Tag: Urban Fantasy Page 37 of 44

by Seanan McGuire
Series: Toby Daye, #9

Mass Market Paperback, 358 pg.
DAW, 2015
Read: September 2 – 3, 2015

“Wow. Your ego has grown since we’ve known each other, hasn’t it?”

“Ah, but, you see, I have wooed and won the woman of my dreams. Admittedly, some of those dreams would be more properly termed ‘nightmares,’ but I don’t believe we get to be that picky when talking about such things . . . If my ego had not grown, it would surely be a sign that I was no true cat, and you would leave me for another.”

And that, folks, is why half of McGuire’s readers want to be Tybalt and the other have want to have a Tybalt in their lives. A Red-Rose Chain is chock-full of these kind of moments sprinkled between espionage, intrigue and peril.

Queen Windermere is still trying to figure out the whole Queen of the Mists thing, getting her howe and her kingdom running the way they should, and what not when a message is delivered: the Kingdom of Silences has declared war and in three days will begin attacking. King Rhys of Silences (which is in Portland, OR) was put on his throne by the bogus Queen of the Mists that Windermere recently overthrew, and he seems to be getting nervous about his position.

Who else would Windermere appoint as her ambassador to negotiate peace in the three days than Toby? Pretty much anyone in her kingdom. Which seems to be the conventional wisdom — and Toby agrees — but for her own reasons (some of which Toby eventually guesses) the Queen insists. She also doesn’t have a lot of options (see previous paragraph). So Toby and her fiance head off to stop a war instead of instigating one — and they take along Quentin, May, and Walther (the alchemist/Chemistry professor) to lend a helping hand.

Now, he’s no Blind Michael, but Rhys is one of the more despicable people in this series so far. And while he observes all the necessary formalities and whatnot, it’s pretty clear that his heart isn’t ion the whole negotiating thing, and he’s just biding his time until he can attack. The last time these two kingdoms battled was a century or so earlier, and while they prevailed, it didn’t go well for the Kingdom of the Mists — this time, it’s sure to be worse. A perception strengthened once we see how Shadows treats a diplomatic party. So Toby can’t fail.

Toby’s got her friends with her, but in many ways, she’s more on her own that usual — she doesn’t have all the resources to call upon in Portland that she does in SF, but she makes the most out of what she has. At the end of the day, it’s Toby’s series and she’s the one that carries the weight of the plot and the weight of the weight of the mission on her shoulders. McGuire pushes her in ways that she hasn’t been pushed before. I wasn’t thrilled with a couple of the moves McGuire made in the final couple of chapters — not bad writing/plotting, I just didn’t like what Toby had to go through. She prevails, naturally — though, not unscathed, but through grit, determination and the loyalty she commands (and returns) from her allies.

As a small break from the diplomatic tension, we spend a little time with Tybalt’s Portland counterpart. The two are very different from each other, (which is nice to see the variations in personality), but clearly have a a good deal of respect for each other. There’s an interesting shared past for either of them that we’re teased with, too. Would’ve been nice to get more, maybe one day. For the present, it’s nice just to get a little bit more of Tybalt’s pre-Toby history.

Looking ahead to #10 and beyond, I’m a little worried that things are going too well for Toby — particularly where Tybalt is involved. Will McGuire let her be that happy for long? At all?

That’s a worry for another day, for now, I’m going to say that this is one of my favorite reads of the year and leave it at that.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

Underground by Kat Richardson

By HCNewton

On September 3, 2015

In Fiction

Underground

by Kat Richardson
Series Greywalker, #3

Mass Market Paperback, 354 pg.

Roc, 2009

Read: August 17 – 20, 2015

So Harper’s pal/computer tech/security expert, Quinton, comes to her for a favor. Several homeless people in the area have gone missing, and some have shown up that look, well, eaten. By something large. Quinton would like Harper to look into it, see if there’s something that’s more up her particular alley than what the police are looking/equipped for.

Obviously, yes, or it’d be a very short — and incredibly dull — book.

Harper and Quinton end up on a search through the now underground remnants of Seattle’s bygone days, through the city’s homeless culture, and skirting the edge of local Native American myth (not nearly as mythic as most people think).

I’ve liked Quinton, and wanted to get to know him better. We get the opportunity to here — actually, we learn a lot about him. What we learn makes him pretty distinctive in UF, he might be run of the mill in Suspense/Mystery novels, though — but that makes sense. Richardson is basically writing Kinsey Millhone with ghosts and other supernatural whatnot.

Ben and Mara Danziger do make an appearance, but fairly late into the novel. I appreciated seeing them, but I was also glad that Harper doesn’t have to run to them right away. Ben gets more of the action this time than Mara, which was a good switch. Also, he’s a fun character. Many of the other characters from the previous two novels show up for a scene or two — to provide continuity as well as information on just whatever is snacking on Seattle’s poorest.

Pretty much everything worked well in these pages. Harper’s personality is enough to pull you in. Quinton and the world he introduces Harper to are enough to keep you. The bits of Seattle history were very interesting — even if most of it was variation on what I’ve read before about the underground city (and there’s plenty of fodder for return trips for Harper down there). The Native American elements were a nice addition to this world. I do think it was a little too easy to figure out the non-monster mysteries, Richardson might as well have been putting flashing neon around certain sentences, reading “Pay attention, this’ll be important.” Still, over all, everything worked just right.

The previous Greywalker novel, Poltergeist, was one of the last things I read in 2012, and I’ve been meaning to get back to the series since. Don’t ask me why I didn’t — I can’t give you (or myself) a satisfactory answer. It won’t be another 2 and a half years before I come back, I can tell you that. It’s not the most dazzling and dynamic Urban Fantasy series out there, but it’s good. And when you’re this good? You don’t have to be dazzling, you just have to deliver. Underground did.

—–

4 Stars

Indexing: Reflections, Episode 2: Broken Glass by Seanan McGuire

By HCNewton

On September 2, 2015

In Authors, Fiction, Indexing, K-O, Seanan McGuire, Urban Fantasy

Indexing: Reflections, Episode Two: Broken Glass

by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #2.2
Kindle
47North, 2015
Read: August 27, 2015
So, having reassembled the team, reviewed the events of the last book and refocused both readers and characters to their mission, it’s time to get the ball rolling on this season.

Once again, McGuire introduces the AFI team to a problem that seems sort of light-hearted at first (investigating a House that Jack Built, complete with lines like, “Sloane had managed to locate the cat that chased the rat”) — but with some dark undertones. But before we get too far into it, Henry and the crew are interrupted and have to swing off in another direction. And this direction is a doozy — the prison to hold the Fairy Tales who’ve fully manifested in a bad-for-society way — has a jail break. It’s not just any jail break either, because the Narrative has seemingly done something impossible along the way. But I’ll let Henry spell that part out to ya. I’ll just say that I really like where this is going.

On the one hand, I thought what we learned about Demi in the previous episode helped us understand her better, and demonstrated her commitment to the cause/team. So when many of the same notes where struck this episode, I wasn’t thrilled — but, what we heard/saw this time, was different enough to justify it. Seriously, Demi is either going to be a superstar in the AFI, or when she turns and stabs everyone in the back, it’s going to hurt a lot. I’m hoping for the former, am (trying to) ready for the latter.

Elsie, the escapee, is either going to be a great Big Bad for this season, a great underling, solider for a better Big Bad, or a nice warm-up for the next few weeks until we get to the Big Bad. Mid-sentence there, I thought of several other options for Elsie’s role. Whatever that role ends up being, I think I’m going to enjoy her.

Overall, it’s more of a set-up chapter than anything else, but it was very promising and entertaining. Which is good enough.

—–

3 Stars

Veiled by Benedict Jacka

By HCNewton

On August 18, 2015

In Alex Verus, Benedict Jacka, F-J, Fiction, Urban Fantasy

Veiled

by Benedict Jacka
Series: Alex Verus, #6

Mass Market Paperback, 295 pg.

Ace, 2015

Read: August 11 – 13, 2015

This was not at all what I expected going in to this (granted, I only read the first couple of lines of the Publisher’s Description) — sure, I knew Alex’s mouth would get him in trouble, he’d have to outwit someone more powerful than him, Luna would be underused — despite Alex depending on his friends to pull him out of trouble.

What I didn’t expect was Alex Verus vs. Bureaucracy, not the catchiest of titles, but pretty accurate. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like the Star Wars prequels with all the bureaucracy, trade negotiations, etc. Jacka keeps things tense, keeps things interesting, even as what Alex is battling is really just Office Politics (along with other kinds of politics).

Alex tries to take one more step towards credibility, of shedding his Dark mage past (not that almost anyone will let him), to a position where he can do some good, and hopefully have allies when Richard steps out into the limelight. Long-term, strategic thinking — I like it when UF heroes act like that. It’s brains, not brawn, that carry the day here.

This isn’t to suggest, that this is a dry — or combat-free — book. Alex gets down and dirty, as usual — against some pretty tough characters. But, I’m not convinced that the worst people that Alex and his friends went up against were the ones wearing the Black Hats. Not that they were angels, but, man, there were some nasty people in these pages.

There are some really interesting developments with Luna’s training and development. Alex makes a couple of useful allies — including a combat mage who is quite possibly the most entertaining character in the series thus far. And because that’s never enough for him — Alex picks up one new enemy and deepens tensions with another.

And Richard? Well, something tells me that specter’s going to be looming for a bit longer. But then again, I thought we were going to get a few more Kitty Norville books and that we’d see Richard in action here — so what do I know?

I seem to be mostly rambling here, so I’m just going to say: Alex Verus is a character you should get to know, in a series that should be on your TBR list. I wouldn’t start with this one, I really think Fated is where you want to climb aboard.

—–

4 Stars

Indexing: Reflections, Episode 1: Forbidden Doors by Seanan McGuire

By HCNewton

On August 13, 2015

In Authors, Fiction, Indexing, K-O, Seanan McGuire, Urban Fantasy

Indexing: Reflections, Episode One: Forbidden Doors

by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #2.1

Kindle
47North, 2015
Read: August 12, 2015

Fairy tales are not for children, and they don’t care who dies. They never have.

Seanan McGuire’s Indexing is back, and it’s like we never left.

It’s been a few weeks since the team saved the world, but the ATV’s investigation into the matter isn’t quite finished. They’ve got one more hurdle to get through: a series of interviews with an HR Department shrink.

It’s a nice little narrative device — we’re reintroduced to the characters (or new readers are introduced), get the last series recapped (and interpreted from a couple of angles), we get to see how the team’s reacting to the rather dramatic turn of events they lived through, and get ready for what’s next. Since there are (an estimated) eleven more episodes to go through — you know going in that things are going to go pretty well for the majority of them. Sure, there’s a chance that one or two will be packed off somewhere for some “treatment” or “observation”, but the team, as a whole, will be fine.

It’s a lot like a lot of TV season premiers, actually.

There were a couple of highlights for me:

Sloane made me laugh, hard, at her apologetic for keeping Henry around (and I liked pretty much everything else she did here).
I probably enjoyed Demi more than I have before.
The more time we spend with Jeff, the more he threatens Sloane as the series’ most interesting and/or entertaining character.
I hope (and sorta fear) that we get to spend a little more time with Dr. Ciara Bloomfield –in her professional capacity, she’d be fun to have around; if it’s about her personal life, I can’t imagine that’d be pretty.

https://irresponsiblereader.com/2015/08/13/indexing-reflections-episode-1-by-seanan-mcguire.

—–

3 Stars

Review Catch-Up: Hidden by Benedict Jacka; The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire

By HCNewton

On August 10, 2015

In Alex Verus, Authors, Benedict Jacka, F-J, Fiction, K-O, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye, Urban Fantasy

These have been nagging at me for eleven months now. No, I have no explanation for why it took me so long, but I’m glad I took a lot of notes on both. I’m going to get this posted before I start the next Jacka novel (which should be happening today). While I’m at it, the next Toby Day is a couple of weeks away.

Anyway, overdue mini-looks at a couple of the best Urban Fantasies I read in 2014:

Hidden

by Benedict Jacka
Series: Alex Verus, #5

Mass Market Paperback, 293 pg.
Ace, 2014
Read: September 26 – 30, 2014
. . . man, I have really missed Alex. Everyone’s favorite diviner has really come a long way, lately — shedding the near lone-wolf thing, and is now looking after a passel of magic rookies. Whether they want him to or not.

Anne Walker is definitely in the “or not” category. She’s done all she can to stay away from Alex — but she probably didn’t mean to include being kidnapped as one of those ways. Alex goes to some pretty dark places to help someone who doesn’t want it.

At the same time, Alex (via the Council) is feeling some pressure for the events of the last book. They’re also pressuring him to do some official work for them. Plus the rumors are getting more and more intense that his mentor, Richard, is back. If that’s true, no one is going to be happy. Naturally, everyone thinks that Alex knows what Richard is up to. And every time he says he doesn’t, he convinces them that he does.

So yeah, Alex has his hands full.

I think it was Chekhov who said that if a magic user grabs a focus in the opening chapters, that by the end of the book . . . Anyway, that was a nice use of it.

Not that Alex has had an easy life over the last couple books (or we wouldn’t be reading them) but the one big take away from Hidden is that it’s going to get a lot worse for our friend (I swear I hadn’t read that note when I wrote about Veiled over the weekend). There are other take aways, mostly happier, but I’ll leave that to you to find.

A wholly satisfying read. Get to know Alex Verus.

4 Stars

The Winter Long

by Seanan McGuire
Series: Toby Daye, #8

Mass Market Paperback, 358 pg.
DAW, 2014
Read: September 13 – 16, 2014

I don’t like parties. Someone always tries to assassinate someone I actually like, and there are never enough of those little stuffed mushroom caps.

A book starts off with a line like that? You’re going to have fun.

Thankfully, one’s appreciation of a book doesn’t depend on how the protagonist acts. When I was on page 46, I wrote , “Granted, this is early, but Toby’s being stupid, foolishly so. She’s not paying attention to anything said during the fight she just had — actually, technically didn’t really have. Instead, she’s reacting to something that happened to a friend, and acting out of fear, prejudice and alarm. That disappoints me. Her saying, ‘that smile, brief as it had been, was all I could have asked for. A smiling Tybalt was a Tybalt who was still capable of stepping back and looking at the situation rationally. I loved him, but even I could find him frightening when he was fixated on vengeance.’ Man, choke me on the irony, McGuire.”

There’s just go much about this novel that I can’t describe without spoiling it. Let me limit myself to a couple of more notes: Toby lost a lot of blood on this one — I mean like The Bride in the Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves kind of a lot. It’s a good thing she has a healing factor to make Logan jealous. While she’s bleeding she’s having her world rocked.

McGuire takes a lot of what Toby’s “known” since we met her (all of which is what we’ve “known,” too) and turns it upside down and shakes the truth out. Every other book in the series has been affected by these revelations — in one fell swoop, she re-wrote previous 7 books — which is just so cool. It’s not that we’ve (we= readers and Toby) been wrong, our understanding is just . . . askew. There’s also some nice warm fuzzies in this book, which isn’t that typical for the series. McGuire’s outdone herself.
5 Stars

Kitty Saves the World by Carrie Vaughn

By HCNewton

On July 21, 2015

In Authors, Carrie Vaughn, Fiction, Kitty Norville

Kitty Saves the World

by Carrie Vaughn
Series: Kitty Norville, #14

ARC, 325 pg.
Tor Books, 2015
Read: July 14 – 15, 2015
4 1/2 Stars
Easy title to live up to, no?

About the same time that I posted my review of the previous book, Low Midnight, where I talked about “future Kitty novels,” Carrie Vaughn announced that this one would be the end. So much for my predictive ability. Now, at the end, I see that Low Midnight was well-placed in the series, and I have a better understanding of the role it played in setting up this book. Which is not to say that I wouldn’t have preferred a few more books in this series, but if Vaughn had to end it now, I’m glad she did it like this.

This couldn’t be less obvious a last novel. Kitty name checks and/or visits everybody we’ve met along the way, it’s like the last few minutes of “The End of Time” before The Doctor regenerates into Matt Smith. But Vaughn does it so smoothly, it’s only when you stop and think about who’s shown up that you even notice what she’s done.

I don’t really have much to say about this — it’s the 14^th and final novel in a series. Don’t let this be the first one you read — do let this be the last. Start with one of the first few (if not the first, Kitty and the Midnight Hour).

This is different than the rest of the series, not just because it’s the end. There’s plenty of action to be found — not a lot of time for character development, growth, relationships, new characters (well, maybe a couple) — it’s all about Regina Luporum and her allies versus Dux Bellorum, anything else is a distraction (however pleasant a distraction). Which isn’t to say that the characters are unimportant — it’s Carrie Vaughn, characters are the core. But they’re very busy here, and don’t have a lot of time to chat, reflect, or anything like that — they have a world to save.

The final showdown with Roman didn’t go as expected, but better. The scenes following that were great, and the ending was everything a fan could hope for.

One criticism — and, now that I think about it, this applies to the series as a whole — Kitty tells us time after time that her pack is what’s important, it drives her restaurant/bar New Moon, it keeps her in Denver, it’s what motivates her, blah, blah, blah. But really, outside of the occasional chat while picking up an order with Shaun and references to the group hunting on the Full Moon, we don’t see them. The pack that Kitty cares about is the other one — Ben, Cormac, Amelia, Alette, Odysseus Grant, Tina, Rick, Matt, and the others that fill her life and align themselves with her against the Long Game. I’d be fine with it if Kitty were just a little bit more honest with herself/us about it.

I’m going to miss Kitty, Ben, Cormac and the rest, and the next year is going to feel a little strange not getting any new adventures from them. But this was a great way to say goodbye.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

Dusted Off: Kitty’s Big Trouble by Carrie Vaughn

By HCNewton

On July 15, 2015

In Carrie Vaughn, Fiction, Kitty Norville

While starting the post for Kitty Saves the World, I noticed I’d reviewed only two other books in this series here. Unthinkable. It was one of the first UF series I ever tried and it’s one of my favorites to this day. Turns out, that somehow I’ve only written one other post on the series. I’m still having trouble coming to grips with that. So, I figured I’d better throw this up before I forgot.
—

Kitty’s Big Trouble

by Carrie Vaughn
Series: Kitty Norville, #9

Mass Market Paperback, 307 pg.

Tor Books, 2011

Read: July 3 – 4, 2011
It’s been far too long since we’ve had a new Kitty Norville adventure, and Carrie Vaughn didn’t disappoint with this one.

We begin with Kitty’s most recent hobby–trying to out historical figures as weres or vampires or whatever. Which is a lot of fun, and is a well Vaughn hopefully returns to.

But the main action focuses on the Long Game between various vampire factions that we’ve seen a few peaks into lately. Kitty’s ally Anastasia is racing against Roman for possession of a magical artifact that could turn the tide in this competition forever.

Honestly, I don’t think this was the strongest entry in the series plotwise–this seems more about setting the stage for bigger things down the road. But while setting the stage, we get to spend some good quality time with some great characters, learn more about Cormac’s situation, and meet a few new characters (a couple of which I hope to see again, soon).

Should add that it took me far too long to get the title, and when I finally did I wondered where my head had been for a couple hundred pages.

Can’t wait to see what trouble Kitty gets into next.

—–

4 Stars

Splintered by Jamie Schultz

By HCNewton

On July 1, 2015

In Fiction

Splintered

by Jamie Schultz
Series: Arcane Underworld, #2

Mass Market Paperback, 336 pg.

Roc, 2015

Read: June 9 – 10, 2015 Last year’s Premonitions stuck with me more than many Urban Fantasies I’d consider equal to or better than it. For example: Seanan McGuire’s The Winter Long blew me away, but when I finished it, I thought about it for a couple of days and then moved on. But Schultz’ debut (which I thoroughly enjoyed) stuck around the back of my mind, and every so often I’d speculate about Karyn’s future, Genevieve’s motives, etc. Part of it was that is that McGuire’s got 7 novels of history in her series, I have (some) idea what she’ll be putting Toby et al. through in the future and had a solid idea about what had happened in The Winter Long. But Schultz is a question mark, who knew what he had up his sleeve for the future, and there were still some questions about what I’d read hanging in the back of my mind. But it was more than that — something about the book as a whole — the world as a whole — that lingered.

So, yeah, I was more than ready for Splintered by the time I got my hands on it. Thankfully, I can report that Schultz stepped up his game a bit.

It’s been a few weeks since the events of Premonitions, most wounds and injuries have healed, Karyn’s still overcome by an onslaught of visions and is unable to care for herself, Anna’s dividing her time between caring for her and running around for Enoch Sobell (while suffering emotional damage from Premonitions), Sobell’s just about finished piecing his organization back together, and everything else is returning to normal. Now, Anna and the team aren’t exactly sure what Sobell’s got them running around doing — but they’re not crazy about it.

Then things get serious — Sobell “asks” the team to do something for him that’s another level of criminality than they’ve engaged in before — with yet another inevitably following. This involves a handful of magic users in a class beyond what they’re used to. In the middle of all this, the FBI raids Sobell’s headquarters (making it difficult for him to keep the team on task). Oh, and someone’s looking for a Karyn. Someone Anna’s never heard of, and isn’t so sure about. Things get complicated, twisted, and disturbing from here — hopeful steps and/or events, are tarnished by failure or corruption; every victory looks Pyrrhic, and defeat seems inevitable.

Which is not to say that this book is all doom and gloom, a read only fit for the masochistic or self-loathing. On the contrary, there’s a lot of life in these characters, hope, gumption and devotion. You want to know what’s happening to them, you want to see them prevail in some small way (at least). This world may not be filled with blue skies, but there are patches of blue in the smog.

There’s something about the L.A. of these books that make me think Schultz is depicting a near-future dystopian city. But I’m so glad that Nail’s around so we get references to 9/11 and the Iraq War, and I can be reminded that this is taking place roughly now and that what I consider to by a dystopian future is simply a dystopian present for far too many people.

I don’t typically spend enough time thinking about titles, it’s one of those things I keep meaning to do. In this case, however, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to see the title’s applicability. At some point — if not several points — every character in this book is on their own, splintered off from the rest and looking out for their own interest with no attention or care about any one else. Occasionally, it’s in opposition to anyone else (even those they’re supposed to be aligned with). This cuts across all the various relationships depicted; from the purely financial, to the heartfelt, to the creepy and cultic. Each individual makes a deal with someone along the way — almost always for short-term gain (shorter than many expect, it should be added) and potentially long-term loss (longer than many expect). Sometimes, the characters can think that there might not actually be consequences to the deal, but they feel dirty just thinking about making it. Even those characters who start out at least partially altruistic or team/family/friend-centered in their approach to a problem, end up cutting a deal with someone. Anna, for example, primarily makes deals to help — or at least give her a chance at helping — Karyn. That act of caring doesn’t shield either one from the price to be paid for it.

Throughout Splintered (but not a stranger to Premonitions) is the deep sense that there are always consequences for one’s actions. Most serialized fiction will deal with consequences for “the big stuff” — X killed Y, so in 3 books, Y’s family will come for revenge. Or some seemingly insignificant event will turn out 5 books from now to have significant effects on the world/characters/etc. But here, every single time someone does anything magical, there are consequences, potentially (probably?) eternal consequences. This alone sets the Arcane Underworld books apart from the crowd. But it’s not just the magical actions; it’s conversations, it’s the past, it’s these deals, it’s being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What these characters do matters. Sometimes it matters for them, sometimes it matters for their loved ones, sometimes it’s their enemies. Horrifically (and realistically), sometimes, it’s complete and utter strangers. I’m not suggesting that Butcher, or Hearne, or Harrison don’t have Harry, Atticus or Rachel deal with repercussions of their actions — but somehow, Schultz is able to permeate the atmosphere with this idea. Some of his characters see the consequences and shrug them off before acting, others see the consequences and accept them, others figure they can find a way to get out of them (or have someone else rescue them).

But at the end of the day — if not before noon — no one comes out unscathed. Well, okay, some tertiary (or quaternary) characters do — but most of even them don’t. I don’t think there’s a single thing that remains the same from beginning of the book to the end — health, relationship, financial status, legal situation, family, soul — I think every character takes a hit on at least two of those, if not all. Not many authors can achieve that in 350 pages.

Lastly, I like the fact that the FBI is aware enough that strange things are happening in the world to have the Non-Standard Investigations Branch. Primarily, because it reminded me of the Chicago Police Department’s Special Investigations division in the early Dresden Files, but I also liked that the FBI is clever enough to see the need for something like that in a world where magic actually exists (see almost every other UF series for worlds where the authorities aren’t that insightful). It sure looks like they’re going to be around for a while, making life difficult for everyone. I’m looking forward to getting to see Special Agent Elliot and the rest in action.

What keeps this from getting a 5-star rating? I’m not sure I’m always engaged as I should be in either the action or with the characters. Some of that could be my subconscious refusing to get to tied to these people so that it’s easier to take when they meet the supernatural equivalent of Vic Vega/Mr. Blonde in a warehouse with a straight razor. Maybe it’s because these characters are the kind that we usually root against. Or maybe it’s just that I’m not reading it right.

Can you read this without reading the previous novel? Yeah. But I don’t recommend it, too much of this is a reaction to it.

With Premonitions, Jamie Schultz promised something new to the genre. Splintered shows us that he’s keeping that promise. I have no idea what book three of the Arcane Underworld is going to bring, but I can’t wait for it.

—–

Note: I was provided a copy of this novel by the author, which didn’t alter my opinion of the work — I can be bought, but not that cheaply.

—–

4 Stars

Premonitions by Jamie Schultz Redux

By HCNewton

On June 9, 2015

In Fiction

I read this one last year, and in anticipation of the sequel, decided to take another crack at it over my vacation. On the whole, I’ll stand by what I said below — that’s about what I’d say about it today if I was starting from scratch. There is one new thought that I’ll add, I thought about deleting/reworking some of what I said before, but…eh, it’s close enough (and I’m tired). Still, the main point stands: this is not your typical UF, and it’s worth your time.

Premonitions

by Jamie SchultzSeries: Arcane Underworld, #1

Mass Market Paperback, 384 pg.
Roc, 2014
Reread: June 7, 2015I spent a lot of time staring at a blank screen trying to figure out how to talk about this. I came close to just posting, “This is seriously effed-up. But in a good way. Read it!”

Really, that might have been the way to go. But let’s give this a try…

Premonitions is not your typical Urban Fantasy. Karyn isn’t full of spunk, battling her way through some challenges with only her wits, a snappy line and her powers in a quest to defeat evil/save a life/protect justice. Nope, all she’s trying to do is survive. Same for the rest of her gang — they steal, they work only to make it to the next day. They’re not well off, they’re really not even comfortable — borderline desperate, really. So when they’re given the opportunity to split a 2 million dollar score, it’s an offer they cannot refuse (in many ways)

In this world, magic — or precognitive abilities — come with a price. A nasty, dirty, life-altering price. Neither the magic or the precog life seems at all worth it — and with one possible exception, everyone we meet in these pages with some sort of ability realizes that. Yet, those who can choose to pay that price or not, keep coming back to it. Karyn, on the other hand has no choice. Her abilities come with horrible hallucinations that she has to keep suppressed with a drug. Which is, of course, hard to find and only available on the black market. So like any good junkie, she steals to support her habit. Karyn’s psychic ability is like a less-pretty, less specific and more unreliable version of Alex Verus’ magic. Not that I think for a second that Schultz was going for that — it’s just what occurred to me as I read. I like the slightly different take on the idea.

Premonitions is a Heist story — so, of course, things go horribly wrong (that’s the point of these, right?), it’s watching how this particular band of thieves respond to this that makes this compelling. In fact, the broad brush strokes of the plot are pretty apparent within the first few pages — this isn’t a knock on Schultz, it’s just evidence that he knows what he’s doing. This is a classic Heist story, told in his own particular way, with his unique blend of characters — thieves, marks and obstacles.

We have two central characters — Karyn and Anna, with a crew of others — magicians(is that the word?), an ex-Marine and — well, some others they pick up along the way. Years ago, Karyn and Anna become friends, and for reasons we’re not privy to, and Anna may not fully recognize, Anna hitched her wagon to Karyn. She could’ve gone off and had a successful career, family, and whatnot. Instead, she’s a criminal scratching by, doing all she can to help her friend make it to the next day.

That’s the heart of this novel — the friendship between these two. Their dedication to each other, to each other’s needs, wants, desires and lives — and by extension, those members of their team, romantic partners, and miscellaneous allies. There’s no flashy swords, or government conspiracies, or prince to rescue — but this is really a one for all and all for one group. As long as they remember that.

This is the new thought:
One thing I’ve been thinking about lately is the concept of found-family, especially as portrayed in TV, movies and novels. There are two found-families here — probably three — and each is under stress in some ways. There’s one rotting from within, one that’s dealing with a defection, and one that’s dealing with an addition or two (and some subtractions). Each responds to the stress in a different way — mostly in a pretty destructive way. If you step back and think of them as families — and not criminal organizations or cults — the reactions are entirely understandable, and you can sympathize with those lashing out (actually, they’re understandable for criminal enterprises or cults, too — but far less sympathetic). I’m not suggesting this is terribly profound or anything, but this time through this idea jumped out at me. Particularly when the various characters are thinking about/voicing what connects them to their “family.”

There is a pervasive atmosphere that characterizes this novel, a mood. The whole thing is dark and moody. In my mind, it looks like the sets from Season 1 of The Wire, lit by whoever picked the look for Blade Runner. This gives it a different feel than most of your Urban Fantasies on the market. Not that they’re all rainbows and unicorns, but there is a “blue sky” feel to Urban Fantasies by Underwood, Butcher, Hearne, Harrison, Briggs and whatnot — that is not shared here. Schultz is not Richard Kadray-dark, but he’s close. Honestly, this reminded me of the Twenty Palaces world of Harry Connolly. Obviously, the magic system is different — but I’d have no problem at all seeing Ray Lilly and Annalise Powliss bump into Karyn and her crew (thankfully, I’m pretty sure their magic isn’t the sort that Annalise would feel compelled to eliminate anyone).

When I was 34 pages from the end of the book, I jotted down a note: “Not only do I have no clear idea how all this will end (frankly, I didn’t see what happened three pages ago happening), but I also have no clue what a sequel to this looks like.” That’s not normal, that says a lot about how Schultz is working. Now, by the end of the novel, that wasn’t the case — I had a clear idea what to expect Splintered to be like (I’m also prepared to be totally wrong). But to be that close to the end, and not sure what’s around the corner? That’s pretty cool. To be fair, it could be that I was being dumb — but I’m going to give the credit to Schultz for keeping me on my toes.

Give this one a try, folks, don’t think you’ll be sorry.

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Note: I was provided a copy of this by the author, who seems like a pretty cool guy — which made the fact that I really enjoyed this a relief.

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4 Stars