The Good, The Bad, And The Uncanny, by Simon R. Green (Ace, 2010)

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Things never slow down in the Nightside, the secret black heart of London where it’s always the darkest part of the night and the shadows have teeth. And as always, where there’s trouble, there’s John Taylor, private detective and all-around go-to guy when things get weird. His latest job’s unusual, even by his standards: escort the elf known as Lord Screech across the Nightside, and keep him safe against all of the many, many nasty people and things that will undoubtedly come out of the woodwork for a chance at killing an elf.

Providing transportation for this little outing is Ms. Fate, the Nightside’s very own transvestite superheroine. Survive that, and there’s the issue of the three Oblivion brothers, one of whom went missing sometime back, but who desperately needs finding again. Survive that, and John gets to deal with something really upsetting. It seems Walker, Voice of the Authorities that run Nightside, is dying, and he’s looking for a replacement. Who better than John Taylor himself, the one man the entire Nightside knows, fears, and occasionally hates? Problem is, John doesn’t want the job, so Walker’s ready to try the hard sell on him….

The tenth book in the popular Nightside series continues to expand upon a mythos spanning dozens of books and several different series at this point. Not only do we get treated to some more of the Nightside’s strangest, deadliest secrets, including the source of Walker’s terrifying seeming-omniscience, but we meet the third and most dangerous of the Oblivion brothers, who only shows up when reality itself is threatened. We also get some explanation regarding the recent change of leadership involving the Fae, which has also affected Simon R. Green’s Secret History series, and which ties back into an earlier work, Shadows Fall.

Part tour of the Nightside, part farewell to several long-running characters, part Devil’s last temptation for John Taylor, there’s a definite sense of progress and winding down with this book, as though Green’s tidying up the board in preparation for the last few books of the series. It’s chock-full of the usual mad ideas, bizarre concepts, weird moments and characters-writ-large that Green specializes in. Though thoroughly entertaining, it’s more of a payoff for existing fans than a suitable entry point for newcomers. Either you’re in or you’re out at this point.

Unknown, by Rachel Caine (Roc, 2010)

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The renegade djinn Pearl has been kidnapping and brainwashing children with the power to control the elements, in her mad crusade to destroy the rest of her kind and thus gain vengeance for a millennia-old grievance. Standing against her is the former djinn Cassiel, who’s been presented with a choice: remove Pearl’s power source by destroying humanity, or risk the utter annihilation of the entire Earth by letting Pearl succeed. Unfortunately, the now-human Cassiel refuses to let either of these scenarios play out, instead seeking a third alternative. With her partner Luis Rocha, she works to rescue the missing children, one of whom is Luis’ own niece. But Pearl has many pawns and resources to throw at Cassiel, and nearly unlimited power, so Cassiel and Luis will be faced with a constant struggle for survival along the way. Can one badass ex-djinn win against an army of corrupted children, a pack of renegade bikers, and a near-omnipotent enemy, with the fate of the world resting on her choices? You better hope so.

Picking up where Undone left off, itself a spin-off from the popular Weather Wardens series, Unknown is a fast-paced, hard-hitting, intense adventure. Cassiel’s a uniquely-fascinating protagonist, an outsider forced to adapt and adjust to the human world at breakneck pace, with often-surprising results. (Side note: I have a cat who was raised feral for the first few weeks of her life, and even after many years living indoors, she’s still a temperamental, paranoid, vindictive wretch who turns into a frenzy of many-pointed death when picked up against her will; I have the scars to prove it. Cassiel is much like that cat, direct and stubborn, prickly when poked, bowing to human customs only out of necessity, and deadly when provoked.) Her growth as a person with feelings, needs, and human ties is compelling and believable, and this story is very much about this evolution she experiences along the way.

It’s also about weather-manipulating magical battles, the constant threat of betrayal from within, the necessity of impossible choices, and a world on the cusp of change. Following events in the Weather Wardens series, the general public has become aware of the secret powers living among them, and this elemental struggle which affects everyone, humans, Wardens, and djinn. Thus, we get to see more of the complex consequences as people cope with the new status quo.

It’s certainly possible to read this series (Outcast Season) on its own, but you really need to read the Weather Warden series as well to get the full picture. Of course, what you’ll see then is an intricate, epic, exciting storyline that’s steadily building towards one heck of a climax. Unknown may be a small part of a larger story, but it’s still a wild ride in its own right. Cassiel’s fast become one of my favorite badass urban fantasy woman for her attitude, competence, and confused-yet-intrigued response to the human emotions growing within her. I hope her story has a happy ending, but I’m not willing to put money down on it quite yet, since Rachel Caine has a habit of surprising the reader. Still, this is a fun book, and I really enjoyed it.

Unperfect Souls, by Mark del Franco (Ace, 2010)

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Ever since Connor Grey kind of helped destroy the passageways between Earth and TirNaNog, dead Fey have been walking, unable to rest. But even the Dead can die, and when one of the Dead turns up without a head, it’s cause for concern. Decapitation = dead for good, for keeps, really, we mean it this time. As Connor helps his cop pal Murdock look into this mysterious murder, he finds himself poking into some very dark places. But at the same time, he gets ever-closer to discovering just what sort of magical oddity has taken up residence in his head and blocked the majority of his druidic powers. Hellhounds, politics, corpses that won’t stay dead, ex-girlfriends, current girlfriends, and much more all tie together, with a dangerous conspiracy providing the thread which connects them. And of course, it all comes down to Connor Gray to save the day.

As always, del Franco turns in a riveting mystery set against a fascinating setting, where the Fey have gone public in a big way and are divided into several diametrically opposed camps competing on a political and mythological level. The factional in-fighting and intrigue, and how it all trickles down to affect the average Fey on the street and the humans who share the same space helps to enhance the complexities of this series. Unperfect Souls picks up after Unfallen Dead, exploring some of the ramifications and twists we saw come into play there, while adding a whole new set of problems. We also see more explanations and progress into the mystery of Connor’s crippled magic, and he comes ever closer to putting together the pieces of an unfathomable puzzle.

Always entertaining is the nebulous relationship Connor has with the enigmatic, mercurial Meryl, who keeps him on his toes more often than not, and the close friendship he has with mortal cop Leo Murdock, who helps keep him grounded. It’s those moments of genuine interaction which help make the characters relatable and memorable in a sea of murder, magic, mayhem and politics. I’m really looking forward to the day when all is revealed and we can see the big picture at last; here’s hoping del Franco doesn’t string it out too long. I want nothing but the best for Connor and his friends. All in all, this is a perfectly entertaining urban fantasy, building on the first three books in the series while pushing towards some larger goal down the line. It may may be a little too wrapped up in its internal structure to act as an entry point for new readers, but existing fans will certainly enjoy it.

Dead Matter, by Anton Strout (Ace, 2010)

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So. Simon Canderous, psychometrist and agent for New York City’s Department of Extraordinary Affairs, is up to his usual tricks. You know, preparing to enjoy Taco Night with his ex-evil cultist girlfriend, when he’s forced to bash the hell out of an unidentifiable supernatural monstrosity while in the grocery store. Then he has to rescue his partner Connor Christos from a graveyard incident, which doesn’t make much sense because Connor’s supposed to be taking vacation for the first time in years. Gargoyles, ghosts, and grave dirt, oh my.

Before he knows it, Simon’s knocking on the door of the new Gibson-Case Center, after pursuing the mysterious person he catches stalking outside Connor’s window, and that in turn leads to the first authentic, no-joke, we mean it this time, vampire encounter the DEA’s had in years, which in turn leads to the revelation that Connor’s brother isn’t dead like he thought, but is really a bloodsucker, and hey, there’s an entire colony of them hidden in the middle of the city, and oh by the way, the building eats people, and some of the vampires may be degenerating into unidentifiable supernatural monstrosities, and …

Why yes, Simon Canderous does lead an unusual life. Even for a New Yorker. Now his girlfriend’s been absorbed by a high-tech building, Connor’s being seduced by the dark side, and Simon himself is being accused of collaborating with the enemy just because he’s adopted a radical new “talk before stake” policy where these vamps are concerned. Taco Night is on indefinite hold, until things are straightened out. Or else.

As you might guess from the description, this is one seriously oddball book, the third in an increasingly strange and entertaining series. There’s this constant undercurrent of fun running throughout the storyline, as our hero finds himself dealing with one sort of weirdness after another, all while coping with the insidious threat of bureaucracy. The spiritual successor to Men In Black and Ghostbusters, this book mixes action and humor, magic and sharp characterization to deliver a fast-paced good time.

As always, I love the odd couple of Simon and his girlfriend, Jane. He’s an ex-thief psychometrist who uses his powers for good most of the time; she was an evil cultist for the health benefits until she joined the DEA, where she’s only slightly less evil. Together, they’re both cute and semi-disturbing, and pleasantly happy together. It makes for a nice change from the series where the protagonist has to juggle multiple suitors of various races, or where they spend all of their time angsting. It’s nice to have at least one relatively stable, if quirky, couple doing their thing in between (and during) times of crisis and monster attack.

I’ve come to look forward to Strout’s books, and he keeps getting better. This is a keen example of how to stand out in the urban fantasy field and maintain a unique identity, and I hope Simon Canderous will be around for a while.

Hunted By The Others, by Jess Haines (Zebra, 2010)

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Shiarra Waynest is a private investigator who’s about to get way in over her head. Hired by a representative of the mage Circle to determine whether or not a local vampire is in possession of a certain magical artifact, she’s not at all sure she wants the job. Normally, she avoids the Others like the plague, but the money for this case is way too attractive to pass up. And that’s how she gets stuck smack-dab in the middle of a three-way struggle between mages, vampires, and the anti-Other vigilante group known as the White Hats. People will die, she’ll assemble a team of friends and allies, risk her life, and make a new name for herself as someone to be reckoned with.

You know? Hunted By The Others is a perfectly serviceable urban fantasy with the requisite hint of forbidden romance. It hits all the right beats as it turns its main character from someone who doesn’t want anything to do with the supernatural into someone who can kick ass with the best of them. By the end, she’s a walking, talking, bad girl cliché, decked out in her black leathers and armed with a magical stake-holding belt and dual laser-sight-equipped handguns and so forth. She has a werewolf ex-boyfriend, a vampire who might be her new love interest or her worst enemy, and somehow, it all seems kind of … well, generic. I read this book, I enjoyed it, and the details promptly slipped my mind. It’s not bad, but it’s not great, and there’s the problem: with so many urban fantasies out there already, you have to be great if you want to stand out. By far, the best thing about this book is the striking, attention-grabbing cover.

If you’re in the mood for something quick, easy, and relatively harmless, you could do far worse than to pick up this satisfactory series opener. I’ll most likely be back for the sequel, and hopefully it’ll make more of an impression on me than this one did.

Dying Bites and Death Blows, by D.D. Barant (St. Martin's, 2009/2010)

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FBI profiler Jace Valchek has spent her life learning how the criminally insane think, to the point where she’s an expert. And because of that experience, she’s just been abruptly reassigned to work with the NSA. Just … not the NSA she was expecting. She’s been sent into another world, a parallel dimension where things took a strange turn in the 13th Century. In this new world, vampires, werewolves and golems constitute the vast majority of the populace; normal humans make a mere one percent. The supernaturals don’t succumb to mental illness, only the humans, and there’s a serial killer on the loose. If Jace ever wants to see her home again, she’ll have to stop this madman from pursuing his bloody work.

Now she has a vampire for a boss, a werewolf for a doctor and therapist, and a golem for a partner. She’s an extreme minority in a world that’s strangely familiar and utterly alien, and she’s tracking a killer across the world. But every body is another piece in a terrifying puzzle, and what it suggests could be disastrous if left unchecked. Of course, even if Jace can save the world, it doesn’t necessarily mean her job here is done. Not if, for instance, her primary target escapes….

That’s Dying Bites, the first of the Bloodhound Files. In Death Blows, we see how poor Jace is coming to terms with her extended stay in a world where she’s an oddity and an outsider. She’s still on the hunt for Aristotle Stoker, leader of the Free Human Resistance, who’s eluded her for over three months and counting. In the meantime, there’s plenty of work to be done; thanks to Stoker, supernaturals are now capable of going insane, and they keep coming unhinged.

This new case is weird even for Jace’s line of work. It all starts with a murdered vampire wearing a Flash outfit. (Barry Allen, the Flash who came to prominence in the ’60s, for those playing at home.) Jace quickly discovers the impossibility of this: comic books have been outlawed since the ’50s, ever since a certain guy, name of Wertham, used totemic magic to become incredibly powerful, and extremely dangerous. His reign of terror ended when the government sponsored a team of “superheroes” known as the Bravo Brigade to stop him. They won, and disbanded, the individual members fading back into obscurity and their personal lives.

Only now someone is killing the former members of the Bravo Brigade and stealing their various artifacts, including a sword which can supposedly cut through time, and a gem which can manipulate energy. Jace and her partner, the golem Charlie Aleph, have to stop whoever’s behind this new spate of killings before they can pick up where Wertham left off. Good luck. She’ll need it.

This is an astonishingly intriguing, highly captivating series. The setting is amazingly well thought out; every question I thought to ask about how some aspect of it works, Barant’s anticipated and answers in the narrative as Jace encounters each new discrepancy between her “real” world and the one she’s stuck in. The idea of a world where supernaturals make up the extreme majority and have had to adjust to their new status on top, while humans are practically an endangered species is certainly one with a lot of potential, and Barant’s milking it for all it’s worth. Both books thus far start off as murder mysteries, but there’s so much more going on, including Cthuluesque monstrosities, comic book cults, golem bounty hunters, vampire superheroes, werewolf gangs and perky undead teenagers.

If anything, Death Blows is even more outrageously inventive than its predecessor. It’s absolutely steeped in comic book lore, invoking the works of Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and more. From the Doom Patrol to Superman, Crisis on Infinite Earths to Animal Man, The Flash to the X-Men, clues are gleamed and parallels drawn, all pulled together by the vampiric literary counterpart of a comic book writer you might not expect. To top that all off, an episode of Seinfeld plays a small but important part. I can honestly sit here and say I’ve never seen a plot that plays out quite like this, and it’s both weird and awesome.

So why should you read this series? Because it’s urban fantasy, where the main character is an FBI profiler armed with a gun and an attitude, in a world where vampires and werewolves are the majority, whose partner is a golem powered by the spirit of a T-Rex, and who investigates serial killings involving Elder Gods and contraband comic book cults, all while hunting the immortal shaman who can send her home. And it’s goooood.

Hard Magic, by Laura Anne Gilman (Luna, 2010)

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What do you do when you’re fresh out of college, unable to get a job that doesn’t involve a hairnet and a spatula, and magically talented? Well, if you’re Bonnie Torres, you get recruited by an enigmatic pair of magicians to help start the world’s first forensic paranormal investigation agency. That’s right, Bonnie and four strangers have just been tapped to start PUPI – Private, Unaffiliated, Paranormal Investigations -, dedicated to investigating and handling crimes within the magical community. Unaffiliated with either the hidebound Council or the fractious lonejacks, answering to no one, neutral in a world where the tension between factions is increasing steadily.

It won’t be easy. Bonnie and the others have to learn to work with one another, trust each other, hone their specific strengths and blend their styles to work as a team. They have to create an entire system of magical forensics from the ground up, and earn the trust of a great many people unused to trusting anyone. They have to prove their worth and hold strong against those who’d shut them down before they ever get started. And when their first case comes, it’s a trial by fire for the unready, untested group, and it might just be their last.

If you’re familiar with Gilman’s Retriever series, you may already know where some of this is going; Bonnie and the PUPIs appear in the latter half of that series and become semi-regular secondary characters. Hard Magic serves as the background and origin story for PUPI, and gives us in-depth introductions to the various members of the team and their various specialties. It’s an interesting look at the world of the Casa Nostradamus from an all-new viewpoint, and it gives us some more understanding of a setting where Talents (magic-users) and fatae (non-human beings of all sorts) walk among us in secret. Gilman’s clearly having a lot of fun here as she walks her characters through the invention of a whole new (for them, anyway) system of magical investigation and analysis, something we haven’t seen much of in the urban fantasy genre. (The closest comparison I can make is to Jes Battis’ Tess Corday series, which is much more high-tech and organized in its execution.)

The mystery is solid, the characterization strong, the plot fast-paced, and the final product solid. This is a great start to a new series, a perfect jumping-on point for new readers and a satisfying expansion of the world first visited in the Retrievers series. I loved Wren and Sergei’s story, and I’m now hooked on Bonnie Torres and the PUPIs.

New Short Story Sale

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I’m pleased to announce the sale of my story, “The Devil’s Masquerade” to the upcoming photo prompt anthology from Circlet Press.

While the anthology has yet to find its final name, the theme was simple: study the picture supplied in the call for submissions, and write whatever the heck it inspired. As with any Circlet project, it had to be interesting, contain elements of the fantastic, and be damned hot. “The Devil’s Masquerade” was the result, a sexy, sinful story about a pair of special investigators who go undercover at a decadent ball for the city’s elite, in search of someone – or something – not on the guest list.

More details to follow when available. This marks my fifth sale to Circlet, not counting something I can’t talk about yet.

Death Most Definite, by Trent Jamieson (Orbit, 2010)

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Some folks have a nice, boring, safe office job. Not Steven de Selby. He’s a Psychopomp working for the Brisbane office of Mortmax Industries, and he puts the dead to rest, lest things between the mortal world and afterlife get out of hand. Hey, it’s the family business, and he’s not too bad at what he does. And then, suddenly, it all goes horribly wrong.

Warned of an attempt on his life by a dead girl, Steven quickly discovers that someone is killing Australia’s Pomps, slaughtering them without mercy or reason. As friends and family alike fall before the relentless onslaught, Steven runs for his life, accompanied and guided by Lissa Jones, the dead girl he’s quickly falling for. As the Pomps die, the restless dead grow plentiful, unbalancing a system that’s been in place for untold centuries. Soon, angry spirits are reanimating the corpses of Simon’s loved ones, and they’re out to snuff him like a candle. Simon’s struggle to survive will take him beyond the veil of death, and into a confrontation that could change his life forever. All this, and he’s in love with a girl he can’t even touch, for fear of losing her forever. That office job sounds pretty good now, doesn’t it?

Death Most Definite, the start of a new urban fantasy series, is a recklessly exciting adventure. It starts with a gunshot and ends with an apocalypse, and tears through the streets of Australia and the depths of the afterlife with equal abandon. It’s a tragically romantic comedy, a metaphysical fantasy, and a whole lot of fun. Simon and Lissa make for an adorable couple, possessing excellent chemistry together despite their uniquely improbable circumstances. Jamieson’s put a lot of thought into the world presented here, where mortal agents help spirits pass on after death, fleshing it out with mythology and bureaucracy. This is definitely a case where I can’t wait to see what the author has planned next; the ending of Death Most Definite sets up a very interesting new status quo for all involved, and the promise of much more to come.

Master of None, by Sonya Bateman (Pocket, 2010)

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Gavyn Donatti is a thief whose luck has run out, repeatedly. He may have a knack for escaping situations unscathed, but he’s left behind a strong of burned partners and angry ex-employers. His most recent gig – to steal a priceless artifact – goes sour when he actually loses the item in question. Problem: his employer, Trevor, is a stone-cold psychopath who doesn’t take no for an answer or accept failure. For his screw-up, Gavyn’s dead meat. That is, until he’s saved by a genie.

Ian, as he calls himself, is a djinn who needs Gavyn for unspecified reasons. As such, Gavyn’s his master, but don’t mistake this for anything other than a partnership of extreme reluctance on either side. Assuming the two can get through their mutual distrust/dislike of one another, they have to elude Trevor’s forces, and save the world. Huh? That’s right, save the world. A deadly conflict between djinn factions has been brewing for centuries, and only Ian and Gavyn stand to prevent it from erupting into all-out disaster. Luckily, they have allies. Unfortunately, they include two of Gavyn’s former partners, both of whom hate his guts for different, justifiable reasons. One was crippled on the job, the other is his ex-lover. Whoops, way to go Gavyn.

Now, as Gavyn explores the abilities he never knew he possessed, mends fences with the people he screwed over, and discovers why Ian needed him in the first place, he has to man up for once in his life and do whatever it takes to stop Trevor from killing them all and save the world from djinn magic gone wild. He may be a bad thief, but can he be a good man?

Master of None combines some of the best and worst aspects from Grand Theft Auto, Ocean’s Eleven, Martin Lawrence movies, and whatever buddy film springs to mind. It’s the story of a thief, his genie (who hates him), his ex-lover, and a whole lot of violence and action. As such, it’s one heck of a high concept, and for the most part, it actually works pretty well. The plot moves along at a breakneck pace, and Bateman doesn’t spare her characters the consequences of their actions. It actually gets pretty ugly, pretty nasty at times, especially once we see the extents to which Trevor’s willing to go to achieve his goals, so this may not be for the squeamish. However, the strong characterization and attention to details help make this a rather enjoyable urban fantasy, one that claims its own identity amongst the crowd and sticks to it. I’ll be interested to see where the series goes from here.