Bronze Gods

Title:  Bronze Gods
Author:  A. A. Aguirre

Janus Mikani and Celeste Ritsuko work, as partners, with the Criminal Investigation Division (CID).  After a House scion goes missing, things change for Ritsuko and Mikani; in the most complicated way.

The missing scion case quickly turns into a murder mystery with a magically evil twist.  A murdered House scion is no small matter (no murder is a small matter really) so Mikani and Ritsuko are put under pressure to solve the murder as quickly as possible to appease House Aevar.

Let's take a step back for a bit.

In the land of Hy Breasil, ten Ferisher (a variation of Fairy) princes each took a bride from the invading strangers to bring peace after a long war (the Iron War).  They formed the ten great Houses.  Some Houses stood the test of time while others dwindled away.  The surviving Houses keep their bloodlines "pure" to keep what little fey blood they have.  The females in these Houses don't seem to have much freedom.  If they do something that happens to be "unfit" for a House member, they are essentially shunned and deprived of any House privileges until they comply or for the remainder of their lives.

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Interesting information about Hy Breasil:

Hy Breasil is a mythical vanishing island believed to be off the west coast of Ireland and has been noted on maps as early as 1325.  So... if it's on a map, is it really just mythical?  Well, according to The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, (found under Brazil) the island cannot be seen by any ordinary person.  Apparently only a few chosen have been gifted a glance at the wondrous island (Manguel & Guadalupi, 2000).

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Women seem to be held to some pretty unfair standards in general.  For example, Ritsuko is often sneered at and looked down upon for being a working woman.  This is something that she deals with on a daily basis though it doesn't deter her from her duties.  She's strong because she has to be.

Okay.  Now back to the show.

Mikani and Ritsuko find out pretty quickly that magic is involved with the murder of miss Aevar.  At the same time Aurelia, the dance director at the theater that miss Aevar is linked to, meets a peculiar character whom she has a feeling is ancient (really really old).  By this point we have learned that those who have Ferisher blood have special abilities and/or can live a really long time by aging slowly.  Mikani and Aurelia are such people.

*
Mikani has a gift (or curse) that allows him to sense things that cannot be seen.  He senses feelings - fear, happiness, etc. - of people who have been in the area he is opening himself up to.  The more recent the person was there, the stronger their presence is felt.  He can also sense deception.  Aurelia is also able to sense deception.  Well, she's able to tell whether someone is telling the truth or not.  Same thing.  Right?
*

While the investigation is under way, another body is found.  This time it's a girl from the Summer Clan.  To be honest, I really don't get what or who the Summer Clan are.  They are not part of the Houses but are important because they control the roads...?  At least that is what I understood.  This is what happens when you wait a long time between finishing the book and writing your thoughts about it.  And I already returned the book to the library so - there you go.  Anyway.  The Summer Clan is pretty pissed about the death of one of their own so they put a stop to the transport of things needed by people such as food.  This, of course, causes people to get upset and places more pressure on Mikani and Ritsuko to find the killer.

While M&R are searching for the bad guy and following leads, Aurelia (same name as my maternal great-grandmother - just FYI) visits her mystery man at his home.  [Aurelia is the (former) member of a House and the daughter of the Architect (a person of importance).  She wanted to follow her passion of dance and was banished (to a certain extent) from the House.]  While walking through his garden she learns that he uses magic to create and maintain most of his organic creations.  It is at this point we are given the idea that this stranger (Theron) may or may not be a Ferisher Prince (given his magical abilities).  Hmmmm.

Will Mikani and Ritsuko find the killer and unearth his secrets?  Will Aurelia find love with her ancient stranger?   Well now - it wouldn't be much fun if I told you.  But I'm sure there will be some hints once I start giving my thoughts away.

First of all...

I want to apologize for this post being a little wishy-washy.  I checked Bronze Gods out from my local library a while ago.  A long while ago.  Like months ago.  And because I have a habit of checking 8 books out at a time... I only got to read 86 pages before I extinguished all 5 of my "renew checkouts."  {Fun math:  The Library allows you to keep a book for 3 weeks per check out.  EP Book Nerd renewed her checkout status 5 times.  How many weeks did EP Book Nerd keep her book?}  So I had to turn in the book and then request it again to start my 5 renew checkout limit all over again.  Luckily it only took me four weeks to get through it. [What can I say?  I work and have a kid.  Time is not my friend.]  Anyway.  My point?  Well, I may have forgotten little details here and there that may or may not be important to the end result.  But... it doesn't change my opinion about the book at all.  I still remember how I feel about it.

With that said...

I enjoyed Bronze Gods very much.  I won't say that I "loved" it but I did like it a lot.  To be honest, it took me a while to get into the characters of Mikani and Ritsuko.  Aurelia captured my attention more.  The case, however, was the reason I kept going back for more.  I just had to find out who was behind the murders and why.  I wasn't sure who to suspect and, to be honest, was thrown for a loop when it was revealed in the end.  I mean I had a suspicion but was successfully guided elsewhere through pages of word wizardry.  Towards the end I did get into Mikani and Ritsuko as well as their relationship potential.

I have to say that I enjoyed the fact that there was no horizontal tango in this book.  It allowed me to really enjoy the character and relationship building more.

So there you have it!  I have FINALLY released this post.  I hope the next one won't take as long to produce.  Thank you for your patience!


★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Just finished:  A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn
Currently Reading:  Death of a Mad Hatter by Jenn McKinlay
Up Next:  Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Happy Reading!