Review: All this controversy over the placement of an apostrophe...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 28, 2011
Maya Banks, <strong>Colters' Wife</strong> (Samhain Publishing, 2010)I promised myself--actually, I swore to myself--I would not read <em>Colters' Wife</em>, which stands as kind of book 1.5 in the Colters' Legacy series (it's a 40-page short), bridging the gap between <em>Colters' Woman</em> and <em>Colters' Lady</em>, until I'd picked up <em>Colters' Woman</em> and given it a whirl. But I simply couldn't help myself. Maya Banks has done America one of the greatest services any writer possibly could have; she has shown, in graphic, uncompromising, and highly amusing fashion, the illiteracy of any number of people who fancy themselves readers. Why are there seventy-nine one-star reviews for <em>Colters' Wife</em> as I write this> In every case--every single one--it's because the person who unwittingly downloaded and read this "disgusting filth" did so because s/he did not understand the significance of the placement of the apostrophe in the title, which makes the direction of the subject matter extremely clear. Sorry, folks, if you'd paid a smidgen more attention in English class (assuming you actually went to it), your pristine eyes would have never had to behold such debased horror as a woman accepting that more than one man is capable of loving her.I already hid the plot in that opening paragraph, but a little more explicitly: this short bridge between the first two novels in the series focuses on Holly, the title character, in the final days of her pregnancy (she's carrying Seth who, judging by the excerpt of Book Two found at the end, is the main character of that one). Yes, there are a couple of erotic scenes (and yes, Ms. Banks is quite good at writing those [wipes sweat from brow]), but I was just as enchanted by the scenery, even when it was conspiring to thwart Holly's attempts to get to her favorite sitting rock. (My wife is seven months pregnant. I totally get that bit.)I'd originally given this three stars, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that as far as the construction of a short story goes, this is actually pretty nicely thought-out, all the more so for taking time out to include the hot, sweaty bits. I certainly won't argue with those reviewers who cautioned me to read the first book first, but it does work well as a stand-alone (Banks mentions a few events from the first book, but gives enough detail in an economical enough space that you can get your head around the emotional quirks that follow from said events), which is pretty amazing these days, when every author just HAS to set up a sequel in the final pages, y'know? So I'm kicking it up half a star, because while it's still fluff, it's impressively-written fluff, and it's renewed my determination to read this series--which I'm sure was the intent of offering the thing for a free download in the first place. Bravo, Ms. Banks, and bravo, Samhain Publishing, you did your job, and you did it very well, as far as I'm concerned. ***