Blood Bound

Blood Bound (2007) Patricia Briggs

Blood Bound is the sequel to Moon Called, and continues the story of Mercy Thompson, a mechanic and a walker. A walker is similar to–but not the same as–a werewolf. What she has is an inborn power to change form at will, and that shifting isn’t tied to the moon. She also owes a favor to one of the local vampires–a favor he has come to collect.

There are several things about this book that I particularly like. I like the hierarchy of both the local werewolf pack and the vampire seethe, and they way they react to Mercy and each other. It makes sense that for the vampires to have survived for as long as they have, they would need to have some sort of hierarchy of control.

I’m also fascinated by how Patricia Briggs (and several other authors who write supernatural fantasy) have chosen to have at least some of their supernatural creatures come out of the closet (so to speak) to the general public about their very exisence

Another thing I particularly like is how Mercy works to make ends meet. Yes, her money problems do get solved, but that’s part of the fantasy, isn’t it?

However, I was a little bothered by the start of an “everyone wants Mercy” thing that was going on underneath the story. It looks like this was for the most part headed off at the pass, with Mercy needing to make a decision between just two guys, which I can accept. But I really don’t care much for it when all the males find the heroine irresistible. Yes, that too is a fantasy. It’s just not my favorite brand of fantasy is all. But as I said, Mercy seems to have limited her number of eligible suitors, which good.

Additionally, she had to make hard choices–and she got hurt making the choices she made (got hurt, and stayed injured for an appropriate amount of time even). I prefer it when the characters have to make hard choices, and when there are consequences for those choices.

I still dislike the cover though. Not the tatoos and the grease–that’s good. I just hate the fact she has to have her coveralls undone to her belt. Why? Why would she do that? There is no good reason for her–or anyone–to dress like that. And I really don’t think that she’d be wearing a frilly bra on the off chance she was foolish enough to undo her coveralls like that. I mean really–she’s an otherwise sensible woman, so it just seems out of place. And I realize that the author has no control over the covers, but it really bugs me. I mean, when the book came, my grandmother asked what book I’d gotten (on the off chance it was a mystery). I held up the book, and said, “It’s a fantasy book, I don’t think you’ll want to read it.” She looked at the cover and said, “You’re right.”

If you read Moon Called, then you will want to pick up Blood Bound. If you haven’t read Moon Called, you should be able to pick up Blood Bound without any difficulty, but you’ll probably enjoy it more if you read the books in order. Otherwise, it was a strong, fast-paced story that I had trouble putting down last night so I could go to bed.
Rating: 7/10

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