Fantasy Novels - A Rare Misfire by Martha Carr and Michael Anderle

In most cases I really like Martha Carr and Michael Anderle's books.  Martha Carr tends to favor urban fantasy novels that seem written without an excess of sexual detail; rather refreshing.  Michael Anderle seems to like to write fantasy in a science fiction setting.  They have collaborated quite a few times.  They've generated a number of fantasy 'worlds' that have included spin offs and collaborations with others.  They are prolific, and I like almost all of their work.

I just started reading "The Witches of Pressler Street" series.  This seems more likely a Martha Carr work with Anderle assisting.

But it's got a big gotcha in the plot that is almost impossible to get through.  You've got the three sister witches trying to avoid the usual world ending attack by the evil entity.  To do that, they have to destroy at least seven of twelve magical generators and capture the entity.  The generators are in known locations, and the sisters have a couple of tools that let them destroy the generators pretty easily.  They also have the magical ability to transport themselves to the locations of the generators.  If the entity starts up six generators, the world will end.  And the entity only has to capture six witches to do that.

So do they take a day and destroy the generators?  No!  Well why not you might ask?

Because it will interrupt their work and love lives.  The senior sister is an archaeologist on a summer sabbatical and wants to get it done, but doesn't think it is safe to do the generator destroying alone.  They need all three sisters.

The middle sister is a musician and cannot, of course, cancel any of her performances.

The youngest sister is an aspiring chef and has a new boyfriend.  She won't skip out on her shifts or cancel any of her dates.

This has got to be the stupidest plot line I've ever seen from either author, and in reality, from any author.  They get around to a generator once or twice a week.  The only thing more stupid than their attitude is that the evil entity doesn't seem to be any smarter or faster.  Why, I don't know.

Unfortunately, their writing, besides the plot, is as good as usual.  Read at your own risk.