Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Erotic fun... August 16, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
As with all her novels this is full of erotica but alas this time somewhat to the detriment of the storyline. The sex scenes are overly long which means that the plot is slow developing.
Good light fun and an easy book to read but sadly no more than that.
Trashy Faerie Fun July 29, 2006
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
What can you say about Laurell K Hamilton that hasn't already been said? Yes, "A Stroke of Midnight" is full of graphic, gratuitous sex and yes, the plot crawls along to a rather unsatisfying climax (no pun intended) but in my opinion, the Merry Gentry novels are better than the recent Anita Blake efforts.
For one thing, there is a definite story arc here, whereas the last two of three Anita books have just gone through the motions, shoving a little plot where it'll fit around all the turgid bedroom scenes. Merry is still trying to get pregnant and her twisted cousin Cel is nearing the end of his imprisonment. Plot threads that began in earlier books are continued and expanded, and Hamilton has created a delicious world of faery magic and politics that will obviously continue to develop into the next book.
Secondly, the sex actually serves a purpose in the Merry Gentry novels. Whilst Anita becomes more of a Mary Sue/author surrogate with every man she beds, Merry must get pregnant to keep her life and save the lives of those she loves. Every time Merry does the nasty with another impossibly beautiful fey man, old magic is restored to the men and the sithen. Having said that, the sex scenes are far too long and a lot of the time they seem like filler rather than plot advancement.
Thirdly, Merry is a far more sympathetic character than Anita. She gets ahead by caring, first and foremost, and she wins more and more fey to her side in this book by being compassionate and willing to take risks for her people.
If you've read the first three books in this series, this one if worth picking up. I don't recommend it as a starting point for newcomers to either Merry or Hamilton; there's far too much you already need to know to understand the complex storylines. Overall, it's trashy fun and fills a few hours, which is really all I expect from this series.
 Not 'literature' but good fun March 23, 2006
11 out of 14 found this review helpful
Not having read any of this particular genre before Ms Hamilton's offerings in the Meredith Gentry saga, I was quite intrigued and entertained. Yes, it is a bit slow and repetitive (and purple) in many places but then I didn't pick the first book in this series up for any other reason than that it looked entertaining - and on that score I have not been disappointed. The characters are rather given to taking themselves seriously at times but I suppose it would be difficult to write a story like this and have such fantastical individuals with their tongues firmly in their cheeks (and that's certainly not where they usually are...). It provides a few hours of light reading, nothing offends grammatically, and that's all I was asking of it. I will certainly look out for the next one in the series.
 Judging the cover December 30, 2005
73 out of 87 found this review helpful
Sometimes you really can judge a book by its cover. Judging by the swooning, cleavagey woman who seems to be in the initial stages of ecstacy, with a bit of soft purply lighting, "A Stroke of Midnight" looks like a fantastical romance novel. And that... is what it is.
The cover aside, Laurell K. Hamilton's latest Merry Gentry novel is, like many of her latest novels, a minor disaster. "Stroke of Midnight" is actually better than most of them, with the complex political machinations that Hamilton is so good at. But smothering those machinations are sex and a glacially slow plotline.
After the events of the third book, the human media has been called into the sithen for a press conference centering on Princess Meredith. But no sooner has the conference ended than a pair of corpses -- one human, one fey -- are found. Merry convinces the Queen to let her investigate the human way, and begins delving into whodunnit.
To make things even more complex, the Goddess has been doing wonky things with Merry's powers -- now when she has sex with fey, their powers are reawakened, and then become godlike once more. Needless to say, this is doing lovely things for her obedient harem. But Merry also has to focus on the mysterious murders -- and the plot that may be forming against her aunt.
Sounds intriguing? Well, in theory it is. Unfortunately, the entire plot is not only inundated in softcore porn, but it also takes place in about twenty-four hours. As a result, the plot is so drawn-out and glacially slow that I kept wanting to bang the cover against my head.
And, of course, the sex. Hamilton's writing has gotten downright nymphomaniacal in recent years, and "Stroke of Midnight" is no exception. There's virtually nobody Merry doesn't have elaborate and varied sex with, or hasn't had sex with in the past, except for close relatives. Really, she must have supernatural powers if she isn't walking funny by now.
On a more serious note, though the sex has a part in the plot, it's so frequent and detailed that it all blurs together into one throbbing, ecstatic, orgasmic blur. These things are not Hamilton's strong point, and it sabotages the book to have so much of it made up by Merry's sexual gymnastics with men, women, fey, demi-fey, and anything else that walks and talks. (If she has sex to get pregnant, why women?)
And the writing is much in the vein of the sex scenes -- boring, filleresque and rather uninvolving. This is probably because Hamilton is setting it in one day, no more, and so she has to flesh it out with a lot of repetitive dialogue and endless internal pondering. The more supernatural scenes are interesting, but they are also nothing new to readers of this series. And at the end, it merely feels like a teaser for book number five.
What "Stroke of Midnight" does to redeem itself is revive some of those Machievellian power tangles. Sure, Cel is in his cell, but there is plenty of hostility and plotting. This is where Hamilton shines, and if there had been less sex and more plotting, this book might well have blosssomed.
"A Stroke of Midnight" has a few steps in the right direction, but they are baby steps. In the end, it feels deeply unsatisfying, more suited for a drinking game (if Merry has sex with a weirdly-appendaged fey, take half a sip) than for serious fantasy reaidng.
 They keep on getting better! May 13, 2005
16 out of 29 found this review helpful
Being an avid fan of the Meridith Gentry novels I couldnt wait until the new book was published, but amidst my excitement was a slight worry what if Ms Hamilton had lost her touch this time what if her next book wasnt as good as the others. I needn't have worried. The postie delivered the book to my door at 9.30 on tuesday morning and by 4 pm that same afternoon I had finished it.
I really coulnt put it down ! An excellent read and follow on from the previous books. I can't wait for the next book!
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