Into the Dark Anthology

The Darkest Fire by Gena Showalter: (Lords of the Underworld, #0.5 Prequel)
Read January 8, 2010
I thought this was pretty good. I picked up this anthology primarily for this story. Of course, I will read the rest, but I wanted to start this series, and I thought this would be a good place.

Geryon is the Guardian of Hell and Kadence is the goddess who oversees the condition of the wall between Hell and Earth. So every day for all eternity she is outside the wall, inspecting it. All the while Geryon has watched her and become fascinated by her. Now, the wall is cracking and they must both go into Hell to find those responsible and kill them, as well as repair the wall — Kadence’s life might just depend on it.

Overall, I liked this, however it was short. What made their relationship a bit more realistic was that they sort of knew each other for centuries, although they just started talking. I’m guessing that the Demon Lords who escaped are the Lords of the Underworld, although the ending of this was a bit confusing. I’m also hoping that they take human form because ugly skeletal beings are not really what gets me all hot and bothered. We shall see… (P.S. [2/16 Update] Yes, they do. Oh boy do they! lol)

The Amazon’s Curse by Gena Showalter:(Atlantis, #5)
I haven’t read this yet so my rating does not include this story. I plan to read this series and refuse to read them out of order so I will come back to this and adjust my rating accordingly at that time.

The Darkest Prison by Gena Showalter: (Lords of the Underworld, #3.5)
Read February 7, 2010
This novella is about Atlas (Titan god of Strength) and Nike (Greek goddess of Strength). At this time Nike is in prison with the other Greeks, while Atlas is the warden. However, not long ago (before the Titans took over the heavens), their roles were reversed. So this story entails the love/hate relationship they have with each other and the struggles that means for both of them — being that Nike is in prison…for eternity.

I loved this story! Despite it being so short, I found myself really loving both Atlas and Nike. Their relationship was interesting, Atlas was smokin’ hot, and I really enjoyed reading about them. I’m kind of hoping that they pop up in future LOTU books so that I can hear more about them!

P.S. Also, although quite small, it was nice to get another glimpse at Reyes’ sexy self in this one. We don’t get much from his character, but still. I ♥ that man so whatever we get is nice!

Lords of the Underworld Bonus Guide by Gena Showalter: (Lords of the Underworld, Bonus Material)
Read February 16, 2001
I’m not a big fan of bonus material in general. Even with my favorite series’ I will not go out of my way to read it, even though I’m very OCD about reading everything else in the series. I don’t know, it’s just that if it’s not in the books or novella’s themselves, it seems like the info doesn’t really exist in the world that’s been created. At least not to me.

But, aside from the fact that I’m not a big bonus materials kind of girl, I enjoyed this. My favorite section was William’s interviews with the Lords. That was hilarious. I also enjoyed the interview between Kresley and Gena as well as the interview between Gilly and the Ladies of the Underworld. The rest I kind of skimmed through mostly. But if you read anything from this section, I highly recommend the William/Lords interviews. So. Funny. Gotta love William.

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