TAKE COVER.
THE SQUEE CANNON IS SET TO KNOCK OUT LEVEL 7.8, WHICH IS JUST ABOVE LEVEL 7 WHEREIN LL COOL J’S MAMA DEMANDS THAT YOU BE KNOCKED OUT.
Seriously, I could not have enjoyed this book more, and the first book as well. I heard about it when several readers and reviewers I follow on Twitter were exclaiming about it (and of course I can’t find that conversation now, dang it, so apologies that I can’t link to it). I haven’t been into paranormal romance in awhile, but Laurenston writes a very specific type of paranormal that is often 99.9% high-grade Sarah Catnip, and with all the excited talk about how good this book was, I had to read it.
Then I was told that I should start with book 1, The Unleashing, in order to fully appreciate the world in which the story took place. Usually when I’m told to start with an earlier book, I’ve mostly noped out of that part of my TBR. But hey, Vegas was a 5+ hour flight there and back, and was perfect for trying book 1.
Here’s my micro-review of The Unleashing: HOLY CRAP WAS THAT FUN. And yes, if you want to read this one, you should start with that book first because the world is pretty complex and there’s a lot to keep track of in terms of clans and whatnot. But reading both is worth the time, I promise.
In fact, if this review is looking too long, here’s the TL;DR:
The Unleashing: Feared Viking blacksmith (of sorts) in the Raven clan has a massive crush on a former Marine who is reborn as a Crow. (Bonus: Ravens giving him shit about his crush, and his ability to admit easily that he really likes her: ALL the thumbs, all of them up.)
The Undoing: Introverted language and history nerd Crow with berserker rage is hired by equally nerdy Protector to translate all the things. (Bonus: her role among the sister Crows reveals a lot about how they function as a group.)
Essentially, and this is a terrible summary, the Norse gods and goddesses have human Clans on earth with supernatural strength, wings, battle skills, and unique, deadly gifts. All the Clans tend to dislike each other for various reasons. Thor’s clan is looked at by the others as being mostly big and dumb. The Protectors are owlish – as in, they have some creepy owl traits – and are in charge of protecting knowledge and books. And then there are the Crows, who are the heroines of this series.
In the first book, Kera, a Marine veteran, is killed and reborn as a Crow, the Clan that fights on behalf of Skuld, who is one of the Norse norns who decide the fate of each person. The Crows are nuts, and since this is Laurenston nuts, we are talking way-past-11, completely off the wall excessiveness in all things, most notably violence. The Crows are sort of like the cleaners among the Clans. When someone has done something exceedingly shitty, like steal or use one of the Norse gods’ stuff (which they are constantly losing), the Crows are sent to retrieve and kill the offenders.
Kera, the heroine of the first book, has had more than enough of killing after serving in Afghanistan, and she’d really like to not kill so much, for which the other Crows think she’s ridiculous.
In this book, the heroine is Jace, who is a strange figure in book 1 and just as strange in book 2. She’s extremely introverted. She likes to hide in trees or under the Crows’ house or in the back of parked cars, reading books and avoiding human contact if at all possible. (I’m thinking many of you might be able to relate). Jace has a secretive past – whereas the other Crows talk about how they died before being given a Second Life by Skuld, Jace never talks about how she died. She also has a terrifying gift from Skuld: berserker rage. When Jace loses her shit in battle, her eyes turn red, she screams and kills everyone in the room without control or mercy. When she returns to herself afterward, she usually sobs or passes out, or both. The other Crows are terrified of Jace’s rage.
Jace is offered a job by Ski, one of the Protectors. They’ve retrieved a collection of rare books in Russian and other languages they can’t read, and when they learn Jace is a supreme polyglot with thorough knowledge of at least 7 languages, they ask to hire her to translate the texts and mine them for important Clan information. Ski is, I think, a Laurenston-style beta hero. He’s fierce and protective, he manages a house full of obsessive nerd owl-men with compulsion problems, and he’s very good at the missions he and his team are sent on by their god, Tyr. (Fun fact – “Tuesday” is derived from Tyr’s name.)
Ski takes no shit, and is incredibly strong. He’s also a deep, deep nerd, with a never-ending amount of arcane battle knowledge (Tyr is a god of war), and because he’s so used to taking care of the other Protectors, who get so into books they forget to pay their bills and feed themselves, he begins to take care of Jace, who forgets to eat, sleep, or even use the toilet for hours once she’s engrossed in translating one of their books (again, we can relate, yes?).
So he’s very much a caretaker character, which is perfect for Jace because while she doesn’t like people getting close to her, she does need care. Their romance is incredibly sweet and doesn’t have much angst and obstacles to slow them down. Really, the bulk of the drama comes from the larger plot that operates as a backdrop to both stories in the series, with the gods screwing things up, scoring points off one another, and losing their precious objects all the time. Both Jace and Ski grow and evolve as they spend more time with one another, and their romance was very satisfying and completely adorable.
But it’s the larger world that makes me want to holler at people about these two books. Yes, you need to start with The Unleashing to fully appreciate the world, and appreciate why the Crows exist. The other Clans are made up of people, often men – though there are Valkyries, who are taken from their families at a young age to train as members of that Clan. Just about all of them are Swedish or Norwegian and have specific Scandinavian bloodlines (I don’t know if there are any Danes, but that could be my memory failing me).
The Crows, on the other hand, are not Scandinavian. They’re from all over, and are incredibly inclusive of every possible culture. I don’t want to spoil their origin because it’s wrenching and powerful reading, but the Crows are very diverse and for very important reasons. Some of the Viking members of the Clans and some of the individual Norse gods look down on them for not being Vikings, but the Crows know their purpose and their value as Skuld’s warriors.
The reason to read this series is not just the romances, which are terrific, but for the Crows themselves. They represent and embody coalesced female rage, and it’s incredible. Every slight against women, every crime against women throughout history is represented among the Crow membership (they have to die to be reborn through Skuld, after all) and the injustice and pain of having been victims fuels their power and their violent rage. They are unapologetically fierce and amazing to read about. If one looks at what happens to women throughout time, there’s a lot to be angry about. To me, the Crows represent the justifiable fury in response to all of it.
The Crows also represent pure, powerful female friendship. They accept one another, and accept each person’s quirks, but they also give their sister Crows a LOT of shit for said traits. They give Kera a hard time because that woman loves a good clipboard for organizing everything in sight, but they also want to make sure she’s safe and happy as the newest Crow. They accept that they’ll find Jace reading in a closet to avoid talking to people, and will say hi, grab what they need from said closet, and shut the door.
They have each other’s backs, though, without question. They sense when something is wrong, and they immediately find the sister Crow who is in trouble or upset. They protect one another, and even if two Crows loathe each other the rest of the time, in battle they’d die for one another, no hesitation. Their bond as Crows is compelling to read about. Just as in my mind the Crows represent the combined rage in response to injustice against women, they also represent the highest quality female friendship, where the support, care, defense, and protection of one’s sister Crows is paramount. I think every person needs to find their Crows, the people on whom one can depend instantly without fear or uncertainty. The solidity of the Crow’s bond, and the bond between the members of the other Clans, forms a parallel to the romances that emerge in each book, both of which involve two different, sometimes rival, Clans. Friendship is just as important as romantic relationships in this world.
I read both books in a matter of days, and hid in my room to read more every day that I was at RT. I carried my Kindle with me so I could read more while I waited in line. I read more before bed, even though I should have been sleeping by then. And when I tried to explain these two books and the series to people, I managed a stammering, sentence fragment-filled stream of nonsense because there’s so much going on, and it’s all so fascinating and good. The Call of Crows series is a unique world and mythology, but it’s the characters in both The Unleashing and The Undoing that make this series terrific.
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I flat out adored her Pride series and mourned to know it was over. Clearly there are still good times ahead! *adds books to wishlist*
Adore all the Laurenston books – and I also mourn the Pride series. I also auto buy her Dragon series (I mean dragons – how can you not!) written under the name G.A. Aiken.
The Scandinavian half of me always makes a big squee when I find Norse God stories. And I’m almost inevitably de-squeed when they turn out to be poorly written and annoying. Looking forward to not being disappointed by this series!
I’m conflicted about this. I want to read the series now becuase it sounds awesome and full of badass women at their best. I just don’t like complex world building. If I have to keep a list of who’s who and which clan/house/family they’re from, I start to give significantly fewer fucks and eventually give up. So I may do the download a sample and ruminate strategy. I think book two sounds fabulous but i’m not sure I’m up to the intricate interrelationships and vast world of detail.
@Lara, I have read the first book, and am going to start this book after I finish my current book (another good second book in a series, Eidolon). I did not find the world too complex or the list of characters too much to remember. Everything was well explained, and the writing was good enough to keep it all contained and understandable. I have not read this author before, but I could tell how good she is just because of how the world building and characters were handled. It is such a great feeling to start reading a book and just know it is going to be a good ride because the writing is so good. I think The Unleashing is my only 5 star read this year, and I am really looking forward to The Undoing.
THIS!!! ALL.OF.THIS. This series, is just. I can’t even. I burned through the Unleashing so fast it made my head spin and then I did a more leisurely read through of it a second time. I’m currently on my second read through of the Undoing and it’s amazing. SL just gets it. She gets that female friendships are about loving your fellow female, but being able to give her shit too, she gets that men can be idiots about some things and totally devoted to their woman and it doesn’t take candlelight dinners to show her you care…sometimes a sharp object works just fine (or books!! and QUIET). I will always auto buy everything she writes (her GA Aiken stuff too) because she writes a compelling story, gets her characters down right and keeps developing over the life of the series.
Wow! Sounds like a great read. I’m looking forward to the weekend so I can dig into it.
I bought Unleashed after seeing it as one of the books you were reading for this month. The part about home insurance and pitbulls had me in stitches. Needless to say, I bought the second book and upgraded with audio as well. I’m looking forward to this series.
ALL THE SQUEEE!!!!!!
I loud talk when I am trying to get people into these books, and it is NOT pretty.
Love, love, love this series! I’m a huge fan of Laurenston’s Pride Series so I bought The Unleashing as soon as it came out. I was amazed, thrilled, & overjoyed with not only the story, which is fun & interesting, but her characters. I love the fact that Laurenston doesn’t have a basic character type, that her characters are a wide variety of race, gender, & personality.
The female friendship element of both The Unleashing and The Undoing was so beautiful. The Crow’s close relationships really made me think about having someone else’s back through thick and thin. After reading the book I found myself thinking that everyone needs some sister Crows!
I’ve recommended Laurenston’s books over and over again to fellow romance readers. Each and every one of her books is so funny and quirky that they should come with a warning to not read out in public. Other coffee shop patrons usually don’t appreciate it when someone is laughing so hard they cry!
@RomancePlaylist:
YES. I completely agree about female friendship. The Crows made me think as well about what friendship is and isn’t. I think women especially are taught to accept some level of toxicity in their relationships as par for the course, and I love love love how this series and the women within it all reject that premise. Everyone should be able to trust their friends implicitly, without any doubt or hesitation, when shit is on the line – whether it’s a bothersome personal problem or, you know, gods are coming through a hole in the veil and killing everyone in sight. Same difference.
@SBSarah, I am so happy you loved this!! You did leave out one of the best parts of book 1, though: Brodie! I knew I was going to love Kera and the Crows when she wouldn’t take their offer unless they took her dog, too. So, they do. In their own unique way.
The Undoing is waiting for me at the GBPL as we speak! I’ve put off picking it up until tomorrow because I know what will happen and no one in my office wants to be around me when I’m sleep deprived. I plan to start when I get home from work tomorrow and look up from the last page and wonder why there’s daylight, why I’m so thirsty and why do I need to pee so bad?
LOVE LOVE LOVE Shelly Laurenston/G. A. Aiken!
For those of you enjoying the new Call of Crows series, there’s an earlier book, Hunting Season (http://www.amazon.com/Hunting-Season-Gathering-Book-1-ebook/dp/B002R2OF78?ie=UTF8&keywords=shelly%20laurenston&qid=1461253386&ref_=sr_1_6&s=digital-text&sr=1-6), that is the first foray into the world of Crows, Ravens, etc. it follows Neecy and a crew of Tri-State Crows. So good!!
Random thoughts: 1) I am so sorry she ended the Pride series. I wanted to see what Blayne and Bo’s kids looked like. And I wanted Hannah’s story. 2) the Call of Crows series takes place in the same universe, so to speak, so maybe there’ll be some cameos. 3) Bette Davis was a Crow! And Dorothy Dandridge and Katherine Hepburn and Eleanor Roosevelt! I wonder who else? 4) two small quibbles: the guy on the cover of “The Unleashing” doesn’t look anything like Vig, and the Protectors wear the white hoodies, not the Ravens. 5) I was happy to see a cameo by Neecy, from “Hunting Ground,” and I liked the way Laurenston has opened up the world from that book. And 6) “The Undoing” sort of answered the question I had about why the Norse gods created all this magical shit and then LOSING it: Answer: because they can. Bonus–warrior nuns!
This series hits all the feels for me. I loved reading the Norse myths growing up, and the way Shelly Laurenston has extended them is magical. I also love the way the Crows bait each other, but come after one and you get all of them coming after you. Just FAB-U-LOUS!! (and now I have a few tears, because of the feels)
This sounds like ALL THE CATNIP, with extra crazy-sauce complicated mythological backstory sauce.
……..and…….PURCHASED
Love Laurenston and pre-ordered this book – as wonderful and delicious as her other writing! I actually like the world building – she is such an amazing writer that having content carry thru (other than relationship/romance) is great. The naughty stuff is great too – its all fantastic!
Agreeing with all the squee here. I have loved Laurenston/Aiken for years. Didn’t think I could enjoy her more (yay dragons!). And then she started writing about Norse gods and even-more-kickass women, as if she knew exactly what this feminist, fantasy-loving, Icelandic-descended, saga-reading nerd would love as an extra layer of catnip on everything. As someone who used to dream of being a Valkyrie (but not one of those boring ones who go around falling magically falling asleep and needing rescue), and as someone whose family tree could have included both Ravens and Crows, I love this series SOOOO MUCH!!!
OMG YES! I loved these books so, so much. I especially loved Ski and the Protectors because they’re so nerdy. Hot, sexy, AND nerdy? Sign me up!
And I really enjoy that the Crows are complicated. They don’t all like each other. Some of them are nice, some of them are mean, some of them are selfish, some of them are giving, etc. As you point out, they’d defend each other to the death, but that doesn’t mean they’re uniform and one big happy girl party. I wish I had some Crows in my life!
Lora: You won’t need notes to follow Shelly’s world building. You get details and “facts” as needed, but they don’t interfere with the story lines.
Bad world building leaves you more confused than when you started. Good world building helps the world make sense. It might have a wacky sense of humor, but it makes that sense work. Shelly makes it work, big time.
Shelly and her alter ego G. A. Aiken are auto buys in both print and digital formats as far as I’m concerned.
I’m intrigued by this review and the squee, but I’m not sure because (and I know I’m in the minority here) Laurenston hasn’t always worked for me in the past. I read the Magnus Pack trilogy and I thought it was fun, but the sheer over the top-ness kind of exhausted me and I felt like there was a lot of telling – I got tired of reading about how crazy each of the heroines were. I think I just had trouble connecting to the characters, which made me decide that Laurenston’s not the author for me.
So, I guess what I’m asking is – how does this series compare to the Magnus Pack (Go Fetch and Here Kitty, Kitty etc)? I think Magnus is one of her earlier series, so I’m wondering how/if her writing has changed.
@cleo
I completely understand what you are saying about Laurenston’s earlier works. The Undoing and The Unleashing worked for me since the heroes were so genuine and the female friendship element was strong. I connected with the heroines of the Call of Crowns series a lot more than Laurenston’s previous works due to the group’s diversity and origins. That being said, these books are just as over-the-top. So if the outrageous characters and storylines bothered you in the Magnus series, they might also irritate you here.
@Cleo, those were her earliest works, and comparatively speaking…they were rough. I read them after getting into the Pride series, but if I had started there I might not have continued. There is definitely more doing, but the characters are still somewhat over the top.
Laurenston always makes me LOL. I loved the Magnus Pack/Pride series, particularly because I found Laurenston right after I moved from NJ to NC, and was missing home. Shifter Roller Derby GRRRLS!!!!
Her dragon series is getting out of control, tho. It’s starting to need a compendium.
Per Laurenston’s author letter she said that she was tired and had written the stories she wanted to right then but was leaving it open to come back to later. Has she said since then that it was over? Because I too, wanted Hannah’s and also Abby’s stories. Damn.
That said, she’s an autobuy author for me and I’ve got everything she’s written and love it all. I flog her books to everyone I meet because she’s got such strong women, fantastic snark and humor, crazy plots and great characters overall. I love the interplay between them, both the friendship and family dynamics are funny and ring true, either as you know them or wish you did.
BODIE HAWAII!!!!! & Welcome to the GIMMEEEEEEEE Club!!!
BRODIE HAWAII!!!!! & Welcome to the GIMMEEEEEEEE Club!!!
Thank you so much for this review! After reading the comments, I bought both The Unleashing and The Undoing-and I LOVED them! I had the day off yesterday, so perfect timing-all I did was read. I have never read Laurenston before, and it only took me a few pages to be absolutely immersed in the world she created. Now I cannot wait till the next book-who will it be about?? There has to be more books, right?
So many laugh out loud moments, my favorite being in the second book-with Bear trying to lure Jace with the puppy.
Should I read the Pride Series next? Or the Dragon one? Any thoughts?
@Maureen, I’d suggest the Pride series since it’s closed, less frustration. And I’d skip the Magnus pack ones until you really get hooked on the series (they’re her first and a bit rough).
@Maureen:
Oh, yay! That’s so great! I love knowing a recommendation worked. The Pride series doesn’t work as well for me but the Dragon series I love. They’re like supremely campy, very violent fairy tales. Anywn tends to overshadow other characters, but I love that series. It’s like super bloody battle-filled rage-suffused comfort reading.
I bought both of these books based on this review and really enjoyed them. I’ve never read this author before, and I was hooked pretty quickly. I definitely liked Jace’s book more, but I would have been lost if I didn’t read Kera’s story first. Perhaps a bit too much calling each other bitches and whores for my normal tastes, but it didn’t bother me too much while reading. Also, I tried to enjoy Rick Riordan’s newest book that is also about Norse mythology, but it didn’t grab me like his other series. So this was a fun, grown up version and I enjoyed learning more about the Norse gods/goddesses.