Lovely vision in bone ;)

(I had planned to post this book opinion on Saturday, but the laptop decided to kaput, so...)

Todays' book is number 12 in Yasmine Galenorns' Otherworld Series.  By title, it is 'Shadow Rising' & is told in Menollys' POV.  This series involves three half-human, half-fae sisters (Camille/witch, Menolly/vampire, Delilah/werecat), living in Seattle, working for the Otherworld Intelligence Agency, & looking for 7 Spirit Seals while fighting off demons looking for the same. 

Vision 1: "He began to transform, right there, in the tree-crowded wood.  Smokey let out a low growl, but backed away as Shade's form rippled.  He began to grow, but unlike Smokey, instead of a majestic white dragon, what appeared was a terrifying, haunting form of a skeletal dragon surrounded by shadow and a violet smoke.  He looked almost fossilized."  (pages 57-8, paragraph 10/1)
      His appearance may not be as intimidating as a white dragon, but a shadow dragon is just as cool!  It also makes sense, within the story & within Otherworld cosmology.  The logic within those inhabiting Otherworld is one of the things that keeps me reading the series.  Peoples found are functioning & correct, not placed merely because the species happens to be trending in the readership of the moment.

Quote 1: "Spirits dance and spirits writhe,/ spirits toil, spirits tithe,/ Fire and ice, and spinning wheel,/ let your life to this sign be sealed!  A fiery glowing sigil appeared in the air, crackling as it burned with a bright purple flame.  A thousand howls of anger came rushing through the rune...  (page  130-1, paragraphs 8/1)
     A witch is known by the power of her chants, & this is a lovely one ;) .  Once again, purples are associated with shadow/banishing/dark.  A stronger touch than basic black, most thankfully marking an absence of 'Bewitched' or 'Charmed' sorts of magic.

Quote 2: "There was an eerie silence that went along with being a vampire.  No breath filling the lungs, no heart or pulse beating.  Once I'd died and been turned, I began to realize how many sounds the living body makes, sounds that I never noticed, but took for granted.  As a vampire, all the sounds of life  within are silenced."  (pages 185-6, paragraphs 9/1)     
     Here is something that I had never considered, about vampires.  How silence accompanies the vampire everywhere.  How unnerving the quiet must be, as noise is one way we humans make our presence known.  Menolly wears beads in her hair to alleviate this unease.

The Otherworld series is one of the very few that I collect.  A cohesive adult world, full of good/bad/both species (human, vamp, demon, damn near everything in between), living ordinary lives in between hauntings, drug dealing, &, perhaps, demon invasion leading to the end-of-life-as-we-know-it. A thoroughly enjoyable place to visit on a regular basis :)