Tag: urban fantasy

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The Void

Publisher’s Description

A dark tale of self-discovery that will sweep you into a world of swords, secrets, snark, and sapphic love.

Kiera never fit in. Not on her aunt’s farm, not at her boring job, not with her ex-girlfriends. But she hasn’t given up hope of finding that elusive place to belong.

A freak storm leaves her stranded, alone in the office.

When something flashes past the upstairs window, the sarcastic voice in her head, Jiminy, insists it’s a figment of her imagination. But Kiera knows she didn’t imagine the flying pirate ship.

Or the dragon.

If she jumps on board—into a hidden world above the clouds—there’ll be no coming back. Is she ready for the quest of a lifetime, and the dark secrets beginning to unfurl?

Void is the first book in a dark steampunk fantasy series that skillfully blends thrilling adventure, snarky humour, and a sapphic slow-burn romance.

Summary

I recently read The Void (The Fang Ripper Series, #1) a steampunk fantasy novella by Australian author Neen Cohen.

The Void follows protagonist Kiera who lives in present-day Brisbane with allusions made early to her mental instability or repressed memories and self. Kiera lives a ‘normal’ life but the arrival of an otherworldly storm pulls Kiera from what she’d imagined was reality and into a new one of Skyan. Is this the strange connection she’d always felt was wrong with her?

Kiera’s journey into learning her true past begins when Blue crashes his sky ship to earth and the attractive but feminine Zarzy is injured battling an earth-magic dragon. To save Zarzy and prevent the darkly powerful Void from drvouring everything, Kiera must learn quickly as Blue takes the sky ship into Skyran with its floating cities, war and dangerous political machinations that threaten not just Blue and Zarzy who Kiera is undeniably attracted to. Into this complex battles of dragons and opposing invested interests, Kiera begins to learns her own truth.

Review

Cohen introduces a new take on urban fantasy with energetic prose and a mild sapphic romance. There’s a lot to unpack in this first novella and the word-building is fascinating and much more detail to follow. This is a genre-blending series of urban fantasy, steampunk and adventure. Cohen keeps it fast-paced with intriguing characters and innovative concepts.

Conclusion

A recommended new dark fantasy with mild sapphic romance, dragons, airships in a fresh take on urban fantasy!

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The Salt-Black Tree

** I received an ARC for an honest review **

Publisher’s Description

Nat Drozdova has crossed half the continent in search of the stolen Dead God’s Heart, the only thing powerful enough to trade for her beautiful, voracious, dying mother’s life. Yet now she knows the secret of her own birth—and that she’s been lied to all her young life.

The road to the Heart ends at the Salt-Black Tree, but to find it Nat must pay a deadly price. Pursued by mouthless shadows hungry for the blood of new divinity as well as the razor-wielding god of thieves, Nat is on her own. Her journey leads through a wilderness of gods old and new, across a country as restless as its mortal inhabitants, and it’s too late to back out now.

…or accept the consequences of her own.

Summary

Blood may not always prevail. Magic might not always work. And the young Drozdova is faced with an impossible choice: Save her mother’s very existence…

I recently read The Salt-Black Tree(Dead God’s Heart, #2) by US dark fantasy and urban fantasy author Lilith Saintcrow.

The journey of Nat Drozdova continues but she now possesses Spring’s Arcana and is coming into her own Divinity. While she battles internally with the reality her mother has lied to her throughout her entire life, and that she was born simply to allow her mother to assume to divinity on American soil, Nat comes into her own power and makes her own decisions as she travels towards the Salt-Black Tree and whatever ending awaits her there.

She seeks the Dead God’s Heart but what she intends to do with it once she possesses it, she is yet to be sure. One thing she does know-Nat Drozdova is her own Divinity, and if that means battling her mother and Baba Yaga, she will do so.

Review

The Salt-Black Tree is the final instalment in the Dead God’s Heart duology.

Saintcrow’s writing is superb and she provides a thrilling and satisfying ending to her series. The plot is fast-paced while still being insightful to characters development and the detailed world-building. The comparisons to Neil Gaiman‘s American Gods, while relevant on the surface, Saintcrow’s duology blows them away with a darkness and ruthlessness in development and immigration of divinities and human belief which is fresh and bold. This finale is a masterpiece of talented writing while maintaining the integrity of the characters and the world building at the core of in this urban fantasy duology.

Conclusion

A highly recommended read for fans of urban fantasy, Russian folklore and world mythology. A thriller of an urban fantasy and a read!

** This is my personal opinion and does not reflect any judging decisions **

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A Master of Djinn

Publisher’s Description

Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer.

So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, Al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case. Al-Jahiz transformed the world fifty years ago when he opened up the veil between the magical and mundane realms, before vanishing into the unknown. This murderer claims to be Al-Jahiz, returned to condemn the modern age for its social oppressions. His dangerous magical abilities instigate unrest in the streets of Cairo that threaten to spill over onto the global stage.

Alongside her Ministry colleagues and a familiar person from her past, Agent Fatma must unravel the mystery behind this imposter to restore peace to the city – or face the possibility he could be exactly who he seems . . .

Summary

I recently read A Master of Djinn (The Dead Djinn Universe, #1) by US fantasy author P. Djéli Clark.

A Master of Djinn follows from events of the novella A Dead Djinn in Cairo with the protagonist again being Agent Fatma and joined now by next female agent in Cairo Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, an initially unwanted partner in Agent Haida.

The case the two women are tested against is a deaths of a group of English society men worshipping the semi-legendary magician called Al-Jahiz – famous for allowing the djinn back into the world. But why holy man and supernatural leader would burn a group of socialites to death seems unfathomable. Agent Fatma and Haida don’t believe this returned Al-Jahiz is anything but imposter stirring chaos and resentment in Cairo against the English.

As Fatima and Haida investigate deeper, the dangers around them continue to mount until they must join with the supernatural entity Sitii to face the incredibly powerful Al-Jahiz who commands real power to force all djinn to his will.

Review

P. Djéli Clark delivers a fascinating alternate history of Egypt and European nations circa 1912. The storytelling feels fresh and invigorating and the degree of detail in the complex communities of Cairo and all those who have migrated to earn their fortunes. Sometimes the plot felt as though it had wandered off track into extraneous details and others it didn’t quite seem to answer key questions clearly. Despite that, Clark writes a fabulous and highly unique story with some truly individual characters.

Conclusion

A fast-paced supernatural thriller, alternate history and steampunk read. Highly recommended!!

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Staying Dead

Publisher’s Description

Welcome to the world of the Cosa Nostradamus, where magic crackles on every corner, and not every person you meet is human….

If you’ve lost something of value, and you can’t go to the police, you need a Retriever. And if that item is magical?

You need Wren Valere. An exceptional thief – with exceptional Talent.

Normally, Wren loves her job. But some clients are worse than others, and some jobs just scream trouble from the start. And with this one, involving a real estate mogul and a stolen spell, she and her business partner Sergei may have gotten into more than can handle alone…

But some secrets shouldn’t stay buried. No matter the cost.

Summary

I read Staying Dead (The Retrievers, #1) by US urban fantasy author Laura Anne Gilman.

Wren – a self-proclaimed thief with a high level of magical abilities and a distrust of the Mage Council, the organisation she rightfully belongs because of her unique and strong Talent. Wren prefers to work with her partner Sergei who negotiates jobs that require Wren’s particular level of skill and keeps the distance between Wren and her clients.

When a magical-infused protection stone is stolen from a wealthy and commanding businessman, Sergei and Wren take the job to determine how the stone was stolen and steal it back. To this end, Wren and Sergei quickly become embroiled in the dealings of the Mage Council and the mysterious group known as the Silence.

Wren successfully finds and steals back the protection stone but finds a darker side to the magic, how it serves to protect the building and the businessman which makes her question her own morality.

Review

Staying Dead was an intriguing urban fantasy with a mystery at its heart. Gillman creates unique and strong characters which are human and engaging. A solid first novel to a series.

Conclusion

A unique urban fantasy that’s sure to please fans of paranormal, supernatural urban fantasies and dark fantasy. Highly recommended!

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Spring’s Arcana

** I received an ARC for an honest review **

Publisher’s Description

Nat Drozdova is desperate to save a life. Doctors can do little for her cancer-ridden mother, who insists there is only one cure—and that Nat must visit a skyscraper in Manhattan to get it.

Amid a snow-locked city, inside a sleek glass-walled office, Nat makes her plea and is whisked into a terrifying new world. For the skyscraper holds a hungry winter goddess who has the power to cure her mother…if Nat finds a stolen object of great power.

Now Nat must travel with a razor-wielding assassin across an American continent brimming with terror, wonder, and hungry divinities with every reason to consume a young woman. For her ailing mother is indeed suffering no ordinary illness, and Nat Drozdova is no ordinary girl. Blood calls to blood, magic to magic, and a daughter may indeed save what she loves…

…if it doesn’t consume her first.

This is the way to the Dead God’s Heart.

Summary

I recently read Spring’s Arcana by US urban fantasy author Lilith Saintcrow.

Spring’s Arcana follows protagonist Nat Drozdova as she begins a journey and bargain with Baba Yaga to save her dying mother’s life. In return, she must begin a journey to retrieve the items her mother stole and hid carefully across the United States – including the Heart of a God – stolen from Baba Yaga herself, who in turn wrenched it from Dimitri Konesti – the god of thieves.

For Nat, all is new and incomprehensible until she begins to realise her mother lied to her for her entire life and kept her innocent of the knowledge of divinities – including her own mother being the divinity of Spring.

Baba Yaga sends Dimitri to both protect and watch Nat Drozdova as she grows into her power, becoming Spring even as her mother sickens and fades in a hospice and Nat tries to find the items she needs to save her mother. But will Baba Yaga keep her word? Is Nat’s own mother more of a threat to her than the Dead God whose heart she stole?

Review

An intriguing and well-crafted folklore and mythology inspired first book in a duology. Spring’s Arcana is a fascinating read that is authentic and enthralling. The world-building and development of the characters is high quality and SanitCrow delivers a novel that is dark, mysterious and leaves you hungering for more.

Conclusion

Highly recommended for fans of reimagining of folklore, legends and mythology. This is a great urban dark fantasy that is a supernatural thriller and a dark delight. Can’t wait for the second instalment. A must-read!

** This is my personal opinion and does not reflect any judging decisions **

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Foxglove Summer

Publisher’s Description

When two young girls go missing in rural Herefordshire, police constable and wizard-in-training Peter Grant is sent out of London to check that nothing supernatural is involved.

It’s purely routine—Nightingale, Peter’s superior, thinks he’ll be done in less than a day. But Peter’s never been one to walk away from someone in trouble, so when nothing overtly magical turns up he volunteers his services to the local police, who need all the help they can get.

But because the universe likes a joke as much as the next sadistic megalomaniac, Peter soon comes to realize that dark secrets underlie the picturesque fields and villages of the countryside and there might just be work for Britain’s most junior wizard after all.

Soon Peter’s in a vicious race against time, in a world where the boundaries between reality and fairy have never been less clear….

Review

I’ve been reading this series for years now and I absolutely love it. Foxglove Summer (Rivers of London, #5) by UK author Ben Arronavitch was as classy, funny, scary, and at times, as gory the others in the series.

Foxglove Summer follows London special branch (spooky stuff) constable Peter Grant when he’s sent out of his comfort zone and into the herodfordshire countryside. He’s there to help determine if there is any magical or unnatural forces behind the sudden disappearance of two pre-teen girls. What he finds is the country is potentially more dangerous than London and semi-visible unicorns with malicious intent are rampaging about the forests at night. Into such danger Peter Grant wades and questions begin to rise over the sudden reappearance of the girls, their odd behaviour and which one might be a fairy changeling? Or both?

Final Thoughts

Foxglove Summer was an unusual departure for Arronovitch and the Peter Grant books which has been squarely set in London. I enjoyed the new secondary characters and the involvement of the Fae in the storyline. A refreshing novel in the Rivers of London series.

Conclusion

Highly recommended for fans of urban fantasy, mystery, paranormal, alternate history, crime and dark fantasy. As always delivered with Aaronovitch’s superb craftsmanship. A great, fun read!

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Cold as Hell

Publisher’s Description:

The town of OpenFields is cold as hell…

Magic exists in OpenFields, and everyone but Adie plays their part. So what happens when murder and strangers visit the secret town?

Adie’s normal isn’t “normal.” Cameras watch her sleep, the eyes of the townsfolk narrow at her sight, and when she discovers her bosses’ office in disarray, and a stranger who makes her heart thunder, her world changes forever.

Author Neen Cohen’s Cold as Hell is an Urban Dark Fantasy like no other.

What secrets do OpenFields hold?

Adie’s journey will rock the town to its foundation.

Review:

I recently read Cold as Hell by Australian author Neen Cohen.

Cold as Hell focuses on the town of OpenFields, an isolated rural town where magic blossoms only within the town limits and none stray beyond the boundaries. But there is a dark undercurrent to OpenFields that is immediately apparent when a series of murders brings detective into the town. For protagonist, Adie the deaths in the town and the disappearance of her lover Lisa, and the stirring of her own supposedly dampened magic, has her on edge. The arrival of Tala, an alluring detective with connections to Adie’s own terrifying nightmares draws the two closer to the truth of OpenFields.

Soon, Adie and Tala confront the leader of OpenFields and expose the cult for what it is. But their plans go awry when they’re drawn deep underground to the source of the magic for OpenFields and the many deaths that have provided it. In the darkness beneath the town, Adie is forced to confront the truth about herself and the knowledge that Old Gods are imprisoned not just in OpenFields. She and Tala must chose a path to follow into the future.

Final Thoughts:

Cold as Hell was a murder mystery, urban fantasy and complex folklore woven together into its sinister cult-like town of OpenFields. Unfortunately, these threads often seemed to tangle leaving some questions unanswered and underdeveloped characters led to confusing decisions. Despite this, Cold as Hell was a unique novella exploring complex social issues of cult behaviour, pressures for those identifying as LGBTQI and all the while, exploring unusual folklore. A promising debut in urban fantasy.

Conclusion:

Recommended read for those who enjoy Australian urban fantasy, LGBTQI characters and an unusual folklore inspiration.

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Blood Kissed

Publisher’s Description

In a world where magic and science sit side by side, and powerful witches are considered necessary aides for all governments, Lizzie Grace is something of an outlier. Though born into one the most powerful blue blood witch families, she wants nothing to do with either her past or her magic.

But when she and Belle, her human familiar and best friend, open a small cafe in the Faelan werewolf reservation, she quickly finds herself enmeshed in the hunt for a vampire intent on wreaking bloody havoc. It’s a hunt that soon becomes personal, and one that is going to take all her skills to survive–that’s if the werewolves, who hate all things witch, don’t get her first.

Review

One of my recent reads was the urban fantasy Blood Kissed (Lizzie Grace, #1) by Australian author Keri Arthur.

Blood Kissed follows an low-powered witch Lizzie Grace and her human familiar and fellow witch, Belle. Although both Lizzie and Belle are witches of royal bloodlines, neither posses the level of power required to be extensively trained in the magical arts. Belle and Lizzie have talents that lie along the psychometric lines and practice in the rural village of Castle Rock as psychics and simple charm makers. But the town of Castle Rock itself is located on a werewolf reservation but the werewolf pack is hostile to witches.

Lizzie is asked by the mother of a missing teenage girl to locate her using her psychometric skills. But when Lizzie does locate the girl it is a sorrowful discovery of her body. The subsequent events lead Lizzie and Belle to uncover the presence of a man, a blood-witch who is also a vampire. In partnership with the hostile werewolf, Aiden, the murder investigation leads Lizzie and Belle into dangerous situtations as they try to prevent further deaths and uncover the true identity and motivations of the blood-witch.

Final Thoughts

Blood Kissed explores the alternate Australian world where the paranormal is part of reality. Although the relationship between Lizzie and Aiden can feel predictable, the story itself is unique and the prevents this debut in a series becoming too standard. It is a refreshing paranormal story and a promising beginning to a series.

Conclusion

A great read for urban fantasy, a unique Australian setting. Recommended for those who enjoy urban fantasy and paranormal fiction.

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Rosemary and Rue

Publisher’s Description:

The world of Faerie never disappeared; it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie’s survival—but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born.

Outsiders from birth, these half-human, half-fae children spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Or, in the case of October “Toby” Daye, rejecting it completely. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating into a “normal” life. Unfortunately for her, Faerie has other ideas…

The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose, one of the secret regents of the San Francisco Bay Area, pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening’s dying curse, Toby must resume her former position as knight errant to the Duke of Shadowed Hills and begin renewing old alliances that may prove her only hope of solving the mystery…before the curse catches up with her.

My Review:

I recently read Rosemary and Rue by US author Seanan McGuire, the first instalment in the October Daye urban fantasy series.

The protagonist, October Daye, is a private detective and also a Changeling, the daughter of a high Fae and mortal man. October, also known as Toby, considers herself happily married, has a young daughter and has so-far, kept both her husband and daughter from knowing she is not as mortal as she seems. But Toby is also a knight in a Fae court and, when her liege-lord requests her aid to recover his kidnapped wife and young daughter, she is duty-bound to obey. While on a stake-out, Toby follows her prime suspect, one of the most powerful of the Fae lords but is caught. In punishment, Toby is transformed into a koi and, unbeknown to anyone except the Fae lord who cursed her, is left in a fish pond.

After seven years, the curse breaks and Toby is returned to her human-like form. As her mortal husband never knew she was a Changeling nor the Fae worlds she inhabited, Toby’s sudden reappearance after her presumed death and inability to explain her whereabouts, sees her marriage dissolve and her now-teenage daughter no longer a trusting child. Estranged from her family, Toby begins her life anew, ignoring the Fae worlds, her Changeling roots and trying to eek out a menial existence in San Francisco.

But when Toby’s friend Evening, one of the high Fae, requests in her dying moments that Toby solve her murder, Toby finds herself drawn back into Fae intrigue, politics and power-plays. For Toby, the price of failure is her own death as Evening cursed her in those dying moments, compelling her to uncover Evening’s murderer.

Finding herself without much help to uncover Evening’s murderers, Toby is forced to make unlikely allies with other changelings she had long left behind, a deadly bargain with the Caith-Sidhe, the court of cat lords, and indebting herself to her Liege-Lord again. Soon, Toby uncovers the real reason Evening was murdered, a powerful and deadly secret.

Final Thoughts:

Rosemary and Rue is an intriguing beginning to an urban fantasy series that relies strongly on Irish folklore and, with this solid foundation of lore, provides a detailed world-building and fascinating characters.

My Conclusion?

A great read for anyone who enjoys urban fantasy, Irish folklore, provoking characters and solid world-building. Highly recommended!

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Vampire Folkore

Vampires are one of the most common and popular themes in horror fiction. An enduring trope that continues to fascinate readers throughout the generation. But how do we imagine vampires? How do our ideals compare to the original vampires of folklore? The Succubi of Ancient Greece and Rome, and the haunting vampires of Slavic cultures throughout Eastern Europe.

Before the publication of Bram Stocker’s Dracula, the majority of vampires in prose or poetry were based on vampiric folklore, particularly from Slavic cultures, where vampires were almost always female. The recent popularisation of vampires in literary fiction and film has seen a reversal of the vampire identity where the vampire is now more often male and female vampires are a rarity.

Two of my recent microfictions will feature in Blood Lust by Black Ink Fiction. “The Hungering” focuses on a young female vampire, portraying her as the traditional vampire, a seductively dangerous predator but one who grapples to control her nature and blood lust. “The Burial” is a different look of vampiric folklore, instead focusing on an archaeological excavation and the discovery of a suspected vampire burial, the beliefs of the historical culture and the superstition of the modern cultures, a linking across time based on the strong belief and fear of vampires.