Happy Hour of the Damned, by Mark Henry (Kensington, 2008)

Posted on by
Reply

Amanda Feral is a zombie, a foul-mouthed fashionista who trolls the bizzare nightlife of supernatural Seattle with her best friends (a vampire, a succubuss, and another zombie), drinking flirtinis and occasionally eating unwary humans by night, advertising executive by day. It’s not a conventional lifestyle, but she makes it work with her unique brand of dry humor and stylish practicality. However, when one of her friends texts her with a plea for help, only to immediately go missing, Amanda is jolted out of her routine, and dragged into an ever-more-dangerous search for the missing woman. Now Amanda’s going to have to brave all sorts of weird hazards, from rogue zombies at Starbucks (giving the civilized ones like her -such- a bad name) to sadistic immortals, to supernatural recovery groups, to someone who might be the Devil herself. What’s going on? Amanda aims to find out, but only if she can keep from damaging herself. Zombies don’t heal, and any injury can be messy, inconvenient, and downright upsetting to the psyche. And where the hell -is- that missing friend, anyway?

Happy Hour of the Damned is … well, unique is the first word that comes to mind. It’s Sex and the City meets zombies, as filtered through a truly deranged mindset. Foul-mouthed, shallow, even immature at times, the main characters are memorable for their sheer departure from the norm. Where else are you going to find zombies who call for pizza, and eat the delivery boy? And did I mention that the main character manages to think in footnotes? I have to be honest: half the time I turned the pages out of morbid fascination, the other half I kept reading to see just what sort of train wreck I was inflicting upon my psyche. That’s not to say this book is bad; on the contrary, it transcends bad and goes right into camp, offering up something refreshingly new and strange. I enjoyed it immensely, but at the same time, I was staring in mild shock as the story continued to go in unprecedented directions. (Hint: don’t ask about the trick involving chocolate cake and the bucket.) If I was to have any objections regarding this book, it would be the language: Amanda and her friends drop just about every obscenity available in the English language with casual carelessness, like toddlers who’ve been exosed to George Carlin way too early. In the grand scheme of things, I suppose that’s a mild thing to complain about. Seriously, Happy Hour of the Damned is unlike anything I’ve read lately, and I enjoyed it enough to definitely want to see what Mark Henry has planned next. It’s always nice to see a book that’s willing to challenge expectations, upset the status quo, and offend good taste, and this one succeeds on all levels.

Free Fall, by Laura Anne Gilman (Harlequin Luna, 2008)

Posted on by
Reply

Life used to be -easy- for Wren Valere. She kept under the radar, and did her job as a Retriever, acquiring objects for people who didn’t care about cost or legality. But that was before things got messy. Before she fell in love with her business partner, Sergei. Before people started dying. Before a secret society known as the Silence declared open war on the Cosa Nostradamus – the equally secret society made up of magic users, or Talent, and the non-humans called Fatae. Before Wren became a leader in spirit, if not in name, of the Cosa. Before she lost Sergei due to his old affiliations with the Silence.

Now Manhattan is poised on the brink of conflict once again. The Silence, led by a corrupt leader, is ready to unleash a plan that will destroy the Talent and Lonejacks and Fatae once and for all, reclaiming the city for normal humans even as they use brainwashed Talents to do their dirty work. Wren, finally provoked into fighting back after she survives yet another attack, is determined to rescue the Cosa’s lost kin from the Silence’s clutches. Meanwhile, Sergei has a daring, dangerous plan of his own to undermine the Silence and save it from itself. One way or another, it’s all going to come together and be settled once and for all. Brace yourselves, a storm’s about to hit Manhattan, and in the worst blackout the city’s ever seen, dirty deeds -will- be done.

Free Fall is the fifth book in the Retrievers series, and Gilman pretty much kicks things up to eleven as she moves all of the pieces on the board towards the inevitable confrontation. Silence, Talents, Lonejacks, Fatae, and humans alike all have their parts to play as things get epically messy and the current story arc reaches its climax and conclusion. It’s a fast-paced story, as electrical and sharp as the current our heroine wields against her enemies, as raw and ragged as the emotions she experiences as Wren Valere goes through one of the worst times of her life.

Not that it’s all hard-hitting action, or blazing magical combat. Free Fall doesn’t skimp on the characterization or development, especially as Gilman looks as those closest to Wren and how events have affected them. From Sergei, whose conflicting loyalties are brought to a breaking point, to the demon P.B. who decides that now is the time and place to make a stand, to Bonnie, Wren’s friend and fellow Talent who can’t approve of the way things are going, to all of Manhattan’s Fatae, we see the cost of this war… and what they stand to lose if things go against them.

One of the strong points of Gilman’s setting here is that actions have consequences, and power has a price, and we see both of these things in full force. Everything Wren does causes a reaction, and everything the Silence does causes a reaction, and in some cases, those separate yet equal reactions end up feeding off one another. It’s almost ironic that at one point, the Silence realizes that they, in fact, provoked Wren into taking things further than she would have done ordinarily, thus bringing her wrath down upon them… and it’s their fault. Meanwhile, Wren taps into far greater power than she normally uses, and risks losing herself to the current, a much-feared fate known as ‘wizzing’ among the Talents. There’s a cost to using the level she does, and she may very well pay that price with her soul. Gilman’s not afraid to show us these costs, as both major and minor characters get taken off the board throughout the course of the series and the story. Change -happens-, and people grow, which is always satisfying in a series like this, where it would be tempting to maintain a certain status quo.

I really enjoyed Free Fall, like I have the rest of the series. It’s strong, enjoyable, complex stories like this which have made Harlequin’s Luna line more than just another romance imprint, and you can bet I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next book.

Dragons Wild, by Robert Asprin (Ace, 2008)

Posted on by
Reply

Griffen “Grifter” McCandles, occasional con artist and ace poker player, has just gotten the surprise of a lifetime. After graduating from college, he went to his uncle, looking for a job. Instead of a job, his uncle revealed a fistful of secrets. The first? That Griffen, like his uncle, and like his deceased parents, is a dragon, and he’s about to start coming into his true powers and potential. And unfortunately, due to his heritage, just about everyone involved in the complex game of dragon power and politics is going to want to subert him to their side, or kill him. And when it becomes clear that someone’s actually hired an infamous dragonslaying hitman named The George to take care of things, Griffen takes his little sister (also a dragon in the making) and takes the advice of an old friend, heading south to hole up in New Orleans.

There, Griffen joins a band of local dragon-blooded gamblers and criminals, making new friends and new enemies as he comes into his own power, and his destiny as a figure to be reckoned with. For it’s only natural for a dragon to seek out power and influence, and it seems Griffen’s one of the most powerful dragons (potentially) in the city. Now Griffen and his sister Valerie, and their assorted allies, have to work together as people come out of the woodwork to get a look at the new player in the game. From local police to Homeland Security, rival gangs to rival dragons, voodoo ghosts to people who can control animals, everyone’s coming to the table, and poor Griffen’s still learning the rules, and his own capabilities. To survive, he’ll need some dependable friends, and a whole lot of gamblers’ luck.

In the dedication to this book, which is billed as the first in a new series, Asprin states that it represents a radical departure from his usual style and subject matter, and that’s true. I primarily know him for his Phule’s Company and M.Y.T.H. Inc books, both of which are more comedic fare. Dragon’s Wild is a lot more straightforward urban fantasy, complete with the semi-standard trappings of a secret race of supernatural beings dwelling amongst, and influencing, normal people. But Asprin pulls it off with skill and style, delivering a thoroughly satisfying, energetic story that begs for continuation. In fact, it’s actually one of the best things I’ve ever read from him, in terms of entertainment and atmospheric value. Is it perfect? Probably not, but then again, perfection is a hard thing to gauge. Is it fun? Oh yes.

One of the strongest aspects of this book is the setting. Asprin writes with such glowing fondness and love for New Orleans’ French Quarter that it’s easy to envision the place. He captures the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes with enough passion that I’m tempted to book a flight for the locale as soon as possible, and in doing so, makes the setting an absolutely fundamental part of the story.

Griffen by himself comes off a little too good to be true. For someone described as a con artist and poker player, he seems to be an ideal hero: polite to his elders, respectful to his opponents, well-spoken and capable and always just a little baffled by the circumstances surrounding him. He’s likeable, sympathetic, possessed of acceptable morals (i.e. gambling good, drugs bad) and people flock to his banner, and rarely does he show any unacceptable vices. I know, it’s strange to complain about someone being too good, but that’s his biggest character flaw. Of course, as protagonists go, he’s a great deal of fun to follow. The chemistry he shares with his sister is delightful, the two of them making a great team whenever the chips are against them. As for the other assorted characters, Asprin has populated the book with a host of memorable individuals, a motley crew of somewhat sugar-coated gamblers, miscreants, and ne’er-do-wells who look out for one another like family. Asprin’s injected the setting and its inhabitants with a kind of happy fuzzy feeling, where people are bad, but even the bad guys (for the most part) have their good qualities, much as if Daman Runyan had been whispering in his ear part of the time.

The secret world of dragons and other supernatural beings is fairly well explained in this book, and we get to see a good portion of how things work, with plenty of potential left to be explored later on. I certainly enjoyed the tastes we got, from the explanation of how dragon powers work, to how they fit into the social structure, and how they relate to the other supernatural elements in the world. There’s a lot going on around the fringes, and New Orleans seems to be a great place for it all to blend together and overlap.

The plot is fairly linear, moving forward at a fast pace in a somewhat episodic manner as Griffen explores his powers, expands his knowledge, and settles into his new life as a dragon, all while trying to figure out how to stay alive.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will be eagerly looking forward to the next in the series. Asprin’s clearly in his element with this new series.

(Reviewer’s note: After writing the initial text of this review, I actually had a chance to visit the French Quarter, and eat in some of the places mentioned in this book. Asprin doesn’t disappoint in his descriptions. And the burgers at Yo Mamma’s are to die for.)

Daemons Are Forever, by Simon R. Green (Roc, 2008)

Posted on by
Reply

For centuries, the powerful Drood family has protected the world from monsters, demons, evil cultists, and things that go bump in the night. Clad in their distinctive golden armor, they’ve been a terrifying, secretive force for justice, fighting a host of hidden wars against all things unmentionable. And then they made the mistake of annoying one of their own. Before the dust had settled, Eddie Drood, one of their best field agents, had launched an all-out war against his own family, uncovered the dreadful secret of the golden armor, and toppled the Matriarch herself, setting himself up as the new head of the Droods, vowing to rebuild a tarnished reputation and return them to the glory they’d lost in recent years. Now, with his girlfriend, Molly Metcalf, the infamous Wild Witch of the Woods, at his side, he’s about to learn the hard way just how demanding a job he’s taken on.

With their fabled golden armor no longer available, the Droods are supposedly weak and vulnerable, and there’s no shortage of enemies willing to test this rumor out for themselves. As a show of strength and demonstration of commitment, Eddie decides that it’s long past time for the Droods to clean up one of their messes: they’re going to eradicate the Loathly Ones, extradimensional creatures brought over during the desperate days of World War II, who, like the worst sort of houseguests, have remained in this dimension and prospered. Under Eddie’s direction, the Droods will wipe them out and show the world that you just don’t mess with the Drood family. Unfortunately, there will be … complications. The Loathly Ones are soul-stealing, body-possessing parasites, intent upon bringing more of their kind, and things much worse, into this world, and they have spies and agents everywhere. Even among the Droods. Now Eddie has to simultaneously wrangle his own family into following his lead, root out the traitors working against him, and somehow fight an all-out war against a nigh-unbeatable foe, all while his allies are at their weakest. He’s going to have to call in some extra help, including Subway Sue the luck vampire, Janissary Jane the ultimate mercenary, and Mr. Stab, eternal spirit of Jack the Ripper. And just for good measure, Eddie will also recruit some surprising allies from the past and the future. Even then, it’ll be the fight of his life.

Now, I’ve been covering Simon R. Green’s books for years, and I have to say, it gets harder to talk about them each time. Mainly because you always know just what you’re in for with a Green adventure. Bold heroes, strong characters, terrifying women, strange magics, wild action, and concepts that lesser people would sum up as batshit crazy. Simon Green’s books are the literary equivalent of The Who destroying their instruments on stage, all wild abandon and over-the-top violence and shocking moments. Green doesn’t just go to eleven – he -starts- there. Twenty pages into Daemons Are Forever, our hero fights a street full of armored soldiers, including several helicoptors. And wins. That’s right, Eddie Drood punches a helicoptor in the face. And that’s all before the opening credits. This is wide-screen, fresh popcorn, heavy metal instrumental, all-out urban fantasy action at its finest overkill, and that’s just the way Green delivers. It’s his forte, and he knows it. His characters fight armies of extradimensional creatures for -fun-.

If there’s another thing Green has, it’s the ability to create memorable characters, even if they do seem to fulfill certain standard roles. You have Eddie Drood, the stalwart, semi-reluctant leader and nigh-invincible warrior, who’s only doing this because he’s found no one else better to take care of business. You have Molly Metcalf, his girlfriend/occasionally foil, who’s also one of the scariest women alive. (Their counterparts in Green’s Nightside series would obviously be John Taylor and Shotgun Suzy, and in his Forest Kingdom books, they’d be Rupert/Hawk and Julia/Fisher…) You have the various supporting characters, with their descriptive names and bizarre attributes: Subway Sue, Janissary Jane, and Mr. Stab (okay, again I have to stop and just scratch my head. Simon, you were on such a roll, and then you came up with Mr. Stab. I guess everyone can slip a little.) Toss in the Blue Fairy, and you have the group of unpredictable allies, who are as much a danger to the hero as they are to the enemy. But hey, that’s business as usual, and again, it’s part of what makes this so much fun. Green’s mastered the art of writing something vaguely similiar every time, while changing the exterior details and serial numbers, combining the familiar and the new.

He comes up with the best concepts, too, some of which convey a sense of awesome just with their name: The Time Train, the Armageddon Codex, the Loathly Ones. I swear, Green tosses out more interesting characters and concepts in one book than some writers do in a lifetime. And if you’re lucky, he’ll come back to them eventually, when he’s good and ready.

Daemons Are Forever is full of sharp twists and sudden curves, a roller-coaster of a storyline that manages to pull out more than one surprise when you’re not looking. And then, for good measure, Green finds a way to tie the story in, at least peripherally, to some of his other works, in a way I really should have seen coming but didn’t. More points to him. The concept and title may have been inspired by James Bond, according to Green. but Bond never, ever had to go through a fraction of the stuff Eddie does. Heck, compared to Eddie Drood, Bond’s a wimp. Go figure.

At any rate, what can I say? Daemons Are Forever is Simon R. Green doing what he does best, and delivering yet another high-octane performance that’s bound to keep his fans happy until the next book comes out. I loved it, and I’ll be right here waiting for the next in the series.

Cry Wolf, by Patricia Briggs (Ace, 2008)

Posted on by
Reply

Following a series of events in Chicago, Anna Latham, once the least important werewolf of the pack, has become mated to Charles Cornick, son of the the Marrok, the most powerful werewolf in North America. Their fates linked together in unexpected ways, the two have to learn to live and work together, as they attempt to figure out just what sort of bond they really have. And they can’t afford to dally, because there’s any number of werewolves and other enemies out there looking to settle long-outstanding scores on them and their friends. Moreover, Anna is no ordinary werewolf; she’s an Omega wolf, capable of soothing the spirit of the wolf and cementing the pack bonds in their own subtle way. This makes her extremely valuable in the right hands, but Charles sees her only as a woman who needs his protection – and his love. Their growing relationship, and the exploration of Anna’s nature as an Omega, may need to be put on hold when they’re sent to investigate rumors of a rogue werewolf in the remote Montana wilderness. There, they find something neither wolf nor human, a danger linked to the past, capable of enslaving werewolves and wreaking havoc. Can Anna and Charles find their shared strength in time to prevent an unholy terror from once again terrorizing civilization, or will they be its first victims?

Cry Wolf is an interesting spinoff from Briggs’ series about Mercy Thompson, werecoyote car mechanic, featuring supporting and secondary characters in plot threads started in Moon Called and Blood Bound. To be honest, while I enjoyed this book, I didn’t find it, or the characters, quite as memorable as Mercy and her predicaments. Anna herself didn’t really register that much at the time, so I approached this book with a fairly blank slate of expectations. It stands alone fairly well, with little previous knowledge required, although it would probably be nice to have read the book in which Charles and Anna met and bonded, since Cry Wolf refers back to those events occasionally. It was a little disconcerting that so much is made of Anna being an Omega wolf, yet it’s more than a third into the book before we’re given any concrete explanation of what being an Omega means, and why it’s so significant. I’m the sort of reader who likes these details earlier, especially when they’re central to the very concept of the story.

All things taken into account, I found Cry Wolf to be a perfectly pleasant, serviceable urban fantasy, with some intriguing elements and unusual aspects, but ultimately, it didn’t leap out at me like the Mercy Thompson books do. Anna and Charles are a nice couple, with some decent chemistry, but they lack the spark that I usually look for in lead characters. I’ll admit that I’m rather picky when it comes to werewolf books, as I’ve seen a lot in recent years; like vampires, it takes a certain something for them to stand out from the pack. It’s my opinion that Patricia Briggs has written a rather decent urban fantasy/romance, but it fell short of her potential. I’ll check out the next in the series, but I’d rather see her branch out into more unusual territory, as she did with Iron Kissed and hopefully will with the next Mercy Thompson, Bone Crossed.

Black Magic Woman, by Justin Gustainis (Solaris, 2007)

Posted on by
Reply

Meet Quincy Morris, supernatural consultant, a specialist in occult interventions and unorthodox solutions. For a price, he’ll solve your problems, be they vampires or poltergeists, demons or wicked witches. Flush from his success at rooting out a nest of vampires in Texas, he takes on a new case, investigating what looks to be a brutal poltergeist with a hatred for one specific family. However, the truth is far worse: the LaRue family is being stalked by a black witch, someone who uses magic for evil and harmful ends, all because of a curse that stretches back to the Salem Witch Trials. Now Quincy and his white witch friend Libby Chastain have to track down the black witch behind the attacks and take her out of the picture before someone gets killed. This, sadly, is much easier said than done, and their investigations will take them all over the country as they pursue various leads, with danger stalking them at every turn, courtesy of their mysterious enemy.

Meanwhile, a ruthless pair of killers is leaving a trail of dead children in their wake, horribly multilating their victims as part of an evil magical ritual bound to grant its ultimate recipiant great power. On the case are FBI agent Dale Fenton, and Garth Van Dreenan of the South African Ocult Crimes Unit, the latter an expert at this sort of mystery. No stone will go unturned as they track the killers, one a brutal American thug, the other a South African witch who delights in her dark rituals.

While on the surface, these two cases seem unrelated, the paths of the various participants and players will cross in unexpected, subtle ways as actions have consequences and plans are set in motion. Private agendas abound, and revenge is in the air. But can Quincy and Libby avoid the wrath of their foe and prevent her from killing the LaRue family, and can Fenton and Van Dreenan stop their own targets from completing a series of spells which would empower one of the world’s most powerful, and ruthless men? Or will the numerous traps strewn in their path, from fires to demons, monsters to their own worst fears, take someone out of the game before it’s over?

Black Magic Woman is a tightly-plotted, absolutely fascinating dark urban fantasy, an excellent tale of good versus evil that spares no punches as it races towards the inevitable climax. I love the characters of Quincy and Libby; I’m reminded of Steed and Peel from the Avengers, or Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man, in terms of inter-character chemistry and personalities meshing together. They’re a wonderful team, for all that there’s almost no sexual tension between them. As well, I liked Fenton and Van Dreenan, who really pull off a buddy cop vibe in their own interactions, one the streetwise down-to-earth American, the other the out of his territory, yet highly competent in his own field, visiting cop with a dark past. I daresay under the right circumstances, these two could carry a story all on their own. Interestingly enough, we’re also granted insights into the villains, where we discover them to be complex, flawed, unredeemable, and yet strangely fascinating. They’re not likeable by any means, but they’re not faceless enigmas.

Gustainis spins out an intriguing plot, and I must say, the way he pulls it together for the overlap and final confrontation is expectedly subtle, and masterfully done. I wish I could say more, but that would just ruin the surprise. Let me just note that it works out beautifully, and appropriately in all cases. Along the way, we meet some fascinating characters, and our heroes risk their lives time and again, so it’s never dull. A tip of the hat as Gustainis references various other authors’ creations in clever ways, quiet enough that it’s unobtrusive, but out there for those who get the jokes to nod knowingly.

The magic system presented here is well-thought-out, consistent and low-key, kept under the surface for the most part. You’ll see very few fireballs or magical explosions here, but a lot more working in quiet or subtle ways, for offense and defense. It’s nicely-done, and comes off feeling organic and easy to accept as a result.

I read this book pretty much in one sitting, unable and unwilling to put it down, and my immediate reaction once done was to find the author and beat him until a sequel fell out somehow. Black Magic Woman is intelligent, exciting, and highly entertaining, a treat for urban fantasy lovers who don’t mind some darker elements (what happens to the children who are killed isn’t pretty by any means, and the language does occasionally get more than a little salty) and who like classic mysteries. I had no complaints of note regarding this book, and I’ll be eagerly looking forward to more from this author.

Biting the Bullet, by Jennifer Rardin (Orbit, 2008)

Posted on by
Reply

Jaz Parks is back, and she’s brought the rest of her team with her. The vampire Vayl, technogeek Bergman, former private investigator Cole, and psychic seer Cassandra are ready for whatever action lies ahead, especially when they learn that the next mission may actually give them a stab at the Raptor, the terrorist who’s been giving them the runaround and thwarting their attempts to stop him for months now. Targeting one of his associates, a nasty piece of work named the Wizard, Jaz’s team joins up with a larger group of Special Ops lead by her brother, Dave.

Things don’t go according to plan, naturally. Vayl gets distracted by a personal mission that could either be a wild goose chase, or a recipe for certain disaster. A mole is discovered within Dave’s unit, and they’ll have to figure out just who’s sold out to the bad guys without tipping their hand. And a band of nigh-unstoppable reavers has targeted Jaz for death. It’s anyone’s guess as to whether any of the team will survive this particular job and make it home from the wilds of Iran intact. To accomplish their goals, they’ll have to team up with a very powerful local who wants nothing to do with the fight, avoid a dangerous breed of spiritual parasite attracted to bloodshed and violence, and battle the undead hordes of a psychotic necromancer. No problem, right? This is Jaz Parks we’re talking about. Vampire hunter, secret agent, chosen by a higher power to save the world, she’s just the woman for the job. Even if it kills her.

Rardin offers up an exciting blend of action and intrigue in Biting the Bullet, the third in the Jaz Parks series. I have to say, this book, like the ones before it, stands out in a number of ways. Compared to the people she keeps company with, Jaz is almost normal, despite her awesome fighting skills and minor-league special abilities and magical talents. Once you’ve got a vampire and an oracle on your side, it’s easy to seem like the mundane one, I guess. Despite this, there’s no doubt that she’s the heart and soul of an eclectic team, keeping them together through sheer force of personality and tough girl attitude, and it’s nice that Rardin doesn’t feel the need to jack up her main heroine’s power level to compensate for those around her and the enemies she faces. (Mind you, this is just how I see the situation.)

I also like that the plot takes our heroes to Iran, a setting that’s definitely off the beaten path, and vastly underused by most urban fantasy authors. It’s a bold move, placing the action so far out of the average reader’s sphere of familiarity, but Rardin makes it work, taking advantage of the exotic, unfamiliar location to help enhance the fish out of water, odds against the characters feeling. It’s not something you generally expect from this sort of book, and it works. She’s found something new to say, and it helps the story greatly. The plot might be a little convoluted at times – they’re fighting reavers, and the undead, and ferreting out a mole, and stalking terrorists and necromancers with comic book codenames – but it’s full of action and suspense, and Rardin keeps the surprises coming.

At the same time, she doesn’t skimp on character interaction and personality clashes. From the cats-and-dogs spatting of Bergman and Cassandra, to the alpha-male jockeying for position between Cole and Vayl, to the sibling bond/rivalry between Jaz and Dave, to the unexpected romance that develops between two unlikely characters, it helps to keep things moving in interesting directions, making for a likeable bunch of misfits and oddballs, which as anyone knows is the key to success when fighting overwhelming forces.

Biting the Bullet is a whole lot of fun, a spy thriller with bizarre magical elements, set in the sort of distant locale that the average reader associates with danger and intrigue. It’s not your average urban fantasy…. heck, let’s call it paranormal adventure, or a supernatural Mission Improbable, which is closer to the truth. I really liked this book, and I’m eagerly awaiting the fourth in the series, because there just isn’t enough of its kind on the market.

A Kiss Before The Apocalypse, by Thomas E. Sniegoski (Roc, 2008)

Posted on by
Reply

Meet Remy Chandler, P.I. Unlike ordinary detectives, he can turn invisible, speak any language, and read thoughts on occasion. And while he appears to be human, he’s not. Once upon a time when the world was young, he was the angel Remiel, but that was before he fell in love with humanity, and abandoned his former job for a more fulfilling life here on Earth. Unfortunately, he’s coping with the tragedy of outliving those he cares for, as he watches his wife, who he met decades ago, draw close to the end of her lifespan. But even an angel-turned-private investigator has bills to pay, so Remy takes on what he thinks is your average case of a philandering husband. When a simple stake-out leves him as witness to a bizarre murder-suicide, Remy’s soon dragged into a case unlike any he’s ever worked before.

It seems that the Angel of Death has gone missing (or gone native like Remy did) and with him, the scrolls of the Apocalypse have up and vanished as well. Now Remy’s former coworkers, the Seraphim, want to hire him to find the wayward Israfil and retrieve the scrolls before things get messy. However, with no Angel of Death, there can be no death, and Remy finds the idea of preventing his wife’s death to be … tempting. On the flip side, there’s every indication that someone’s after those missing scrolls in order to break the seals and call forth the Four Horsemen, to destroy the world and wipe it all clean.

Looks like Remy Chandler’s on the job, for better or for worse, and no one and nothing will stop him from seeing it through to its completion. Not even the mustered forces of the dreaded Black Choir, or treachery from a supposedly trusted ally, or the Apocalypse itself will prevent him from doing his job. Unfortunately, it may just cost him his hard-won humanity, as circumstances may require him to dig deep and unleash his long-buried true nature. It’s a heck of a job, but he’s just the angel to do it.

I’ve seen just about every kind of supernatural/paranormal P.I. there is, from vampire to sorcerer to robot, and yet there’s always room for a new variation on an old standard. In this case, it’s Thomas sniegoski and his clever, skillful interpretation of a world-weary angel who became a detective because of his fondness for Raymond Chandler’s works. Remy Chandler is memorable, sympathetic, and fascinating, an immortal who willingly locked away his powers and potential in order to walk among ordinary humans because it was far more appealing to him than staying an angel. He’s your archtypical hard-headed, suicidally stubborn, two-fisted hero, though he fights off Hellspawn rather than mobsters, and his missing people might just bring about the end of the world. Sniegoski populates Remy Chandler’s world with some interesting characters, including a still-living Lazarus (yes, -that- Lazarus), the decadent renegade faction of angels known as the Grigori (the moral opposites of Remy in many ways) and Francis, an angel who now runs a halfway house for redeemed sinners released from Hell on parole. It’s an intriguing world, obviously drawing heavily from Judeo-Christian mythology for its inspiration (though admittedly taking liberties as necessary) without being preachy or overtly religious. Points to the author for treating the source material like any other collection of myths and tales. After all, the territory covered by the Christian mythos is usually such a touchy subject (where the Greeks, Romans, Norse, Celts, and so on are perfectly fair game), so it’s nice to see it used in such fashion. It’s clearly respectful, and at the same time entertaining.

The plot itself is fairly strsightforward, though there’s more than one surprise in store for Remy and reader alike as the hero gets to the bottom of the mystery of the missing angel, and attempts to prevent a premature Apocalypse in the bargain. However, the real emphasis is on Remy’s internal conflict: remain as human as possible, or sacrifice his own happiness to save the world. I think this is a great start to what’s hopefully a new series, and I hope it won’t be too long before we see Remy Chandler again.

The Snow Queen, by Mercedes Lackey (Harlequin Luna, 2008)

Posted on by
Reply

In the Five Hundred Kingdoms, powerful magic known as the Tradition influences everything, forcing people into a variety of well-worn Paths inspired by fairy tales and folklore. Left unchecked, this could result in disaster and misery, which is why long ago, the Godmothers were created, people capable of understanding and manipulating the Tradition in order to determine the best, most appropriate outcome. One such Godmother is Aleksia, also known as the Ice Fairy or Snow Queen, who dwells in the Palace of Ever-Winter and watches over several nearby Kingdoms. Lately, she’s begun to chafe at her duties, worried that she’s becoming as cold and distant as the persona she affects when dealing with her guests. She’s in the middle of teaching a pair of wayward, star-crossed mortals about the power of love and the need to be careful what you wish for (very much echoing the traditional tale of the Snow Queen), when news reaches her, which will force her to take a much more direct involvement in the world around her.

It seems that someone using the name of the Snow Queen has destroyed several villages in their entirety, freezing them solid. If Aleksia leaves this unchecked, it’s not just her reputation that’s on the line, it’s her very nature, for if the Tradition believes the Snow Queen to be an evil sorceress, that’s just what she’ll become, and that ilk never come to a good end. And thus, Aleksia sets forth in a quest to find this false Snow Queen before it’s too late. However, she won’t be alone, for several others have set out on a similiar quest, seeking the ghostly Icehart, which might also be behind the villages’ destructions. Both separately and together, Aleksia and her companions will brave the lands of the dead, the ever-present danger of bandits, merciless forest spirits, and more, before they reach the end of their journey. Can the small band of heroes defeat the twin menaces of the Icehart and the Snow Witch, and find a happily ever after for the people affected by this tale gone awry?

I’ve really enjoyed this series so far. Lackey does a great job of taking the old, familiar fairy tales and imbuing them with a certain metafictional self-awareness, looking at them from the inside and the outside, even as she creates something new. For instance, even as she reenacts the events of the Snow Queen (boy kidnapped by wicked sorceress, heart frozen, girl goes through many obstacles to rescue him and melt the ice in his heart), she’s recasting the participants in a whole new light, and giving the traditional antagonist of the tale some perfectly valid motivations. In the world of the Tradition, there’s a reason for these events working out as they do. And even as this story within the story plays out, there are similiar events on a grander scale taking place, echoing them even as they draw on other elements. Lackey draws on a few different stories, including East of the Sun, West of the Moon, as she works it all together, injecting it with cultural aspects strongly reminiscent of Northern Europe (as witnessed by the use of reindeer, and character names like Anoushka, Aleksia, and Annukka) to deliver a fantasy work that’s different from what one usually sees. I’m a sucker for retold fairy tales, and Lackey really delivers here.

If I were to have any complaints about this book, it’s that it ends almost abruptly, with things tied up in the course of just a few pages, and the last remaining threads quickly dealt with. I guess my disgruntlement in this regard is due to the sympathetic natures and relatability of the characters; I had enough fun journeying with them, that it’s a shame their tale wraps up so quickly after the climax of the story. It’s not quite a happily ever after for them all, but it’s close, and sometimes you just want a little more hint of their lives to come. Also, the way in which certain relaionships come about seems sudden, with very little space given to developing them earlier on. I guess this may be part of Lackey’s way of honoring the spirit of the fairy tales she draws upon, in which love develops swiftly and without warning.

Those minor flaws aside, The Snow Queen is a highly enjoyable story, and a perfectly fun way to kill a few hours. The Tales of the ive Hundred Kingdoms aren’t as complex or epic as some of Lackey’s works, but they’re great fun, with believable characters and an entertaining plot. You could do far worse, and I’ll be looking forward to whatever comes next in the series. (I’m holding out hope for a retold Hans the Hedgehog, myself…)

The Misenchanted Sword, by Lawrence Watt-Evans (Cosmos, 2008)

Posted on by
Reply

It’s the height of the Great War when a lone Ethsharitic scout, Valder, finds himself far from home, separated from the rest of his unit, and lost in the depths of a swamp. Accidentally stumbling across an enigmatic hermit, who turns out to be a magician of some quality, Valder ends up saving the old man from maurading enemy forces. As a “reward,” the cranky magician enchants Valder’s sword with spells of battle-prowess and invincibility, before sending him on his way. It’s only after the magician is long-vanished into the swamp that Valder begins to discover that his magical sword may be as much a curse as a gift. In fact, it’s just about as unwelcome a gift as possible, in multiple ways. The sword, now called Wirikidor, or ‘slayer of warriors,’ will indeed grant Valder victory in combat against any one foe … so long as it’s male, human, and adult. Valder’s fate is bound into that of the sword; it’ll grant him protection against all forms of death and keep him alive for as long as it exists, but someday, after it’s taken ninety-nine lives, one battle at a time, it’ll turn upon its owner and kill him. In short, Valder’s life will be extended indefinitely, until he’s killed ninety-nine people, give or take a few, and then the sword will slay -him-.

The army, of course, thinks this is great, and utilizes him as an assassin until the end of the War, at which point Valder opts to return to civilian life. Unfortunately, that still leaves the problem of him owning a magical sword, one which will keep him alive, if not young. He’s faced with a choice: continue to grow old and increasingly infirm while the sword protects him, or try to use up the remaining ‘kills’ stored in the sword’s enchantment, or find a magic-worker capable of undoing the potent spells involved. And all he really wants is to settle down as an innkeeper and live a normal life. His quest to resolve his problems with Wirikidor will span decades and many miles, as he tries to free himself from the misenchanted sword…

I’ve always enjoyed The Misenchanted Sword. As the first in Lawrence Watt-Evans’ entertaining Ethshar series, it sets the tone for the books that followed it. Here we see how one ordinary man deals with magic gone awry, a common theme in the series, and we get a first-hand look at the world-building involved, which lays the groundwork for the Hegemony of Three Ethshars featured in subsequent books. This is the cornerstone of the series, and in many ways it’s one of my favorites, a book I reread every now and again when I want that taste of the old and familiar. Watt-Evans does a great job of playing with ideas, making life difficult through the application of complex, messed-up magic, and examining the results through the eyes of an honest, moral man. Valder’s practical enough to realize what he’s gotten himself into, and yet principled enough to seek resolution in as honest a way as possible, no matter that a man with a magic sword could probably write his own ticket if he was less ethical about the matter.

I can’t quite pin down what I like about the Ethshar books. Maybe it’s the fact that while complex and detailed, they’re not overly complicated. You get a keen sense of the world the characters inhabitat, but it’s not so alien or multilayered that the casual reader will need extra effort to get involved. Watt-Evans keeps things somewhat light, but maintains a certain serious tone and internal consistency, offering up an enjoyable stand-alone fantasy that’s a nice change of pace from the tree-killing, shelf-bending epic trilogies that so often represent the genre. This book has been around since its original printing in 1985, but I was quite happy to see it reprinted by Cosmos Books recently. I hope the rest of the series follows suit, as I think the Ethshar series is an essential read for fantasy lovers.