The Mage in Black (Sabina Kane series Book 2)

I'm all for a good vamp novel, don't get me wrong, and I've been reading everything vamp/mage/demon I can get my hands on for the past few years now but this one doesn't stand out in a good way. The characters are flat, the writing is one-note, the story is predictable and the dialogue is cheesy. She sets a picture for everything that happens so that, as it's happening, you know what's coming next. She writes well enough that the book plays out like a movie in my head, which is something I really like (hence the bonus star she got from me) but the movie was just like every other gun toting, gas station exploding movie I've ever seen in theaters without the benefit of surround sound and popcorn.

Certain moments of in-opportune sexual distraction make the story feel immature and unrehearsed, like the writer wanted to be shocking by adding sexual undertones but lacks the real-life sexual experience to make it believable. There are also peppered moments of silliness meant to be comedy which happen at the oddest times and make you wonder if you're reading a parody. Should I laugh? It seemed so serious but maybe I should laugh now?

It's hard to understand her vision, or maybe her vision is just so common that it's overly simple and doesn't need to be understood.

The mage in Black was the sequel to the red headed stepchild.
Sabina is unsure of who she is.
Not quite a vampire, not quite a mage. But something in between. She does not fit in anywhere. Her self esteem is low and she's used to fighting with her knives. But not everything in life can be done with knives. Her relationship with Giguhl, her demon minion, is quite endearing. The character makes real life mistakes: a fling with the wrong guy, running away from the right guy. In this book, you see her grow up and learn to care about others. It's the most human book about vampires and mages I've read in a long time. I loved the book and would recommend it to others.

The Mage in Black, book two of the Sabina Kane series, picks up where [[ASIN:0316037761 Red-Headed Stepchild (Sabina Kane)]] left off (picks up with a bloody vengeance, in fact), so if you're new to the series, you'll be missing a lot if you don't read that book first. Yes, you could read The Mage in Black as a stand-alone, mostly because the plot of this one isn't directly related to the plot in the first, but the characters and backstory are important enough that I wouldn't recommend that route.

In Book Two, Sabina is off to New York City (the Big Apple as the major seat of mage power when "the forbidden fruit" is so deadly to vampires...coincidence?) to meet the twin sister she just found out she had, but that's not the only reason she's going - she's not that sentimental - she's also going because she's burning with the need to stick one to dear granny Lavinia, the lying, scheming, bitch of a grandmother and head of the Dominae council...and the one woman almost solely responsible for turning Sabina into little more than a conscienceless, fanged weapon. And nothing will get granny's panties in a bunch quicker than Sabina going over to the dark side and forming an alliance with the much-hated mancies, a vampire's most reviled enemy.

But life in NYC isn't what Sabina was expecting and soon she's in over her head, feeling lost and totally overwhelmed by a mage philosophy she can't understand and politics she doesn't want any part of. To top it off, someone is still trying to kill her...but she's sort of gotten used to that by now. Will Sabina be able to warm to her long lost family and embrace her half-mage heritage...or will that heritage blow up in her face and take her down, along with everyone she's just starting to care about?

There are a lot of things about The Mage in Black that I enjoyed. The plot is stronger and considerably less convoluted than Red-Headed Stepchild. It starts fast and bloody and keeps a nice, hectic pace, with just enough humor throughout to be entertaining. There were some lulls in the action that felt very organic to the story and instead of bogging down the plot or pace, gives the reader a bit of a breather and Sabina a chance for a bit more much-needed character growth. A few of my favorite characters are back, Giguhl, Sabina's demon familiar, in particular, and the yummy mage Adam we meet in the first book. There is quite a nice subplot with Giguhl that I liked very much. The addition of a few interesting characters, including an old frenemy of Sabina's, was nice and added depth to the plot as it also developed the world in which these characters inhabit. That's a good thing, as I felt the first book a bit lacking on world-building and what was there was dished out sort of haphazardly. Not so here. I felt the world really start to snap into focus in The Mage in Black, and I very much appreciated an introduction to some of the other dark races.

One of the things I neither liked nor particularly understood in Red-Headed Stepchild was the religious aspect of the Dominae - I felt it an odd mythos that wasn't very well explained or described - so it was nice not to have that problem in this book, as I was worried the mage culture would be similarly structured. It wasn't, so I was happy.

My only significant issue with The Mage In Black is actually one of the things I had a problem with in the first book: I'm not sold on Sabina. I didn't like her very much at all in the previous novel, and in this one, while I saw strides towards growth and healthy development, and a satisfying lessening of her inner sociopathy, none of that came quick enough in the book for me to really warm to her as a character. I understand and am familiar with a character's development through an arc of a series, so I'm tentatively okay with not being very fond of her at this point in the story, but it does lessen my enjoyment of reading about her. Not enough to stop reading by any means, but enough that this book isn't a five star read for me.

I have to give Jaye Wells credit, though, as she's deftly able to maintain a complex and damaged character who isn't very empathetic, who has a huge morality issue and a tendency to ignore, distrust, or doubt every ounce of kindness offered to her. Wells is showing the growth of her heroine in fits and starts, and while I may not like Sabina all the time, I find that change and growth to be realistic and well-written, and think the motivations behind Sabina's feelings and actions are sound. I hope to see continued development in the character in Green-Eyed Demon, Book Three of the Sabina Kane series, when it is released.

I keep on hearing the song for Men in Black when I think of this title.

I believe I gave the first book 5 stars based on the potential of the series, how much I liked Sabina Kane and Giguhl, and how much I was really looking forward to this book. It becomes a separate topic that, after that, I had to wait longer for the book because I'm a Kindle owner. That's not the author's fault though.

I think that, all in all, I preferred this outing. I was glad that Sabina kept her fighting, snarking nature, and her fierce loyalty. Last book, we'd seen her in vampire culture she knew well, and this book we see her exploring her mage half and meeting her twin sister. Sabina and Maisie, their names illustrate their different childhoods and how they mirror one another -- as does the locations of their birth marks. Giguhl is as delightful as ever, even though while in cat form he crossed his arms. (Huh?) And he gets a lady friend. The villain of the piece is probably just who you think it is, but the story is a good one, and the stakes (pun a little intended) are raised. I also like the deepening mythology.

I don't know if the next book, Green-Eyed Demon, will have time to focus on the burgeoning relationship between Sabina and Adam -- it should be dealing a lot with the cliff-hanger at the end of this one, and who knows if there'll be room -- but I hope so. I like that Sabina has a lot on her plate, other than the guy, but it's sorta time.

What I've enjoyed with both books is the simple fact that the narrative kept me happily reading along, wanting to find out what happened next.

Looking forward to more. (2 5 star reviews in a row and 2 for this author/series. How will I ever strike fear?)

Don't buy this book it isn't even an ok read. The characters are all over the place especially the main character. Not worth the price.

Loved this book. Its fun and draws you in to root for the characters in their adventures!

Another amazing book!!!

First book was much better. The story line was pretty weak in this one until the end overall. The demon fight club was just uninteresting and went on for far too long. The writer should have a much better understanding of fighting and techniques if she's going to write about assassins so much. Our main character Sabina seems more like a person who has no assassin skills and certainly doesn't seem like one even though she's like 53 years old and should have lots of experience and her personality does not reflect any killer instinct or attitude at all. Her thinking is like a teenage girl in high school, instead of a battle hardened killer. Her pet demon was very interesting in the first book and continues to lose interest and seem weak as well. I'll give the next book a read, but if it's as bad as this one that will end the series for me. This book feels more like a filler to lead into the 3rd book, so I'm hoping for the best because there's still something about the books I like, just not sure if it's enough to keep reading them.

I enjoyed the book but not as much as the first I have read this one before when it was first released. I like Adam and was a little iffy on the way they added in the other vampire it seems she was a little to poor little me when it came to him and simply forgot Adam. This is action filled like the others and we see more of her sister and how they are growing close. I enjoy seeing her learn her powers and love Adams aunt. I am glad I reread it even if it was not as good as the others.

My Rating: 3 and a half stars

This book was a tad bit disappointing if I'm being honest. I got the rug swept from under me so many times that by the end I was just too numb to everything. Also the climax (the answer to almost every single problem) in this story was so anticlimactic.

Sabina was rolling with the punches since page one and all she got was the mage communities distrust in her and almost dying on various occasions. I was very annoyed by it all and couldn't wait for her to finally throw in the metaphorical towel (which she never did).

Considering I'm Team Adam, I really, really, REALLY disliked Slade. It felt like he was a filler for most of the story. His only purpose seems to be to eventually get between Adam and Sabina in the presumably very near future.

Maisie was one of the characters that I took a liking to in this novel. She was very understanding and open to accepting Sabina and helping her through the changes that were bound to happen while in the mage community.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel, but it could have been better. I would love to see more of a relationship between Adam and Sabina form in the next novel. I'm also skeptical of the almost-but-not-quite cliffhanger that was the ending of this novel, so I will soldier on into the next book for answers.

The Audio Book:

I think I got used to Cynthia Holloway's reading and didn't have a problem with voices not being recognizable to a certain characters this time around. This was very entertaining and I'm planning to continue on with the audio book in the next novel in this series.