her hands dirty and earn the respect she deserves. And she’s not above using their instant attraction to get what she wants.

That driving ambition draws the attention of a rival clan’s newest and most dangerous “consultant.” Alejandro Delgado, Vance’s centuries-old nemesis. Delgado zeroes in on the one chink in Vance’s armor—his fondness for the headstrong Maria.

When she becomes enslaved by Delgado’s unnatural kiss, only one thing is certain. Vance has to decide which he wants more. To settle the score—or rescue her soul.

Warning: Intense, graphic mafia-related violence, profanity, gangster slang, assassinations, fang punctures, explicit vampire sex, betrayal, greed, murder, gangland warfare, pervasive supernatural mayhem, large-scale explosions, and extremely expensive Italian suits.