Fantasybookspot - Shapeshifters

Dark Side of the Moon

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 17:06:00 -0400

Susan Michael has gone from mainstream news reporter to a sleaze magazine that prints outlandish pictures and even weirder stories. Her life is simple and bit a lonely. Her best friends, Angie and Jimmy, bring her to the local animal shelter to share a deep dark secret. Susan is able to speak to Jimmy for a few moments and then she ends up leaving the shelter with a cat. Of all the animals she could have brought home- she's allergic to cats. Events occur in the next few hours that Susan never thought possible. Her stray cat is really a adonis with six-pack abs and a devilish grin. Things that go bump in the night really do exist. And her life will never be the same. She's left with no friends, family, or hope for the future. The future where she thought she was headed. Now she must live with Ravyn and his world as a squire.

Ravyn Kontis is a Were-hunter who becomes attached to no one. The fact that a mere human saves him from death is both ironic and a lifesaver. He soon finds out that this human is different than most. She brings up feelings he thought were long dead and gone. Because of her he must face many things he thought were over and done with. Because of her he will regain the power to live.

Sherrilyn Kenyon knows how to create other worlds and her character development is amazing. Readers will want to travel through destinations unknown with Susan and Ravyn. They will want a happy ending and they won't be disappointed. How they get there is quite the adventure and it is highly recommended that you stay along for the ride. Readers will find themselves searching eagerly for the other titles in this series. The latest in the series has just been released.

This isn't usually my genre of books but I was totally enthralled with this book. I've already researched and found that this should not have been the first book read but I wouldn't change a thing. I was lucky enough to win an autographed copy at a recent GRWA meeting and now I'm hooked. Kudos to you Ms. Kenyon for showing me the way...to the dark hunter series.

Vampyres of Hollywood

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:35:20 -0400

The actress Adrienne Barbeau, probably best known for the ‘70s tv series Maude and more recently the HBO series Carnivale, teams up with prolific author Michael Scott (his YA novel The Alchemyst is being made into a movie) to write her second novel, Vampyres of Hollywood: a modern tale of vampires, murder, and the movie-making business.

This novel differs from other tales of that bloodsucking creature of the night in that it claims that Hollywood was essentially created by vampires. After all, it provides the perfect environment for them. It allows them to satisfy their narcissism and it gives them a means to perpetuate all of those fallacies and even create some new ones, like having no reflections, in order to keep the true nature of their existence from being discovered.

It took an X-ray and an autopsy to confirm that Jason Eddings had been killed with the Oscar he’d won for Best Actor just six hours earlier.

He deserved it.

The Oscar, that is.

As for being murdered, well, he probably deserved that, too.

Vampyres of Hollywood opens with a murder, and the subsequent chapters alternate between the first person point of views of Osvanna Moore, legendary horror film actress and studio head, and Peter King, the detective with movie-star good looks and a penchant for nice clothes (he is, after all, working the Beverly Hills beat.) But one murder quickly becomes several murders, and all of the victims are somehow linked to Osvanna.

From Osvanna’s point of view, we are given glimpses into her long and rich past from her relationship as body guard, friend and occasional lover to Catherine the Great to that of muse to Van Gogh. We learn that many great historical events and persons were somehow related to vampirism like Jack the Ripper and the fall of Pompeii. Barbeau and Scott manage to make it all seem plausible, and it works mostly because the novel doesn’t strive to take itself too seriously.

Through Detective King’s investigations, we are introduced to more than a few interesting characters. His tenant, SuzieQ (that’s her real name, it says so on her driver’s license) is an exotic dancer, snake wrangler, and sounding board for the detective, often offering insightful comments and useful insider information (Hollywood is a small town, you know.) Since the suspect in this case has been dubbed The Cinema Slayer, we are introduced to his mom, who knows the movie industry inside and out. She once had aspirations of being an A-List actress, but was always relegated to roles such as “girl in the bar”, “woman in the bar, and “woman behind bars.” Eventually, her penchant for saving movie set mementos and collecting signed film scripts paid off when eBay provided the perfect venue for selling those mementos. Then there’s John Trueblood who stands at 6’8” and goes by the nickname Little John. He’s an ex-convict and ex-professional wrestler, tattoo artist and parlor owner, and avid collector of movie memorabilia (he‘s one of Mrs. King’s best customers.) These folks may be secondary characters, but they add interest and color to the story in addition to helping move King’s case forward.

Minor inconsistencies (vampires don’t feel the cold, but in one scene Osvanna feels “Brittle cold but no pain.”; it’s pointed out that vampires can be seen in mirrors because of the laws of physics yet no mention is made of those same laws when they change into animal forms) and a tendency to state the obvious do little to detract from the fact that this is a briskly paced and entertaining story that doesn’t pause long enough to give the reader time to worry too much about these minor criticisms. There are plenty of references to the Hollywood of yesteryear as well as currently running shows to appease most movie and television buffs. There are scenes of gore and a grand finale of flesh-eating to give horror fans something to wince about. In the end, Vampyres of Hollywood provides a fitting metaphor for Hollywood’s movie industry as well as a vampy, campy fun read.

Since I don't have the option of rating this book something between a 6 and 7, I gave it a 7.

(This review refers to the Advance Uncorrected Proof.)

The Shadow Pavilion

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:06:57 -0400

The Shadow Pavilion, the fourth in the Detective Inspector Chan adventures certainly carries through with the promise of an entertaining read. DI Chen, Shanghai Three’s Police Liaison with Heaven and Hell, is after whatever group is illegally bringing in residents of Hell as cheap labor. He has two of the best working on it when they disappear. Seneschal Zhu Irzh is not only a demon but a terrific operative in his own right and was sent in with Badger, who can take care of himself. Now Chen has to find out where they’ve gone and still get to the bottom of the issue. It doesn’t help when he finds out that the newly crowned Celestial Emperor is under an attempted assassination and that a shortcutting scriptwriter has imported a Tiger demon to impersonate a movie star and that she is now on the loose and in a starlet-sized snit.

Liz Williams has created an interestingly enjoyable fantasy/scifi/adventure. This one sort of defies classification as Singapore Three is futuresque but with her addition of the realms of Hell and Heaven and all their dream- and nightmarescape denizens, the tale takes on a mythological bent that makes for fascinating reading. She has begun to flesh out some of the secondary characters more – we get to see from the perspective of Badger, a Hellish family familiar with fierce loyalties to Chen and his wife; we also get a little more perspective from the Celestial Emperor; as well as Chen’s wife Inari. As usual we have some new secondary characters, new demons, foolish humans, and the most successful assassin of all time to keep us amused.

With all due speed Williams draws us into the intrigue, imbuing our imaginations with vivid images full of color and scent that make her stories come alive. With this descriptive skill she lures us in. Then, like the sticky strands of a spider’s web, we get trapped and held by a story that is so full of life we cannot even decide what to call it. Is it futuristic police procedural? Is it an allegorical fairy tale? Near future occult? Perhaps an alternative historical fantasy? Whatever you would like to call it, I’ll just call it something I want more of. Fans of the previous three will not be disappointed.

Magic Burns

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:25:40 -0400

Magic Burns is the second in a new series from Ilona Andrews. In the first book, Magic Bites, we are introduced to Kate Daniels a magical mercenary whose heritage and experience has given her the ability to handle herself in difficult situations. Living in Atlanta after a magical cataclysm that renders technology unreliable on a regular basis, the magical pulses that are echoes of this magical upheaval occur in an unfixed pattern except for the large ‘flare’ that happens every seven years. That Flare is coming soon and apparently some magical beings are out to utilize that Flare to escape their prison and make Atlanta their new base of operations. Since these destructive demons intend to use the human race as fodder, Kate must work to stop their plan. Kate discovered all of this while searching for the mother of an orphaned waif who seems to have a great deal of innate magic herself.

This was a very fitting sequel to the first book, taking up nearly at the same time that the first closed. As a character, Kate seems a bit more fragile mentally than your average magic wielding heroine. Her past, including a dangerously powerful father and a murdered partner keep her from exuding the usual invulnerability. Her relationship with the Beast Lord is both convincing and compelling while being a touch out of the ordinary. Kate still kicks demon butt though when needed and typically gets herself in trouble with her smart mouth. While parts of the timeline for the magical catastrophe and certain areas of logic that Andrews used to constrain and explain her world seemed a bit sketchy to me; her characters, plot, magic and adventure carry the story along nicely so that this will not be a deterrent to any but the most pedantic.

I found this to be a satisfying, if short, urban fantasy adventure in the line of Patricia Briggs and Jim Butcher. Like their characters, Andrews’ heroine is a bit of an outsider who does not fit comfortably in one category and thus is able to cross differing cultures without undue difficulties. In my opinion, this book was definitely enjoyable enough for me to keep an eye out for the next in the series. I’ll give it a 7.

Sorceress

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 15:55:19 -0400

Sorceress is a familiar combination of romance, prophecy and quest in a medieval setting. Our heroine Bryanna is guided by a dead woman in her quest to fulfill a prophecy and save a child she has never met.

According to legend, the Sacred Dagger was once owned by a powerful witch. Its magick was strong enough to cause storms to rise, the sea to roll back, or the earth to crack. Men had killed for the dagger and wars had been waged. Fearing it would get into the wrong hands, the witch had dismantled it, removing the magick stones from the hilt and scattering them to the four winds.

Bryanna must travel the farthest corners of Wales in search of these stones. She is joined along the way by Gavin, a childhood friend who is now a fugitive wanted for theft and murder. She is also followed by a dark and threatening presence.

Through the fog, her lover came to Bryanna. Dressed as a hunter and riding upon a dark horse, he appeared through the mist. He was tall, his shoulders wide, his face obscured in the darkness, and yet she knew he was the one for whom she’d been waiting all her life.

“You have the dagger.”

I found Sorceress to be formulaic and melodramatic. I also found it to be an entertaining tale. The author is adept at setting a scene and creating a sense of place without meandering off into long descriptive passages. Although the quest takes nearly a year, the book’s pacing and the mystery of each stone’s location kept me turning the pages.

The characters are distinctive if archetypal. Bryanna is not just a pretty redhead, she is a flame-haired, emerald-eyed beauty. She is smart, but would rather ride horses than embroider cloths. Gavin is not just a handsome man, but a dark-haired, muscular rogue. He is a bastard (by birth not disposition) who had a damn good reason for killing a man and stealing a horse.

There are sexually explicit scenes, but they didn’t seem unnecessarily drawn out and didn’t dominate the story-telling. (The following is one of the tamer scenes.)

His lips found the shell of her ear and his tongue rimmed that sensitive spot. All protests died on her lips. His breath fanned the place his tongue had moistened and she thought she would go wild with wanting.
Dear God, her blood was pounding through her veins, her skin hot and wanting. The desire deep within her was pulsing and hot, hungry, knowing that it would take but a few deep strokes of-----

As my rating indicates, I found Sorceress by Lisa Jackson a solid read with the few minor criticisms already mentioned. If the passage I just quoted makes you wince, roll your eyes, or similarly express displeasure, you may rate this book considerably lower. On the other hand, if you read that passage and want to know where it leads (in addition, of course, in wanting to know where the stones are hidden), you will probably find Sorceress an entertaining read.

{The edition I read was an uncorrected proof. Also, I did not know at the time I read it that Sorceress is the final book in a trilogy (after Impostress and Temptress), but it stands well enough on its own.}

Sharp Teeth

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 15:58:31 -0400

An ancient race of lycanthropes has survived to the present day, and its numbers are growing as the initiated convince L.A.'s down-and-out to join their pack. Paying no heed to moons, full or otherwise , they change from human to canine at will -- and they're bent on domination at any cost.

Caught in the middle are Anthony, a kindhearted, besotted dogcatcher, and the girl he loves, a female werewolf who has abandoned her pack. Anthony has no idea that she's more than she seems, and she wants to keep it that way. But her efforts to protect her secret lead to murderous results.

Sharp Teeth is a novel about werewolves in L.A. told completely in free verse. That condensed summary might scare some off and will excite others. You can randomly turn to any page and immediately see that it's not like most books published in todays market. A fundamental question becomes 'is this a gimmick or a legitimate device that serves the story well'?

Sharp Teeth never for a moment becomes gimmicky, and like the best examples of verse epics, it has a frequency that is easy to tune into. It's got such an easy rhythm to it that you never get pulled out of the story with thoughts of form or layout. So any potential readers who thinks that they might be put off by a free verse novel shouldn't have any worries.

One thing that the free verse form does allow for in its telling of a hardboiled story is an ultra streamlined pace that results in a lean and mean narrative in the best sense. Digging below the surface however what we find are all the elements of a great crime fiction story. There are drugs, murder, betrayal, revenge and gangs. All of these, at times familiar, tropes are married with a new modern, urban werewolf mythos that gives them a fresh face and really stretches the boundaries of what a hard-boiled/noir story can be. A lot of what we know from popular werewolf stories, if not everything, is scrapped so we can't even rely on that. Barlow manages to use our familiarity with crime fiction stories and werewolf stories against us here.

"There's blood everywhere,
but it's the creatures at the edge,
licking the corner of the ruby pool,
that hold your curiosity.
So get this straight
it's not the full moon.
That's as ancient and ignorant as any myth.
The blood just quickens with a thought
a discipline develops
so that one can self-ignite
reshaping form, becoming something rather more canine
still conscious, a little hungrier.
It's a raw muscular power,
a rich sexual energy
and the food tastes a whole lot better."

What really gives the book an extra dimension is Barlow's ability to create complex, human, relatable and sympathetic characters with just a few brush strokes. It's obvious that he really cares for his characters and as a result we do to.

"Anthony is aware of her in the other room.
Sometimes he wants to go in
wrap her in his arms, hold her
until her blue eyes turn their focus away
from whatever haunts her
to find him again there
kneeling beside her, patiently removing the thorns.
Strong love can hold on to anything fairly given,
he knows this.
He has held her in Pacific waves
standing against the tide that pulled firmly at their sides,
"See," he said. "We're stronger than this."
She looked in his eyes.
She was almost there
but not yet."

Make no mistake about this book about werewolves, there are some broad reaching themes addressed here about the human condition. We are personally invested in the love and loss; hurt and happy; confusion and chaos; and life and death of these characters because we can see a bit of ourselves in them. Sharp Teeth is a special book that encompasses a very broad spectrum from action scenes that blew me away to swift violence that surprised to quiet and devastating moments that made my heart ache.

--Brian Lindenmuth

Small Favor

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:01:06 -0400

Small Favor, the 10th book in Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files is another tale full of Harry Dresden’s wisecracking and wizardry. In this episode, Harry has been recruited by Mab, Queen of Winter to find and rescue the mob boss, Johnny Marcone. This is a job Harry would never take, except for the fact that he is in debt to Winter and must do it despite his reservations. Regardless of the fact that Harry is being harassed by minions of the Summer Court and that whoever kidnapped Marcone was not only a professional but very powerful, Harry is now on the case.

Asking questions of the right people, Harry discovers who has kidnapped the crime lord and is forced by Marcone’s people to set up a neutral meeting between his abductors and Marcone’s seconds. Macrons’ abductors are none other than the Knights of the Blackened Denarius, mages who have been possessed by fallen angels. Talks of this sort need neutral ground and a neutral negotiator. Harry decides that a meeting this dangerous requires a powerful negotiator and calls in the Archive, the living repository of all knowledge. Getting this sort of meeting set up while being stalked by Queen Titania’s enforcers taxes Harry’s resources. Living through the talks could be even harder.

I find that I enjoy this series for several reasons. The largest of those reasons is Butcher’s voice. Undoubtedly, his characters are of a sort who have lives that readers love to follow. I even find his secondary characters to be fascinating. Bob, Mouse and Mister are some of my favorites, and I love to hear about them. His fantasy Chicago, full of hidden magic and faerie creatures is also very compelling to us mortals stuck in our mundane lives. However, it is his voice that brings it all to life. The character dialog, Harry’s internal dialog, and his pop culture reference riddled descriptions make this reader feel as if the story was written specifically for me. If Mike Hammer was a wizard living in modern-day Chicago and had a fondness for sarcasm and snappy comebacks, his name would be Harry Dresden.

Butcher’s fans will definitely devour this one just like the last nine. It has all the elements, danger, magic, romantic undertones, wisecracks, a multitude of pop culture references, evil beasties and arrogant bad guys, mayhem, threats, faeries, vampires and even the billy goats gruff. Seriously, they are there, I kid you not (pun intended).

Firefly Island

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:18:03 -0400

The story is set on Firefly Island, a land inhabited by four peoples, each with their own magical gift. The Stonesons can magically manipulate stone, Esirens can transmit thoughts, Healers have the power to heal wounds, and the Forrestfolk can transform their own bodies to mimic the attributes of animals. From time to time, each race will produce an individual known as a Firechild, whose powers dramatically surpass the others of their race.

Aeolia, a teenage girl, has a unique gift: she can link her mind to those around her, directly sharing thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Her gift must be kept secret at any cost, because it makes her the only person on the Island capable of killing Sinther, brutal king of the militaristic nation of Stonemark, whose mastery of the innate magic of his people has let him transform his body into invulnerable living stone. Sinther knows that someone with the power to harm him is out there, and is willing to destroy whole nations to eliminate the only threat to his rule. Sold into slavery as a child, Aeolia’s only solace is the hope that she will someday be reunited with Joren, her brother, who swore that someday he would find her.

Her life as a slave comes to an end when she is found by Prince Lale, son of King Sinther. He means to kill her, but a struggle breaks out and Aeolia escapes in the chaos. On the run, hoping to find her brother, Aeolia finds a protector in a young man named Talin. Her desperate flight will take her across the Island and into a bloody struggle for the future of all its peoples. It will also bring her to her beloved brother Joren, but he is not the boy Aeolia used to know…

I enjoyed this book a good deal. After a slightly slow start, the story picks up and kept me interested. The magical innate abilities that form the basis of the setting were an interesting change from the sort of magic more typical of medieval fantasy, and are used in some creative ways. The characters are interesting and enjoyable, and the portrayal of Aeolia’s growing strength and courage in the face of increasing and adversity is well-done.

The book did have two weaknesses. The first is that the romantic subplot involving Aeolia seemed to progress too fast, and with too little fleshing out. This diminished its effects somewhat. The second is that Arenson’s descriptions of large-scale battles, which are important to the plot, were not satisfying to me; they would have benefited from more attention and detail.

Overall, however, the book’s strengths overshadow its weaknesses. One of my favorite aspects was the way magic was used and described- the bodies of the shapeshifting Forrestfolk warping and shifting with each moment to gain advantage in battle, Stoneson armies bringing fortifications crashing down by sheer combined will, or the confusing and somewhat frightening blurring of thought and identity when Aeolia fully links with another mind. I especially enjoyed the look at what happens when a Forrestwoman gets cut in two while temporarily shifted into the form of a worm. A powerful Forrestfolk shapeshifter can take on the attributes as the form of other animals, and worms have some remarkable regenerative abilities…

I also quite liked the characterization of the evil Prince Lale: prince of a great nation, leader of armies, and pitilessly brutal to those who oppose him, yet ultimately a pathetic, even pitiable figure driven not by ambition or power or ideals, but by a self-destructive desperation to please and be accepted by his tyrannical father. I found the character both poignant and sadly believable. This also provides some nice characterization for his father King Sinther, despite the relative brevity of Sinther’s personal appearances in the book. It is made clear from his bloody crimes against the nations of the Island that Sinther is an evil figure, but it is Arenson’s portrayal of Sinther’s revoltingly cruel psychological destruction of his own son that really sold him to me as a monster.

I thought “Firefly Island” was a very promising debut for Arenson. As a self-contained story of only 347 pages, it is an especially good choice if you like fantasy but don’t want to become committed to reading a long series or one of the 900-page tomes that are so common in fantasy nowadays. It is also, despite some fairly grim aspects, generally more upbeat in tone than many other modern writers of medieval fantasy, which is nice if you enjoy the genre but want a break from the darker, more downbeat worlds of fantasy authors like Glen Cook, George Martin, or Steven Erikson. I would highly recommend this book for fantasy fans, and look forward to seeing how Daniel Arenson develops.

Madhouse

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:31:06 -0500

Madhouse is an apt description of the fantastical New York City created by Rob Thurman. This modern day city is full to bursting with scary creatures that you might not want to encounter in a dark alley, and I am not talking about your garden variety muggers, rapists and murderers. For the most part these mythological and legendary creatures have adapted to living alongside humans, mostly hiding their natures and exploiting their strengths and the relative weakness of humans. This is an urban fantasy in the realm of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series, where today’s world is peopled with things from dreams, nightmares, legends and myths and the protagonist is both a part of that unseen world and a part of ours. That dichotomy is the main source of tension in these series, but Rob Thurman takes it a step further. Her main character, Caliban, is half Auphe, which just happen to be the nastiest, meanest and most fearsome of the unseen population. Because of this he is not accepted in the unseen world and despises himself as a monster so refuses to fit into our world.

Niko and Caliban, having run from their past and it’s demons for most of their life, end up settling in NYC for many reasons, not the least of which it is easier to hide amongst a crowd. Through the first two books of the series, Nightlife and Moonshine, we follow them as they discover the City and its inhabitants make friends, enemies and encounter situations that would make most people run screaming. Because of their experience in running from and fighting against monsters, they end up creating an agency for handling ‘monster issues’. Each case brings on new problems for the young men and the latest is no walk in the park. Madhouse is centered on their attempts to find and destroy an ancient, legendary murderer named Sawney Beane. Sawney is an actual legendary Scottish clan leader known for cannibalism and murder. Thurman has generously combined the historical legend with the mythological goblin like creature called a Red Cap to create a thoroughly detestable monster. This creature has been reanimated from his ashes and is now loose in the city, killing and eating the people of NYC. So Niko and Caliban, with their friends Rob Fellows, the Puck and Niko’s girlfriend Promise, a vampire, set out to corner the mad killer in an old psychiatric hospital located on the grounds of Columbia University. Thus we find the second meaning of Madhouse, a literal madhouse full of malignant memories and unpleasant feelings; and now full of fresh bodies and covered in blood.

Niko and Cal are hard pressed this time around. The Red Cap is clever and ruthless and has lots of experience in killing and staying alive, but the brothers are more than determined to stop him at all costs. If you enjoyed the first two wisecracking urban adventures, you won’t be disappointed with this one; it has just enough action, angst, sarcasm, mystery, mayhem and murder to keep you turning the pages until the very end.

Storm Dragon - Draconic Prophecies Book 1

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:46:54 -0500

“Storm Dragon”, book one of the Draconic Prophecies, by James Wyatt is set in the Dungeons & Dragons world of Eberron. James Wyatt is one of the creators of the Eberron world. . Eberron is a change of pace from other D& D fantasy worlds, in that it has slightly higher technology with magical airships, artificially created warriors called “warforged”, and other elements. In some regards I suppose it is like a steampunk D&D world. Not being familiar with the details of the Eberron world I thought that a story by Wyatt, one of its creators, would be ideal for getting an overview of the world as we built into the story. That didn’t happen though. A familiarity with the world is needed to avoid getting lost in the dizzying assortment of names, places, and historical details. Is having some world background woven into the story an unreasonable expectation? Perhaps, but I admit to having that expectation coming into the book.

The other item that dominated my perception of “Storm Dragon” was how slowly events built up and the story finally gained steam. When the plot elements all come together though, much like one of the storms that main character Gavin Lyrandar can magically conjure, things really get going. That takes very nearly the entire book though, as things unfold slowly. Patience is required as we see Gavin Lyrandar and Haldren ir’Brassek get broken out of an inescapable prison in Eberron. Gavin is a man driven mad by obsession with a Draconic prophecy. As a result, he may know more about it than anybody. There are those who seek to fulfil the prophecy for their own gain, and they see Gavin’s knowledge as a key to it. Alliances are forged, broken, and reforged throughout the course of the novel. In many cases character motivation was passed to the reader in the form of riddle-like prophecy text. The constantly shifting alliances made it very difficult to determine who was key to the agendas throughout the story, who was a pawn, or even who the heroes of the story
would be.

Then there was the prophecy itself. It was the driving force that was shaping the world events in the story. But I still wasn’t clear what the prophecy was. It seemed a tale of Armageddon or of a war among gods on Eberron. These seemed to be, at least as I interpreted them, world altering events, yet something that some power hungry people thought that could bring to pass for their own personal gain. The role of “the bad guys” in the story seemed to be clear if they wanted to destroy the world in order to rule it. Their objectives and the exact outcome they thought they could achieve were extremely hazy, still very far into the book. While I like not being spoon-fed by a plot and being able to make my own interpretations and guesses until the author let’s me know whether I’ve been right or wrong, I was having to do too much of this to be able to settle comfortably into the book for the majority of it. While the bad guys were clear whether or not the expected hero of the story would actually play that role was in doubt for an unsettlingly long portion of the book.

That may have been by design as the clouds broke and questions were clearly answered in the climax of the story. However, it made for a frustrating read at times because I felt just as in the dark about which characters I should grow attached to in the story as I was at the beginning. I’m a sucker for a hero, especially when I’m reading fantasy. I want to find that character and travel along with him or her, even if that’s a misdirection to be revealed later in the story. But in this case I had a hard time finding anything redeeming in any of the characters for the longest time so I had nobody to invest in. For the majority of the story the character I liked most was Cart, the warforged. As a constructed warforged, he had a loyalty and innocence to him. Perhaps it is all my years of watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the obvious comparisons to the android Commander Data, but it was most interesting, especially in the early parts of the book, to watch Cart strive to interact with his companions as humanly as he knew how to, but still fall short of that.

Still though, it was apparent that Cart was a secondary character in this story. Perhaps he has previously had, or will get, his own book. But this one was not his. It was obvious that this book was Gavin’s. I was expecting to see the classic journey of the hero, ala “The Hero of A Thousand Faces”. So I waited for the character to develop, and his story and growth to occur along the way.

I waited a long time and was very near conceding that it wasn’t going to happen and this book wasn’t going to hit the mark for me. But then things all came together. Gavin found himself, both in character and as a character in the book that I found interesting and drawn to. Gavin had one huge moment of catharsis where all the bitterness and resentment of his life and particularly 26 years of imprisonment was washed away. But I thought he found a bit too much forgiveness, just a bit too quickly, especially toward the person who was responsible for having him sent to prison. That’s an awful lot of instant forgiveness. It seemed forced to me so that the plot could proceed along. Gavin also had a tearful reunion with a family that he had been “excommunicated” from for 26 years that was also too conveniently resolved. Again I thought it farfetched that 26 years of history could be undone that easily and painlessly. “Storm Dragon” comes in at a comfortable 344 pages, so these couple elements that were forced and rushed could have been expanded out in a less abrupt fashion in just a few extra pages. It didn’t seem like these pivotal moments of character growth and revelation had to be glossed over for the sake of the length of the book. I don’t claim to be the editor or publisher, so perhaps I’m entirely wrong there.

For all the slow build-up, “Storm Dragon ended very strongly over the last thirteen chapters. Better late than never in the “bringing it all together” department. The climax was a large battle sequence that was riveting and was the biggest page-turner of the book. I’ll even look past the fact that there was a beholder at the end that seemed to go down pretty easily. The end left us with questions and a setup for the additional books in this series, but it provided a happy ending for our main characters who had managed to step forward and take the title of “heroes” by the time the book ended.

I give “Storm Dragon” a “rising 6” on my scale. It walked a tightrope and teetered on the brink for me at the beginning. But James Wyatt pulled through and brought it home for me at the end. Looking over the whole book I have to give it a 6, but my opinion was definitely on the rise after the last 13 chapters. They saved the book in my opinion and were a solid springboard from which to launch the rest of the series.

However, to have more than just a average reading experience while reading “Storm Dragon” a reader will need to have two things, an appreciation and some familiarity with the world of Eberron and the patience to let the story come together.

A Dark Sacrifice

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:50:21 -0500

A Dark Sacrifice, the second book in Madeline Howard’s Rune of Unmaking series is a well written sequel to The Hidden Stars. As we begin this book, we pick up directly where the first book left off – we find Sindérian, Prince Ruan and Skerry on their way to find and bring home Princess Winloki. Meanwhile, Winloki is holed up in an ancient castle full of malicious magic that is under siege by an army of Eisenlonders and Ice Giants.

Because this is the second in a series, as we often find, the author takes this time for character development and pays less attention to plot. While there is quite a bit of action going on, it almost feels like background ambiance. This focus on character development is so sharp that while the book covers a great deal of time and travel, I got the feeling that only five days or so had passed. Whereas many may say that this is a flaw in the book, I appreciated the time taken on the characters and to give the reader a better feel for them. We are even treated to some insights into Queen Ouriána and her motivations as well as some background information on her chosen priests and her children.

Many of you, after reading the above paragraph will say “but where’s the action?” Not to worry, you will get your action. Howard gives us sieges and battles with foreign armies, fearsome new races, skirmishes with unknown enemies and even a desperate fight with a manticore (which was also beautifully rendered on the front cover). There are many obstacles that the travelers must pass through in order to get where they are going and the lover of action-packed books will not be bored.

This book, while well constructed and enjoyable, does not quite meet the same level of The Hidden Stars. It is a good book, though it is mostly a vehicle to set up the reader to the rest of the story. The first book in a series often races the reader through a series of plot maneuvers that tend to leave holes unless the author is willing to periodically bore the reader with sleepy info dumps. This leaves the author with the need to fill in some background and give the reader a better understanding of what is happening and why. Howard has done this admirably. I finished the book still desiring to find out more of the story and not at all disappointed that I had a better understanding of the major characters and the history that created the situation behind this particular series. Yes, I will most definitely pick up the next in the series as soon as it is available.

Virtual Evil

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:37:27 -0500

The government of 2057 is regretting the deregulation of time travel as private companies deluge the past with tourists. As the delicate web of history flexes under the weight of interference from the future, Jacynda struggles to locate the man who made time travel a reality - Harter Defoe. Cynda’s friends Dr. Allistair and Detective Keats also continue their struggles with Victorian Transitives and a mysterious bloody murder. The stakes are high as Jacynda and her companions attempt to fulfill their duties. With Keat’s life on the line and Jacynda facing eternity in prison if they fail, the odds have never looked worse.

Jana C. Oliver has crafted a sequel that packs a whallop! Virtual Evil is a sensory overload of spine tingling adventure and mind-tickling wit. I absolutely love how she has deepened the characters in this second book. Dr. Allistair and Keats come alive here, standing aside Jacynda as they struggle to put the pieces together in this inventive mystery. Oliver splits her focus between these three characters, yet is able to maintain the momentum and tension in the tale. The action is non-stop as readers follow all three in their struggles to identify an invisible killer that can take on the image of anyone.

If anything, Virtual Evil is even more complex than the first book in the Time Rovers series, Sojourn. Oliver builds the suspense and intrigue, causing readers to doubt the integrity of just about everyone. Not knowing who to trust is one of my favorite aspects of this story. I am also impressed with her concept of time travel as she fills in even more details for readers. In fact, the only weakness I see in the story is the role of government as the Big Bad Brother looking over Jacynda’s shoulder. I feel the writing on that aspect is a bit clichéd and is the only predictable part of this book. However, this did not interrupt my enjoyment of a thoroughly rolicking tale.

Readers, please prepare for this book by reading the first in the series and then jump into this second story. Hopefully, we will not have long to wait to find out just what befalls our heroine and her two companions after the cliffhanger ending of Virtual Evil. I promise you will be breathless waiting for the third book, Madman’s Dance, to arrive sometime in the fall of 2008.

Sojourn

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 10:52:58 -0500

Jacynda is a Time Rover from the year 2057, escorting academic tourists back and forth in the river of Time to engage in historical research. Called upon to recover a reluctant tourist who is enjoying the past a little too much, she finds herself in one of the most terrifying times and places during the Victorian Era - East End London, 1888, the playground of Jack the Ripper. As if a tourist refusing to return isn’t enough, Jacynda finds out a Rover has also gone missing. Woven throughout her escapade is the presence of the Transitives, a group of people with the mysterious talent to alter their appearance by shifting their shape completely. Jacynda must decide who to trust as she finds she is running out of the very commodity she has always controlled - Time.

Winner of the Daphne du Maurier award, Sojourn is an exquisitely crafted tale that takes readers back to the very bowels of the East End. Squalid, derelict, and desperate, the people there are simply trying to survive another day. Jacynda can’t help but compare her life in 2057 with the existence of those in 1888. The author lays the stark and sterile society of the future next to the teeming life of the Victorian Era. Jacynda begins to realize filth and struggle serve to heighten the pleasures of the simple things in life, such as fresh hot scones and a quiet bath.

Jana G. Oliver has performed a masterful feat, balancing the multiple threads in the storyline to culminate in an ending that both satisfies and leaves questions unanswered. The only threadbare aspect to the plot was the relationship between Jacynda and her employer in 2057, but this pales in comparison to the rest of the story. Readers will find non-stop action from the beginning as they tumble from 1888 to 2057 and back again. Ms. Oliver introduces characters and creates personalities, capturing the Victorian fussiness and the “ladies of the night” with finesse. Her addition of the Transitives, shape shifters, serves to add a different twist on the activities of Jack the Ripper. Ripperologists, fear not, this is not an attempt to lay to rest the identity of that cruel fiend. Jack does, however, have a place in the plot (as readers will find out for themselves).

Sojourn was a wonderful adventure, full of unexpected twists and turns. I encourage you, Reader, to experience this time trip for yourself.

Shadowmancer

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:59:05 -0500

Demurral, a vicar in a beautiful corner of Britain, is tired of pushing and controlling ignorant peasants. He knows he has the power to rule much more and is willing to do whatever it takes. In fact, he even doubts that God himself is doing a good job. He eagerly uses his power to command the spirits of the dead and release a demon from the crypt. Demurral’s greed, however, starts a war in this repressed community. The common people are challenged to choose sides. Are they for the vicar, the repression and evil he gladly proclaims? Or will they unite, join with the forces of light and overthrow the darkness?

Previously self-published in the United Kingdom, G.P. Taylor received such a great response that his book was picked up by one of the big houses - Faber and Faber. A vicar himself in Yorkshire, G.P. Taylor has put much of the local geography and history into this tale. His descriptions of the seaside and cliffs are one of the strong points in this book, placing the reader in the midst of the setting.

Written for adolescents, the character building in Shadowmancer is deceptively simple. Not much time is spent on each person, but the time spent looks into their deepest hearts. The story is mainly focused on the battle of good and evil - the Holy War fought here on earth. It is a swashbuckling tale of common folk once again being called upon to do their part in the eternal battle, of slaves finding freedom to live again.

For myself, however, the book contains a bit too much lecture for me. I believe in the message spoken throughout this tale, but for me - stories consist of characters. I want to know why they do what they do. At times the action moves so swiftly and the point of view shifts completely, I felt as if I lost the thread of the story.

Since the tale seems to be more important that the characters themselves, though, a reader needs to approach it for what it is. Shadowmancer feels more like a medieval bard’s work - spoken by the light of the fire in return for a loaf and a warm place to sleep. A book I will read to my children, or let them read, as it does not tiptoe around the truth; it pushes and demands the reader to see and compare real life with the tale.

The Green and the Gray

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:41:58 -0500

Aliens are living among us. Not the freaky, slimy type of aliens depicted in Men in Black but humanoid beings with abilities beyond us. Each faction, the Greens and the Grays, are refugees from the same world and believe the other group was destroyed. They sought asylum in New York along with millions of other refugees that flooded Ellis Island during the early 20th century. The fragile peace that existed when each thought they were alone while hiding among the human population is now threatened when the Greens stumble upon the Grays.

Roger and Caroline Whittier, a run-of-the-mill human couple, find themselves thrust into the midst of this conflict when they stumble upon young Melanthe Green running for her life. Factions working for peace between the two groups have decided on a strategy to appease everyone. Unfortunately for Melanthe, this strategy is that a Peace Child will be sacrificed - her. The Whittier’s efforts to help her bring each of them out of their self-imposed yuppiedom and challenge their beliefs about each other.

This is not a story about aliens, per se, nor is it the usual space opera that I have come to associate with Timothy Zahn. The focus is really on diplomacy and groups of different types of people getting along with each other. (Although a little twist is thrown in at the end, which I refuse to go into as it would be a spoiler.) Regardless, there are plenty of explosions and shootings, conspiracy and cloak-and-dagger, to reassure me that Mr. Zahn didn’t stray too far afield.

While there are many characters in this book, almost too many, Mr. Zahn still finds time to develop the main ones. I like that Roger Whittier is completely normal yet finds this tremendous strength in himself to do amazing things, even so far as to attempt to broker a peace deal with all the grace and dignity of a UN diplomat (think Jimmy Stuart, here). I admire Caroline for trusting herself, pushing to do the right thing and daring to care for someone who is very different from herself. Most of all, I enjoyed how the two of them are thrust out of the doldrums of their relationship and learn to understand how the other one thinks. In fact, of all the books I have read lately, this one strikes me as having the potential to make a very good movie.

I enjoyed this book because it is different from anything I have read lately. Mr. Zahn has an ability to keep the pace of the story climbing throughout, making it difficult to set the book down until you are finished. I really thought his concept about the Greens and the Grays being . . . Oops, almost forgot - can’t give anything away! I know I will read this book again. Well done, Mr. Zahn.

Queen Ferris

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:38:49 -0500

We enter the story right in the middle of the action. Reiffen has made a choice to return to his evil captors, the Three Wizards, to learn the magic he has been promised. He leaves his friends, Avender and Ferris, without any explanation. We follow all three as they reach young adulthood, watching them try to come to grips with Reiffen’s decision.

Reiffen discovers that the study of magic under the Three involves blood, pain and sacrifice, many times given by unwilling subjects. His friends struggle with the king they see as usurping Reiffen’s rightful throne. To make things worse, the prince is madly in love with Ferris. Prince Brizen quietly and thoroughly pursues her hand in marriage. The storyline bounces back and forth, with Avender and Ferris proclaiming Reiffen’s innocence even as evidence of his traitorous acts accumulate. Events culminate in battle, and Reiffen leads the wizards’ armies against the very throne his friends are attempting to protect. All seems lost; the throne, their friendship, Ferris’ love for Reiffen, all destroyed in Reiffen’s relentless push to possess magic.

This is the second installment in the Stoneways Trilogy, begun by book one Reiffen’s Choice. I haven’t had the pleasure of reading Reiffen’s Choice yet, but I promise you I will. S.C. Butler has deftly woven a tapestry of mythical creatures that gleams in the sun. His dwarves are most definitely of the earth and their grasp of technology only makes them more unique and true. The nokken and the shape shifter, or Oeinnen, are reminiscent of figures from other cultures and add a pungent twist to Butler’s world.

The only thing I didn’t like about this book was the timeline. The next chapter might be the next day, next year, or even two to three years. Time passed in leaps and bounds, leaving me feeling bereft of a connection to the characters. Now, this may serve a purpose. Many are the books who bore their readers with minutiae, inconsequential details of unnecessary storyline. Butler easily avoids this pitfall. I wonder, though, if he was a bit too efficient in this. I like his characters, really. I wanted to spend more time with them, watching and listening to them struggle with their world.

Butler’s craft at creating characters is obvious, as he was able to capture my attention and keep my interest even though I have not read the first book. I would encourage other readers to experience Reiffen’s Choice first, though, if only for the introduction to the characters both good and evil. I enjoyed reading Queen Ferris from beginning to end. Readers young and old will relish this story, although some of the scenes in the wizard’s workroom are painfully explicit in the details. Be on watch for the third book in the series, tentatively named The Magician’s Daughter. Put S. C. Butler on your list of Need to Read!

Shadowbridge

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 08:06:18 -0500

The vision of a bridge probably invokes the feeling of simplicity, a means to go from A to B or vice versa, at time ornate, but more likely, sensible, serviceable, and functional, but bridges in fiction have led us to many memorable moments. Whether the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, Goats Gruff, Jon Orr, or perhaps most memorable to me, a standoff between brothers, Benedict and Brand, fans of speculative fiction have tread many bridges and with Shadow Bridge, Gregory Frost brings to us a world made of bridges, bringing a literal walkways to the figurative that exists all around us.

Our travels take us to different spans, an apt description considering our protagonist‘s ‘magic’ is in her hands - a master shadow puppeteer - as she looks back on her travels, collecting and sharing stories, and performing in a manner that had not been witnessed since a generation before. Leodora, whose stage name, Jax, relays not only the stories of the myth, but draws audiences from members of the pantheon who inhabit such stories. Relegated to a caste that views a potential marriage to the dimwit son of a lackluster family in the hinterlands as an optimal destiny, Leodora, the local pariah, who knows very little but lies and gossip regarding her eclectic parentage runs off to pursue her father’s trade. Bardsham the last master shadow puppeteer - and the greatest.

The town drunkard was the first to bring Leodora to Tenikemac as a baby and he would accompany her as she fled. Soter, the man who preserved the legacy of Bardsham, the puppets of the former master of shadow play, and passed them to his heir. Soter is the bridge to the past, prone to converse with the dead, and while his intent seems true, you get the distinct impressions he does his best to lay low, perpetually on the run but nor trying to look like it and his new, or perhaps life-long charge has raised the stakes. Is his habit due to reflecting on past digressions or the future he was waiting for? Or perhaps - he just enjoys his drink. There is guilt, there is pride, and a sense of duty.

In between the travels, two deviations highlight the novel. One to tell the story of the company’s third member picked up along the way . It’s a the story of a boy left abandoned with an abandoned home who is used as bait for a divine lottery and then sold to service to a Harem with a twist -drinks and spirits included. A musical savant/avatar, you lose yourself in his song, as although brief telling you get completely immersed and you don’t realize you left one story for another - it was always about Diverus wasn’t it? - until a member of the audience reveals a familiar face. We also get a recurring story, of creation and death, a tale of a fisherman - the original dreamer - and his wife, that adds to the immediacy of the story as they recount the mythology and origin of Shadow Bridge itself.

There is a fourth member, the secret companion, an enigma that will remain as such…

"There is much to life that seems random, events for which no obvious purpose is apparent even though they may compound. In the aftermath only can a pattern be discerned - missteps lead to an inevitable conclusions, an inescapable fate, sometimes doom and sometimes triumph. We curse the one and pretend to be responsible for the other, while neither fortune is true"

The most amazing aspect of the novel may be its constraint. There is a real story. Frost can go anywhere, along the bridges of a multiverse, and he seemingly does, but it all spirals back, every step is relevant, even if we don’t know it as a fact when we whimsically take it, at once Florentine and Shinto. But it never just dissolves into a fever dream - the characters and their problems are substantial, if it is an experiment, they are the control. What made something like Amber such a terrific read was that you while one can clearly witness the endless possibilities of walking through Shadow, Zelazny never forgot his story; and while Frost’s weave and use of point-of-view is a bit more ambitious, you only ever lose the story long enough for it to find you around the next corner. The segues from one environment to another, from one span to another is smooth. It doesn’t come off as abrupt absurdism, it’s not a book that demands constant leaps of faith even when we find ourselves in mid-jump, and it is able to maintain an authentic feeling of travelers on the road. For this reason, Frost’s makes us feel we are not seeing his finished products being deconstructed recorded on paper , we feel like we are there as he constructs it. The telling is as refined as the product thus far.

Often times when following a troupe’s travels in our reading, the journey feels as if it’s what occurs between the author’s real passion or the exact opposite, destinations are end point, rest areas in between the actions create bonds between characters in the process of running away from troubles or chasing after themselves - and in the aptly titled Shadow Bridge we have both. Nothing feels like an extensions of the other, everything is unique, everything is fantastic, we touch the mythic, we share stories with gods, then we go to find our next job, drink our next beer, catch our next fish, stare at and converse with our monuments, we play board games…with Kitsune.

A planned duology, what we also see is the development of a concept - a universe - for even more stories whether future novels or short fiction to inhabit. From parades to ‘the end’, more stories of the dragon bowl, there is fertile ground for revisiting all manners of stories in a Willinghamish way. There are preexisting cases such as a call back to call back to Frost’s fine collection Attack of the Jazz Giants and other stories, where one story - a Sturgeon finalist - entitled How Meersh the Bedeviler Lost his Toes was referenced, as Leodora viewed her puppets:

"The figure of Meersh stood alone and somehow wretched"

And later, the master story teller tells him - the Trickster - to go back to his own story.

It’s a beautiful story but not in the same vein I have described in more recent reviews, it’s not Valente who both whispers and screams at us with the voice that makes us anticipate each equally; Frost charms us in manner like Park did last year, and there is a feint lyric in the background , a harpist in the wind, that is beautiful but has a grace that goes beyond skin deep that brings to mind the strengths of several of my most beloved reads, but only in flashes, before forming its own vision. When confronted with just having the first book in a story, upon reaching its conclusion there are many possible reactions. Disappointment, anticipation, satisfaction, disconcertion and Frost leaves us looking back believing the phrase, "we build too many walls and not enough bridges". As we look forward, the idea that we may be a part of something special is more than a mere passing thought. We aren’t just looking forward to a worthwhile journey, we just stepped out of one., and yet we feel like we are continually chasing it and are never left feeling lethargic as at the same time we sense it stalking us. The novel physically weighs in at well below 300 pages, but you come out of it with more in the experience than you do multiple installment tomes promising swords and truths, blood and stone - you can trip on its shadow.

I’m hooked, the serenity of a fisherman’s dreams and the chaos of the beings who inhabit it offers a middle ground we can all find our place in, in this case one of the best reads of the year and this is just the beginning. I'm a traveling man this year this year; the best books of this year I encountered when walking the road and crossing a bridge.

Jay Tomio
The Bodhisattva

Reader and Raelynx

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:07:50 -0500

Cammon is a gifted Reader, able to know people’s thoughts and emotions. In fact, he might be the most powerful Reader in a kingdom known for distrusting mystics. Surrounded by his mystic friends, he has the opportunity to change this hatred and mistrust when he befriends the princess. As Cammon’s friendship with Princess Amalie deepens to something no commoner should ever feel for royalty, the kingdom faces a political crisis brought to a head by enemies of the crown. Not only that, Amalie begins to display some astonishing talents. Those involved in the power struggle for the throne begin to be deeply concerned as their viewpoint on mystics is challenged.

Reader and Raelynx is the latest installment in the Twelve Houses series. Although I haven’t read the first two books, I wasn’t lost in the story. The author sprinkled in the backstory with a deft hand, explaining the history and pieces of the character-building in a way that I could jump right into the story. I found the story concept inventive, a new twist on mind magic in a market glutted with mental sorcery. I was captivated by the characters and their experiences. I intend to go back and read more, to watch these people develop even though I know how the story will end.

Sharon Shinn is good at describing individuals but the book gets shaky when the story steps back to look at political entities. As a result, the scenes from the final battle are disjointed and rough. Perhaps if I had been in on the political scene from the beginning of the books I would have picked up on the more subtle workings in the action. Unfortunately, I felt a bit let down by the last couple of chapters.

Regardless, Reader and Raelynx is still an enjoyable read for a Saturday afternoon. Not complicated or gory, this is a perfect story for young readers looking to explore a different author. I would encourage readers to also look into The Thirteenth House and Dark Moon Defender, the first two books in this series.

Butcher Bird

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 05:19:56 -0400

The Butcher Bird was dropped impaled on the never to read pile its first time around, not for future consumption - just out of spite - and forgotten rather quickly and not unthankfully so. Even while sporting some blurbage from Cyberpunk don William Gibson and capo Pat Cadigan, my worst fears seemed to becoming reality in the first few chapters, namely, another fringe ultra hip wanabee, smart ass protagonist - complete with the job as a tattoo artist and oh yeah…his sidekick is of course a quip-ready, lesbian version of himself - who together find out reality isn’t what it seems. Couple that with the first sip into the quantum-chaos looking-glass mug really reminded me of a favorite comic of mine from the early 90’s, Dark Dominion, published by DEFIANT comics created by Jim Shooter and the legendary Steve Ditko (indeed the subtitle of Butcher Bird is A Novel of the Dominion) and you just had a product that completely was pressing the wrongs buttons with me from the beginning. One also has to have to understand, I had recently read the likes of Alex Bledsoe’s debut The Sword Edged Blonde, ran through the entire overrated Butcher series, read Morgan’s Black Man, Huston’s Already Dead among some others and while they all represent different levels of quality I just had an overload on the too-cool, snarky, potential goth-idols running around telling me how smooth they are.

What I just described could still have been viewed as a recipe for success if attached to a writer I was familiar with - an Aylett, a Moorcock, a Tarantino, but anytime I’m experiencing a writer for the first time - and I understand Kadrey has previous well thought of credits - and am not familiar with any previous work such an introduction usually makes me think I’m in for another work wading in the shallow end that’s more preoccupied with being trendy and a cultural dumpster-diving noir (because isn’t everything noir these days?) that read like rejected Sin City pitch than actually offering a worthwhile story. That this was a superficial, preliminary, and ultimately baseless assumption makes it more necessary to mention because I think there are some that have this hipster filter. We like cool, and even more than we despise posers, we hate too cool even more.

The second time around - I rather enjoyed it. The story revolves around a man, Spyder Lee, who after a night at the bar with his best friend Lulu get accosted by what seems to be a demon and is saved by a passing blind woman. After recovering he finds that not only does he wake up to his world, but he finds it inhabited by more than what he used to know.

"Humans and the most numerous animals of the land, sea and air were given one sphere. A second sphere was given to the rarest of creatures - the phoenix, selkies, vampires, barbeques, corrigans, tengus, lamias, rompos, gorgons, volkhs, wyverns, trolls and other exotic beasts. The last realm was left to the most glorious and dangerous inhabitants of the planet: angels and demons."

He learns more from Lulu who he see’s now is without eyes, who has lived in this world since bargaining with the Black Clerks, sphere-crossing tithe collectors, a supernatural mob crew that watched was a bit too enthusiastic about Saw and is like the Twilight Zone’s Twilight Zone inhabitants. Spyder gets some answers but decides to hunt down his savior of the night before for more information and along the way he gets cursed by the demon who tried to bite his head off before. Yes, a rather extreme case of the Mondays but during this portion of the novel I started really settling in; enjoying Kadrey’s chaos that viewed our own reality - even if amiably - as the exceptional, little brother who has to wear a helmet around solid objects. The charm of the books is that when ugly calls us ugly our regularly repartee ready protagonist seems to role with it and in a few chapters Spyder went from cheap, stereotypical fringe of society outsider to becoming something more recognizable without changing a beat. Then you realize, It’s not anti-culture, it’s culture, and this the recognizable draw we see in books by the likes of Morgan, Grimwood, or even China - it is PKD’s future that we see our path is going to intersect with, not that of Clarke, Asimov, or Heinlein, and it is the Spyders and Lulus who will inherit it.. He (Spyder) is not abnormal, he is the reality, a blue collar guy who gets by on his trade, and afterwards throw down drinks with his friends in what is a daily celebration and a simple meeting of shared misery, as that can be seen by the game we see he and Lulu partake in at the bar challenging each other to describe the worst ways to die. Indeed he is not cool at all - he’s a guy who spits off one liners from the mind of a guy who is a lifelong film buff. We know this guy, some of you are this guy, and you aren’t special at all, indeed your chosen identity is to not be exceptional at all. This is exactly the person you want to watch your back if you have business in hell - the guy and gal that cross the border between our world and Hell and don’t even notice, the kind of people who adjust to madness and are not consumed by it, the daily grind favors no reality. Spyder finds himself accompanying the blind assassin who aided him on a job turned personal quest rationalizing that he wants to become blind to the reality, to forget, like he does at times waking up and thinking his former girlfriend is still with him. The assassin, Shrike, takes on a job to retrieve a book of power for one Madame Cinders - a book that lies in Lucifer’s palace, in the middle of a civil war in Hell.

"They’re the same thing. Fools get themselves cornered. Heroes are just the fools who get out of it"

Count Non nodded. "Being a fool might just be your greatest strength."

I can see this book being accompanied with descriptors like ‘grit’ and ‘edge’ and an examination of the gutter and alleys, and the underbelly of society, and other comparable senseless book-jacket jargon mentioned with the best intentions, and no doubt if this were the 1980’s and I were ten I might even agree the content is consistent with those supposed accolades; however, my read was that of what is essentially a dungeon crawl from my block to hell with today’s average Joe.

And in this it succeeds.

I like Lulu because I know Lulu. She’s your kid sister who is not blood or someone you share a last name with , she’s chosen family, she’s the girl you would really go to hell for, and while we probably run into a few (too many) of those, she’s the one who would actually come with you. What I’m perhaps most thankful for is the keeping of the harping over the lost love interest element to a minimum. Many writers would have made the presence much heavier and frequent (aka Lana-syndrome) than necessary. Anyone that’s a teen or above understand the feelings Spyder carries with him and that it’s a constant presence without it needing to be mentioned on ever other page. One of the best parts of the books is delivered by Primo, a servant of Cinders, and another member of this quest who tells a story of the Raven King and jubilation and the joy in eating one’s family. All that said, ultimately what probably makes the novel is the Prince of Darkness himself. You won’t be floored as the Devil is possibly one of the few characters who has been utilized in all possible incarnations from Woland, to Twain, every Faust book from Mann to Swanwick and literally hundreds more, but Kadrey’s devil is that friend you have that commits some atrocious crimes but he’s still your boy - the guy you judge by how he does you, not by what he does - and in this novel, it’s not that you just find him amusing, you like this guy. As mentioned before Butcher Bird’s subtitle is that of "A Novel of the Dominion", the implication being there may be more stories to be told and while the book itself isn’t striking me as a book that demands to be read, the further adventures of Spyder is not a notion that I find entirely distasteful.

*passes a smoke to Lulu*

A Noh mask wearing bookseller named Bulgarkov, a condo building Lucifer, Orson Welles’s lost film, Lou Ford references, in a fast talking, brisk, fun read - a novelization of a Cage and Derm go to Hell and yes in the end, it's even not too cool.

Jay Tomio
The Bodhisattva