True love + sibling rivalry + teenage trauma = hilarious fun

books:

	• The Second Summoning (The Keeper's Chronicles, No 2) Tanya Huff DAW, 2001 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 29 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Second Summoning (The Keeper's Chronicles, No 2

I thought the first book was a real funny bone tickler, but book 2 threw in some twists I never saw coming. Hell was in the basement in book 1. Angels and demons alike found out what it's like to be a human teenager in this one. Somehow my teenage years were never so funny, but this book leaves you cheering on everybody...except Hell who you just kinda feel sorry for. And sometimes the savior of the day just has to be a cat!

True love + sibling rivalry + teenage trauma = hilarious fun

even more so if anatomically correct angels and demons and a sarcastic cat or two are thrown in as well.

This is the second book in the KEEPER'S CHRONICLES series and picks up shortly after SUMMON THE KEEPER ends. Claire, a young Keeper is still undecided about her romance - or lack thereof - with even younger Bystander Dean. Her cat, Austin, is always ready to offer her advice as is her bratty younger sister, Diana. To make life even more frustrating the family business of keeping good and evil in balance is particularly busy at the moment due to the holiday rush.

The trouble seems to begin in a traditional source of torment - a high school - and leads to a scene between an irate father finding a naked teenage boy in his daughter's bedroom. The daughter's explanation, that this is not a boy but an angelic manifestation, does not calm dad down.

Like SUMMON THE KEEPER, THE SECOND SUMMONING is set in modern Canada, and involves a family that is part of a group who keep the world balanced between good and evil. The tone of this series is hilarious, particularly for anyone who has ever lived with a cat.

If you are into serious scifi/fantasy (Anne Rice for example) you probably won't like this but if your tastes run more towards life's absurdies this is for you. I would recommend starting with SUMMON THE KEEPER though.

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Light, clever, agreeably-girly fantasy-romance

The Keeper Chronicles:
Summon the Keeper (1998, mmpb), #1
The Second Summoning, (2001, mmpb), #2
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These are light, clever, agreeably-girly fantasy-romances set in Canada, featuring Claire, a modern-day witch; Austin, her familiar, an elderly, smartmouth cat; Dean, Claire's Newfie boyfriend; Diana, Claire's witchy teenage sister; and the Powers of Darkness!

The first book introduces the characters, who must close a Doorway to Hell in a rundown B&B. I liked it, but it had some slow stretches: "B+".

The Second Summoning moves along more briskly, has more cats, more angst-ridden teenagers, and more laughs: "A-".

Both books are pleasant rainy-day reads, with well-drawn characters, snappy dialog and, well, catty cats. As with all humor, your mileage may drastically vary, but #2 in particular kept me smiling. You should read #1 first.

The consensus of other readers (here & elsewhere) seems to be that #3, Long Hot Summoning (2003), is the weakest & perhaps best avoided. I haven't read it, and probably won't.

Happy reading--
Peter D. Tillman

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Second Book In a Great Trilogy

This book is the second in the series. I definately reccomend reading the first because the are a lot of humorous links to the first book and in my opinion the first book is the best. This time the two keeper sisters are somewhat at odds with each other when an angel and a demon are let loose on the world in a strange mishap where both sisters are somewhat to blame. They each want to solve the problem; each in two very different ways. This book contains the same kind of hilarity that the first does and I have read this series over and over again.

My favorite of the trilogy

Claire Hanson is a Keeper---basically acting as a fulcrom to balance good and evil wherever she is summoned. She's accompanied by Austin, a senior citizen--who coincidentally is feline. In the first of the book, she's reunited with a former companion, Dean, a Bystander who she parted with when she realized that the life of a Keeper wasn't safe for 'bystanders.' The subsequent good feelings of their reunion creates an angel who is brought to Earth---without a summons to fulfill.

All things having to be equal, Chaos spits out a demon in female form who is Samuel's counterpart. Add to the complexity, Diana who is Claire's more powerful younger sister, and you have a whole lot of tension going on.

Huff is not known for her humor, but I think she should be. Of the three books (Summon the Keeper, Second Summoning and Long Hot Summoning) this book strikes the best balance between humor and plot.

All in all, the whole series is a keeper.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

In this sequel to Summon the Keeper (a #5 Locus bestseller), Tanya Huff returns to her inspired occult world of dark souls, spirits of light, and one opinionated talking cat...

Whether it's a blessing or curse, Claire Hansen's gift for reweaving time and space must be used to maintain the balance between Light and Darkness. But when an angel and a devil take human form-raging hormonal, teenaged form-it's up to Claire to keep all hell and heaven from busting loose.

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