Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #171478 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Customer Reviews

First in a New Fantasy Series...
Ghostland tells the story of shamaness Aisling McConaughey. Taken from her home to save the life of a wealthy man's mistress, this will just be the beginning of her troubles. Forced to call on the Djinn prince Zurael for help, the two of them are pulled deeper into a complex situation that was set in motion long before either of them met.

Let's get the niggles out of the way. This story (for me) has far too much sex, too much swelling, hardening and engorging, to the point it's a wonder the hero can get anything accomplished. Despite the incredible amount of sex they have I didn't really get a good connection between Zurael and Aisling.

Having said that there are little moments between the two of them that shine. When they get into trouble at a nightclub, Aisling feels terrible guilt because of what happened to other people who were there. Zurael responds

"You were the only human in the club worth saving..."

Yes! Just that one line and it says so much more about where their relationship is going than five sex scenes. Hopefully there will be more of that sort of thing in the books to come.

Complaints aside, there is much to recommend here. This story has some of the most interesting worldbuilding I have read in a while. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where supernaturals no longer hide and different groups hold control of different areas, Aisling and Zurael have to walk a tightrope through religious, political and supernatural factions.

For me the last third of the book is the strongest, we get into the meat of the story, the plot threads are brought together and you are left wanting to know what's going to happen next.

Aisling is an appealing heroine, maybe a little too trusting but that seems to be inherent in her nature and will probably be something that is worn from her by the life she has to lead. Perhaps my favourite part of the book was when she travelled to vampire controlled San Francisco and assisted in the turning of a new vampire. I hope that the vampires will be making an appearance in a future book as I would love to learn more about them.

I loved how Aisling's compassion is apparent in everything she does. For a character whose power means dealing with death and the bereaved it would have been easy to make her cold and distant. Instead it's her warmth and understanding which gets her through and you can see why Zurael is drawn to her vulnerability.

It took me the whole book to decide whether or not I would follow this series, I changed my mind several times whilst reading mainly due to the amount of unnecessary copulation. But I am at least going to pick up the second book in the series because of the incredible world-building and the plot which left me wanting to know where this story is going.

Spider-Touched Book 2 released August 2009