I'm reading Applied Natural Magic (http://www.amazon.com/Applied-Natural-Magic-Darkside-Codex-ebook/dp/B00N4Q0JR6), which is Book 4 of the Darkside Codex series, and since it was written by our very own EA forum member Windup, I thought I'd start a thread for discussing it in case anyone else is reading it. :)
It's a steampunk, urban fantasy-ish setting, where half a city lies beneath a perpetual cloud and half lies in sunshine, which has created food scarcity and a severe poverty divide between the two sides. The book follows Charles Woodbridge, who has made some hydroponics breakthroughs and is now being targeted by the anti-potato forces of the world.
I'm a little over halfway through right now. I'll put the rest behind spoiler walls for those who plan to read too.
I just hit the first really big OH SHIT moment in the book, the reveal that Mira's 1) a fae and 2) has got the morganti for Charles, which explains a LOT of questions I had up to that point about what the heck she's been doing, messing with stuff in the lab. Also, now I'm kind of rooting for them to get together, because I can't bring myself to like Camilla so far (she's just too easily bullied by her dad, even though I can tell it frustrates her), and Mira is loads more fun anyway, and shares Charles's all-important love of all things potato.
Although, I'm wondering in this world if dating someone who's got a magical disease making them obsess over you would really be such a good idea? It might end badly. And she does have that magical fae-blade to take into account. Hrrm...
Overall, it was good times! :) I dug the steampunk setting. Every time the "windups" were mentioned, my eye twitched (Windup, I'm dying to know if your handle came from this series, or if it's an Easter Egg, or just a big coincidence). Mira is totally my home girl!
It took me a while to get into the story at first. Lots of guys hanging out, drinking brandy and talking about potato futures. Okay, actually all the talk of potatoes really amused me, especially as the book went on and increasingly drastic things were done in the name of Moar Potatoes! I was actually craving potatoes by the time I finished the book. :)
But about midway through, the pace really picked up, right about the time Mira is revealed to be a total badass. I was really into her scenes earlier in the book, and watching her unfold as character was completely awesome. My absolute favorite part of the whole book was the sequence where she breaks out of the tower hotel, overpowering the kidnappers and then trussing them up, and then *RELEASING THE POISON CLOUD* on them! I mean, holy crap, that was COLD! She's got that interesting, complex, antihero thing going on, where she's only on the side of the pro-potato heroes because of her disease, but at any point in the future she just might turn on them, if that ever changes. Kind of reminded me of Spike from Buffy.
Now to eat some potatoes. :D