This delightful
collection of short pieces – some previously published stories, others
slice-of-life vignettes – is like a series of tea parties – or songs, if you
will – from Vaughn’s urban fantasy world and its characters. Werewolves and
vampires and selkies, oh my! Vaughn’s prosecraft and story-telling skills are
up to their usual superb level.
The organizing
thread is the werewolf DJ, Kitty Norville. I met Kitty (and some of the other
characters) tangentially in other works set in this same world. I loved finding
out more about them, peeking into the hidden corners of their better-known
adventures. I suspect that those who are familiar with Kitty’s world and its
denizens will derive particular delight in meeting them again, but the stories
are so well told and carefully ordered that newcomers will not be lost, only
enchanted.
How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge, by K. Eason (DAW)
I adored K. Eason's novel, How Rory Thorne Broke the Multiverse, and had high hopes for its sequel, How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge. I found the same delightful, witty prose and innovate story elements. The sentient murder roses were hands-down my favorite character. However, the multiplicity of cultures and characters left me perpetually confused, especially if I set the book down for a couple of days, as readers often do. The story began clearly enough, but by a third of the way through, the murder roses in which I initially delighted were sidelined and it seemed that as soon as I got oriented (or re-oriented) to a given character's POV, I got switched. Sequels and series are very much the thing these days, but too many novels that are wonderful stand-alones are then followed by sequels that amount to pale imitations or tortured attempts to create a follow-on plot to a story that is complete in itself. Alas, How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge falls into this category. K. Eason is such a talented and skillful writer, I think it would be better to go on to a new story, one that I will gladly read.
Brimstone Bound (Firebrand, Book 1), by Helen Harper
Helen Harper’s witty
urban fantasies never fail to delight me, and Brimstone Bound is no exception. The first-person narrator, Emma
Bellamy, has almost finished her training as a detective in London when she’s
given her final trainee assignment: the Supernatural Squad. Although no one in
their right mind wants such a post, she’s determined to make the best of
policing the city’s vampires, werewolves, and assorted other “supes.” That is,
until she herself is brutally murdered and wakes up in the morgue without a
scratch on her. She’s not a vampire now, or a zombie, or anything anyone has
heard of. Maybe her boss knows – oh no, now he’s
been murdered, although it’s made to look like an accident.
Fast-paced, full of
innovative plot twists, and always engaging, Harper’s latest is a quick, juicy
read.
No comments:
Post a Comment