Black Magic Sanction

Rachel Morgan, Book 8

By: Kim Harrison

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

In New York Times best-selling author Kim Harrison’s most complex and nuanced adventure yet, bounty hunter and witch Rachel Morgan fights a deadly battle—mind, body, and soul.

Rachel Morgan has fought and hunted vampires, werewolves, banshees, demons, and other supernatural dangers as both witch and bounty hunter—and lived to tell the tale. But she’s never faced off against her own kind, until now. Denounced and shunned for dealing with demons and black magic, her best hope is life imprisonment-at worst, a forced lobotomy and genetic slavery. Only her enemies are strong enough to help her win her freedom, but trust comes hard when it hinges on the unscrupulous tycoon Trent Kalamack, the demon Algaliarept, and an ex-boyfriend turned thief.It takes a witch to catch a witch, but survival bears a heavy price.

©2010 Kim Harrison (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

Very good..

so happy that Marquerite Gavin is narrating this book.

This series is entertaining..
i love all the characters.

Ms Morgan is back, finally

Rachel Morgan is back and Marguerite Gavin does her usual great job in pulling us through yet another Hollows episode. Kim Harrison is one of the few modern authors who strive to make this niche genre that is Urban Fantasy so much better with each novel she puts out. While this is novel is certainly a big step above the norm of Urban Fantasy it is not the best novel in this series by far.
Rachel Morgan has in the previous seven novels established herself as a powerful entity in the Hollows universe, she has overcome trial after trial refusing to join any of the factions but rather sticking to her small band of friends including Ivy the vampire and Jenks the pixie. But this independence comes at a cost, she has been shunned by the witches, Trent the elf hates her and the vampires demand results on her research. In short she cannot continue to stand out so prominently in society and still keep disregarding politics.
Rachel spends this entire novel playing catch up jumping from location to location trying to fix this, she is summoned left and right and faces both assassins and corrupt witches and I can't help but think that Harrison uses this novel more to solve existing plotlines rather than have Rachel do a proper "run". Still, I wait with baited breath for the next novel in the series. I have a feeling the series could take an exciting turn once all the factions again are satisfied and Rachel can continue to do what she does best. Kicking ass and taking names

Try it; Y'll like it :)

I really like this series. I like the alternative reality resulting from a pandemic begun by GM tomatoes. It has good and bad witches, OCD werewolves, tycoon elves, and libertine demons. It is a fun series, and I really want Rachel and Trent to fall in love :)

love LOVE THIS!!

I truly enjoy this series and listening to the mess that Rachel gets herself into! She always seems to have someone after her, trying to lol her for one reason or another and her love life is always a mess or haunting her over and over!! Great book!!

awesome

loved it! great book cant wait to listen to the next book. always enjoy reading or listening to this author.

Fantastic

Rachel’s dealing with demons and free use of black magic has finally caught up to her, in the form of the Coven of Moral and Ethical Standards.  They have already shunned her and deemed her outcast, making it where she can’t shop or even speak to any other witch in town.  Now they have come to take her to prison for a possible lobotomy and sterilization.  What is a witch to do?

Well, this is Rachel we are talking about, so she is going to meet it head on with gusto, attitude, her friend and a wing and a prayer.  Luckily she has been training with Al, and her magic is improving a little, but it isn’t her strongest defense.  No, that witch has moxie in spades, and it serves her well.  

This was another excellent audiobook, and I am thrilled I decided to revisit this series.  It is one of my favorites and experiencing this way has been fantastic.  

"I Can Take Care of Myself!" No, No You Can't

Where does Black Magic Sanction rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was not one of my most favorite in the series. While I'm thrilled to have Marguerite Gavin back, the material is somewhat lacking depth, and one must go along with how a plan will be executed, even though it's silly (like a plot out of the Dukes of Hazard) with tangles of legal red tape all over it. The ending is very lackluster and this volume is loaded with unnecessary filler. For the most part, I liked Rachel the least in this one: putting her friends into danger while coming off a hint superior to those around her trying to help her - to the point of risking their own lives.

To sum up:

Rachel: "I can take care of myself!" x 10 (while leaning on everyone else)"I don't need a babysitter!" x15 (um, yes she does)"It's not fair!" x 20 (no, no it's not, but life never is)"I'm not a demon!" x infinity (um, technically my dear, you are).

Everyone [else] who uses dark magic is bad [but not me].

Turned on by everyone - good, bad, male, female, living or dead. I'm amazed she hasn't slept with the barista at her local coffee spot. Not shaming here, just saying Harrison really does lean on the sexual tension angle for filler, painting Rachel out as someone who can't help but be hot for anyone who shows her a hint of attention. There is a lot of it in this volume; 30+ straight minutes of dialogue verging well past gratuitous to outright filler for pages towards the end.

Nick:Slut-shaming dirtbag. Nothing more to say.

Trent:Just a dirtbag.

Pierce:He 'opines' everything. Every other old world utterance he makes Pierce opines. For the love of all that is holy buy a thesaurus. I'm sure Pierce can be "of the mind to" or "I submit" or "I declare" ... "contend" even "reckon" whatever he's about to do or say. Regularly using dark magic to protect Rachel, much to her hypocritical disapproval.

Lee:Not such a bad guy after all. But we have to get over a few issues first.

Al:Sinister as usual, but showing more depth. I'll be eager to see how the relationship he has with Rachel evolves.

Ivy, Jenx, Bis, & the rest of the pixie clan:Constantly protecting Rachel to the point of self-harm.At the mercy of Rachel's inability to act on anything while being hunted. And when she does finally decide to do something, it's counterintuitive to saving everyone and gets someone killed, all because she is determined to prove that she's not a black witch or demon. *Sign* Girl, just own it and spend that energy proving to others that you are still good regardless of the color on your aura instead of getting the people you love killed because of your ego.This book had quite a bit of filler here & there. I was able to skip through (skimming to make sure I didn't miss anything vital) and picked back up when the actual plot did. Towards the end [Harrison] literally tangents

Would you recommend Black Magic Sanction to your friends? Why or why not?

If this had been the first book in her series, I wouldn't have continued. So no, I would not recomment this particular volume in the series.

Have you listened to any of Marguerite Gavin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. Marguerite Gavin is fantastic. I'm thrilled they brought her back to read the remainder of this series.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

While the death of a particular character I will not name and the suffering associated with it nearly had me sobbing, I was extremely disappointed because 1. the death could have been abated and 2. Rachel was essentially the cause of it. The one moment in the entire book she decides to take action, which results in taking a copious amount of smut, when she's been otherwise inactive and depending on everyone else to protect her with their magic or skill, she gets someone killed. And instead of taking it as a valuable lesson, she accuses everyone else of being cold when they are simply trying to be pragmatic about her plight.

Any additional comments?

I can only hope Rachel's character gains a little more depth. I would appreciate her more if she were a little less insecure at this point. We are 8+ volumes in. She needs to have a little more confidence in herself and trust in her loved ones instead of chewing them out every time they try to help.

A great addition to the series

Though she does complain about her life a lot and seems to make some outrageous decisions I feel that's been true in all her books. This book continues her saga with a great storyline and Marguerite does a fantastic job as always.

Have tissues handy!

Another great book! Waiting anxiously for the follow-up to come out. I'm curious to see where this story is going to go.

Each book is better than the last!

I sometimes have not cared for the readers on this series, but Marguerite Gavin is excellent and the books just keep getting better. The characters are becoming increasingly complex and textured, the plots more intricate. And the books are a lot of fun, too ... I'm looking eagerly forward to "Pale Demon" coming out in the spring!