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Fantasy. Fiction. Mystery. HTML:Tanya Huff�s supernatural fantasy Smoke series, with a gothic twist � Mix of ghostly mystery, paranormal horror, and dark humor � Lamba Award nominated Fans of the X-Files and Twin Peaks will love acclaimed master of contemporary fantasy Tanya Huff�s twisted version of vampires, wizards, and TV terror. Tony Foster, fledgling wizard and now trainee assistant director on Darkest Night�the syndicated vampire detective show�is hoping that they only supernatural events he�ll be caught up in are those in the script. But that isn�t meant to be, for a demonic convergence is about to begin, creating weak spots through which lesser demons may enter the world. To complicate matters, Leah, the incredibly seductive stuntwoman who freelances for the show, is an immortal Demongate. Should Leah die, the Demongate will open and her sensual demon master will wreak havoc upon the unsuspecting human race. Can Tony�with the help of Leah, Henry, a tabloid reporter, a Mountie, and the cast of Darkest Night�halt a demonic invasion and stave off the end of the world?… (more)
User reviews
Smoke and Ashes continues the tradition of the first two Smoke books. It’s witty and fun, full of pop culture references and tongue-in-cheek humour. The characters are a veritable scooby gang, their personalities mashing together as they work to help Tony. None of it is very serious, despite the impending doom, but I don’t read these books to be serious. They’re like the extra chocolate bar you sneak even though you’re supposed to be on a diet. Slightly trashy but you want it anyway.
I didn’t think Smoke and Ashes was as good as Smoke and Mirrors because it lacked the pitch-perfect atmosphere, but I liked it better than Smoke and Shadows. One shining feature is that the storyline between Tony and Lee gets wrapped up. It was a little too quickly done, in my opinion. I would have liked to have seen more meaningful interaction between them, but that’s not to say I’m unhappy with what I got instead. Which sums up my entire attitude towards this trilogy: imperfect and at times overly fluffy, but I like it.
In this volume, the main character, Tony Foster, gets caught up with a 3500 year-old woman who currently works as a stunt woman. She's immortal because a demon made her that way. The demon seems to be trying to use her to come through to this world from his own dimension, and Tony and the stunt woman have to stop him from sending demons through and causing the end of the world..
Lots of fun.
Characters: Henry is only in the background again, which is a good thing and gives the rest of the cast more
Style: Average, with no annoying blunders but neither anything too original - fitting for the genre. Good momentum and pacing, nice use of absurd and surreal situations. Tanya Huff has also discovered online slash fandom, and occasional digs at fans come up.
Plus: The absurdity adds a constant level of amusement to the story. Likeable lead character, good set of secondary characters.
Minus: The demon plot felt to get a bit out of hand, and there was no true climax at the end.
Summary: Entertaining read when you're not looking for something challenging.
The book went by very fast, I finished it in a day and a half. I didn't start the series initially, because the central character was gay. I have nothing against the homosexual lifestyle. I have several friends that are gay or bisexual. It's just something I don't really relate to. I wasn't sure that the romantic wishes of a gay character would appeal to me. Ms. Huff pulls off the homosexuality with believability, and pathos. I've read some slash on the internet, and it's more along the lines of insert tab A into slot B. The reader ends up sympathizing with her characters though, and you want to see them get the relationship they want.
This third story of Tony Foster's Vancouver based adventures, and regrettably the last of the trilogy, was just an engrossing read as the first two books, although I enjoyed the first two a bit more. I still really like Tony's character and the whole television show production aspect to the setting and plot and wish that the author would do a bit more with the characters. Certainly where this left off has left room for more stories. As always with this author's writing, there are parts which I wish she would have expanded upon, but it really is a slight frustration in the overall. She did a wonderful job with her new addition of Leah and her host of side characters whom we have gotten to know rather well over the three books (for whatever reason I really liked Mouse). I would certainly once again strongly suggest this trilogy to people with open minds who enjoy dark fantasy and a story that doesn't hesitate to poke fun at itself.
Since the unexpected short story of Tony and Henry in "Many Bloody Returns" is what inspired me to pick up "Smoke and Shadows" sooner rather than later, I will be keeping an eye out for hidden shorts that I hope will pop up in the future, although another full length novel would be the ideal.
I still don't really care about Tony and Lee as a couple, but they're far less annoying than just about every other urban fantasy romance ever.