Storm Born (Dark Swan, #1)

by Richelle Mead

Just typical. No love life to speak of for months, then all at once, every horny creature in the Otherworld wants to get in your pants...

Eugenie Markham is a powerful shaman who does a brisk trade banishing spirits and fey who cross into the mortal world. Mercenary, yes, but a girl's got to eat. Her most recent case, however, is enough to ruin her appetite. Hired to find a teenager who has been taken to the Otherworld, Eugenie comes face to face with a startling prophecy - one that uncovers dark secrets about her past and claims that Eugenie's first-born will threaten the future of the world as she knows it.

Now Eugenie is a hot target for every ambitious demon and Otherworldy ne'er-do-well, and the ones who don't want to knock her up want her dead. Eugenie handles a Glock as smoothly as she wields a wand, but she needs some formidable allies for a job like this. She finds them in Dorian, a seductive fairy king with a taste for bondage, and Kiyo, a gorgeous shape-shifter who redefines animal attraction. but with enemies growing bolder and time running out, Eugenie realizes that the greatest danger is yet to come, and it lies in the dark powers that are stirring to life within her....

• ISBN10: 0553819860
• ISBN13: 9780553819861
• Publish Date: 14 August 2008 (first published 1 January 2008)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
• Imprint: Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of the Random House Group)
• Format: Paperback (A-Format (178x111 mm))
• Pages: 512
• Language: English

Reviews

[liz089]

This one has been on my TBR for so long ! I've read everything from Richelle Mead, (except her new series because I don't like them...) but Georgina Kincaid, VA and Bloodlined are among my favourites EVER.

I'm so glad I finally started this series, and really liked reading this ! The MC is a strong, independant woman (just how I prefer my MC) and I love all the magical/mythological creatures, the plot is intense, there even were some twists that I did not see coming ! Can't wait to continue !!

[Nany]

I like it, but some of Eugenie decisions were annoying like why she was so in love with that guy if she barely knows him.

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

Being such a huge fan of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy and Bloodlines YA series, I was eager to try out her adult series too, thinking, as everything else she writes is amazing, her adult novels must be too. I wasn't wrong!

Storm Born is full of the kind of action one would expect from an adult urban fantasy. Being such a kick-ass shaman that banishes spirits, elementals, and other Otherworldly creatures, Eugenie's schedule is always full. But around the same time she gets a job to try and resue a teenager who was abducted into the Otherworld, the "people" of the Otherworld start seeking her out personally, attempting to rape her, and her already maxed out schedule is pushed to the limits, not only trying to save others, but also herself. There is never a moment when the excitment ebbs, especially once she learns about her past and the prophecy!

I haven't read a book about fairies/fae/gentry in quite a while, so it was nice to revisit the folklore, though it wasn't what I was expecting Storm Born to be based about; yes there is a fairy king, but there's also a shape shifter, I thought there was going to be all manner of paranormal creatures. However, most of the paranormal creatures in this book are gentry in one form or another, or creatures that come from the Otherworld - the gentry's world. I love how novels like this tackle some other fictional world, and add that high fantasy feel to an urban fantasy novel. The beautiful, medieval feel of the Otherworld contrasts so well with the world we know.

Eugenie has two love interests in this novel; Kiyo, a kitsune (fox shape shifter), and Dorian, King of the Oak Land in the Otherworld. There is instant animal attraction between Eugenie and Kiyo, but there is something about him I just don't like. Considering how little time they spend together out of bed, I just didn't believe that their feelings went beyond love. He was just far too possessive and protective for my tastes, and he lied and hid things too. I just don't trust him or like him. Dorian, however, is awesome! He is so funny and flirty, and just completely charming! Ok, so he has his own agenda, but the time he spends with Eugenie, to me it was obvious his feelings are genuine. I found it surprising yet clever how Mead used Eugenie's sex life in Storm Born. It wasn't just Eugenie and whoever she happened to be with at the time was horny, but it was also a way of Eugenie exploring herself further, and finding out who she is. She has so much control over her life, but does she always want to be in control? Yes or no? Not just in bed, but in all areas of her life. And those questions continue being asked throughout the story.

There were are a number of shocking twists in this book that I didn't see coming! And what a cliffhanger! I am so looking forward to the second book in the series, Thorn Queen! An awesome novel, I am am eager to read more!

[Amber]

I'm not going to do a full review on this, but I will say that - if it isn't already obvious by the five star rating - I adored this book. Eugenie is just as awesome as Rose. I'm NOT a fan of Kiyo though, despite the hot sex scenes. Dorian FTW. Nothing goes my way, though, so I bet she ends up with Kiyo in the fourth book. Yay. Woohoo. I'll carry on with this series anyway because it's Richelle Mead and I LOVED THIS BOOK.

[Angie]

While it was obviously a part of the plot, rape did not need to be mentioned on every other page. It really made me not want to continue reading, despite finding Eugenie badass (but that's no surprise) and the Otherworld interesting. With that out of the way...

I must say that I'm a Mead-aholic. This is the beginning of what I expect to be another great series from an amazing author. Mead has created another kickass heroine, who I can't help but love. Eugenie, aka Odile, is a shaman which is a very welcome change from all of the vampires, shifters, and other creatures of the night. She banishes unwieldy spirits from our world back into the Otherworld (and sometimes to the Underworld), but Storm Born brings Eugenie into that fantastical realm. I absolutely loved what was shown of the Otherworld so far, because it wasn't overdone. It's much like our world, minus the technology, and with supernatural creatures inhabiting it.

And Dorian! He's quickly become one of my favorite male characters. I can't wait to find out what happens next!