This week the Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance world lost a fabulous author. Rachel Caine was the author of several great series including the Morganville Vampires, the Revivalist, the Great Library, her latest Stillhouse Lake and my favorite the Weather Wardens. Caine, a previous cancer survivor, had a heartbreaking recurrence and on Sunday (November 1), she passed away at the young age of just 58.

If you’ve read the blog for, oh I don’t know, tens of seconds, you know that I am a huge weather nerd. Usually this means great nonfiction reads. But about 15 years ago, I stumbled across a paranormal series about people who had the power to control various aspects of the weather. 

Ex-squeeze me? A baking powder? Yes please!

I’d never read anything from Rachel Caine before and her Weather Warden series completely captivated me. Joanna Baldwin is a Weather Warden who has the ability to control the air. And she’s even more powerful if she works in conjunction with a djinn. I was hooked from the beginning and there are 9 great books to devour here, plus a spin-off series, Outcast Season, with 4 more.

I’ve always wanted to read the Morganville series, but just never got around to it for some reason. Her most recent series, Stillhouse Lake, looks good, but if I’m honest, it might be too creepy for me. If  somebody else would read it and let me know how it goes I’d appreciate it. Caine tends to be really hard on her characters, which makes for a good story, but can be stressful on the reader. 

All of Rachel’s books are worth reading – especially if you like Urban Fantasy or the Paranormal. Everything she wrote has some sort of mystical element that adds depth. I’m going to have to add her to my list of authors to read everything they’ve written (except Stillhouse Lake till I get the ok). Her Great Library YA series looks amazing and I think that I’m going to start with Ink and Bone, the first one of those.

Thank you, Rachel Caine, for giving us such a treasure trove of stories and characters. You will be greatly missed.

Rachel Caine – 1962-2020