Trisk is an elf struggling to be a successful scientist during a time when genetics was an old boys club.

She's trying to come up with the answer to her species' genetic problems, and monitor human science so it doesn't accidentally annihilate her people.

She's come up with a genetically hardy species of tomato, and successfully worked with a human scientist to make sure the tactical virus weapon he's created isn't a threat to Inderlanders--the different species hiding within human kind (witches, vampires, weres and elves).

The only problem is Kalamack. He wants to either sabotage her work or steal it for his own.

This book is the prequel to Harrison's Hollows series, and it shows the genesis of the T4 Angel virus and the 'coming out' of Inderlanders to human society. The T4 Angel tomato Trisk creates is genetically bridged by Kalamack to combine with the tactical virus, and it wipes out a substantial portion of humankind.

We discover that Trisk and Kalamack are Trent Kalamack's eventual parents--Trent is the sort of mob boss that Rachel clashes with throughout the Hollows series.

One thing is super clear in this book--Trent's dad was an epic dick.

Trent (junior, from the rest of the Hollows books) seems to be a nice balance of his dad and his mother--he's a ruthless jerk outwardly, but has a heart where no one can see it. You end up rooting for Trisk and her friends in this book, and booing his dad throughout.

It was great to finally get the full background on how the Turn came to be. There's a lot of characters from the Hollows books that make an appearance here and there as well. Fans of the series will be pleased with this prequel.

This, the official Hollows prequel takes us back to the '60's, before Rachel, Jenks and Ivy were even thought of. This is the missing part of the Hollows series and tells the back story of how genetically modified tomatoes almost bring about the destruction of society as we know it. And how Inderlanders are faced with the choice of staying hidden or coming out and trying to save humanity.

Brilliant, it has a host of new characters but oodles of old favourites as well. It's simultaneously all new and comfortably familiar at the same time. It made me realise how much I've missed the Hollows, Kim Harrison, long may you reign!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Welcome back to the Hollows! Even though this is a prequel, you really should read the rest of the series first (just as a mini-disclaimer). Knowing about the world of the Hollows prior to this book makes it about a bazillion time better, at least in my opinion. In a departure from her normal writing style, Harrison wrote The Turn in third person. I don’t think it takes anything away from the story, in fact, having the multiple perspectives is rather key. This isn’t the story of Rachel Morgan’s life as the rest of the series is, it is the story of the turn and all of the people that had a roll in it. So we begin in the mid-1960s and Harrison did a great job of subtly reminding the reader that they were in the past. The hair, the clothes, the carpeting all lent themselves to years gone by. The elves are still openly in Inderlander society and genetic research is king.

The main characters are Trisk, Kal, and Daniel, with a smattering of Quen. (yay!) I loved Trisk. She is a woman who knows she is fighting an uphill battle in a man’s world. If you thought being a supernatural creature would make life more egalitarian, think again. But she works ridiculously hard to succeed and is really good at what she does. I wanted to bitch slap the men in this book, Kal most of all. I could not stand Kal and it was made worse by my being a complete and total idiot while reading most of the book. Kal of The Turn is Trenton Lee Kalamack not the Trent of later Hollows books. (Curse you people for being so vain as to name your kids after yourselves!!!) I am ashamed at how long it took me to realize that this was Trent’s dad. I was sitting there hating Kal/Trent and Harrison for writing this total douche character (who is also strangely insecure) and who was coloring my view of Trent forever, when I figured out the relationship like ¾ of the way through the book. We all know that Trent is kind of a douche too but while Trent has only killed a few people that we know of, his dad killed millions with the T4 Angel Tomato and virus shenanigans. I felt like Trisk especially was trying to excuse Kal’s role in the virus as release as an accident but it was horrid and there really isn’t any excuse. The only slightly redeeming thing about Kal is that he later saves a ton of children with life threatening diseases through his quest to fix the elven genome. The kids were probably more of a side effect than actual altruism but they were saved all the same.

So once I was done being an idiot, what was a really good story became a great story. The science was awesome and very well explained. The relationship of using each other over and over again that Trisk and Kal have was very strange and in the end I felt like they kind of deserved each other just a little. Though if it hadn’t been for the claiming credit for research thing, I doubt that Trisk would have stayed involved with Kal. She was a very “stand on your own two feet” sort of character. Daniel’s character was a mix of sad and “aww” feels about him on repeat. He was kind of pale in comparison to the vibrancy of Trisk & Kal. Only toward the end of the book did he begin to shine.

The pacing of the story was interesting. The first part of the book was fairly slow. You knew the virus was going to be released and were basically waiting for the other shoe to drop for more than 150 pages. I did find myself hoping rather naively that it wouldn’t happen but my hope was in vain. Once the virus was released, the pace picked up significantly. Almost every scene after that was someone getting something done or running for their lives. The end was mostly satisfy if only because it had so many cameos from the later series and it was great to read about the Hollows characters again. Once I was finished, I immediately picked up Dead Witch Walking for a re-read and continuity check. Harrison did a great job on DWW leaving room for this story. Since the Hollow series is from Rachel’s perspective and she was born after the turn, there is no reason for her to know any details of the cover-up around the release of the virus and why the elves went underground. It gave Harrison free-rein to get as messy as she wanted with the details.

All in all, an awesome read, especially for fans of the Hollows.

Loved "The Turn" by Kim Harrison!! It was great to go back to the beginning and see how it all started :)

http://fkrants.blogspot.com/2017/01/some-other-books.html

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. :)