Kelley Armstrong

I haven’t been this excited about a new series of books since I first started reading Anita Blake novels back in…1997 or 98, I think. I’ve always had a thing for mythical creatures, and Armstrong’s first volume in her “Women of the Otherworld” series fills the craving nicely.

Like Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake novels, Armstrong’s novels are written in first person, and feature female protagonists, otherworldy creatures, and a bit of romance with the action. Unlike the more recent Anita Blake novels, there’s less sex, and more actual plot.

In Bitten, we are introduced to Elena, a rare female werewolf (in the Otherworld the were gene passes from father to son, females are produced only if human women are bitten and survive, which almost never happens), a Canadian with ties to a pack in upstate New York.

While there is a plot that connects all the different scenes, this novel is fairly typical of first novels in series: there’s a lot of character introduction, and more exposition than action.

There are also pop-culture references, and hunky male werewolves, neither of which seem out of place.

Fuzzy thinks there’s too much sex (he’s never read any of the Anita Blake books), but I disagree. This was a wonderful read, and a great introduction to a new version of “now.”