A fine addition to the series.
Carey’s latest supernatural urban fantasy, a sequel to Dark Currents (2012).
A small town on the shores of Lake Michigan, Pemkowet caters to summer tourists, who flock in to goggle at Pemkowet’s eldritch inhabitants—fairies, ghouls, vampires, naiads and so forth—whose benevolent supervisor is Hel, the Norse goddess of the underworld. Daisy Johanssen, daughter of a demon and a single mother, is Hel’s enforcer and designated liaison to the Pemkowet Police Department. Her personal life is complicated enough. She lusts after her partner, werewolf Officer Cody Fairfax; the feeling’s mutual, but Cody wants a traditional family and must mate with another werewolf. She finds Stefan Ludovic, the leader of the ghouls, or Outcasts—rejected by both heaven and hell, they’re immortal and feed on emotions—dangerously alluring. And she’s dating Sinclair Palmer, a seemingly normal human who organizes bus tours for the tourists. Neither is her caseload simple, what with a rutting satyr who kicks off a serious orgy, a hell-spawn lawyer sniffing around, hobgoblins swindling tourists with shell games and a teenager abducted by vampires. And then Sinclair’s twin sister and mother show up. What he didn’t tell Daisy is that both his sister and mother are powerful Obeah sorcerers, and if he doesn’t return to Jamaica with them to take up his familial role, they’ll release his grandfather’s duppy, or ghost—with disastrous consequences. Daisy has moxie to spare and refuses to be intimidated. But she’ll need all the help she can get. In Carey’s capable hands, all this seems not just convincing, but enchantingly normal thanks to the flawless backdrop, skillfully articulated plotting and splendid characters.
A fine addition to the series.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-451-46518-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: ROC/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.
A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children.
Linus Baker loves rules, which makes him perfectly suited for his job as a midlevel bureaucrat working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates orphanages for children who can do things like make objects float, who have tails or feathers, and even those who are young witches. Linus clings to the notion that his job is about saving children from cruel or dangerous homes, but really he’s a cog in a government machine that treats magical children as second-class citizens. When Extremely Upper Management sends for Linus, he learns that his next assignment is a mission to an island orphanage for especially dangerous kids. He is to stay on the island for a month and write reports for Extremely Upper Management, which warns him to be especially meticulous in his observations. When he reaches the island, he meets extraordinary kids like Talia the gnome, Theodore the wyvern, and Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose parentage is unknown. The proprietor of the orphanage is a strange but charming man named Arthur, who makes it clear to Linus that he will do anything in his power to give his charges a loving home on the island. As Linus spends more time with Arthur and the kids, he starts to question a world that would shun them for being different, and he even develops romantic feelings for Arthur. Lambda Literary Award–winning author Klune (The Art of Breathing, 2019, etc.) has a knack for creating endearing characters, and readers will grow to love Arthur and the orphans alongside Linus. Linus himself is a lovable protagonist despite his prickliness, and Klune aptly handles his evolving feelings and morals. The prose is a touch wooden in places, but fans of quirky fantasy will eat it up.
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21728-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
At Buckkeep in the Six Duchies, young Fitz, the bastard son of Prince Chivalry, is raised as a stablehand by old warrior Burrich. But when Chivalry dies without legitimate issue—murdered, it's rumored—Fitz, at the orders of King Shrewd, is brought into the palace and trained in the knightly and courtly arts. Meanwhile, secretly at night, he receives instruction from another bastard, Chade, in the assassin's craft. Now, King Shrewd's subjects are imperiled by the visits of the Red-Ship Raiders—formidable warriors who pillage the seacoasts and turn their human victims into vicious, destructive zombies. Since rehabilitating the zombies proves impossible, it's Fitz's task to go abroad covertly and kill them as quickly and humanely as possible. Shrewd orders that Fitz be taught the Skill—mental powers of telepathy and coercion possessed by all those of the royal line; his teacher is Galen, a sadistic ally of the popinjay Prince Regal, who hates Fitz all the more for his loyalty to Shrewd's other son, the stalwart soldier Verity. Galen brutalizes Fitz and, unknown to anyone, implants a mental block that prevents Fitz from using the Skill. Later, Shrewd decrees that, to cement an alliance, Verity shall wed the Princess Kettricken, heir to a remote yet rich mountain kingdom. Verity, occupied with Skillfully keeping the Red-Ship Raiders at bay, can't go to collect his bride, so Regal and Fitz are sent. Finally, Fitz must discover the depths of Regal's perfidy, recapture his true Skill, win Kettricken's heart for Verity, and help Verity defeat the Raiders. An intriguing, controlled, and remarkably assured debut, at once satisfyingly self-contained yet leaving plenty of scope for future extensions and embellishments.
Pub Date: April 17, 1995
ISBN: 0-553-37445-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Spectra/Bantam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995
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