Laurell K. Hamilton – A shiver of light

The ninth book in the Merry Gentry series, published June 3, 2014.
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: meh



I am Princess Meredith NicEssus. Legal name Meredith Gentry, because “Princess” looks so pretentious on a driver’s license. I was the first faerie princess born on American soil, but I wouldn’t be the only one for much longer...

Merry Gentry, ex–private detective, now full-time princess, knew she was descended from fertility goddesses, but when she learned she was about to have triplets, she began to understand what that might mean. Infertility has plagued the high ranks of faerie for centuries. Now nobles of both courts of faerie are coming to court Merry and her men, at their home in exile in the Western Lands of Los Angeles, because they will do anything to have babies of their own.
Taranis, King of Light and Illusion, is a more dangerous problem. He tried to seduce Merry and, failing that, raped her. He’s using the human courts to sue for visitation rights, claiming that one of the babies is his. And though Merry knows she was already pregnant when he took her, she can’t prove it.
To save herself and her babies from Taranis she will use the most dangerous powers in all of faerie: a god of death, a warrior known as the Darkness, the Killing Frost, and a king of nightmares. They are her lovers, and her dearest loves, and they will face down the might of the high courts of faerie—while trying to keep the war from spreading to innocent humans in Los Angeles, who are in danger of becoming collateral damage.


I have been waiting almost 5 years for this book, but in those years, I have re-read the other books in the series many times, without ever getting bored by them, or skipping parts. And this book was certainly worth the wait.

The first pages sure confused me a lot; suddenly Merry was going to have triplets instead of twins? I thought the Goddess told her through Doyle about her children and who the fathers are. (Yes, multiple fathers per child, Merry has a lot of fertility deities in her family tree).
But the babies are born quickly, and they have to find out which child belongs to which father. I loved how they all took to the babies.
Merry’s crazy uncle Taranis, the King of the Seelie Court, does not want to give up on his delusion that he is the father though, and that Merry is held captive by her men. He keeps coming after Merry in her dreams now, as his powers are returning as well. They also have to be careful of aunt Andais, the Queen of the Unseelie Court, who seems to be over the worst of her grief for losing her son Cel. She seems saner, but she cannot be trusted around the children just yet. She just doesn’t understand that Merry doesn’t need to rule out of fear, that she rules out of love and freedom, but that she can also be ruthless when necessary.

Everything is going well for Merry for the most part, more couples are forming between the Fae who have abandoned the courts and have come to Los Angeles and Merry’s new piece of faery. Still, not everyone is to be trusted to guard Merry and contribute to their community.


A big part of the book is about feelings I am sad to tell you. Feelings from Merry and her men for the babies, and for each other, and how to deal with it all, and with the powers the babies are already displaying. I would have liked some more action, a solution to the Taranis problem. Especially when one of my favourite characters is killed.
I did like the book a lot, and I read it way past my bedtime, as I had to know what would happen next, but I just wanted more. More action, less talk. Even the sex-scenes weren’t as good as before, when the magic would happen. And of course, with so many characters in a series, there are some books where those characters have no page time, or only a tiny little bit. I miss the goblins, Kurag and the twins Holly and Ash, and I would have liked their reaction to the new babies and what this means for the treaty.

Rhys has been to his new sithen (an apartment building that just magically appeared) but we only read about that after the fact, and that he has been fighting some gangs. I would have loved to see that on the page. And what happened when Aisling entered the Seelie court sithen.

I love this series, but I know it is not for everyone, but I will eagerly wait another 5 years for the next book, but I sure hope it will be sooner than that.

9 stars.

© 2014 Reviews by Aurian