Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Ballantine Books (2001), Edition: 1st, 480 pages
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Romance. HTML:NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Meet Merry Gentry, paranormal P.I., and enter a thrilling, sensual world as dangerous as it is beautiful, full of earthly pleasures and dazzling magic, and ruled by the all-consuming passions of immortal beings once worshipped as gods . . . or demons. Merry Gentry, princess of the high court of Faerie, is posing as a human in Los Angeles, working as a private investigator specializing in supernatural crime. But now the queen�s assassin has been dispatched to fetch her�whether she likes it or not. Suddenly Merry finds herself a pawn in her dreaded aunt�s plans. The job that awaits her: enjoy the constant company of the most beautiful immortal men in the world. The reward: the crown�and the opportunity to continue to live. The penalty for failure: death. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Laurell K. Hamilton�s A Shiver of Light. Praise for Laurell K. Hamilton and A Kiss of Shadows �One of the most inventive and exciting writers in the paranormal field.��Charlaine Harris �Sexy . . . Merry�s adventures are engaging and keep the reader turning the pages.��St. Louis Post-Dispatch �Stunning . . . steamy . . . an exciting and original world.��San Jose Mercury News �I�ve never read a writer with a more fertile imagination.��Diana Gabaldon.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member libraryofus
(Amy) This is the first installment in a new Hamilton series, which when it first came out I thought was intended to absorb her erotica-writing desire and allow the Anita Blake series to get back to something involving occasional plot. Alas, it seemed not to have that effect, but as it was created
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specifically to be All About Sex, its erotica is much less annoying than that in the Blake series. In short, Meredith is a half-faerie princess, and she and her cousin (the queen's son) are in a competition to see who can generate an heir for the throne, thereby securing his or her own seat on it. The provider for the other half of the genetic contribution to said heir is up for debate, and Meredith at least is expected to give what appears to be damn near everyone a chance at fatherhood. So. Lots of sex. Not much plot. But at least almost everything is spelled correctly. Show Less
LibraryThing member pauliharman
A LKH book with a plot, I'd almost forgotten what it was like. previously I'd read a later book in the series where the plot is a couple of chapters bookending a lot of sex, but in this first installment in the Merry Gentry series there's a story taking up most of the space. Yes there's sex - of
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course there is, it's LKH - but not at the expense of the whole book. Show Less
LibraryThing member verenka
I picked this book up under the impression that it would be a vampire detective story or something very similar. As it turns out it's supernatural s&m smut with little plot and lots of sex and intrigue. Magic tentacle sex and fairy intrigue!
Considering that the plot was based on the fey court
Nice smut, though. Inventive!
Considering that the plot was based on the fey court
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intrigue I was disappointed that after it finally starts to develop it's left hanging in the air with an open end. I suspect it's set up for sequels and since there's also not a lot of background, prequels too.Nice smut, though. Inventive!
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LibraryThing member 5aweek
Meredith Gentry #1: A Kiss of Shadows, by Laurell K. Hamilton
I think this is either a book you love, or a book you hate. There's not much of an in-between. Personally, I rather enjoy this book and have reread it a few times - generally once a year, before I read the newest book in the Merry series.
The basic concept is that Merry Gentry is a faerie princess living in voluntary exile in Los Angeles, working as a private detective. She'd fled the royal courts after she realized the assassination attempts would never stop - most of the sidhe do not welcome Merry because she is half human, and thus half mortal. Her exile is broken when her aunt, Queen Andais sends for Merry - she wants to recognize her niece as heir to the throne at last. But in the Unseelie court, politics are deadly, and just treading water takes a tremendous amount of work. And Andais's offer, like much that occurs at the courts, is not what it seems...
I think the biggest complaint about Hamilton's writing is the amount of sex included in her works. However this first volume is pretty slim in the erotic aspect. I enjoy the Merry series because of the world Hamilton has created - the updating of old stories and legends, the unique characters of the sidhe, the intriguing court politics. Even the human world is aware of the fey and magic; police departments have witches on staff, reporters can sense magic and use it on the trail of stories, etc. I don't care for erotica, and tend to skip past those sections, but I've read where Hamilton says she uses a lot of it for character development and that I can see.
I really, really enjoy many of the characters in Merry's world. Doyle, the Darkness, a sidhe who was the queen's left-hand enforcer - a man who is stern, scary, and yet vulnerable. Barinthus, a former god with the nickname "Queen-maker." Rhys, one of the few sidhe to enjoy the modern world, with a love for Bogart and film noire. Queen Andais, a rather terrifying, sadistic monarch. And Kitto, who's quickly becoming my favorite - a goblin-sidhe crossbred who's agoraphobic and short in stature, a little child who's two thousand years old. And the sidhe...a race much like elves, with glowing skin and beautiful eyes. Many of the sidhe have tricolored eyes, with three bands of color; the sidhe descriptions make for some very gorgeous characters.
All in all, I think it's a pretty damn good story. I love the amount of detail and thought Hamilton puts into her world and its characters. I like how she reveals parts of sidhe history as the book unravels, as well as drops hints about Merry's past. Even though I have read it before, I'm always saying to myself "just one more page" as I go through it again.
5/5.
I think this is either a book you love, or a book you hate. There's not much of an in-between. Personally, I rather enjoy this book and have reread it a few times - generally once a year, before I read the newest book in the Merry series.
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The basic concept is that Merry Gentry is a faerie princess living in voluntary exile in Los Angeles, working as a private detective. She'd fled the royal courts after she realized the assassination attempts would never stop - most of the sidhe do not welcome Merry because she is half human, and thus half mortal. Her exile is broken when her aunt, Queen Andais sends for Merry - she wants to recognize her niece as heir to the throne at last. But in the Unseelie court, politics are deadly, and just treading water takes a tremendous amount of work. And Andais's offer, like much that occurs at the courts, is not what it seems...
I think the biggest complaint about Hamilton's writing is the amount of sex included in her works. However this first volume is pretty slim in the erotic aspect. I enjoy the Merry series because of the world Hamilton has created - the updating of old stories and legends, the unique characters of the sidhe, the intriguing court politics. Even the human world is aware of the fey and magic; police departments have witches on staff, reporters can sense magic and use it on the trail of stories, etc. I don't care for erotica, and tend to skip past those sections, but I've read where Hamilton says she uses a lot of it for character development and that I can see.
I really, really enjoy many of the characters in Merry's world. Doyle, the Darkness, a sidhe who was the queen's left-hand enforcer - a man who is stern, scary, and yet vulnerable. Barinthus, a former god with the nickname "Queen-maker." Rhys, one of the few sidhe to enjoy the modern world, with a love for Bogart and film noire. Queen Andais, a rather terrifying, sadistic monarch. And Kitto, who's quickly becoming my favorite - a goblin-sidhe crossbred who's agoraphobic and short in stature, a little child who's two thousand years old. And the sidhe...a race much like elves, with glowing skin and beautiful eyes. Many of the sidhe have tricolored eyes, with three bands of color; the sidhe descriptions make for some very gorgeous characters.
All in all, I think it's a pretty damn good story. I love the amount of detail and thought Hamilton puts into her world and its characters. I like how she reveals parts of sidhe history as the book unravels, as well as drops hints about Merry's past. Even though I have read it before, I'm always saying to myself "just one more page" as I go through it again.
5/5.
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LibraryThing member MauraG
Don't let the two star review fool you, I really disliked this book. Picked up on a whim as a free download for my Kindle a few months ago, I finally found the time to devote to this best-selling Urban Fantasy. I’d never read anything by Ms. Hamilton before this, but I wasn’t entirely
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unprepared for my first foray into her particular brand of fantasy / erotica. I’ll forego the normal plot summary, since the plot exists here to 1) move our heroine, Merry Gentry, from one sex scene to the next and 2) set-up another series of best-selling books in the vein of the Anita Blake books.We start off promisingly enough with a detective story. We’re introduced to the books two most interesting characters, a battered wife and her husband’s mistress. But the only purpose these characters serve is to establish that our Merry is a private investigator. Task complete, they exit the stage taking an interesting story with them.And so it goes. Characters enter the story to establish some point: Merry likes sex, she has enemies in high places, she’ll have sex with almost anything, etc. But outside of sex, nothing much else happens. Characters come, stay a few pages and disappear, no doubt to return in a later book in the series. Plot threads are left hanging all over the place.I might be able to forgive all this if the world-building was believable. But in this world human, faerie and other assorted creatures wander the world in plain sight. I’d be willing to suspend disbelief and accept this as given, except the author tries to explain it all away. Problem is: the explanations are ridiculous and completely ripped me out of the story with every attempt. Some of the explanations are truly groan-worthy.It’s too bad. This book is not badly written. Ms Hamilton is not without skill as a writer. There are a few redeeming moments and the author does display a wry sense of humor throughout. The story starts very well. If the rest of the book was as good as the opening chapters, I’d have no trouble recommending this book. Unfortunately, for my taste, there was not enough story for too many cookie-cutter characters inhabiting a silly world where the only point is to have sex. But I am left wondering. If you buy this book for the sex scenes instead of the urban fantasy, is it any better? My guess is no. Show Less
LibraryThing member kayceel
If you stripped this story of all the sexual encounters (I think Merideth 'had a good time' with at least 5 different guys, but think that might be more), I doubt the plot could have filled 15 pages.
LibraryThing member TadAD
This is looking like another erotica series with minor dashes of adventure à la her Anita Blake series...only the heroine doesn't start out as likable as Anita did.
LibraryThing member vampyredhead
The first in a series about Meredith Gentry. The most bizarre book I have ever read. Too much sex with really weird creatures. I'm just not into faeries, at least not weird looking ones. I love Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, vampire hunter series. But this one is out there
LibraryThing member drinkingtea
If you ignore the sex scenes, it's a good read. The sex scenes are extremely unerotic and cringeworthy.
LibraryThing member dragonfairy
I absolutely love Merideth Gentry. The world of Faerie is fantastic and exciting. One of my favorite quotes is from this book...it also sums up the beat and feel of Hamilton's intense writing style.
'If you have a choice between extra makeup or extra weapons, always take the weapons. Just the fact
'If you have a choice between extra makeup or extra weapons, always take the weapons. Just the fact
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that you're debating between those two choices proves that you're going to need the weapons more.' Show Less
LibraryThing member seph
This was a fun read in the same way that a soft-serve ice cream cone is fun to eat. It wasn't very deep or intense as stories go and the characters are kind of two-dimensional, but Hamilton's world of the Unseelie Court makes for a fascinating and enjoyable read. I prefer the darker, meatier Anita
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Blake stories, but I will probably keep reading this series too. Show Less
LibraryThing member abbylibrarian
Meredith Gentry is a faerie detective in LA. She's of royal blood, but she's in hiding from the courts because there were too many attempts on her life. She's not a particularly powerful member of the sidhe, so instead she hides, putting on a glamour and worked as a detective. But one day, a
A fun, sexy fantasy novel, the wealth of characters and details of the faerie world make this novel absorbing. There's plenty of romance and intrigue. Be warned: if sex scenes make you blush, this may not be the novel for you...
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strange case leads to Meredith finding her true power (and, incidentally, blowing her cover). Then Meredith's aunt, the Queen of Faerie, sends a guard to fetch her home. Yes, Meredith will be welcome in the court once more, but at what price? And who can she really trust?A fun, sexy fantasy novel, the wealth of characters and details of the faerie world make this novel absorbing. There's plenty of romance and intrigue. Be warned: if sex scenes make you blush, this may not be the novel for you...
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LibraryThing member LoriTori
Great series by Laurell K. Hamilton that is very different from the Anita Blake series.
LibraryThing member GirlMisanthrope
I was introduced to LKH through her Anita Blake series; I'm only on book 10 but I continue to be interested in that character. So I thought the idea of LKH doing a series on Faerie sounded intriguing. I made it through the first half of the book. Merry, the missing faerie princess on her way back
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to the Unseelie Court, gets to know people in her life by having sex with them. Now I am not opposed to well-written sex scenes (see my SMUT tag), but the frequency got me giggling. He has tusks? I better have sex with him. He has tentacles? I better have sex with him. He is a seal? I better have sex with him. Yeesh! Show Less
LibraryThing member SunnySD
Series opener. If you're a Laurell K. Hamilton fan, then you already know what you're in for -- sex, violence, and sex and violence. But the plot is good, and the characters are entertaining, too.
Meridith Gentry has a secret -- she's only half-human. And she's a faerie princess. Not the tiny, has
Now her cover's blown, and her aunt, Queen of Air and Darkness (and the Unseelie Court) has a new task for her -- get pregnant, or else.
Definitely a page-turner.
Meridith Gentry has a secret -- she's only half-human. And she's a faerie princess. Not the tiny, has
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wings and hides in flowers kind, either. She's been hiding in plain sight disguised as a mortal and working as a private detective in L.A. Now her cover's blown, and her aunt, Queen of Air and Darkness (and the Unseelie Court) has a new task for her -- get pregnant, or else.
Definitely a page-turner.
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LibraryThing member seane
Way back when I used to find that these books were too sexed up, to the point that it was annoying and repetitive. But now, with perspective gained from the most recent books in this series ( Lick of Frost, Swallowing Darkness), I think I can appreciate why the author put so much in. Aside from
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that, très, très, magnifique! Show Less
LibraryThing member shelleyraec
More fantasy (and more erotic) than the Anita Blake series started with but there are strong similaraties between the lead characters - not only physical descriptions but also in terms of what drives Merry and how she handles what she faces and discovers about herself. Having said that it is quite
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different to the Anita Blake series and expecting more of the same may lead to dissappointment.While I prefer fantasy more grounded than it is in the Gentry series, I picked this up and could not put it down, hence the four stars, and have the next 3 books ready to read and hope they keep me as interested. Show Less
LibraryThing member Waianuhea
Laurell K is fabulous at world-building. Her fae society kicks so much ass!! I liked this book a lot. Just not any of the others in the series. Merry Gentry is kind of like a watered down Anita Blake. I like her but not as much as Anita.
LibraryThing member teharhynn
There are definitely some parallels between this book and the Anita Blake series, but I'm just happy to have more to read from Laurell K. Hamilton. I think her books are awesome, and I love the new characters. We all know we wish like was like this!
LibraryThing member steenface
Perhaps I'm jaded from reading the Anita Blake books first but Merry Gentry is very similar in many ways, especially compared to Anita's later years. And I swear, there are some lines and paragraphs that are directly from the other books. While the story seems to be a bit cliche in some aspects,
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it's an interesting world of fey politics and I'll keep reading to see how an independent free-thinking half-blood fits into the very regimented courts. Show Less
LibraryThing member sdtaylor555
I really like this new series of Ms. Hamiltons!
LibraryThing member jimmaclachlan
This is a great series, very imaginative new world, but the sex is overpowering. This one isn't as bad as the rest for that, but some of the later books in the series (7 now?) are 1/2 sex - more than it needs, although sex/fertility is the main driver.
LibraryThing member boxlady
This series is a lot like the other series she writes the sex is just about the same, the men change and they are faeries so i guess in a way its different but it reminds me of Blake. Its readable if you like her other stuff if you dont you will not like these i have read all the way up to 7...
LibraryThing member averitasm
I loved the Anita blake series so I thought I would give these a chance I am glad I did , very similar in taste and it kept me interested and I kept wanting to read more of the books before I had them, I would ay get them you will like this series too.
It is a bit different and has more of a
It is a bit different and has more of a
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mythology like bent, but I love books like that Show Less
LibraryThing member C.Ibarra
This was a good book but there is an abundance of secondary characters. I sometimes feel that a large cast of characters can make it difficult to connect with them. That was the case with A Kiss of Shadows. I plan to give the second book in the series a chance and hopefully by the time I’m done,
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I’ll be able to keep Merry’s male admirers straight :) Show Less
Subjects
Awards
P.E.A.R.L. (2000)
Locus Recommended Reading (2000)
Language
Original publication date
2000-09-30
ISBN
9780345446886