Hey Technocowboy!  Look what I got in the mail today. And thanks, once again, for introducing me to really good modern fantasy (often called urban fantasy).

For those of you who don’t know her, Patricia Briggs is the author of the brilliant Mercy Thompson series. Moon Called is the first, and features a skinwalker (Mercy) a couple of packs of werewolves, a gremlin, vampires, and assorted other denizens of the supernatural. Mercy has smarts, guts, and a deep sense of honor. She’s one of the best female characters I’ve ever read, and in my top 5 protagonists. Tanya Huff was my first introduction to this genre, and she’s brilliant, but she got a little weird for me (and I get tired of protagonists who are too broken to be fixed) and I lost interest. Laurell K. Hamilton’s books are basically romance (although they get racier as the series’ develop) and I find that boring.

The other favorite is almost everything by Anne Bishop. How much do I like her? Let’s put it this way: I first read the Black Jewels trilogy (about 1000 pages) in February of this year. I’ve re-read it at least four times in the six months since then. That’s how much I like it.

I’m really looking forward to reading Cry Wolf tonight.