The Bookwyrm's Review of Harpyness Is Only Skin Deep by D.H. Willison

Author: D. H. Willison

Length: 297 Pages

Release Date: January 20, 2020

Rating:4.5/5 Stars

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I've noticed a trend lately towards edgy, dark and moody fantasy. Even the comedic stuff a lot of time has an edge to it. I am always on the look for stuff that reminds me of my favorites from when I was younger, like books Craig Shaw Gardener, Piers Anthony, Esther Friesner, Lawrence Watt-Evans and Kyra Dalkey used to, and in fact, still do, write. Fun, lighter fare that still tells an interesting story, with good characters on fun adventures. I'm happy to say that Harpiness Is Only Skin Deep is just such a book, and fits in well with the company I mentioned earlier.

PLOT SUMMARY

Darin is a regular guy in his 20's just getting by, going nowhere fast. Hearing from some gaming friends about the newest experience in gaming, Darin follows the instructions to find how to join. He discovers the new game is no game at all. Its a chance to travel to another dimension, one that's a real fantasy world. Since he's not rich, he can't just go for a visit. Instead, we will be transferred there permanently, and a visitor from another dimension will take over his life. Signing the contract to travel to a world called Arvia, which is listed to have only small creatures and a low mortality rate for visitors, Darin gets his affairs in order. Meeting his contact to be sent over, Darin is told there were a couple typos in the contract that needed to be amended. Darin doesn't really take a close look, just signing, and gets sent across. Not reading what he signed will lead to some interesting consequences for Darin.

Arvia is definitely a fantasy world. It has fantasy creatures and races, and even magic. What Darin didn't realize is the predators of the world, which the original contract said weren't any larger than 100 inches, were actually no more than 100 feet, and were shockingly unpicky about what kind of meat they eat. Meeting up with other travelers, Darin learns its not all dungeon raids and gold. He will have to work as a laborer and earn money to live and eat. This doesn't leave time to try and find old tombs to raid. The giant predators also give incentive not to be roaming around either! 

A few months into his new life, Darin has a job working for a merchant. He makes a deal for some magic fabric and finds it has magic properties, making it usable for Darin to make a wing suit that allows him to glide long distances. On an excursion testing the suit, he gets caught by a group of harpies, who are about 30 feet tall, and they start throwing him around before they would devour him. Escaping the smallest one, he ends up turning the tables and lands on her back, which leads to something amazing. Darin starts talking to the harpy, named Rinloh, and they strike up a strange friendship, as Darin teaches Rinloh humans have more uses than as a tasty part of a balanced diet.

This leads to the heart of the story, as Darin and Rinloh teach each other about their cultures, and Rinloh starts to think of Darin as her friend, something unimaginable before their meeting. Its also during this time that Darin starts adventuring in the city he lives in, called Xin, looking into various mysterious disappearances in the city that are increasing in number as the yearly fair is about to happen, something the city doesn't need to be interrupted. What Darin and his partners discover will threaten Darin's life, and even Rinloh might not be able to keep Darin from meeting a horrible end.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

This is one of those books that has a lot of character building mixed with quite a bit of world building. Darin and Rinloh are both POV characters, and a lot of attention is paid to their character arcs, letting the reader get into their heads, with a close look at their thoughts and motivations. They both get excellent character building arcs, coming really far from where they started. There are several secondary characters, who get various levels of character building, but do rise above the level of two dimensional cutouts. The villains have actual realistic motivations based on how their society operates. 

The world building is pretty expansive, since Arvia is such a different kind of fantasy world. It has magic, but where Darin lives, in Xin, its weak and diffuse. The wilderness is full of huge fantasy predators, from giant harpies, naga, even more giant mermaids, various giant cats, giant crabs, centaurs, and many others, most not friendly to humans, who are forced to live in walled cities for protection. Xin the city is fairly small by Arvia standards, and considered a backwater, but provides protection form the predators to its residents. The various predators have their territories which they guard jealously. This is the world Darin finds himself in, a fantasy realm with not a lot of fantasy aside from the monsters.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As I noted previously, I always appreciate a fantasy story that has a lighter side. Even though there are a few darker moments in this one, they are far outweighed by the comedic elements. With fun characters and an atypical fantasy setting, its a fun story that keeps the reader turning pages, and hoping their will be more stories to come.

The Bookwyrm's Review of The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold

Author: Luke Arnold

Length: 369 Pages/ 7 hours, 55 Minutes (Audio)

Publisher: Orbit

Release Date: February 25, 2020

Narrator: Luke Arnold

Series: Fetch Phillips Archives, Book 1

Rating: 4/5 stars

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I saw the premise of Luke Arnold's debut novel, The Last Smile of Sunder City, and decided I had check it out, especially after a few recommendations from people I trust. What I found was a very solid story that mixes several fantasy genres and created a gripping dystopian world in a shambles, struggling with the loss of magic. 

PLOT SUMMARY

Six years after the humans of the world "accidentally" wrecked the source of magic, life has changed significantly for the residents of Sunder City. A city founded as an industrial hub taking advantage of a geothermal hot spot which went out when the magic died, the city now tries to make things work with science based technology. The magic folk, such as elves, trolls, weres, vampires, etc., have suffered far worse, as the magic that made them strong, long lived, or magic wielding has disappeared, and killed a significant part of their populations. 

This is the world Fetch Phillips, human former soldier and now private investigator finds himself in. Called in by the schoolmaster of the local school for magicals, Fetch is hired to find the schools history professor, a distinguished historian who is also a vampire, who has disappeared without a trace. Fetch takes the case, beginning the search at the vampire's local haunts, including the city library. Not finding him, but finding some clues, he continues the search, finding that one of the vampires students is also missing. Linking the two together, Fetch broadens his search, getting push back from elements of underworld, the business community and even the remnants of vampire society, who, with the loss of the magic, are now slowly dying off.

Slowly gathering evidence, he comes across some shocking evidence that the magic might not be as dead as everyone thought. This is impossible, as Fetch knows, since he had a big part, albeit unknowingly, for the magic dying. We see a series of flashbacks into Fetch's past, as he grew up a poor human in a magic dominated world, ended up the lone human in the Opus, the governmental organization of the magical beings, as a soldier. That part of his life doesn't end well, and he foolishly gives away information to the humans that lead to the disaster the world ends up.

Following the clues finally leads Fetch to a confrontation with forces beyond his control, leading to Fetch barely escaping with his life. It also leaves him with more questions than answers, and he and his allies have to wonder if the magic is really gone. Fetch has a very personal reason to hope not, and makes a deal with someone he could never imagine to keep that hope alive. You can see that Fetch has more reason than ever to stay in business and keep looking for the elusive solution he hopes to one day see.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

This book is a combination of excellent character creation and strong world building. Fetch is an especially interesting character, having such a tragic backstory, dealing with the aftermath of past mistakes that caused so much damage to the world. Stubborn and morose, he finds it hard to find value in his own life. This changes a bit as the story progresses, and you get to see some real character growth with him. The secondary characters are for the most part well written, and you get a real feel for their thoughts and motivations, and you feel the interactions are realistic within the settings.

The setting, Sunder City, is just a fantastic new setting in the fantasy world. A combination of a fantasy city crossed with magical steampunk with some science thrown in for variety, it is not the usual fantasy setting. The reader is immersed in this tragic fallen city as it tries to recover from a disaster that affects every aspect of it's citizens lives, from food production to transportation to communication. It's one of the best realized worlds I've read in quite a while, especially in a debut novel.

NARRATION

The narration is handled by the author, who is an actor. You may even be familiar with him, as he played the pirate Long John Silver on the Starz series Black Sails. I have to say this worked out well, since he is talented as a voice actor. He does a great job creating a voice for each character, using a variety of tones, cadences and pitches. His narrative pacing is excellent, keeping the story moving along, never getting monotonous. I hope to hear him doing more narration in the future.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I did really enjoy the book. For a debut novel, it seemed very polished, which tells me he worked well with his editor. There were a couple of debut issues, such as an overuse of metaphors in inner monologues, and his use of third person plural pronouns to describe a single demon was jarring and a bit hard to follow, and since it was describing a non-human character, seemed a bit unnecessary, but these are minor issues. All told, it was an entertaining story told by someone who has a real feel for the fantasy genre, without resorting to all the usual tropes. I look forward to the next installment in the series.

The Bookwyrm's Review of I'm Glad You're Dead by Hunter Blain

Author: Hunter Blain

Length: 333 Pages/8 hours, 39 Minutes (Audio)

Release Date: March 8, 2019/December 9, 2019 (Audio)

Narrator: Luke Daniels

Series: Preternatural Chronicles, Book 1

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Being a big fan of urban fantasy for a long time, I am always looking for new books to check out. When I was given the chance to read and review I'm Glad You're Dead, the premise hooked me and I knew I had to check it out. That turned out to be a good decision, since this book takes the usual vampire tropes, spins them in a blender, and makes them its own with some whole new wrinkles.

PLOT SUMMARY

In Houston, a vampire named John is the last of his kind. Working with catholic priest Phillip Philseep, John is best described as a fixer, putting down supernatural menaces such as demons and their summoners. Being a vampire, John needs human blood, and satisfies the need by killing murderers and rapists. There is a supernatural underground with only one rule: don't let the mundanes see you doing supernatural stuff. Secrecy is the key to their society's safety, and someone has been trying to raise demons, threatening their exposure. Father Philseep thinks there's a bigger conspiracy behind the demon summoning, and it's up to John to find out what. 

The story also flashes back to John's past, showing how and when he became a vampire. As a teen in the late 1400's Ireland, his parents are killed in a pogrom against heretics. While he awaits his fate, John is given a choice by a strange man offering him revenge against the men who killed his family. Taking the offer, he is made into a vampire and proceeds on a crusade to destroy his parent's killers, learning to use the many powers of his vampire nature, finally ending years later in an event that changes the course of his unlife.

Back in the present day, a local warlock tries to warn John off the hunt for the summoners. John, in his hatred for being told what to do, instead antagonizes the warlock, letting him know that he was not dropping the pursuit. Ending up back in his secure hidden home under a crypt, he awakens in the day weakened and seeing sunlight in his hidey hole, which is filling with water and iron dust, which is toxic to any magical creature, including vampires. Burning and weak, John is half a step ahead from the tactical team that is trying to kill him in a place they shouldn't know exists. With the help of his one foot tall fairy roommate, John manages to fool the team. He also discovers the warlock has an unexpected connection to his past, guaranteeing they will be confronting another again. 

Escaping out the hidden emergency exit, John is so hurt he is basically feral, and breaks the cardinal rule, don't hurt innocents. This leads him into conflict with Father Philseep, who locks him away in a special cell. Fearing the priest means to kill him, John escapes with some difficulty and proceeds to get some help from another friend, a werewolf he knew from World War Two. They go after the cause of demon summoning, finding that it has a connection to John's first moments of his undead life, and will have repercussions that will affect the rest of John's undead life.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

This is very much a character driven story. Taking place in modern Houston, with only a secret underbelly of supernatural creatures, it relies heavily on the characters and their interactions. John is a very interesting character, being over 500 years old, as well as a completely irreverent smart ass. He is kind of tragic, trying to atone for years of blood and slaughter, knowing the truth of the afterlife. His friends, Da the fairy and his werewolf friend are also fun characters, each bring something to the story. The villain has realistic motivations, even if they are a lust for power. The various supernaturals are creatively described, and get some new twists.

The setting, modern Houston, is a nice change of pace from the usual New York, Chicago or LA urban fantasy setting. It does have the stereotypical magical bar that's neutral ground, with the requisite mysterious barman owner, but that's about the only trope as far as setting. The rest is just real Houston with supernatural events and creatures, giving it a realistic gritty feel not often found in urban fantasy books.

NARRATION

The narration is handled quite ably by Audible Hall of Famer Luke Daniels. I was very familiar with his other work, so I came in knowing what to expect, and wasn't disappointed. Luke does an amazing job creating various character voices, using a wide variety of tones, accents and cadences to differentiate the various characters. His narrative pacing is some of the best in the business, never becoming monotonous, while keeping the listener engaged at all times. I would consider this some of his best work to date.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I was surprised how many unique aspects the book had. This is definitely not a sparkly vampire romance with vegetarian vampires, but a redemption story set in an offbeat setting, with a cast of characters that keeps the readers on tier toes. I know I am excited to see how the series continues on, and will definitely be doing a review for that one as well. This book has something to offer for any fan of vampire and urban fantasy stories.

Thanks

The Bookwyrm's Review of The Headlock of Destiny

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