Swallowing Darkness: A Novel

*****Spoilers*****The best one in the series this was even though it had less of other things, it had more and better outcomes I thought. Merry and Sholto are king and queen of the slaugh, crowned by magic. But she's not giving up the other men. It makes me wonder if the other men are free to be with other women, it only seems fair. Frost has been recovered from the body of the stag. All of the fathers of her kids are well and whole, or no less than they have been otherwise. Cel is dead at Merry's hands, she used both of her hands of power at once to destroy him. Cel it turns out was a spectacular swordsman and was the person who killed Merry's father so long ago. Tiranis is a mad rapist, Merry is trying to press charges via the human police, partially in a bid to expose the ugliness of the Seelie court. Queen Andais still sits the throne of the Unseelie court though without the crown and many of her allies so it's only a matter of time possibly for someone to remove her forcefully. Something that didn't make sense was that Cel had discovered he was sterile which is the real reason Queen Andais called Merry home. The wild hunt is live and well but for some reason, Merry did not call her aunt and Queen oathbreaker. Gran showed up briefly in this book only to die which sucks. We find out why Doyle and Sholto have that tension between them and it's because Doyle once went to try and take over the slaugh at the Queen's request but failed to earn it away from Sholto.My favorites remain Rhys, Doyle, Galen, and Sholto but Merry is firmly in Frost and Doyle mode. It sucks that she can't return the same kind of love to Rhys and that what she felt for Galen has changed from what it was I thought. More inconsistency of information in this book from the others is still a problem here and there.

I have to agree with others about the ending of this book. It appears that this is the end of the series and it doesn't end at all the way you think it will or want it to. But...I was upset enough to go on Laurell K. Hamilton's website and guess what... this isn't the end of the series! "Rumor Control: Swallowing Darkness is NOT the last Merry book. Her saga has not yet ended." (quoted from her website). That being the case, this book it OK.We've gotten used to sex,sex, sex in the other books of this series and this book does not follow true to that rule at all. There are only 2 intimate sections and only one actually comes to fruition. As far as that goes, it's lukewarm. But WOW! Merry got a real backbone when she became pregnant. She's determined to keep her children and lovers safe at ALL cost! She uses her magic more and destroys more of her enemies in the book alone than in all the other books combined. If they tried to harm her or hers, she mowed them over! I think she's well proven herself capable of pulling Faerie in line. And apparently the Godess and God think so too. But I won't spoil it.We don't see much of Andais in the book and I'm fine with that. I think it was time to let Merry come into her own power and not compare her to the current Queen of the Unseelie Court. We know Andais is a B****! Now it's time for Merry to show she can be one too! She shows she's strong not only with her compassion but her willingness to throw compassion to the wind and stand up for what she believes. Her enemies believe that her mixed heritage and the "taint" of mortality makes her week but she proves without a doubt that she's actually a bit stronger for it. I mean, she can use her powers in places that the Sidhe cannot because of her human blood. And she's brought lost magic back to Faerie and some they never knew.Merry was pretty frank about her feelings about her kings/lovers but I'd really like to see her LOVE all of them, not just a couple. Also, some of you may be somewhat apalled about what happend between Merry and Sholto but I have to say-I like him. Tentacles excluded, he is about the most "real" lover she has. He's not so arrogant that he isn't prepared to defend himself, he has "real" emotions and insecurities and he makes mistakes and ADMITS to them. And let's not forget that, although he obviously loves/respects/admires Whichever is the case, I'm not sure) Merry a great deal, and he deosn't really care to share her with the others, he's willing to to make her happy. He has a depth of character that I find lacking in the others. I'd like to see a closer relationship between him and Merry in the next novel.The pace did seem a little rushed and frantic but it leads credit to the fact that they are literally in a race for their lives in this book. They have taken care of some of their enemies and it seems like their happily ever after has finally come, but they certainly still have adversity to overcome. Although this was my least favorite book in this series so far, I'm still anticipating the next one.

This is my favorite thus far in the Meredith Gentry series. Merry is just recovering from the brutal rape by her uncle, Taranis King of the Seelie court. He is deranged! There is an attack in the hospital that brings long gone magic flowing back into existence. The Goddess is riding Merry, speaking through her, giving her answers and solutions. The wild hunt returns and Sholto and Merry are out to seek justice. When returning to the Slaugh kingdom wild magic returns allowing Merry to save people she loves. Now that Merry is going to be a mother of twins, six dads total (Frost, Doyle, Rhys, Galen, Mistral and Sholto), she has decided to have no mercy. If she is to survive and protect her children she has to eliminate the threats that come her way. Cel has free reign once again and has a plan that is certain to mean death for many involved!There is only one sex scene in this book, so that portion was toned way down. Don't know if the next will continue to be so... This book is about justice, retribution and vengeance. It was very fast paced ride! I couldn't put this book down. I liked the politics of the courts and how Merry uses the systems to protect her people. I like the interaction between the Goddess and her Consort and Merry. I like what the goddess is trying to accomplish to save the Sidhe. She is frustrated with the lack of belief even though Merry has shown so many signs that the Goddess is back. I liked the plot I in this book, previous books the focus has been getting Merry pregnant with side plots. Hopefully now that Merry is pregnant the plots will keep up as this one did. The only complaint I had about this book is it ended abruptly to me.... Maybe the next will pick up where this left off.

On the plus side this book was so much better for several reasons. There was a much stronger plot and the plot/sex ratio was more realistic. There were quite of loose ends tied up and situations either resolved or developing in a positive direction. I was somewhat concerned about the repetition in Merry's thoughts it did seem a little forgetful. For either Merry or Laurell I couldn't be certain. There also seemed to be no real signs of trauma over her probable rape, although it could be a reaction to the magical means and or lack of consciousness. I got a little lost in some places but I think that's my issue. On the whole I still love this series but I am a little concerned that the next book may head down hill a little. I would like to see Doyle toughen up again he seems to have lost a little of his darkness.

So little seems to happen in a small space of time within the books. A good chunk of it can be them simply talking in one room or just one incident in another. I'm not sure what I think of it anymore but I'm another who can't leave something unfinished. 3 stars for bringing me into an interesting, unique world, but missing those two stars because of a lack of length, focus and odd interruptions to the flow of the story (or 5 awful sudden things happening one after the other, or within 10 minutes. It gets a bit crazy.)

I only began buying Meredith Gentry because I had run out of Anita Blake: I was not disappointed! I love that with Kindle, I do not have to travel and search bookshops for the next book in a series if it exists.

I really enjoyed this audio book the narrator is excellent would recommend this audio book to everyone and have done so. The only problem I have had with this one is that on one disc about half way through one of the tracks I had to skip as it has a problem apart from that had no problems.

This is the best book on the fairy folk i have ever read I loved it I loved the characters and I loved the storyline. I can't wait for the next book