Mists of Manhattan

The Sacred Circle #2

by Michele Lang

Be careful what you wish for…

Vivianne, High Priestess of New York City, once dreamed of a world ruled by magic. But when King Arthur returns, bringing enchantment with him, the Big Apple goes straight to hell.

Now Viv must battle demonic forces intent on destroying time itself -- even Merlin, great Mage of Britain, can’t stop an ancient prophecy from unfolding in the present day. Viv may have the power to save New York, but she can’t resist the dark seductions of Arthur’s bastard son – Mordred.

Book #2 in the Sacred Circle series!

Paperback

First published June 7, 2011

About the author

Michele Lang writes supernatural stories set in futuristic places: the stories of witches, lawyers, goddesses, cops, bankers, demons, and other magical creatures hidden in plain sight.

Visit Michele on the web: www.michelelang.com"

Reviews

[Arthurianmaiden · Rating 2 out of 5]

I definitely did not like this novel as much as the first one. There were fun parts and Gwen and Arthur were still my favourite characters, there was a more solid plot (in my opinion) and it actually is fundamental to explain the first novel (at least to give sense to the ending of the first novel that for me looked a bit too open). I liked the non-celtic magic (the witch of Endor thing etc.) and the little funny moments like Galahad's parts and the looking for the other knights.
Still, there were some confusing parts (for example Galahad was introduced very suddenly and without explanations, at the same time Gwen knows Galahad is working with Mordred but we don't know /how/ she does etc.) and I admit I didn't like how suddenly Mordred went from being the major villain to being actually "good" and controlled by Morgause's magic. It seemed forced, as if this idea came after the end of the previous novel as I found no foretelling of this in it, and a way to let Vivianne enjoy "sexy Mordred" (the statement of how hot Mordred was and how irresistible he was was repeated a lot of times and it ended up being a rolling my eyes moment every time). I much preferred the part about Gwen, the last part of the novel, than the first part as it was much less confusing and it seemed to have a purpose and a plot instead of being a way to let Mordred and Vivienne do the do. But... the part of Vivienne being the avatar of Morgause, so basically "twins throught time" is a bit unsettling.
On the positive side of things, Morgause is a much scarier villain than what Mordred had been in the last novel. Because for as much as the characters seemed to fear him and his power, the narration never let me fear him in the first book because of the way he was often described (it was probably deliberate as in this book we are supposed to sympathize with him), so I liked the fact that the enemy here was a new one.
I also liked Mordred and Arthur's reconciliaton as it is my favorite theme in arthurian novels, when used, and I was glad for it!

[Flying Off The Shelves · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is particularly hard to review due to fear of spoilers. Literally, this book may have been short but it was packed with action, emotion, twists and turns. When it comes to sequels we generally expect them to be worse than the original in this case it is continuation that definitely adds a stunning amount to the original story (Ms. Pendragon).

As far as the setting, New York, she did a great job melding the Mists and the Big Apple. All the fantasy that was added to the story was believable. I also like how she used that idea that you only see what you want to see.The story it self is "Wow!", I could not put it down. Everything you expected was turned on its head and I couldn't read it fast enough to find out how it would all turn out.

This book easily received its rating of five. You will gasp, cry, rejoice, and everything else in between.

See more reviews at http://flyingofftheshelves.blogspot.c...