Loading ...Death’s Daughter by Amber Benson
As the first installment in this enjoyable series begins, we meet Calliope Reaper-Jones. Though feeling somewhat stuck in her dead-end job as an assistant to the Vice President of Sales at House and Yard, Inc., Callie remains optimistic that the position will eventually lead to a more lucrative situation. Suddenly, Callie notices odd things happening, like the huge dinosaur-like monster at the foot of the stairs in her apartment building and a homeless man on the subway knowing her name. The next day at work, in a scene involving the restroom, a cupcake, and a faun, the reader learns that via a forgetting charm, Callie has been protecting herself from the knowledge of her true identity: Death’s daughter. Jarvis, the faun, has counteracted Callie’s charm in order to let her know of the kidnapping of her father, older sister, and the executives of Death, Inc.
Once she returns home to the family estate, Callie’s mother informs her that unless she is willing to take up the mantle and serve as Death until her father can be found, her whole family will lose their immortality. Realizing that she really does not have much choice, as her younger sister is only seventeen and unable to fill the post, Callie agrees to meet with Death’s oversight board, comprised of various deities. Assuming that her willingness to take over automatically gets her the job, imagine Callie’s surprise when she learns that she must successfully complete three tasks in order to be appointed.
If it has not been evident to the reader prior to this point, the irreverent humor deftly applied by Benson becomes obvious as Callie embarks upon her journey. During her first visit to Hell, Callie notices that there is not much activity at the gate in her location. She then informs the reader, “I found out later that the North Gate was where all the Pagans, Satanists, and Atheists entered Hell, so that was why there wasn’t a stampede” (113). Along the way Callie meets gods and goddesses, as well as demons, discovering much about herself and her true capabilities as she progresses.
As with Callie herself, the book’s secondary characters are well-rounded and fun to spend time with. Two stand-outs are Callie’s younger sister, Clio, and the goddess Kali, whose name demonstrates Benson’s facility with word play. One of the novel’s best features is the underlying tongue-in-cheek humor that runs throughout the narrative. Readers who enjoy a hefty dose of wit in their paranormal fantasy will embrace this book.
Book Stats:
- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Ace (February 24, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0441016944
- ISBN-13: 978-0441016945
To purchase a print copy of Death’s Daughter click here
To purchase a Kindle copy of Death’s Daughter click here
To visit the author’s website go here.
(4 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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You hear a lot about the devil’s offspring in fiction, but you rarely get to see Death’s family. This sounds like such a fun book!
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Hi Amber,
Sounds like it’s written with a rich dose humour; so refreshing from the plethora of fantasy that takes itself all too seriously and ends up coming across to the reader as a little formal, cliched and stilted.
Can’t see that problem here, tho I guess it’s inevitable that you’ll get comparisons to Pratchett. Ignore them; this sounds quite unique, and I love the idea of a ‘female death’. I deal with slush piles of sub’s at Aurealis, and commented just recently to my boss, Stuart, there that every ‘Death’ character seems to be male, and how great it’d be to see someone do a female one for once.
Seems I’ve got my wish
Not big into Kindle, I still like to hold a book in my hands and smell the paper, so I’ll have to order a copy. Any objections to my doing a review of it on Rivergum? The site’s going thru a morph’ at the moment, into a writers’ and trade newspaper, but a review section will be included and I’d love to add yours, if you’re okay with that.
BTW, my last dog was a toothy, bad-tempered little silky terrier, which we of course had to name Kali, but the vet and council register mis-spelled it as Carly (like Carly Simon), which miffed me. Totally different temperaments, heheh!
Best of luck with the book.
Wish it and you well, Mark.
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I love it, yes there are a lot of demon offspring out there, but Deaths daughter sounds refreshing. And I can help thinking about Death in the Prathcett novels, and how he was my fav character.
This one I have to put on my TBR list
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Reading this review and summary put this book on the top of my “To Read” list. I love the unique idea of Death’s Daughter. It gives a whole new meaning to taking over the family business. Plus, as much as I love UF, there needs to be a bit more humor, too much drama and a girl could use a break. Nothing wrong with drama and humor, because that’s what life is all about. Death is usually the villian, for obvious reasons, so its refreshing to get an inside look at the happenings of the everafter. I think Amber has a real winner on her hands, and I look forward to future releases.
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Hi!! I think it’s really interesting the idea of the book and how the protagonist discover much about herself with her job!!
Well, good luck for all and exscuse me for the bad english!!
Giulia
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After reading this review, I definitely want to read the book! It sounds really great! The concept reminds me a little of Pratchett’s Mort, but with a very original twist.
Interesting that the goddess Kali was mentioned, as my internet “handle” for over a decade has been kalitara, a merging of two Hindu goddesses. Kali, the goddess of destruction and Tara, the loving earth mother.
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I love the paranormal romance genre. But there is such a huge number of books to select. This review really spikes my interest in that this book sounds fresh and unique in the genre. I haven’t read many books in which death is a woman. Furthermore, I love a tongue in cheek humor. Haven’t read any novels involving Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction, the ultimate badass mother of goddesshood.
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Oh that sounds soooo good! I enjoy reading about the Gods and Goddesses and this seems to be an interesting mix of it all! Death, life, different Gods and beliefs, and above all humor!
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This sounds like a lot of fun!!! I can’t wait to read it!
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I haven’t read the book as yet but will be doing so shortly. In the meantime ive read quite a few of the somewhat mixed reviews on Amazon.
Deaths daughter is a concept I’ve read of several times, particuraly in Terry Pratchett where she is a recurring character but there is definitely a new spin here with the whole ‘corporation’ end of things. The tie in with a variety of mythologies also seems very interesting and an adventurous road to take as with all of this type of fiction attention to detail is so important-due to the rigorous attention to detail we fans have!
Although it seems to be getting slightly type caste as YA on Amazon, the book actually seems to have a much wider appeal and this (not so) youg adult will definitely be purchasing!!
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Can’t wait to read this. I hope there are more Callie books in the works.
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Well, it defintely sounds unique lol
But I like unique. Too many people take a basic story and recycle it, with barely a change to it. This story sounds fresh, new, and very entertaining. I like off the wall ideas that can draw many different types of things together, a nice blend of fact, fiction, fantasy and myth. I can’t wait to read it!
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The premise of this series is the coolest! I saw the book prominently displayed towards the front of B&N on my visit last Friday. I resisted purchasing as I have hopes of winning a copy. Now if I don’t win, I’ll be back to B&N and buying it for Mt Git’r'Read.
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See a lot books about Death but this one seems to put him (or idea of what Death is) in a more personal setting extending out to his family, very different. I like that. Sounds like an interesting read. Definitely one to put on my TBR list.
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