Jim C. Hines

The Stepsister Scheme by Jim Hines is the first in his Princess series. He takes popular fairy tales beyond their supposedly "happily ever after" and creates a world full of intrigue, betrayal, and adventure. Goodreads is spot on in their description of it combining Disney Princesses, Charlie's Angels, and the darker side of fairy tales.

This is another one of those books that I'd been meaning to read for a while and just hadn't had a chance, so I was a little afraid that it wouldn't live up to my expectations. It totally did and I wasn't disappointed.

This book finds Danielle (Cinderella), Talia (Sleeping Beauty) and Snow (Snow White) working together to find Danielle's husband, the prince. It was packed with great action scenes, twists and turns in the plot, and great characters. This is a prime example of what an author can do when they take fairy tale characters and re-imagine them in different roles.

If you prefer fairy tales retold with only superficial detail changes, this book is not for you. But if you're willing to stretch your imagination and re-imagine these princesses in totally different roles in their lives, you'll enjoy this book.… (more)

Isaac has been working as a librarian for the past two years, cataloging works for both his small-town library and the secret society of magic users that he used to be part of. After over-using his magic, he almost got kicked out, but was allowed to remain on the fringes in this auxiliary role. All of that changes when a couple of vampires show up at the library and try to kill him. He's fortunate that Lena, a dryad, is following the vampires. Between Isaac and Lena, the vampires are dispatched (including the other vampires that were waiting at Isaac's house), and the two set out to figure out what's gone wrong with the treaty that usually keeps the vampires more or less in check. They discover that the aforementioned secret society, the Porters, is in disarray, with agents killed or kidnapped, including 400-year-old Johannes Gutenberg, the founder of the Porters. Could a rogue agent or former agent be behind it all?

That's kind of a sloppy summary, as I don't want to give too much away. There's a lot going on in this book, with the sort of plot that dashes from one big fight or disaster to another, with some witty quips in between. I loved the idea of Libriomancy, the magical ability to reach into books and pull out anything small enough to fit within the book's covers, though I am still confused, after finishing the book, about some of the rules and limitations of the magic. This is straight-up mind-candy, with not a lot of substance behind the flash -- and that's just fine; sometimes one needs just that kind of read. If it's what you're looking for, go right ahead. I probably won't read more in the series, but I don't regret having read this one.… (more)