The Obsessive Bookseller Reviews: “Fire Touched” by Patricia Briggs

Book review: “Fire Touched” by Patricia Briggs

I love Patricia Briggs and consider her among my all-time favorite urban fantasy writers, alongside Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, and Keri Arthur. She’s one of those authors who has been consistently good for so long that her books are on my very short “auto-buy” list. I never worry if I’ll like them or not (I always do), because they are the kind of guaranteed good reads that I’d save for rainy days if I weren’t so eager to gobble them up the minute they hit the stands. “Fire Touched,” book nine in the “Mercy Thompson” series, was no exception!

All of Briggs’ books have an excellent balance of internal and external conflicts. In every book, the crew has one big problem to solve (usually a supernatural monster of some sort) that leads to a lot of exciting, action-packed scenes. In “Fire Touched,” the problem, or “monster,” is the Gray Court of the Fae. Now, by this point in the series, Briggs has developed the Fae into a dynamic and complex society that I personally find absolutely fascinating to read about. This novel offers more of a glimpse into their inner workings and politics than we’ve seen before. And, as usual, Mercy and Adam are right in the middle of the conflict.

I have to say that as good as the author is at creating engaging broad conflicts for her characters, it’s the smaller, interpersonal conflicts that make these books so much fun to read. Once again, I found myself just as immersed in the werewolf pack’s dynamics as I was during the exciting battle scenes, if not more. The characters are all realistic and vibrant, and watching them argue and work out issues with one another is one of my little joys in life. In this book in particular, it felt like the focus was more on these interpersonal dynamics rather than the broader conflict (which I loved), but there were a couple of occasions when the plot seemed a little disjointed. That said, it all came together beautifully in the end, and now I’m eager as ever to see what happens next.

As I’m a bookseller who loves recommending titles, the “Mercy Thompson” series was easily my favorite urban fantasy to hand-sell. The story is less intimidating than the “Dresden Files” (which I also love), makes a better first impression than “The Hollows” series (another favorite), and is a lot of fun to read. Now let’s face it, you’re probably not going to be very interested in my review of book nine unless you’ve already read up to this point. If you haven’t, I’d highly recommend picking up a copy of “Moon Called,” the first in the series. Additionally, I’d recommend the “Alpha and Omega” series and suggest reading them alongside the “Mercy Thompson” books based on publication date, as the two series start to overlap as they get further along. That’s 13 books (so far) of great storytelling to look forward to! It makes me want to go back and reread them all. For those of you who have read up to this point, if you’re interested in reading more about Thomas and Marsilia, I’d recommend the short story “Fairy Gifts,” found in the novella compilation “Shifting Shadows.”

I’d like to thank Berkley Publishing Group, Patricia Briggs, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review a reviewer copy of “Fire Touched.”

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