Forest Moon Rising
A Tess Noncoiré Adventure, No 4
P.R. Frost

Daw Books Inc.
February 2011 / 0756406552
Fantasy
Amazon

Reviewed by Jan Fields

Tess Noncoiré writes fantasy novels. At least, that's what most people think. In reality, she's a Celestial Blade Warrior and defender of our mundane world against things that go bump in the dark. In this fourth book in the series, Tess is trying to rid the forests of a Norglein who is trying to build his own family dynasty -- by forcing himself on human women and then later stealing the resulting children. This task is anything but easy as Tess ends up injured, then finds herself the guardian of several half-demon teens. Her only hope is the one thing she does least well -- accept help from those she loves.

The use of a science fiction convention for part of the setting was a great unusual twist. And I liked seeing an urban fantasy female lead who sometimes gets her clock cleaned while on the job. The split viewpoint between the main character and her imp helper brought in a nice bit of comic relief -- it's always nice to see a book that doesn't take itself too seriously. For anyone interested in fast-paced urban fantasy action with an unusual leading lady -- this one is fun and fascinating. Plus, who doesn't like a main character that is under 5'3" and used to be plump? Now, this is a demon fighter I can relate to!

First three books in the series

Hounding the Moon [review]
Moon in the Mirror
Faery Moon