The Hollows by Kim Harrison is one of my favorite urban fantasy series and when I saw there would be a prequel I squeed like a teenager at a rock concert. The Turn is a full-length novel that takes us back and sheds light on the tomato epidemic and addresses how and why the supernatural world came out to humans. We see familiar characters and are treated to new information. Of course, now I want more!

Five reasons to grab The Turn

-Tomatoes and familiar faces. While I don’t necessarily think one needs to read the Hollows first, those who have will certainly enjoy seeing how the world we know in the Hollows began and everyone’s role in it. We get answers and enjoy many ah-ha moments while tidbits have us craving more.

-It’s a full-length novel. Often prequels are novellas, but Harrison treated us to an entirely fleshed out story. The tale takes place in the sixties and long before Rachael comes into the picture, but we do see familiar faces like Quen and Al. The tale begins when Trisk and Kal are at an event hosted by the University. Top graduating students interview will alumni for jobs in their fields. Here we get our first taste of problems Trisk, faces as a female and dark elf in a man’s scientific world. We also see Kal’s hand in Trisk’s woes and oh man, you will love to hate Kal.

-Kal and Trisk are both interesting characters. While not without flaws I liked Trisk from her career goal to personality. Kal is a character you will love to hate. The man is a real jerk and had me thinking evil thoughts. I wanted his goose tarred and feathered.

-Secondary characters from humans to pixies add interest and will keep you flipping the pages. Harrison added depth to them, and they had a strong presence in the way events unfold.

-The story that unfolds was fast-paced and occurs years later when Kal is asked to double check a project that Trisk’s made safe for Inlanders. Betrayal, summonings, and more await you! Harrison will have you yelling at the characters and at times bursting with laughter. Al was a hoot, and reading The Turn brought back memories of the series Heck, I wanted to reread them all! I will warn you, while the story is complete it did leave me wanted more. Hollows 0.2?

I thoroughly enjoyed The Turn and declare it a must read for fans of The Hollows. Well done Ms. Harrison, well done!

The Turn by Kim Harrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks goes to Netgalley for this ARC!

And maybe that should be double because I fell out of my chair when I discovered that I was approved. So here comes the total honestly: I'm a total fanboy of the series. I always have been. So when the series ended and I had nothing new to look forward to in this universe, I felt so sad. So sad.

But now? So happy!

We're in the sixties now. Yup, too early for most of our favorite characters to show up, but here's a little surprise for you: soooooo many of the supporting cast happens to be worked right into the tale. I didn't even have a single qualm about any of them showing up. Not even Rachael's teenager dad. :)

This is a backstory novel in the very best sense of the word. We get all of the downfall of humanity and the rise of the tomato-immune peoples, the elvish and vampire involvement in the tragedy, but more importantly, we get to learn all about another certain MC's parents. I can't say it's a particularly happy tale despite the ongoing need to put a brave and optimistic face on things from Trisk's PoV, but she's having to fight many battles on many fronts and my heart goes out to her. Mysogyny rears its nasty 60's head.

And then, of course, is the supernaturals deciding to come out of the closet and we get that story as well.

But there's one main character from all of the Hollows series that gets a nice big chunk of a role in this one that I just had to squeeeeee about.

And I refuse to reveal his/her/its name here.

But I loved it. I really really really loved it. :)

The whole novel was a perfect companion to the rest of the series and there's a lot to connect with even though most of the characters are either seen in new light or are fleshed out a ton. I geeked-out about it all. This goes well beyond nostalgia. It's a real Hollows novel. :)