Katee Robert's Hunt on Dark Waters begins with a familiar setup in the romantic fantasy genre: a tough-as-nails protagonist with a bit of magic at her disposal, a chip on her shoulder and a thing for sex with vampires. Then her lady vampire lover breaks her heart and threatens to kill her, so the witch Evelyn grabs a handful of valuable jewelry and leaps through a convenient magic mirror that's a portal to another reality. As one does.

She ends up in the middle of the ocean ... in another plane of existence. She's rescued by a passing ship and is immediately given a choice: join the crew or go back in the water. Neither option particularly appeals to Evelyn, who already misses the modern comforts of her own reality.

Described by the author as a pirate ship, the Crimson Hag is a pirate in name only. While the crew can be a bit brusque and sometimes even a bit murdery, they don't go around attacking ships or raiding coastal towns. Instead, they operate in concert with other ships to protect the Threshold, the massive ocean region where realities overlap. It's more like a naval vessel, really, than a pirate ship.

And then it turns out they're the Cwn Annwn, the Wild Hunt of Welsh lore. Of course, the Wild Hunt had nothing to do with the sea, and it's not like calling them pirates makes them more badass than the Wild Hunt already is. These folks hunt monsters and protect Threshold from danger.

Or, that's the theory. In reality, the council governing the Cwn Annwn is corrupt, abusing its power and ordering its crews to kill creatures that aren't necessarily monsters.

The story is told in alternating, first-person chapters, each narrated by either Evelyn, the witch, or Bowen, the ship's captain with a mysterious past. Of course, they don't really like each other when the story begins but feel a growing attraction and, soon enough, an overriding passion. This is a romance novel beneath its fantasy trappings, assuming you like your romance with lots (lots) of very explicit sex.

When he and Evelyn are not engaged in hanky-panky, Bowen for the first time finds himself questioning the orders he has always followed without hesitation. Evelyn, on the other hand, finds herself for the first time willing to fight for a cause, and maybe even to settle down with one life partner.

Oddly, when the long foreshadowed attack from Evelyn's vampire ex finally comes, she attacks at close range with ... a rifle? What self-respecting vampire uses a rifle?

The world Robert has built is an odd mix, primarily your typical high fantasy world but with modern conveniences like hot showers, ice boxes and spacious accommodations, even on board a small wooden sailing ship. While the spellcasters we meet in the book are quickly drained by using their magic, the spells necessary to maintain these modern luxuries don't seem to drain anyone. They just exist, unquestioned.

For pirates/monster hunters, everyone in the book is exceedingly careful with their use of pronouns -- even a few sets with which I wasn't familiar: ne/nir and ze/zir. Yessir, they will tussle at a moment's notice with a maternally protective dragon or a school of toothy mermaids, but you can bet these fierce, sometimes cruel monster hunters will never ever mix up someone's pronoun preferences. While that might be the new norm in polite society, it feels out of place in this setting. Certainly in the middle of a deadly fight, people wouldn't be focusing on whether an individual prefers he or she, ne or ze, or them.

I had problems with some aspects of the book, and it certainly feels like the barriers between Evelyn and Bowen fell unrealistically fast just so the author could get to the sexy parts of the story. Even so, I am very curious to see where their adventures take them next. Because of course you know a sequel is coming.

[ visit Katee Robert's website ]