Tag: Urban Fantasy Page 41 of 45

Skin Game by Jim Butcher

On July 9, 2014

In Authors, Fiction, Harry Dresden, Jim Butcher

I should’ve had this up no later than May 29, but I wanted to get it juuuust right. And I failed. But I’m always going to fail when it comes to this series. Amongst series currently being written, this is my favorite (yeah, I’m taking the coward’s way out and not choosing between Dresden and Wolfe), which means that I’m just never going to be able to properly express how great I think the books are.

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Skin Game

by Jim Butcher

Hardcover, 454 pg.
Roc Hardcover, 2014
Read: May 28, 2014

Quick review for people who haven’t read up through Cold Days:
Why are you reading this? Go and catch up. You’re missing out on one of the best series being published today. You’ve got about a year ’til Peace Talks comes out, so you have plenty of time to read up through Skin Game (which you really should read, because it was great).

Longer take for those who have read Cold Days (still, spoiler-free):

Okay, this is book 15, which means it’s time for The Denarians to return. But this time, Harry’s not opposing them (directly, anyway), but thanks to his service to Mab, he’s working alongside (for?) Nicodemus. Nicodemus has assembled a team of magical types to go rob a vault belonging to Hades. Harry, of course, is itching for a fight, but he doesn’t get the chance for one. If he doesn’t do what Mab & Nicodemus require, those closest to Harry will pay the price. Skin Game takes the basic plot structure of a heist film, and it works really well as such. A great, gripping story, doing things with the supporting characters involved (new and old) that you wouldn’t have guessed were possible with Harry’s past and attitude.

Beyond the plot — there’s something going on with Harry. Small, incremental changes are creeping in to our wizard’s character, as part of the aftermath of Changes. He’s dimly aware of them, but thinks he’s in control. Those close to him see them, too and make the same judgment call — it’s Harry, he’s got it taken care of. But there are those, like Butters, who aren’t as willing to believe that Harry can do it all. He sees trouble on the horizon and is willing to speak truth to Harry about it.

There’s other character development to take note of as well: Michael, Charity, and Murphy all continue to grow in positive ways — slowly, organically, and in ways you really only notice when you take a long look at them. Molly’s changing a lot, too — and not that slowly or organically, but after the end of Cold Days, what do you expect? Butters continues to grow and develop in ways that feel right, but are undeniable. When you think of who he was back in Death Masks and what he’s grown into by the end of Cold Days, it’s truly impressive. And he takes some major steps forward this time around, that I really want to talk about, but won’t. I have no shame in admitting that he choked me up. He could’ve easily been Butcher’s version of John Chen from the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike/etc. books — around for a little comic relief, some science help (some medical help, too), but nothing major. Instead, Butcher’s turned this polka-loving nerd into his Neville Longbottom.

In between the banter, the quips, the forzare-ing and fuego-ing, the action, you get things like this…it’s what separates guys like Butcher from the pack

There’s power in the touch of another person’s hand. We acknowledge it in little ways, all the time. There’s a reason human beings shake hands, hold hands, slap hands, bump hands.
It comes from our very earliest memories, when we all come into the world blinded by light and color, deafened by riotous sound, flailing in a suddenly cavernous space without any way of orienting ourselves, shuddering with cold, emptied with hunger, and justifiably frightened and confused. And what changes that first horror, that original state of terror?
The touch of another person’s hands.
Hands that wrapt us in warmth, that hold us close. Hands that guide us to shelter, to comfort, to food. Hands that hold and touch and reassure us through our very first crisis, and guide us into our very first shelter from pain. The first thing we ever learn is that the touch of someone else’s hand can ease pain and make things better.
That’s power. That’s power so fundamental that most people never even realize it exists.

I don’t normally read reviews of books I’ve already decided to read, but I made an exception in this case when Patrick Rothfuss posted his (pretty sure I linked it in one of my Saturday posts). One of the things he said was, “that Jim made me cry, like, four goddamn times in this book.” I went into this thinking Rothfuss was exaggerating about the crying. And then later I started to worry that he’s manlier and more in control of his emotions than I am. It’s not news to anyone who’s read Butcher — especially the more recent volumes — the guy can hit you right in heart. He’s like a long distance phone commercial from the late 80’s or the producers of the Friday Night Lights TV show — when he wants you to feel something, by gum, you will.

I do think that Butcher’s done better, but I’m still giving this 5 stars because while I was reading it, I was totally immersed in it. The rest of the world really didn’t exist — I was on the edge of my seat, leaning forward as if that’d help me get through it quicker — hanging on every word, chuckling, cackling, cheering, gasping as appropriate — totally engrossed, and that impact lasted for a couple of days following. If that doesn’t say 5 stars, I don’t know what does. And while I think other books were technically better — I can’t think of a problem with this one.

How long ’til #16, Peace Talks?

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5 Stars

Dusted Off: Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire

By HCNewton

On July 7, 2014

In Authors, Fiction, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye

Ashes of Honor

by Seanan McGuire
Series: Toby Daye, #6

Mass Market Paperback, 353 pg.
DAW, 2012
Read: September 5 – 6, 2012

Best.Toby Daye.Ever.

Sure, that just means it’s the best since the last one (which was the best since the one before…and so on). But still, wow. Really wow. This series has entered the terrain of Harry Dresden or Mercy Thompson–why bother writing a proper review? The reader knows it’s going to be good, the only question is, how good is this entry–really good or just great?

Action, intrigue, splash of humor, character development, romance…this one has everything. We get more of some old friends we haven’t seen in awhile, some characters who were in danger of over-use get scaled back…

couldn’t ask for more from this one.

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4 1/2 Stars

Dusted Off: The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams

By HCNewton

On July 7, 2014

In Fiction

The Dirty Streets of Heaven

by Tad Williams

Hardcover, 406 pg.
DAW Hardcover, 2012
Read: September 27 – October 01, 2012

Well-plotted, well-executed UF, really, really well-written–great quotable lines, more than it’s fair share of dazzling sentences. And I just didn’t like it.

Why? Because the angels aren’t all that…angelic, for lack of a better word. Honestly, the demons aren’t terribly demonic, either. Demons are pretty much your typical UF bad guys, just ugly, and we’re told really, really evil; the angels act almost identically to them, but they’re prettier. Amoral, promiscuous, substance abusing…and honestly, not that powerful aside from their ability to see the recently departed and each other’s supernatural natures.

If we can do vampires that aren’t that human, lycanthropes that aren’t terribly human, why do we have to have angels that are? Sure, coming up with heroes that are wholly (holy?) good–and keeping them interesting is challenging. But it can be done. If Williams had done that, I’d have been all in. But, ugh. Bobby Dollar and co. are nowhere close–and I’m all out.

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2 Stars

Dusted Off: Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland

By HCNewton

On June 23, 2014

In Fiction

Mark of the Demon

by Diana Rowland

Mass Market Paperback, 370 pg.
Bantam, 2009
Read: August 15, 2012

Great mix of procedural and urban fantasy. Perhaps a little heavier on the fantasy than it needed to be, but that’s not really a knock. Some interesting characters–some that need a lot more fleshing out in future installments–a heckuva magic system, a great world, good locale in that world and a strong protagonist. Pretty much all you can want.

I really, really, really didn’t need the level of detail Rowland gives about the relations between Kara and the demon. That aside, a heckuva read.

Looking forward to more.

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4 Stars

Dusted Off: Greywalker by Kat Richardson

By HCNewton

On June 23, 2014

In Fiction

Greywalker

by Kat Richardson
Series Greywalker, #1

Mass Market Paperback, 341 pg.
Roc Trade, 2006
Read: August 18 – 20, 2012

Wow. Great, great first chapter. Had me hooked on the book within the first few paragraphs and really didn’t let go.

Solid, solid read. Action, little humor, dash of romance, and a really good crew of likeable characters.

I had a couple of quibbles: There was one transition between chapters that involved a time jump, which (eventually) got enough explanation that I didn’t feel shorted, but it didn’t fit with the rest of the narrative style of the book. Too much of the book was Harper learning about the Grey–the world of magic/paranormal/etc., so it’s hard to see what future installments would be like.

Obviously, the series is pretty successful at this point, and this book makes it easy to see why, don’t think I’ve felt this way about a debut UF book since Rosemary and Rue.

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4 Stars

The Severed Streets by Paul Cornell (Updated)

By HCNewton

On June 17, 2014

In Fiction, Paul Cornell, Urban Fantasy

Update: A representative of Audible.com, emailed me to ask if I’d like to post a clip from the audio book with this review. Sounded like a good idea to me (no pun intended). The sample’s at the bottom of this post, give it a listen.

The Severed Streets

by Paul Cornell

Hardcover, 416 pg.
Tor Books, 2014
Read: June 11 – 14, 2014

This Cornell guy can write.

I’m tempted to let that be all I say about this book. Won’t be (because I can’t help myself), but it’s tempting. The other thing I’m tempted to do is copy and paste the first three paragraphs of my London Falling review to start this one — I am a little annoyed to see that I spoke so much about the Bryant & May Peculiar Crimes Unit series last time, because the comparison really hit me repeatedly as I read this book. I hope neither Cornell or Fowler mind that comparison.

Straightaway, Cornell creates a world rich with atmosphere — the his depiction of the tension on the streets of London is visceral, and then when the first murder occurs, you start to wish for something a little less visceral. And that’s in the first handful of pages. Once the focus turns to the team of detectives, it takes almost no time at all to immerse yourself again in this world (one that I honestly was a little fuzzy on when I picked up the book, remembering everything about these characters took a page or two back with them). There’s a bit more esprit de corps amongst them now then when we left them in London Falling, they’ve spent more time together, are more familiar with each other — and, if nothing else, realize that they share something that no one else in the London Police does.

Now they’ve got their hands full, seeking a vicious killer that only they can see. One that seems to have connections to a popular protest movement (think the Occupy movement, but with masks) and maybe to Jack the Ripper. Add all those things together, and you’ve got yourself a real mess. To that, add multiple conflicting goals on the part of Quill and his team, a looming police strike, an overly-inquisitive media mogul, a meddling Security Service, and a city on the verge of riot — and you’ve got, well, I don’t know exactly what it is, but the word “mess” no longer can describe it.

This early in a series, I don’t have any strong emotional connection to characters — particularly in this series, which (to me) seems to lend itself to a distancing between reader and character. But when one of the team makes an unthinkable sacrifice, I realized that distance didn’t exist anymore for me, and I had to put the book down for a brief moment to think about what I’d just read. But I couldn’t keep it down for long and had to pick it up quickly — only to be hit with something worse not that long after.

Which is not to say that this whole novel is an emotional wringer, there’s more humor, more hope intrinsic to this book than its predecessor, while it doesn’t lose any of it’s edge. The celebrity cameo was hilarious in a book not typified by hilarity of any kind. And then it became more than a cameo, which was pretty cool — and then it became, brilliant. I mean, truly brilliant. And I really can’t say more about it than that without violating all sorts of my spoiler policies.

I want to say more about this book, and maybe I’ll come back and revise this later, but for now I’d better leave it at this or it’ll never get done. The Severed Streets is one of those books that will make you want to cancel plans, so you can spend more time with it. From the unnervingly impossible assassination at the beginning to the truly disturbing final sentence, and almost every point in between, this is a killer book — gripping, suspenseful, with no punches pulled on any level. Please let there be more of these soon.

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4 1/2 Stars

Dusted Off: Team Human by Justine Larbalestier, Sarah Rees Brennan

By HCNewton

On June 16, 2014

In Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

Team Human

by Justine Larbalestier, Sarah Rees Brennan

Hardcover, 352 pg.
HarperTeen, 2012
Read: Jul. 19-21, 2012

Much more than a Twilight spoof (although, that’s there) this is a heckuva read. Mel’s a spunky high schooler with a lot on the ball, her friends see her as a fixer, the one who can help them deal with whatever crisis they’re dealing with. It’s a role she relishes, it’s her way of identifying herself. Particularly this time, when she’s trying to stop one friend from falling for a vampire, while another is coping with her dad abandoning the family for a vampire lover. Vampires are pretty low on Mel’s list.

Mel’s a flawed hero, in an endearing way. She’s bullheaded, fierce, dives into things without looking, she makes mistakes, but picks herself up and charges back into the fray with a minimum of self-doubt.

The rest of the cast are almost as well-rounded, were I in high school, I’d love to hang out with them (they’d probably be a bit too wild for me, honestly).

A fun, emotionally-satisfying novel for teens and adults who don’t mind reading below their grade level.

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4 Stars

Hot Lead, Cold Iron by Ari Marmell

By HCNewton

On June 10, 2014

In Fiction

Hot Lead, Cold Iron

by Ari Marmell

Trade Paperback, 311 pg.
Titan Books, 2014
Read: May 19 – 27, 2014

This is the way to start a series, I mean, wow. Mick Oberon is a P.I. in the rough and tumble days of late-Prohibition-era Chicago. He mixes with the mob, political figures,and other assorted low-lifes, while eking out a living — just enough to afford milk, rent and the cheap suits he wears. He can take a beating like nobody’s business, and packs a wand rather than rather than a gun. Oh yeah, and he’s fae.

I’ve got a mental checklist that I use to evaluate a new (to me) Urban Fantasy: 1. Is there a strong voice? 2. Do I like the characters/world? 3. Is the magic system interesting? (you can replace vampire/werewolf/etc. system where applicable)

Hot Lead, Cold Iron passes this test easily. Oberon’s smart, snarky — a little disdainful of humanity (but it’s not like you can really disagree with him). This Chicago is right out of The Untouchables, and when you add in the supernatural to the world (plus the Seelie/Unseelie Courts) — this world is a riot. There is so much raw material here that Marmell is set for several books. The magic system? I don’t have it all worked out after just one book, but what I’ve seen, I’ve liked. Oberson plays with luck — he takes good luck from people and uses it to power his own, he magnifies people’s bad luck to cause mishaps/mayhem, and so on. No big fireballs, or dramatic spells, just little bits of luck here and there going his way. I think that’s pretty nifty — especially the way it’s working out so far.

I’ve enjoyed Marmell’s prose in the past, and this is no different, even as it doesn’t feel like his other books. The novel is filled with great lines that are the epitome of hard-boiled P.I.s like Phillip Marlowe or Dixon Hill such as, “clad in shirt and trousers creased sharp enough to trim hedges.” Or this description of the fae world:

The colors. . . They’re intense, impossible, almost painful; entities unto themselves, rather’n mere traits of other objects. They’re stark, standing out against each other, the richest greens, the sharpest reds, the deepest browns, the brightest yellows. you could try to capture ’em in a painting, but nobody’d buy it: too fake-looking. There’s no gradation, nothing muted; the dark and light emeralds of a leaf don’t blend into each other, but sit side-by-side with clear demarcation — as if no one color here would ever lower itself to blend with another.

I hope future books spend more time in the fae world (and there’s every indication that they will), it’s slightly bent/twisted hyper-reality was truly imaginative, and unlike anyone else’s take on it. The fae camera, for example, was sort of a mix of something you’d find in a store on Diagon Alley and in Bedrock. I realize that analogy probably makes no sense — read the book and it will.

Good action, good plot, strong protagonist, strange world and intriguing magic system — everything a series’ first novel needs. Bring on the next!

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4 1/2 Stars

Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

By HCNewton

On June 3, 2014

In Authors, Fiction, Mercy Thompson, Patricia Briggs, Urban Fantasy

Night Broken

by Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson, #8

Hardcover, 341 pg.
Ace Hardcover, 2014
Read: March 19 – 20, 2014

Yay! Mercy’s back! She’s back and she’s facing off with her most potentially destructive foe . . . Adam’s ex. Oh, sure, there’s some sort of Gray Lord threatening her, a supernatural super-baddie that Mercy and her pals have never heard of, and an escaped felon who has powers a lot like Mercy . But the big danger comes from Christy.

This wasn’t a “big” novel in any real sense — seeds were planted/characters were introduced tha will be important, and I wouldn’t want to say that nothing significant happens. But, no epochal shifts, no game changers here — just straightforward case of bad guy comes to town, and Mercy et al. stop it. And along the way the final confrontation with the bad guy, we get to spend sometime with the Tri-Cities pack, as well as see some of the fallout from the last couple of books in this or the Alpha-Omega series. And that’s fine. Not every book needs to be an even, some just need to have a fun story, and maybe even move the chess pieces around a bit.

Initially, the villain of the piece looks fairly disappointing, just some stalker jerk making life difficult of Christy. But it soon becomes clear that there’s more to this guy, and it doesn’t take long to see that he’s one bad customer — creepy, dangerous, and powerful in a way I don’t think I’ve seen before. All in all, a worthy competitor for Mercy and the pack.

As always, the interplay between Mercy and the various members of the pack — or just between the pack without regard to Mercy — is fascinating. At once familial, yet competitive, not necessarily all that affectionate, yet more loyal than a troop of Marines.
The more the Jesse/Mercy relationship develops, the more I like to see it — particularly here, where much of the book can be seen as mother v. step-mother, watching Jesse maturely navigating those treacherous waters was quite satisfying.

My main (only?) quibble with the book was the way that Adam was depicted. He was continually utterly clueless about the way that Christy’s actions would/did affect Mercy. A lot of that, to be fair to the guy, can be attributed to how much he’s moved on from Christy and how devoted he is to Mercy — he doesn’t even see his ex as a potential threat. But, 1. Adam’s smarter than that and 2. given how territorial werewolves are in Briggs’ universe (and as seen in this book), it’s almost impossible to believe that he wouldn’t pick up on the territorial incursions Christy’s making.

Not the best thing that Briggs has written in this series, but not the worst. It had a good story, it was good to spend time with these characters, and I enjoyed the introduction of the new forces at play. A fun way to spend a few hours. Just about everything you could ask for.

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4 1/2 Stars

Dusted Off: Blue Diablo

By HCNewton

On March 10, 2014

In Fiction

Blue Diablo

by Ann Aguirre
Mass-Market Paperback, 336 pg.
Roc, 2009
Read: June 3-5, 2012

Ann Aguirre starts the 4th (or so) chapter by quoting the show, Coupling, which I’m pretty sure means I have to buy every book she’s written/will write. Doesn’t hurt that her heroine, Corine Solomon, has the same power as Anton Strout‘s Simon Canderous–psychometry (just a grittier version than Simon’s).

The book starts off in a nice, homey setting–but it’s clear that Corine has a dark backstory. It’s not too long before we meet a shadowy guy from her past and we’re off and running through a murky mix of various types of magic/magic-users, human trafficking, drugs, and other types of depravity. The plot takes some darker turns than I’d expected (and one or two pretty sillier ones). Corine meets plenty of new people along the way–most of whom are the kind of characters you grow to like and/or are interesting enough that you want to spend more time with.

Overall, a strong start to what should prove to be a very satisfying series.

I really could live without the Guy A or Guy B or Guy Neither storyline (but if push comes to shove, consider me Team Jesse), I did appreciate what Aguirre did with it this time–just not looking forward to more of it).

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3 Stars