Books – Evil Ways

The second Morris and Chastain investigation closes the circle on the hanging plot lines from the first book. This was clearly in the author’s mind when he wrote the first one and they may even have been a single book in original conception, but separated out to set up and characters and because it would have been way too long.

In general this is a better written book than the first. Gustainins is clearly improving as a writer and finding his feet with the characters and the world. However, there is a big flaw in his world-building in that he succumbed to the temptation to tie in to another contemporary series. Despite the Dracula-link with Morris, that’s not too constraining because Dracula is so light on details of the undead and other aspects of that world’s weirdness. However, clearly influenced by Jim Butcher’s approval and willingness to allow it, Morris and Chastain visit Chicago on a fool’s erran trying to catch up with Harry Dresden (not mentioned by name) and hang out in Mac’s bar (mentioned by name). Now, I’m a big fan of the Dresden FIles, but this was a mistake. The Dresden Files has a significant and well worked out mythology behind it and Chastain’s White Witch is simply too powerful for that universe. She’d have to be a member of the White Council. Plus, the White Council would certainly be on the case of the main story here – the rich bad guy trying to summon up Satan into the world, in a very James Bond-villain way. I’m slightly reminded of The Jennifer Morgue, actually, with the JB motifs running through.

So long as I forget the side trip to Chicago, this is a worthwhile follow-up and kept me interested enough to get the third. Still only for the die-hard urban fantasy fan, though.

Current Mood: Hiccoughing

Current Music: Dr Who Season 6 Soundtrack, plus Typhoon WInd Accompaniment

Originally published at blog.a-cubed.info

Books – Sympathy for the Devil

The third Morris and Chastain Investigation is more of a standalone than the first two which formed a duology, really. A demon wants tobecome president of the US, and another bunch of demons want to stop him. Morris and Chastain end up investigating and runnning into the spoiler team the opposing demons sent along as well as the possessed presidential candidate. Given the slate running for the Republican nomination this year, one would wonder if this weren’t a lightly veiled commentary on that race, except this was published well before it started in earnest.

This has a nice leavening of black humour in it. The first two had a few attempts but Gustainis finally gets the note right in this one, I think. Again, some shades of The Jennifer Morgue, in the interplay between the revived assassin sent by the demons to take out the possessed candidate and his succubus handler (ad boy, does she handle him). Still only for dedicated UF readers, but the series continues to improve.

No crossover howlers in here.

Current Mood: Hiccoughing

Current Music: Dr Who Season 6 Soundtrack, plus Typhoon WInd Accompaniment

Originally published at blog.a-cubed.info

Books – the Sword-Edged Blonde

Finally I think I’m up to date on my reading again. Just in time to go on another short business trip with long flights so I’ll probably be right behind again by the weekend, though.

This is an unusual sort of book these days. A fantasy detective set in the classic medieval fantasy world. Unliek Glen Cook’s long bestselling series, the elves and dwarves aren’t in evidence (so far) in this one, although there is a goddess and an immortal.

Another first book, but it’s solidly written and the combination of hard boiled wisecracking and fantasy tropes works pretty well. The main character is interesting and sufficiently tortured by his past to justify the interest. The personal and plot reveals along the way are satisfying and logical though not always obvious. A nice debut and I’m now onto the sequel (this was a re-read of the first before diving into that one).

The modern-day urban fantasy has more or less driven this kind (Tamara Siler Jones and Simon R Green has both done nice previous examples, alongside the Glen Cook Garrett Files which appears to be perhaps finished with Gilded Latten Bones) out of the market, which is a shame as I like the juxtaposition of hard boiled and sword and sorcery.

Recommended if you like this sort of thing, though other examples are better ones to start with (Simon Green’s Hawk and Fisher particularly, if you haven’t tried it out before.

Current Mood: Hiccoughing

Current Music: Dr Who Season 6 Soundtrack, plus Typhoon WInd Accompaniment

Originally published at blog.a-cubed.info

Typhoon

There’s a typhoon comng through Tokyo just now. It’s 23:30 and the wind is really picking up. It’s going to be tough to get to sleep with this noise which is a shame because I wanted to get an earlier night than before. Oh well, coming through overnight means les disruption to things like trains. I just hope it sticks to timetable and is really gone by tomorrow morning. I have an early flight out to Germany on Thursday and if there’s significant disruption to schedules on Wednesday there may be knock-on effects on Thursday. I got delayed by 16 hours (luckily at home nt at the airport) last year due to a typhoon and have twice been caught on Shinkansen trains (each time for about 5 hours) by them.

The people I fel sorriest for are those in the Tohoku area still in temporary accomodations from last year’s earthquake. Yes, there are still significant numbers in that kind of situation. While not as bad as last year’s season when a couple made direct landfall in Tohoku (this one mad landfall just south of Nagoya so will have spent the worst of its Fury on Shizuoka, Tokyo and Chiba before hitting Tohoku) it must still be adding more misery on top of a hard life up there.

Current Mood: Hiccoughing

Current Music: Dr Who Season 6 Soundtrack, plus Typhoon WInd Accompaniment

Originally published at blog.a-cubed.info