Bayou Moon

The Edge, Book 2

By: Ilona Andrews

Narrated by: Renée Raudman

Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan's long-time rivals are suspects number one.

But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge - and Cerise's life. William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation's spymaster.

When William's and Cerise's missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly - but they'll have to work together if they want to succeed…and survive.

©2010 Ilona Andrews (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Nominee - Judges' Award for Best Paranormal Audiobook, 2011

Unrelated story set in same world as book 1

Firstly... I didn't realize this book, while book 2 in the series, has nothing to do with book one. It is set in the same world, and there are a couple references to the characters in book one, but the story follows a new couple, who have a new set of concerns and problems. There is no Rose or Declan here.

Otherwise, it is pretty much the same quality storyline, plot and pacing. I'm not sure the romance is quite as good and the sex scene (only one) is not as graphic as in the first book. There are some interesting characters here though, and the world is more fully explained - mostly the Edge and the Weird, not much time is spent in the Broken.

I think the "bad guys" are a bit too extreme though, and almost feel cartoonish. I don't mind fantasy components, but would prefer it remain mature and not devolve into the "monster under the bed" type horror. Overall, however, I liked it, and ended up buying the next book in the series as soon as I finished this one.

The narration is the same as book one. She is fine, but not the best reader I've heard. There is minimal swearing, and nothing very graphic. I did buy the next book from Audible, but there is no cliff hanger, so you don't have to.

Preferred the first one, but Love these books!

Any additional comments?

I'm so happy with this series! It's so very creative and well done. This edition was long, and at times felt slightly anticlimactic for that reason, but that long journey pays off in the end by making the romance involved feel more natural and by making the characters and the world of these stories more dimensional. I love the way details of the world are added in quickly and succinctly, without drawn out explanation, and then are expounded upon with action and dialogue. Really a cool writing style that packs lots of info in without slowing things down. On a side note, I am betting that the married couple who write these books under the moniker Ilona Andrews have a very strong relationship, partly because of the collaborative influence of their writing (and I'm sure cooking up the sex scene details doesn't hurt either.. These two can really write some sex ). Great stuff, all around.

Great story off shoot. Performance good but too quiet.

This is a terrific story that develops the characters nicely and has a complete ending. Great, interesting characters and fun magic. I really like the accent of the narrator. The only problem is if you aren’t listening with headphones, she gets too quiet in a car. It’s almost impossible to hear a lot of what she says.

wonderful story

I love the fact that the author took the time and picked a fantastic narrater!

Fun, fantastical romance

Fun, funky, and fantastical romantic suspense with the daring deeds fueled by magic, muscles, and science-fiction. It's told in third person, with the POV switching among characters, but primarily the story is seen through the eyes of the hero Willaim, a wolf-changeling, the heroine Cerise, a magical sword fighter, and the villain, Spider, a human of dubious bio-engineering. Spider has gills and lungs, for one example.

The narration is uneven. Mainly it's fine, but sometimes it's a little hard to understand, if the accent is too thick, and/or if the words and names are invented or rare. I had read the book in advance, so I had an advantage.

This is book 2 in The Edge series, and my favorite of the four books. I have read them all, and bought this Audible version because it was on sale.

Setting: The Edge is the strip of land that lies between two very different lands. On one side, The Weird, where magic is status quo, and the leaders and lawmakers are those with the most magic. It's a world of lords and ladies, butlers and balls, similar to Jane Austin's England.

On the other side of The Edge is The Broken, where it's business as usual, with Walmart and Starbucks on every corner.

In The Edge, the magic is weaker. Most of the people who live in The Edge are exiles from The Weird. One part of The Edge is swampland, called The Mire.

This story is set primarily in The Edge, at the swampy Mire, but also in The Weird and The Broken.

The thriller plot makes sense, especially what the scientist-researcher-physician tried to do with the red moss, called burial shroud. There are lots of weird humans and animals, transformed into killing machines by science and dark magic. Lots of bloody fight scenes throughout the book.

Characterization and relationship development was delightful. I sympathized deeply with lonely William, Lord Sandine, a wolf-human changeling. Glad he finally found a home with the deadly warrior Cerise Mar. Lots of laughs as William and Cerise spar with each other.

Enjoyed getting to know Cerise Mar's large family, living in the Mire at the large but humble stronghold they call The Rathole. It felt like a boisterous, deadly, but loving family. I liked William's dealings with young Gaston and little Lark (aka Sophie).

Great battle scene at the pond.

William jumped to conclusions towards the end, which bugged me, but I understand why he did it, given his life-long history of rejection, abandonment, and isolation.

It ends happily, and we see lots more of William and Cerise in book 3. They only get a mention in book 4.