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The Hollows series (also called the Rachel Morgan series) is a series of eleven mystery novels, six short stories, one graphic novel,
and one compendium resource by Kim Harrison, published by HarperCollins Publishers, in an urban fantasy alternate history universe
and set primarily in the city of Cincinnati and its suburbs. The alternate history is built upon two premises:
the recent open existence of magical and supernatural species, primarily witches, vampires, and werewolves, with the human population;
and the historical investment of Cold War military spending in genetic engineering as opposed to the Space Race, which resulted in the accidental
release of a virus via a genetically modified tomato in the 1960s that killed a significant portion of the human population.
The series is set approximately forty years after this plague, referred to as 'The Turn' within the series.

The series is told in the first-person point-of-view of Rachel Morgan, a detective witch who works with local law enforcement agencies and faces
threats both mundane and supernatural in origin. The series also focuses on Rachel's relationships with her partners, a living vampire and a pixy,
as well as her personal relationships with males of different species.

The above is the official blurb sound interesting ? A Pixy really! Males of different species! If I had read this before I would have passed.
BUT I didn't... I picked a book called "Into the Woods" a month ago (I didn't see anything else at the book store that interested
me,& I like stuff about mysterious places plus my wife feels bad if I don't find something to read.

When I checked it out at home it was a collection of short stories several were based on the Hollows (never was anything about woods).


This woman can write & I was sucked into the Hollows,picked up all 11 books & have read 3 of them (their titles are mostly based
based on Clint Eastwoods Movies-just another weird touch).

*Dead Witch Walkingrow. The novel's title may specifically allude to the 1995 film of that name, or the book upon which that film was based.
*The Good, the Bad, and the Undead: An allusion to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), the final installment of the Dollars trilogy.
*Every Which Way But Dead: An allusion to Every Which Way but Loose (1978).
*A Fistful of Charms: An allusion to A Fistful of Dollars (1964), the first installment of the Dollars trilogy.
*For a Few Demons More: An allusion For a Few Dollars More (1965), the second installment of the Dollars trilogy.
*The Outlaw Demon Wails: An allusion to The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976). (In the United Kingdom, this novel was released as Where Demons Dare,
which does also allude to a Clint Eastwood film, namely Where Eagles Dare (1968).)
*White Witch, Black Curse: An allusion to White Hunter Black Heart (1990).
*Black Magic Sanction: An allusion to The Eiger Sanction (1975).
*Pale Demon: An allusion to Pale Rider (1985).
*A Perfect Blood: An allusion to A Perfect World (1993).
*Ever After: An allusion to Hereafter

Anyway good reads,she pulls off the Hollows as a consistant alternative world,the characters are well developed (even the Pixy).The
action is non stop & humor is well done plus the sex isn't bad either.

OD

How's the writing craftwork quality (as opposed to just the quality of the story)? How "complete" is each book independently of the others (ie, is it just one story split up into volumes, or does each have a beginning and an end)?

Based on the 3 I've read,they are independent as they each complete a story but each book builds on the other & the core characters
continue.The interaction between the characters is a strong point & you get drawn into their interactions.

The writer has a real feel for how people talk & relate to each other (even when those people include weres,Vampires,witches,pixies,Elves or fairys)
It's just damn weird how she pulls this off.The characters are not cardboard but complex individuals who change & develop.

The story themselves are well constructed with a lot of twist & turns. It somewhat turns a mirror on contempory society but it's underplayed
& doesn't get preachy.

OD

Huh... Spaghetti Fantasy... I'll have to check these out.. Thanks for the info OD

I've just started the 9th Book,so it's been my summer reading. I 've picked a few other books but this series keeps me interested,
so I'll read them through before getting into something else.

I do notice that although each book is somewhat self contained you would miss a lot if you didn't start at the beginning, the &th,8th & now the 9th
really build on each other.

I understand the last book has been written but won't come out until 2015,not sure if any others will come out
between now & then.

OD

Well my Summer reading outlasted Summer by about a week, but
I just finished the 11th Book. It was a rather cool experience
as usually with series books you read 1 & have to wait months
or years for the next one, so things can get disjointed(looking
at you "Song of Ice I Fire".

The books covered about 2 years of real time & it's been
quite a ride,relations ships,formed,change or just died.
Characters you thought had 1 agenda really had another.

Harrison packs in a lot of action & character development
& makes a world of witches,vampires,weres,pixies,faries
demons & other mythical beings seem natural.

Sometimes the action/situations got so intense I stopped
reading for a day or so. Anyway I really did enjoy this series
& will be waiting for the 12 book "The Dead Pool" to
come out in Feb 2014. The 13th & final book as yet unnamed
will be out in 2015,so unlike Song of Ice & Fire I I have
a good chance of actually being alive to finish up the
series.

OD

don'tcha love it when you finish a set of books in a series and the next one is a year out.....

I picked up Dead Witch Walking on a whim back in 2004 when I first started to read for pleasure again, and I was very surprised by it. As OD mentioned, it really does feel like a living, breathing alternate world. Rachel Morgan and her crew are vivacious and interesting, ever-changing while seeming to be consistent with internal character dispositions and motivations.

I stopped reading at the seventh book because I decided to wait and see how long Harrison tried to stretch the series before continuing to throw money at it, so I think when it's "complete" I'll pick back up and finish it out. I really did enjoy it up to when I stopped. Oh, and they also changed the narrator in the audio books at like the sixth or seventh book and that turned me off to listening to them.

Well the Series has ended with book 13 "The Witch with No Name" ,it's a bitter/sweet experience having
followed Rachael Morgan & the world of the Hollows all this time. Sweet as the final book was excellent
a great read & story that brought everything together. Unlike some series I think the ending should
satisfy the readers that have followed the storyline over the years.

Bitter as it's the end & I'll no be longer to immerse myself in the Hollows, I'll really miss not looking
forward to another installment. I do hope that Kim Harrison may put out some short stories in the
Hollow's Setting as she has in the past.

OD