Hellforged is the sequel to Deadtown, which I reviewed a few weeks ago. I liked the first book, but when the sequel came out I discovered I wasn't all that interested in reading it.
Hellforged started out fairly slow, or maybe it just seemed that way because my interest kept flagging. Vicky is a shapechanger and demon-hunter, but in the first book she ended up having to link herself to a demon called the Destroyer in order to banish it back to Hell. Now the Destroyer is showing up in Vicky's dreams, and she suspects it's connected to several grisly deaths of zombies she knows. Finally she gets worried enough to call her Aunt Mab in Wales for advice. Mab tells her to come to Wales immediately.
So she does. At the drop of a hat, Vicky leaves the country for several weeks. This is a symptom of the main problem I have with Vicky, which is that she doesn't seem to have any interests or activities outside of demon-hunting. Sure she has a boyfriend, but she's the first to admit that they don't actually see each other much. Essentially, Vicky spends her nights demon-hunting (note: not as interesting as it sounds) and her days asleep, and that's all. It makes her seem unrealistic and flat, and I never felt much of a connection with her.
Not only that, but she doesn't even seem to like demon-hunting or shape-changing. She never shows much enthusiasm for anything in her life. The woman desperately needs to take up watercolors or something.
The plot isn't bad once Vicky stops whining that she can't do what Mab's teaching her to do, and instead settles down to do it. I was glad that the ending was satisfying and ties up a lot of loose threads, because I doubt I'll bother to read the next book.
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