The Circle Books — (2009-2011) Publisher: A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do... Being a witch doesn't pay the bills, but Persephone Alcmedi gets by between reading Tarot cards, writing her syndicated newspaper column, and kenneling werewolves in the basement when the moon is full — even if witches aren't supposed to mingle with werewolves. She really reaches the end of her leash, though, when her grandmother gets kicked out of the nursing home and Seph finds herself in the doghouse about some things she's written. Then her werewolf friend Lorrie is murdered... and the high priestess of an important coven offers Seph big money to destroy the killer, a powerful vampire named Goliath Kline. Seph is a tough girl, but this time she bites off more than she can chew. She needs a little help from her friends — werewolf friends. One of those friends, Johnny, the motorcycle-riding lead singer for the techno-metal-goth band Lycanthropia, has a crush on her. And while Seph has always been on edge around this 6'2" leather-clad hunk, she's starting to realize that although their attraction may be dangerous, nothing could be as lethal as the showdown that awaits them.
   
 Vicious Circle
The bare bones of this story will be familiar to urban-fantasy devotees: Werewolves, vampires, faeries, and witches all exist and have become public knowledge in recent years. Girl, tough and feisty, takes it upon herself to dispense justice in a supernatural murder case. Girl is chosen against her will to play a major role in paranormal affairs. Girl is wooed by attractive werewolf and attractive vampire. I was worried Vicious Circle would be just like a hundred other novels with a similar premise, but Linda Robertson does some really interesting things to make her story stand out.
First, she realistically explores what might happen if supernatural races existed and came out of the closet. Vampires are well-regarded in society due to the glamorous image they have cultivated; faeries have gained acceptance by pretending to be harmless. Weres, however, are treated as second-class citizens. Persephone Alcmedi does her best to fight these attitudes, writing a pro-were newspaper column and renting out her basement to weres as a full-moon shelter. Anti-were prejudice hampers Persephone's mission at every turn. No cop wants to touch a were-related case, and no hospital wants to treat a were patient.
I was also impressed by the unusually accurate Wicca in Vicious Circle. (OK, so real Wiccans don't shoot visible bolts of brightly colored energy when they cast spells, but that's creative license!) The belief system, the ethical code, and the structure of Persephone's rituals are clearly well-researched.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Persephone is not the misanthropic heroine you might expect. She has a lot of emotional boundaries that keep her from being a social butterfly, but at the same time, she has a powerful protective streak when it comes to those she cares about. "Do you always take care of people?" asks a young girl whom Persephone has just taken under her wing. The answer is yes. In the early pages of Vicious Circle, Persephone finds herself sheltering her grandmother, a Great Dane puppy, a severely injured werewolf, and the aforementioned little girl, along with her usual canine visitors. As the plot unfolds, trying to protect everyone is a full-time job. I found this aspect of Persephone's character refreshing and unusual.
I enjoyed Vicious Circle, and I'm interested in seeing where this series goes. I think it has a lot of potential. —Kelly Lasiter
 Hallowed Circle
Linda Robertson’s first novel, Vicious Circle, was a fun read, and its sequel, Hallowed Circle, is even better. In this second installment, Robertson spins a highly original plot (if this has been done in urban fantasy before, it was in a book I missed!), further develops her characters and the relationships among them, and as an added bonus, passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors.
Persephone Alcmedi is still reeling from the discovery that she is the Lustrata, a “chosen one” sort of figure. Plus, she’s still getting used to having her grandmother, a foster-daughter, and a puppy under her roof, not to mention the latest ups and downs in her relationship with Johnny the guitar-playing werewolf. So when she’s nominated to compete in the Eximium, a contest in which a new High Priestess will be chosen, Seph doesn’t want any part of it.
She changes her mind when she meets the front-runner, Hunter Hopewell, who has her nose in the air and a chip on her shoulder. After dealing with the previous High Priestess, Seph doesn’t want yet another snooty social climber ruling the coven, so she agrees to compete in the hopes of knocking Hunter out of the running. But Seph gets more than she bargained for when contestants start turning up dead.
The Eximium is such a unique and fun plot. The murder mystery is compelling, and so is the contest itself, in which five revered crones set challenges for Seph and the other would-be priestesses. Hallowed Circle has two other plotlines running alongside this one; one of them concerns Johnny, and the other deals with the vampire Menessos and a group of ticked-off fairies.
I’ve often praised authors for creating a sense of place. Robertson creates a vivid sense of time. Hallowed Circle takes place during the Halloween season and it really feels like it, in every detail.
I couldn’t put Hallowed Circle down. Between the sympathetic characters, the well-grounded magical lore, and an exciting plot in which nothing is quite what it seems, this is a standout urban fantasy.
—Kelly Lasiter
 Fatal Circle
Persephone Alcmedi stirred up a whole cauldron of trouble when she killed an irate fairy at the end of Hallowed Circle. Now, the fairies want Seph dead, and Xerxadrea thinks there’s a traitor in the ranks of the witches. So, in order to protect Seph and her family, Menessos will name Seph his court witch so that it looks like she acted on his orders, thereby bringing the fairies’ wrath down on him instead. Meanwhile, Xerxadrea will use this as a pretext to exile Seph from the witches (also for Seph’s protection), while she, Xerxadrea, tries to sniff out the traitor.
All of this is a little confusing but what it amounts to is that Seph goes to live in Menessos’ underground domain and is cut off from her support system. All except Johnny, that is, since a vampire’s court witch is traditionally allowed a “pet.” Johnny bristles at being thought of as a pet, obviously, while Menessos bristles about the fact that Seph is closer to Johnny than to himself. And several of the women in the vampire court bristle at Seph’s installation. So, the early chapters of Fatal Circle include a lot of Menessos sulking about Johnny, Johnny sulking about Menessos, and various catty women sulking about Seph.
I’ve just realized something. I’m not reading the CIRCLE series for the heroine-vampire-werewolf love triangle. It’s well-written as they go, but it’s not what makes this series unique, and it’s not why I’m here. What I love about Linda Robertson’s books are the unusually rich family and family-of-choice relationships; the beautiful, spiritual descriptions of magic and ritual; and, in Hallowed Circle in particular, the originality of the plotting. So, the first half of this book didn’t quite grab me, though it may grab you if you’re more fond of supernatural love triangles than I am.
The second half really sunk its teeth in, though, and wouldn’t let go. The central characters face deep losses and the need to step up and claim more power and responsibility. Plus, there’s lots of magic — and when Robertson’s writing magic, that means lovely writing and high emotion set into a well-researched framework. The plot builds up to a gripping climactic battle. The only gripe I have about the latter chapters of Fatal Circle is that a huge plot point is left hanging at the end. It’s not a cliffhanger precisely — the battle itself is resolved — but readers will have to wait for Arcane Circle to learn one crucial piece of information. And we may all just die of suspense in the meantime!
This isn’t my favorite of the CIRCLE books (Hallowed Circle still holds that distinction) but it’s a worthy installment in the series, and I look forward to future adventures with Persephone.
—Kelly Lasiter
Arcane Circle
Fatal Circle ended on a cliffhanger, with Menessos’ fate uncertain after a sacrifice he made during the battle with the fairies. In Arcane Circle, the fourth in Linda Robertson’s Circle series, we learn what has become of Menessos and see some of the battle’s repercussions in vampire politics. We also briefly revisit witch politics, as the lucusi react to a revered crone’s death, and encounter a new Homeland Security agency devoted specifically to dealing with the paranormal. Then, too, there’s the exotic menagerie that has taken up residence on Seph’s land, and by “exotic” I mean dragons, unicorns, phoenixes…
It’s the werewolf politics, however, that take center stage in Arcane Circle. The Rege, a werewolf ruler described by one were as “Pope-Czarzilla,” is coming to town to investigate Johnny’s claim to be the prophesied Domn Lup. Johnny wants to be at full power when he meets the Rege, so he and Persephone begin a search for the mysterious tattoo artist who bound Johnny’s memories and power in his elaborate ink.
Arcane Circle is a good book from the beginning — though it has a few slow spots — but it’s in the last 80 pages or so that it becomes fantastic. The plotline concerning Johnny’s tattoos turns out to be inextricably entwined with another unresolved piece of the characters’ history. What follows is an intense several chapters that blend the two best aspects of this series — the magic and the family relationships — and lead to a heart-tugging conclusion in which Seph’s inner strength is tested in a way she never anticipated.
I’m unabashedly Team Johnny, so for me it was great to spend this book focusing more on him than on Menessos, plus Johnny gets several chances to show just how strongly he feels about Seph and how willing he is to fight for her. We also get to spend time with Nana, Beverly, and Ares, which is nice after their near-absence from Fatal Circle.
Overall, Arcane Circle is a good addition to the series and should please Johnny fans in particular. To my mind, it’s not quite the best in the series (Hallowed Circle still comes out on top — a turn of phrase I’m sure Johnny could make an innuendo about), but the last 80 pages are Robertson’s best writing yet.
—Kelly Lasiter
Wicked Circle
Kelly's review coming soon...
—Kelly Lasiter
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