An A-Z of Urban Fantasy (N-Z!)

Urban fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy defined by place; the fantastic narrative has an urban setting. Many urban fantasies are set in contemporary times and contain supernatural elements. However, the stories can take place in historical, modern, or futuristic periods. The prerequisite is that they must be primarily set in a city.

The term 'urban fantasy' was somewhat stolen by the 'paranormal romance' subset of fantasy/horror - what used to be merely fantasy tales set in cities, such as Charles de Lint's marvellous Newford sequence, now became fantasy about kick ass heroines in leather with guns hunting vampires.

Whichever way you look at it, urban fantasy encompasses some of the finest novels committed to paper. Here is a handy guide taking you from A-Z.

This is the second part of my A-Z article - the first can be found HERE.

N - Neverwhere

My very favourite Neil Gaiman book, Neverwhere is very definitely an example of urban fantasy in the Charles de Lint mould - fantasy where the city takes on a true character. Check out the blurb:

Under the streets of London there's a world most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, and pale girls in black velvet. Richard Mayhew is a young businessman who is about to find out more than he bargained for about this other London. A single act of kindness catapults him out of his safe and predictable life and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and yet utterly bizarre. There's a girl named Door, an Angel called Islington, an Earl who holds Court on the carriage of a Tube train, a Beast in a labyrinth, and dangers and delights beyond imagining ... And Richard, who only wants to go home, is to find a strange destiny waiting for him below the streets of his native city.

The book actually came about as a result of the 1996 TV series that Neil Gaiman devised with Lenny Henry.

Neverwhere was first broadcast on BBC Two from September 12, 1996. There are six half-hour episodes:

Door
Knightsbridge
Earl's Court to Islington
Blackfriars
Down Street
As Above, So Below

O - Otherworld

When I talk about Otherworld, I could be referencing the various myths and legends across the world that encompass a world that is "other" - supernatural and strange. What I am actually talking about is the Women of the Otherworld series created by Kelley Armstrong, an absolute staple of the urban fantasy ouvre.

Kelley has so far written twelve novels, with various other short story collections and graphic novels. These novels stand out because Kelley has utilised various different character perspectives for each book, rather than sticking with the same characters.

P - Paranormal

The element that really defines urban fantasy as it is right now is the paranormal - the werewolves, the vampires, the witches, the magic, the demons, the fae... Paranormal romance is a term intertwined with urban fantasy, usually emphasising the relationship between the main characters more than the latter will.

Q - Quinn

Q is a really hard letter! I would welcome your suggestions, but I decided to go with Quinn - and then talk more about Sookie Stackhouse than Quinn (in a big ole cheat of a letter!) Quinn appears later on in the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris and gives me a handy excuse to showcase one of the very popular urban fantasy series. This series has received a spike in sales recently thanks to the success of the TV series True Blood, based on the Sookie novels.

They are quirky and generally light-hearted, and include some great male characters - including the aforementioned Quinn (although Eric is my favourite!)



R - Rivers of London

Ben Aaronovitch exploded onto the urban fantasy scene earlier this year with 'Rivers of London', described by some as Harry Potter meets Neverwhere (and released as Midnight Riot in the States). It garnered many favourable reviews, including mine, and has so far spawned an additional two novels in the series - Moon Over Soho and the forthcoming Whispers Under Ground.

S - Sex

Bit raunchy, this one, but you can't discuss urban fantasy these days without talking about the sex. Authors like Laurell K Hamilton, Kelley Armstrong, Charlaine Harris etc all include strong sex scenes in their novels. Of them all, Laurell K has gone down the strangest route, with strong S&M themes, furries, snuff and rain making all now crowding the pages of her novels.

Personally I like a good sex scene, but sometimes it goes a little far in urban fantasy!

And, no, you're not getting any images for this entry!

T - Tattoos

Writinghood came up with a list of urban fantasy cliches, and front and centre was the issue with tattoos:

And while we’re talking about the cover model, what is up with the idea that the woman must always be wearing the same type of clothing (belly-baring or bra-as-shirt and low-rise jeans) and always be covered in tattoos? If we have read more than one urban fantasy series, we get that she’s supposed to be tough. Not to mention, if these tattoos have no significance to the novel ( such as, they don’t serve as a connection to the supernatural, or they aren’t a mark or calling card), they really aren’t necessary.

Read more: http://writinghood.com/writing/urban-fantasy-cliches/#ixzz1W8HOuCQR

Luckily, we are now getting some urban fantasy novels where the tattoos provide a crucial part of the plot, key amongst them the Hunter's Kiss trilogy by Marjorie M Liu:

In addition to this, some of our heroines from urban fantasy are taking back tattoos from the mainstream - making it as ballsy and original a habit as it used to be, such as Stacia Kane's heroine Chess:

I also want to give a shout out to Blood Rights, coming soon from Orbit, where the main character bears the marks on her body of a comarré - a race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility.

U - Urban Settings

Yep, we've already mentioned London. Here are some other awesome urban settings, from the imaginary to the very real.

Stacia Kane - The Downside, part of Triumph City (fictional, but based on an American City)
Kelley Armstrong - Toronto (real!)
Laurell K Hamilton - St Louis (real!)
Jim Butcher - Chicago (real!)
Tanya Huff Blood series - Toronto (popular place)
Kim Harrison - Cincinnati

Pretty much every major urban fantasy series will have a very strong sense of place, and describe the city in depth, which adds to the feel of the novels.

V - Vampires

From the feral and mindless, to the sleek and courtly, vampires have found their way into urban fantasy by the bucketload. One of my favourite characters is Jean-Claude (although he has become toothless in recent novels compared to his restrained hunger from the early Anita Blake novels).

I like vampires still, but I have found they've become ubiquitous to urban fantasy novels. The list of those who still include them would run to many, and it can get a little dull which, I suspect, is why there has been a move away from vampires to tackle other supernatural beings.

Vampires have been around since the writing of Dracula and even prior to that, and I don't see them going away entirely any time soon!

W - Werewolves

From one creature to another. We've seen a rise in popularity of werewolves as well, in recent times, and it is odd how many times how heroine has to pick between a werewolf and a vampire in a love triangle! Probably because of how very different their natures are...

Here is a selection of the novels available featuring werewolves:

- Wolf Moon by Charles de Lint
- Blood Trail by Tanya Huff (second in the Blood series)
- The Anita Blake series (from the second novel onwards)
- Fool Moon by Jim Butcher (second in the Dresden files)
- Bitten by Kelley Armstrong (first in the Women of the Otherworld series)
- Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn
- Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
- Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
- The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
- Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar

X - X-Files

Alright, so X is hard as well - and this only loosely fits under urban fantasy. But there were a number of X-Files episodes that dealt with urban fantasy i.e. folklore and fairytales that occurred in cities. I would include the character of Tooms under this definition (still one of the ONLY things to freak me out and give me nightmares!)

For me, the X Files helped to establish the idea of supernatural and investigative work going hand in hand.

Y - YA Urban Fantasy

For me, since Twilight (yes, it can be argued this is paranormal romance rather than urban fantasy, as one of the commentators to the previous A-Z post pointed out, but I class them rather under the same banner since they're so hard to segregate), there has been an explosion of novels that could be deemed YA Urban Fantasy.

I'm talking about series like the House of Night, like Blue Bloods, like Vampire Academy. They take urban fantasy back a stage, so that there is much less sex and more wondering about whether a boy likes you (and, of course, whether he is a vampire!)

This books can be identified in book stores by the black covers, the beautiful cover models in flowing dresses, the dark fantasy aspect of them. Some bookstores now have separate sections altogether for this explosion of category.

Z - Zombies

Again, this is a tenuous link at best, thanks to the difficulty of the letter. If anyone with good knowledge of urban fantasy would like to pitch in and suggest something else, then please do!

For this, I would say that the Anita Blake novels do feature zombies on occasion, and novels like I Am Legend take place in a city, so technically urban fantasy... Yep, I'm scraping the barrel!

So, there you have it! My A-Z of Urban Fantasy! Please do chip in with your own suggestions, and don't forget to check out the rest of my A-Z series!

The Office of Lost and Found by Vincent Holland-Keen

Thomas Locke can find anything. You know the hurricane that hit a while back? Word is he found the butterfly that started it. So, when a desperate Veronica Drysdale hires Locke to find her missing husband, it makes perfect sense.

Except the world of Thomas Locke doesn't make sense. It puts monsters under the bed, makes stars fall from the sky and leads little children to worship the marvels of road-works.

This world also hides from Veronica a past far darker and stranger than she could ever have imagined. To learn the truth, Veronica is going to have to lose everything.

And that's where Locke’s shadowy business partner Lafarge comes in…

I think I can count on one hand the times I've been unable to finish reading a book. It happens incredibly rarely, since I'm generally stubborn enough to push through and find out what happens at the end. Unfortunately, The Office of Lost and Found by Vincent Holland-Keen is one of those rare books.

I couldn't complete this not because of the premise (which was kooky and interesting) and not because of the writing (which tended towards being pretty good). The reason I couldn't finish The Office of Lost and Found is because I read up to 30% completed on my Kindle - a fair proportion of the book - and did not have a single clue what was happening. Not one clue. I notice other reviewers have said that it is a confusing read and you need to stick with it, but I simply couldn't keep details straight in my head.

I think part of the problem with this is the structure of the novel - it jumps back and forth, it seems to contain little short stories within the overall arc of the novel, it plays around with time. Fine, if you can keep up. But I was bemused and, ultimately, frustrated by my efforts.

Try The Eloquent Page for a different take on The Office of Lost and Found - they loved it. It just wasn't for me.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Welcome to Bon Temps. It's just your average sleepy backwater town. You know the kind of place... a dime store, a trailer park, a diner, and a gang of newly 'out of the coffin' undead.

Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself and doesn't get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of 'disability' - she can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. But then along comes Bill. He's tall, dark, handsome - and Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life.

But Bill has a problem of his own: he's a vampire. With a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of - big surprise - murder. And then one of Sookie's co-workers is killed, she fears she's next...

I first read Dead Until Dark years before the HBO series (something I've not watched at all). I read it when it had a gloriously kooky cover, and Orbit still published the series as opposed to Gollancz, in the UK. I even imported the new novels from the States to keep up with the series, I was so enamoured. This is the first time I've revisited the series and I confess to being enormously disappointed. I can't quite work out why I devoured these books so voraciously, in all honesty.

I think the best that can be said of Dead Until Dark is that it is lightweight fun. You can whip through it in a single sitting, if you're so inclined. The language is fairly basic, the plot (such as it is) can be followed with ease. There is nothing difficult or particularly meaningful about Dead Until Dark. It is the perfect book for when you want to switch off your brain and be entertained.

Except that, well, there is not a great deal of entertainment to be found here. The pacing of Dead Until Dark mystifies me utterly. There is a slow, slow, slow build-up - where we find out more than we wish to know about Sookie's daily routine, what she does when she's off work, how she cleans her grandma's house - before the "big" finale to the book, which is over in a few short pages.

The characters in Dead Until Dark are, on the whole, paper thin. Sookie provides some interest in terms of how she reacts to her "disability", and the way that people act towards her is also dealt with well. Certainly has echoes of racial prejudice that gives the book some much-needed emotion. I am given no good reason by Ms Harris as to why Sookie is *so* attracted to Bill, except for the fact that he is good looking and she can't hear his thoughts. Their relationship is not remotely believable, as far as I am concerned, and we find out nothing about Bill's character that has me wanting to read more about him.

The secondary characters suffer even more. I am hard-pushed to tell the difference between the various people who inhabit Bon Temps - the Bellefleurs, Rene, Sookie's co-workers. They all wander on-screen, say a few words and then wander off again, without contributing anything particularly meaningful to the plot. Thanks to this, the revelation of the murderer came entirely out of left-field for me, because Harris had not laid down enough clues to guess who it might have been.

The presentation of the deep South is an interesting backdrop to the story. I like the fact that New Orleans is an attraction for the newly 'out' vampires, thanks to the Anne Rice thing. I enjoyed the character of Bubba *very* much. There are a few moments of good quality in Dead Until Dark, which makes it so very sad that the rest is so dull.

From what I've heard, watch True Blood and give the Sookie books a miss.

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K Hamilton

My name is Anita Blake. Vampires call me the Executioner. What I call them isn't repeatable.

Ever since the Supreme Court granted the undead equal rights, most people think vampires are just ordinary folk with fangs. I know better. I've seen their victims. I carry the scars...

But now a serial killer is murdering vampires - and the most powerful bloodsucker in town wants me to find the killer...

A vampire slayer. Were-creatures. Vampires that allure. We've been here before, right? TV shows. Books. A whole area of the bookshop now dedicated to paranormal romance.

But... Look inside the front cover of Guilty Pleasures and you see copyright Laurell K Hamilton 1993. That is four years before Buffy the Vampire Slayer strode onto our screens (IN THE TV SHOW. I am well aware that the film came out in 1992, a year before, so the concept wasn't exactly brand new - that of vampire slaying by a girl - but I think that Hamilton absolutely put her own spin on matters). That is years before Sookie Stackhouse became a star of page and screen. Ages before Kelley Armstrong and Kim Harrison started producing two of the best paranormal series out there.

Laurell K Hamilton came first. Her inspiration was still Anne Rice and Dracula, and people who wrote "proper" vampires, as opposed to those that sparkle. Nikolaos, the villain of the piece, is a child vampire - evil and chilling. These are proper vampires, that ruffle the hairs on your neck and whose daytime sleeping places have a scent that reminds you vaguely of graves and snakes.

Add into this a truly compelling idea of vampires "coming out" to the general populace of the States, and how that has affected law. Anita Blake might be a vampire slayer, but she needs a document of execution before she can kill them otherwise it counts as murder.

"It had only been two years since Addison v. Clark. The court case gave us a revised version of what life was, and what death wasn't. Vampirism was legal in the good ol' U S of A. [...] All sorts of questions were being fought out in court. Did heirs have to give back their inheritance? Were you widowed if your spouse became undead? Was it murder to slay a vampire?"

Linked to this, Hamilton explores how religion might be affected by the legalization of vampires. She gives us the idea that the Church of Eternal Life is run by vampires, who go door to door to recruit followers (much like Jehovah's Witnesses) but can actually promise eternal life. None of the speculation about what comes after life with this church!

Also, Anita Blake is, first and foremost, an animator - someone who can raise the dead. This voodoo-esque element of the story brings a lot to the table, and will become increasingly important in future books.

There is no overstating the imagination and speculation on show here. Laurell K Hamilton came FIRST - giving us a vampire slayer on retainer with the police, investigating supernatural crimes.

However, the story would be nothing without Anita Blake herself. This is a character with charisma in spades - a short woman who goes to the gym in the knowledge that she has to do *something* to turn over the odds in a fight. A good little Catholic girl with a real mouth on her, that gets her into trouble more times than she can count. She is blisteringly sarcastic and, at times, frighteningly vulnerable. I love her.

She is surrounded by other characters that simply spring from the page. Jean-Claude barely has any page time in Guilty Pleasures, and yet I was so intrigued by this master vampire - achingly beautiful and slightly mischievous in his behaviour towards Anita, and then the switch to something utterly deadly. And Edward - vampire killer, bounty hunter, the aspect of Death. Edward is a mysterious and enormously scary character that the reader will want to hear so much more about.

Guilty Pleasures is an absolute rollercoaster ride - beyond fast-paced. There is not a moment of downtime between killing ghouls, investigating the deaths of vampires and coming face to face with the vampire master of the city. For such a slight book, Laurell K Hamilton absolutely packs in the action.

I would say this is one of the faults. The reader only has time to reflect and take a breath once they reach the end of the novel. Before that, you are compulsively turning pages to find out what happens next. It means that we barely take notice of the clues that we've given about who might be committing the crime of killing vampires. It means that a key character death doesn't have the impact that it absolutely should do.

Another fault is one that Robert Jordan shares - Laurell K Hamilton does love describing clothes: the shorts and sneakers that Anita wears, with the blue piping down the sides; the fishnet shirt worn by Phillip, a vampire groupie; the lace on the shirt of Jean-Claude. Some erroneous details took up way too much page time.

Really, though, Guilty Pleasures is the start of an impressive series that carved the way where so many others have now followed. Laurell K Hamilton gives us the first sassy kick ass heroine in the form of Anita Blake - and I suspect she has never been bettered. Make sure you buy the second at the same time as the first, because you simply won't be able to resist diving into the rest of this series and gulping it down compulsively. Tremendous entertainment - and a little bit of literary history.

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes

Zoo City is Lauren Beukes’ second novel for imprint Angry Robot, and has been nominated now for numerous awards, including the Arthur C Clarke, which is the reason for me finally succumbing and picking it up. Until now I have found myself oddly reluctant to read Zoo City, due to what I perceived as “hype”. In fact, I now believe it was hyped for good reason – there is a buzz surrounding this exciting novel that is entirely deserved. (I feel there is a difference between hype and buzz – the former driven by publishers to entice people to read novels; the latter created by a groundswell of popular opinion).

Zoo City explores a present day, but alternate, Johannesburg, following the story of Zinzi December, one of the animalled – people who are linked to animals due to crimes they have committed in the past. The eponymous Zoo City is the place in Johannesburg where the animalled live, ostracised by the rest of the population. Zinzi lives hands to mouth, sending illegal spam mails to pay her debts, and providing a service to people who have lost items. Her one rule is never to find lost persons, but she can’t resist the money offered to find one half of a famous singing duo – this, however, might be a decision she’ll come to regret as she stumbles across a rather horrific series of grisly murders.

Lauren Beukes writes with a real “zing”, an exuberance celebrating the darkness, the vivid life, the uniqueness of Johannesburg. The location of her novel is as much a character as the many bizarre people who share Zinzi’s life, and she is not afraid to show the grim aspects of living in South Africa.

The pace of Zoo City is fast and frenetic – almost too fast towards the end of the novel, where the mystery of the murders is revealed in a series of punchy scenes that arrive furiously and left me wishing I had more time to take on board everything that was happening. Beukes could have quite easily put in an extra few hundred pages, and I think it might have served this particular novel well. Usually I would complain about additional pages for the sake of it, but, with Zoo City, I actively wanted to read more about Zinzi.

Zinzi is a character to love, accompanied by Sloth, her particular animal and the outward appearance of her guilt. She is spiky, determined, and compassionate despite the difficulties of her life. Her dialogue is sharp and funny, and she lights up every page. She is not a character who requires any man to define her – in fact, the men she associates with are almost incidental, in some respects. They help drive the plot forward, but do not drive Zinzi’s actions, which is a refreshing change and something I appreciated. In addition, Zinzi is not some kick ass babe, who wields weapons and takes on enemies with gay abandon. She uses her wits to survive, and the experience she’s gained through her time as a journalist and then in prison. The reason I mention this is because Zoo City reads like an urban fantasy, but Zinzi is not your usual clichéd character.

The prose in Zoo City helps to keep the pace driving forwards – it is scattered with local colloquialisms that add flavour to the style of the writing. This is not a graceful method of writing, but it is incredibly vital and relevant.

In all, Zoo City is both fascinating as a study in modern literature, and exciting to read. It is one of those books that feels incredibly special as you read it, with a timeless quality. I hold my hands up: I should have read this months ago. Zoo City is a wonderful novel, and Lauren Beukes has instantly become a go-to novelist of mine. A stunning achievement.

Arthur C Clarke thoughts: Ah, here's the crux of the matter.... The award is for science fiction, but I think Zoo City is urban fantasy. However, with the Clarke Award having set the precedent last year of allowing a non-sci-fi (as stated by some) novel to win, then why not allow Zoo City to win? Personally, with other "true" science fiction novels on the shortlist, I think Zoo City will struggle to win - especially with the quality of some of the other works. However, the only factor that should mean it doesn't win is the fantasy vs science fiction aspect of the discussion: based purely on excellent writing and brilliant plot, Beukes would walk it...

A Wild Light by Marjorie M Liu

A Wild Light is the third novel in the Hunter’s Kiss trilogy by Marjorie M. Liu, and concludes the ongoing story ARC concerning the veil being torn between the world of humans and the demon prison. Maxine Kiss wakes from a world of nightmares to discover the body of her grandfather next to her, covered in blood, and a man she doesn’t recognise who tells her they are lovers. What follows takes Maxine to the very limits of her emotional resources as she discovers the secrets of her ancestors and tries to close the veil for good.

Strangely, this was my favourite of the trilogy. After reading the first two books and feeling generally underwhelmed and confused, I was not really looking forward to the third but wished to read it for the sake of completism. I’m glad I did. Although it wasn’t great, it tackled some of my issues from the first two novels and presented a much more linear plotline.

My favourite part, by far (and has been my favourite all the way through), are the demons that inhabit Maxine’s skin as tattoos during the hours of sunlight and become corporeal when the sun sets. Dek, Mal, Aaz, Raw and Zee are terrifying and cute in the very same moment – fabulously characterful as they hum Bon Jovi hits in Maxine’s ears and eat cuddly teddy bears. Maxine’s curious relationship with her ‘boys’ is the true highlight of the trilogy, and I was pleased to see more secrets concerning this being revealed in the course of ‘A Wild Light’.

Marjorie M. Liu also deigned to explain more of the ongoing situation – dealing with Avatars, Wardens, demons and zombies. In The Iron Hunt and Darkness Calls, I found myself struggling to follow the events of the books – I understood that the veil was failing, but much of the detail was lost on me. In A Wild Light Liu recaps in a manner that illuminates many of the characters and situations so that my enjoyment was maintained through the whole novel.

My general impression of this book, and of the trilogy as a whole, is that it is written in stunning fashion but lacks a driving plot or any real tension. The concepts are wonderful – demons that live on the skin, zombie parasites feeding on pain – but they nestle in a trio of books that don’t truly go anywhere. It is all style and no substance. Marjorie M. Liu’s trilogy is beautiful but ultimately forgettable.

This review appeared originally on www.fantasyliterature.com and parts of it were used in a trilogy review for Vector.

Darkness Calls by Marjorie M Liu

Darkness Calls is the second book in the Hunter’s Kiss by Marjorie M. Liu, and I would like to tell you about the plot, but I honestly can’t! I don’t mean that to sound mean, and I’m conscious that it comes across as extremely negative – but I found Darkness Calls a tough read in terms of comprehending what went on. From what I can tell, a new Avatar is on the scene and wants to take control of the power wielded by Grant, Maxine’s partner – who happens to be some kind of immortal Lightbringer (something that is never quite explained). It ties into the story started in the first book as the veil between Earth and the demon prison begins to fail, but this novel takes you through time and space, and introduces many supernatural elements.

I didn’t like it. And yet I did. Marjorie M. Liu writes a sharp story, with absolutely beautiful prose, but I’m not quite comfortable on the journey. I don’t know where she’s going. I don’t know what she’s doing. I’m not even sure about the characters!

As an example of my confusion, take the relationship between Maxine and Grant. When we first met them in The Iron Hunt, they had already been together for a number of months, but we never actually saw the start of their relationship (I believe it is detailed in a novella by Liu). On one hand, I enjoy that, because it is fairly unique in paranormal fantasy. On the other hand, I seriously dislike it because I have no investment in their love – I didn’t see why Maxine chose Grant. I didn’t see why she decided to reveal her big secret. For me, this makes the relationship feel empty and therefore I don’t understand why Maxine is willing to risk life and soul for this man.

Another aspect of the characterisation I find tough is that everyone seems to have some kind of secret power. We haven’t met anyone who is normal – for me, this makes it hard to care about them. We see Avatars, Wardens, zombies, demons, Lightbringers – where are the everyday people who usually inhabit a tale such as this. It just adds to the clinical feel of the novel.

The emotional heart to the book was Maxine, and I genuinely enjoyed her confusion about her role and her conflicting desires to follow her mother’s path and to stay in Seattle with Grant. I mean, I didn’t enjoy the fact she was so torn, but Liu wrote it wonderfully and I would have liked to see much more of this, rather than the supernatural elements that imbued Darkness Calls.

In The Iron Hunt we veered a number of occasions into odd, dreamlike segments that seemed to come out of nowhere – in Darkness Calls this happens more often and hence my enjoyment in reading Liu’s wonderful prose lessened.

So, overall, I firmly did not like Darkness Calls, but I am desperate to see what Marjorie M. Liu could do with a decent story.

This review appeared originally on www.fantasyliterature.com and parts of it were used in a trilogy review in Vector magazine.

The Iron Hunt by Marjorie M Liu

Maxine Kiss is the last of her kind, a tattooed Warden protecting the world from demons who pass through the Veil from their prison and take over human hosts to become zombies. Her tattoos are her protection – during the day they form her armour against all threats, while at night they slip away from her and become ‘the boys’, small demons who are inextricably linked with the female line of Wardens.

In The Iron Hunt, Maxine discovers that the Veil is falling as she investigates the death of someone trying to trace her – someone who knew her real name, and not the many pseudonyms that she gives. The threat of demons and worse coming through the Veil forces Maxine to use awesome powers that she has little understanding of or control over, and the whole world is at stake.

Marjorie M. Liu has created a disturbing, compelling and unique vision of a world spiralling into darkness. The tattooed Wardens are mysterious, and the manner in which their demonic protection hides in the form of tattoos during the day was genuinely fascinating to me. I adored the five demons who protect Maxine – they are terrifying effective as they eat the souls of demons, all spikes and attitude, but are also enormously cute as they purr like dangerous cats when Maxine offers them Snickers bars!

Liu’s prose is also hypnotic and lyrical, with poetically beautiful passages such as the following: “The demon tilted his head, just so, and his body twisted, flowing like the skim of a shark through water. He danced when he moved; on the city street, wrapped in shadows: a kiss on the eyes, a devil’s ballet, and only his feet moved, only his cloak had arms; and his hair, rising and flowing as though lost in a storm.”

Unfortunately, for me, the excellent premise of the novel and the delicious prose were ill-matched by a plot that stumbled and lurched from one incident to another. Half the characters were introduced with absolutely no discernable reason – those that did have a reason for joining the party were sketched so briefly that I didn’t care about them.

The plot was confusing – I know some writers who effectively carry their readers through moments of confusion, but Liu was not able to achieve this. I found myself more frustrated than thrilled, which is a great shame to me since I did feel that there was the bones of an excellent urban fantasy tale here. Perhaps now the scene is set, Liu will push on in the second novel of the trilogy (Darkness Calls) and ensure the plot moves more smoothly. I am tentatively willing to pick it up and give it a go, but it is most certainly not going to be at the top of my reading list.

This review has previously been published on http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ and parts of it provided a review of the complete trilogy for Vector magazine.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Peter Grant is just a rookie cop in the Metropolitan Police Service when he discovers an aptitude for magic, and is taken on as an apprentice wizard. As he comes to realise the complicated supernatural life that infuses London, he is caught up in a case involving a malicious vengeful spirit. A spirit who is twisting the lives of ordinary Londoners and leaving a trail of nasty deaths in its wake. Peter has to learn the magic trade quickly before he and his colleagues becoming part of the game.

Anyone who has enjoyed Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift novels, Mike Carey's Felix Castor series - anyone in those shoes will adore Rivers of London. This novel takes the very essence of London and distills it into book form - to the point where I was delighted at being able to picture exactly where Peter is performing his investigation. There is even a mention for Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue that made me literally go 'oooh!' as I was reading.

The language is clever and funny - Peter's narrative voice is full of wry asides and observations. I laughed a number of times, and smiled more, such as when Peter is practicing throwing fireballs: "We did an hour of practice, at the end of which I was capable of flinging a fireball down the range at the dizzying speed of a bumblebee who'd met his pollen quota and was taking a moment to enjoy the view."

Peter and his various colleagues and friends are exceptionally winning personalities, and I enjoyed reading about their mishaps and challenges. Favourite by far were the various Rivers of London, which, in this novel, take corporeal form. For instance, Beverley Brook is one of the daughters of Mother Thames, and is a capricious and mischievous teenager, looking for fun and attention.

I loved the way that Aaronovitch brought in folklore and explored much of the history of London without seeming to lecture. This includes the moment where Beverley reveals that the Fire Brigade are sailors: " 'Not now,' she said. 'But in the old days when they were looking for disciplined guys who knew about water, ropes, ladders and didn't freak out at altitude...' "

The villain of the piece is linked effectively into the folklore and old stories, and is suitably chilling, with vivid motivations. His ability to send his spirit into the various citizens of London means that no one can be trusted - and he sends most of his victims to a suitably hideous death. It made me shudder on a couple of occasions.

The only aspect of the novel that was dissatisfactory, truly, was the way Aaronovitch occasionally dumped information in the form of "lessons" - it came thick and fast at some points, and felt a little disjointed.

However, this is minor. Rivers of London is assured, witty and great fun to read. I was incredibly impressed and will definitely picking up the rest of the series.

Rivers of London is published 10th January in the UK by Gollancz.

Muse and Reverie by Charles de Lint

Muse And Reverie is a collection of thirteen short stories set in Charles de Lint’s Newford universe. As with most collections, some of these tales are of better quality than others but, it being Charles de Lint, there are more hits than misses.

The collection opens with ‘Somewhere In My Head There Is A Painting Box’, which sets the tone nicely, dealing with a situation where the worlds of human and faery collide. There is nothing new here but the descriptions of the woodland are graceful and show as genuine a love for the natural wonders around us as Robert Holdstock did in Mythago Wood.

The real diamond in the collection was ‘Riding Shotgun’ – it presents a haunting tale of loss, alcoholism and how the choices that we make determine who we are and the passage of our lives. At a couple of points, it became a little obvious, but overall it has immense impact, especially since it was written in first person perspective.

‘Sweet Forget-Me-Not’ was another highlight for me: a wistful and poignant story about first love and loss. Here de Lint deals in his usual sensitive manner with bullying and racism. Ahmad and Neenie – the human and the faery, respectively - were a compelling couple to read about and the ending left me feeling more than a little sad.

I also enjoyed ‘A Crow Girls’ Christmas’. This story was brief but very festive (even read in the height of summer!) and incredibly enchanting. Maida and Zia – the eponymous Crow Girls – are delightfully kooky and amusing. Long time readers of de Lint will recognise these two from his novels and will no doubt enjoy catching up with these “fierce, candy cane-eating outlaw girls.”

My particular misses were ‘Refinerytown’ and ‘Newford Spooks Squad’. In the former, there was still much to enjoy but I found it a little disjointed and hard to engage with. Diesel, the eight inch oil refinery fairy, is ravishing and mysterious – however, her presence in the story was introduced thanks to the slimmest of reasons and I found it hard to suspend my disbelief. The latter simply stood out like a sore thumb, considering it is a tale about Hellboy. In any other collection it would have been an effective and tense story but here it was so far removed from the fairytale quality of the other stories that it actually jarred with me.

I am a huge fan of de Lint and have read many of his novels and other collections with great enjoyment. Sitting down to Muse And Reverie was like joining a friend for a gossip with a hot chocolate – warm and cosy, familiar yet always magical. De Lint’s writing is comical, absurd, lyrical and never less than beautiful. If you just want to dip in and tackle one tale at a time, your experience will be as rewarding as reading the book from cover to cover.

This review originally appeared in Vector #264 - with thanks to Martin and Tor Books for sending it through for review.

City of Ghosts by Stacia Kane

City of Ghosts is the third book about Chess Putnam, as she goes through the business of debunking hauntings. In this novel Chess is drawn into a Black Squad (government department) investigation, bound to silence about her doings. She struggles to work through the meagre clues of the case as danger tightens around her, throwing everyone she cares about into the gravest peril.

I’ll say straight out that I adore this series, but I find that most series tend to have a weaker book. In my opinion, City of Ghosts is that book for Downside Ghosts.

I still greatly love all of the encounters between Chess and Terrible, which are heartbreaking and blisteringly sexy by turn. However, the whole plot dealing with Lauren from the Black Squad and their investigation seems unnecessarily complicated. We have not only the Lamanu kicking up trouble again (after encountering them in the first novel of the series), but also bodies in the street, psychopomps going mad, and a strange character called Mcguinness creeping into the frame.

To handle all of those plot elements in a tale that also seeks to provide a conclusion to very difficult personal relationships is a step too far, in my opinion, and the novel feels too rushed.

Chess’ drug use also takes a massive back seat in City of Ghosts. We’ve seen her dependency increase, especially in the second novel where she found herself blackmailed thanks to the amount she was taking. But here we only see one real instance where it is key to the storyline. I feel like Kane wavered a little in how far to take this element.

With all that said, City of Ghosts is still a superior example of urban fantasy. Kane’s worldbuilding is without peer in this genre, presenting us with the Church and psychopomps, and then the scary Downside where Chess makes her life. The food, the markets, the characters all come to startling life.

I’m thrilled that Stacia Kane is writing further books in the Downside series. The adventures of Chess are deeply satisfying, leaving you feeling real emotion about the heroine. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to read more — I will be at the front of the queue.

Unholy Magic by Stacia Kane

In Stacia Kane’s second DOWNSIDE GHOSTS novel, Unholy Magic, Chess Putnam is pulled between two cases: the official Church investigation of the possible haunting of a celebrity, and the serial murders of prostitutes in Downside. She soon discovers that there is a dangerous sort of magic at work, and is forced to walk a fine line trying to balance all the elements of her life and work.

“Self-destruction was one thing, but she was turning into a one-woman wrecking ball.” In this book Chess is falling into an appalling addiction, but tries to convince herself that she is still merely a user. Her drug use compels her to keep visiting Lex, even though she knows she has to finish things with him to become a true part of Terrible’s life.

I found Unholy Magic desperately hard to read — at the same time as I wanted to shake Chess and try to force her to find help, I also wanted to sob with her as her life came crashing down around her. There was one particular graveyard scene between Chess, Lex and Terrible that I almost had to skip past, it was so powerfully written and haunting.

Kane succeeds admirably in writing a completely believable relationship between Chess and Terrible. It whispers into life as they begin trusting each other against all the odds, and grows as Chess realises that Terrible is much, much more than just the enforcer of drug lord Bump. This is not a relationship based on looks or immediate attraction; it grows and develops in an entirely realistic manner. Everything else in this novel takes second place to what is occurring between Chess and Terrible.

Which is a shame, because the plot is unpredictable and gripping, pitting Chess against an extremely chilling magic user. After reading certain scenes in Unholy Magic, I almost wanted to leave the light on at night!

I did have a slight problem with the middle part of Unholy Magic, where the storyline seems to skip along a little in places and doesn’t flow. This does coincide with the part of the novel where Chess’ drug addiction grows and threatens to consume her, so I put it down to the increasing disorientation of the main character, rather than a downturn in the quality of Kane’s work. It can, however, be confusing to read and follow.

Stacia Kane is writing a series that transcends the urban fantasy genre and should be read more widely. Her prose is excellent, characterisation and dialogue superb. This novel is bleaker and darker than the first, with a climax that leaves me longing to read City of Ghosts. I can’t recommend the DOWNSIDE GHOSTS highly enough.

Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane

Unholy Ghosts is the first book in the Downside Ghosts sequence and introduces us to Chess Putnam. She lives in a world where Church and religion has been pushed aside in favour of the Church of Real Truth, because of an uprising by the undead in the form of ghosts. Chess is in the employ of the new Church, helping to judge whether complaints about haunting are true or not, since it has become lucrative business to try and con the Church. When Chess picks up a new case, she finds much more than she bargained for — especially when she also finds herself dealing with rival drug gangs and her dangerous attraction to her dealer’s ruthless enforcer.

Stacia Kane has written a tautly-paced, gripping and, above all, unique urban fantasy novel. The idea of a new world where ghosts can kill and where having the wrong tattoos brings a death sentence is brought to life with delicate touches in a prose that drives the story along.

Her heroine, Chess, is far from the usual kick-ass know-it-all. She has many foibles, the main one being her drug dependency, which weakens her at key moments and puts her in dangerous situations. It could be all too easy to decry Chess for her stupidity, but instead Kane writes her in such a way that you are able to empathise, if not to understand. In a literary genre that is crowded with supernatural beings and heroines who are joining the monsters, Chess stands out as being all too human.

As noted, the pacing is perfect — the mystery of what is happening with the Chester Airport (where Chess is investigating a possible haunting) slides into place piece by piece. Moments of pulse-pounding terror and excitement are followed up by quieter periods where the characters are built up into living, breathing, three-dimensional entities.

The world-building is also very strong, from the descriptions of the drugs that Chess relies on to the back alleys of Downside to the wonderfully quirky dialect of the Downside residents. By the time you close the last page, Downside feels like a real place — albeit one you definitely wouldn’t choose to visit after dark!

In fact, the only parts of the world building that are a little underdone are the magical rituals and power words that Kane employs, although the use of psychopomps — dogs and birds that escort the souls of ghosts to the City where they are all kept — is especially intriguing.

I’d also like to give praise to the secondary characters in the novel, especially, of course, Terrible and Lex, the two men who Chess is attracted to. Lex suffers from having less screentime and seems a little less interesting than Terrible, but both definitely play their part in making this novel entertaining. Oh, and the moments of intimacy are sexy as opposed to cringeworthy, which is always a bonus with this sort of book!

Stacia Kane has upped the stakes for all those writing in the urban fantasy genre — Unholy Ghosts is gripping and brilliant. I can’t wait to read the next.

Summer Knight by Jim Butcher

Ever since his girlfriend left town to deal with her newly acquired taste for blood, Harry Dresden has been down and out in Chicago. He can't pay his rent. He's alienating his friends. He can't even recall the last time he took a shower. The only professional wizard in the phone book has become a desperate man. And just when it seems things can't get any worse, in saunters the Winter Queen of Faerie. She has an offer Harry can't refuse if he wants to free himself of the supernatural hold his faerie godmother has over him - and hopefully end his run of bad luck. All he has to do is find out who murdered the Summer Queen's right-hand man, the Summer Knight, and clear the Winter Queen's name. It seems simple enough, but Harry knows better than to get caught in the middle of faerie politics. Until he finds out that the fate of the entire world rests on his solving this case. No pressure or anything...

It's so strange. My review of Grave Peril complained about the fact that I was having vampire politics inflicted on me. Yet in Summer Knight the fae politics were tremendous. The idea of having two courts - a Summer and Winter court - combined with the idea of Maiden, Mother and Crone which comes from various points in mythology, helped to lend this novel a sense of something both familiar yet unique at the same time.

I did feel as though the Stone Table was more than a little inspired by The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe!

But enough of these idle ruminations...

Summer Knight opens with Dresden in a dark place - he might be fine physically, but his soul has been damaged by a succession of tough cases, finishing up with Susan's predicament. Once again, I deeply appreciated the fact that Dresden is a realistic character, struggling to do the right thing, but finding it hard to cope with the situations that have swept him up. In other long-running urban fantasy series, the author does not seem to realise that the events their character suffers through will have a deep and lasting psychological effect that needs to be dealt with.

In fact, the scene where Dresden meets the Summer Lady of the fae and she takes his pain away for a few brief moments is one of the most powerful and emotional in the series to date:

"Aurora gave me a small, sad smile. 'I'll show you. Here.'

Her palm pressed a bit closer to me, and somewhere inside me a dam broke open. Emotions welled up like a riotous rainbow. Scarlet rage, indigo fear, pale blue sadness, aching yellow loneliness, putrid green guilt. The tide flooded through me, coursed over me like a bolt of lightning, searing and painful and beautiful all at once.

And after the tide receded, a deep, quiet stillness followed. A sensation of warmth suffused me, gently easing away my aches and bruises. It spread over my skin, like sunlight on a lazy afternoon outside, and with the warmth my cares began to evaporate."

I also liked the fact that Dresden's relationships with recurring characters is changing and adjusting according to what has happened in previous books. There is never any idea that the Dresden universe is static and no one develops. For instance, here Dresden finally decides to trust Murphy, which is a complete about face compared to Storm Front, where he cannot bear the idea of putting Murphy in danger with the knowledge that he gives her.

I enjoyed this book mostly because everything that I enjoyed greatly in the previous three books was bigger and better this time round: the action scenes were superlative, with a real sense of tension, and the knowledge (thanks to Susan) that peripheral characters really aren't safe at all); the humour and snark was ever-present, with one of the best lines coming not from Dresden, but from Meryl, a character that I grew to love despite her short cameo in this book:

"Meryl said, 'Someone broke into the apartment. It looked like there had been a struggle.'

I let out a sigh. 'Have you contacted the police?'

She eyed me. 'Oh yeah, of course. I called them and told them that a mortal champion of the fae came and spirited away a half-mortal, half-nixie professional nude model to Faerieland. They were all over it.' "

I just have to mention my enjoyment of Billy and the Alphas (which does sound like some oddball punk band...) I adore the fact that they are so young, and enthusiastic, and have pizza/gaming parties after beating the bad guys. They are rapidly becoming one of my favourite parts of the Dresden series.

I do wonder how valid my reviews are going to be of this series, as I progress through the books! People who have never picked up the Dresden novels are unlikely to be swayed by my review of book four or five or six in the series, while those who have started the series and reach book four are more than likely to move onto the subsequent books with little encouragement from me... I feel a little as though these reviews will be only for those people who have already tackled the books, so that they might think 'oh yeah, I concur with her point' (if anyone actually does use the word 'concur' in their own thoughts!) or 'this girl has no idea what she is talking about!' But I shall continue to review them as I read them, so that I have a decent record of what each book was about, and what I liked about them.

Having now read four of the Dresden books, I can see a little unevenness in quality: some books have definitely been better than others. Happily, this is by far the best of the novels so far. The conflict between the Winter and Summer Courts played out against the backdrop of a murder mystery, with Harry racing against time to try and ensure that no imbalance of power exists in the world of the Fae. The tense and exciting events were matched well with some introspective moments, where the character of Dresden is explored in a deeper fashion. All I can say now is bring on the fifth book!

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

Harry Dresden's faced some pretty terrifying foes during his career. Giant scorpions. Oversexed vampires. Psychotic werewolves. It comes with the territory when you're the only professional wizard in the Chicago area phone book. But in all Harry's years of supernatural sleuthing, he's never faced anything like this: the spirit world's gone loco. All over Chicago, ghosts are causing trouble - and not just of the door-slamming, boo-shouting variety. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly. Someone - or something - is purposely stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc. But why? And why do so many of the victims have ties to Harry? If Harry doesn't figure it out soon, he could wind up a ghost himself...

I was rather partial to the second book (Fool Moon) in the Dresden series, and started Grave Peril with great eagerness, but found myself somewhat underwhelmed. I think this was for a number of reasons, which I shall endeavour to explain below.

The first reason is no doubt the hype and expectation. Everyone I know universally loves this series (in fact, I genuinely don't know a single person who has found it boring or insipid - a danger with a lot of urban fantasy) and states categorically that each book improves on the last. Because I loved Fool Moon, I was expecting Grave Peril to blow me away - but it didn't.

The second reason is no real fault of the book or the author, but I feel it bears mentioning. When you join a long-running series so late, and there are so many books ahead of you, there is no real tension about whether the hero will live or die. Sure, the peripheral figures might be in some danger (depending on the author - some never kill of any people, despite an ever-expanding cast; LKH, I'm looking at you!) but your main dude isn't going to die, no matter what gets thrown at him. So, despite ever-escalating levels of danger in this novel, I felt comfortable that Harry would survive.

My third reason is a matter of writing: after three books, I can confidently state that I don't like the pacing that Jim Butcher employs. For the first hundred and fifty pages of each book, I've found it very easy to put them aside. The last hundred pages is usually barn-storming, tension-filled and extremely gripping - so I guess they all finish with a bang! - but I wouldn't mind a more evenly-spread level of excitement.

Reason the fourth: bloody vampire politics. I am so sick of vampire courts, with back-stabbing and covenants and home advantage and things like that. They pop up all over the place in urban fantasy, and seem so generic. Although Butcher's vampires present a couple of surprises (in appearance, mostly), in other areas they are tiresomely generic. Which is quite unlike the werewolves from the previous book, which felt quite refreshing to me.

Lastly, I didn't like Dresden's faerie godmother. I think the fae in the Dresden series have the potential to be chilling and unique, but I don't feel they're well represented by Lea. The reason I didn't like her is the way she popped up in a "plot device" moment usually. She felt tacked onto the main thrust of the storyline.

This is all making it sound as though I have nothing but gripes - but I did enjoy the book! Just not as much as the previous book!

The main reason for enjoying this book and loving the series as a whole is Harry Dresden. In Grave Peril Harry gains a lot more emotional depth and throws around some bad ass magic. His sense of honour and inability to leave a woman in peril is a facet of his character that I adore, no matter how chauvinistic it may appear. It sort of reminds me of Marty McFly in Back to the Future who is unable to be called 'chicken' without taking a person up on a stupid challenge!

" 'For the sake of one soul. For one loved one. For one life.' I called power into my blasting rod, and its tip glowed incandescent white. 'The way I see it, there's nothing else worth fighting a war for.' "

His resigned sense of humour when it comes to landing himself in dangerous situations is alive and well in Grave Peril as well, and some of his dialogue with both friends and enemies fairly snaps along:

" 'Hell's bells, Kravos,' I muttered, sitting up again. 'Do they produce a Cliched Lines Textbook for Villains or something? Go for broke. Tell me that since you're going to kill me anyway, you might as well reveal your secret plan.' "

Since we're talking about characters, Butcher introduced some really vibrant new cast members this time around. Michael, in particular, is a very powerful character - providing morality and an abiding faith to Harry over the course of Grave Peril. His quiet gravity and admonitions towards Harry for his swearing lend a calm centre to this novel that I felt was missing in prior instalments. I also *loved* Ferrovax - I demand to see more of this Dragon. His brief appearance in Grave Peril lit up the pages.

Another part of the novel I really liked were the references to the fact that life continued in between the end of Fool Moon and the start of Grave Peril - in other long running series you feel as though the characters are frozen in time until you return to their universe. Here we are aware that Harry has taken a number of jobs and his relationship with Susan has deepened - and it all happened off-screen, as it were.

In conclusion, this was not the strongest novel in the Dresden series for me and I am hoping for better from the next. Harry Dresden is still entertaining and I adore the little details of the world that Butcher is weaving into the tales; even though I was slightly disappointed with Grave Peril, I would still be happy to recommend the Dresden series.

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher is the second of the Dresden Files. In this novel we follow Harry Dresden as he becomes embroiled in a mystery involving werewolves, and comes face to face again with the Gentleman Johnny Marcone. "Business has been slow lately for Harry Dresden. Okay, business has been dead. Not undead - just dead. You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional wizard in the phone book. But lately, Harry hasn't been able to dredge up any kind of work - magical or mundane. Just when it looks like he can't afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise. A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon..."

This book feels almost as though it was written by two different people. The first half of Fool Moon was written by the same person who wrote Storm Front - generic urban fantasy, with an intriguing central character and some entertaining magical rules and creatures filling the pages. A page turner that I enjoyed but found a mite disposable. Halfway through Fool Moon this other writer took over - and I *really* love his work. I found myself snorting with laughter at some of the startling humour in truly desperate situations. I was chilled by the monstrous form of the loup-garou, and its casual ability to tear apart hordes of people intent on destroying it. I was warmed by the oddball relationships between Harry and those who surround him. By the end of this book - yes, you can count me a Dresden fan.

It still had its faults, but these were more clumsy plotting or deus ex machina in nature - for example, the fact that Bob explained the existence of four different types of werewolves, and we happened to encounter every single one of them over the course of the book.

Butcher also doesn't have complete faith in his readers yet, since a lot of the characters and concepts were re-introduced all over again in this second book after encountering them in Storm Front. It is forgivable, since this is only the second in the series, but I have a horrible suspicion that this is habit-forming and will run into subsequent books in the Dresden sequence. If I am still being told what Murphy and Susan look like in book eight, I shall be disappointed.

With that said, apart from a frustrating desire to tell us exactly what every character looks like, Butcher's ability to produce characters that we care deeply about is second-to-none. Dresden remains a wonderfully sarcastic and irascible individual - take this quote for example: "So there I was being strangled by a ranting, half-naked madman in the middle of the woods, with a she-werewolf dangling from a rope snare somewhere nearby. My gunshot wound hurt horribly, and my jaw throbbed from where my buddy the cop had brutalized it the night before. I've had worse days."

Butcher's gentle observational humour makes the book a pleasure to read as well. I do believe that he might well be a cat owner, going by this quote: "I found him in a dumpster one day when he was a kitten and he promptly adopted me. Despite my struggles, Mister had been an understanding soul, and I eventually came to realise that I was a part of his little family, and by his gracious consent was allowed to remain in his apartment." Only someone familiar with the true fact that people belong to cats, and not vice versa, could write something like that!

Everything that made Storm Front enjoyable is present in Fool Moon, but Butcher has improved the plotting, the writing and the sense that we are reading something unique rather than yet another generic never-ending urban fantasy series. I was happy enough to read Fool Moon after trying Storm Front. Now that I've finished Fool Moon, I am ready to stampede to my bookshelves to find the third book. Butcher has created a fantastic character in the form of Harry Dresden - complicated, chauvinistic, and compelling - and I can't wait to read more of his adventures.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Storm Front is the first book in the long-running Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, introducing us to Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, the only wizard with an entry in the phone book in Chicago. The plot is a fast-paced magical murder mystery, which lends itself well to showing some of the no-doubt recurring characters and the "magic system" that Dresden wields. We also learn a little about the White Council, the ruling body behind practising wizards.

What interested me most about Storm Front was not so much the book itself, but the manner in which it should be read. For the first 120 pages or so, I kept picking it up and putting it down for various reasons (short public transport journeys, around making food, on brief lunch breaks) and never really settled to an extended stint. And I ended up wondering a little bit what all the fuss was about this series!

And then I sat down with a couple of hours on my hands and ended up sweeping through it, thinking 'Just one more chapter, just one more' which, as far as I am concerned, is how you should respond when reading something as action-packed and punchy as this. I equate Storm Front with an action movie - you wouldn't watch ten minutes of an action movie and then turn it off while making a cup of tea or heading out to see friends, and then watch another ten minutes a few hours later. An action movie would suffer from watching it in that way, and I think the Dresden books too. You definitely need to dedicate a couple of hours and then will find it incredibly good fun.

I thought the prose was incredibly effective - Jim Butcher presents Dresden in a first person perspective, which gives immediacy to the story. We know everything Dresden is thinking, and his uniquely sarcastic rejoinders to the events occurring in the book really added to my empathy for his character. I mean, when faced by a weird scorpion talisman that is becoming a little life threatening, I think a number of us would have something snarky to say!

The writing was also descriptive and atmospheric at key moments, rather than just business-like, which I expected it to be. I enjoyed the potion making scene between Harry and Bob, in particular.

The secondary characters were incredibly well-rounded, considering we didn't spend a great deal of time with them in this first tale (although I'm pretty sure they'll feature in future books). I particularly liked Murphy and her uneasy relationship with Dresden - I feel sure that this will develop in an interesting manner in the future. I also don't think I'm alone in liking Bob best!

One factor I found almost irritating, though, is the way that Butcher faithfully documented all the facial features and hair colour of each new character as they were introduced. It is something that I enjoy knowing about my characters, but I prefer it to be presented more naturally, rather than as a ticklist.

Certainly, this was very minor and might be a matter of taste, rather than an issue that other readers will experience as well.

To conclude, Storm Front was incredibly entertaining, with some great action set pieces and genuine tension. I think the highest praise I can offer is that I'll definitely be embarking further on this series!