Moon Called; and The Seventh Chakra reviewed by Dronon |
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Moon Called | The Seventh Chakra |
Title: | Moon Called (book 1 in the Mercy Thompson series) |
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Author: | Patricia Briggs | |
Hardcover | ||
Publisher: | Ace Books (New York City, NY), Mar 2010 | |
ISBN: | 0441019277 | |
336 pp, USD $19.95 | ||
Mass-market paperback | ||
Publisher: | Ace Books (New York City, NY), Jan 2006 | |
ISBN: | 0441013813 | |
304 pp, USD $7.99 | ||
A genre of fiction that has become more common over the last 15 years is urban fantasy, in which someone investigates and battles fantasy creatures in urban settings. The current trend is often credited to Laurell K. Hamiltons Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series, but what with Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and (bleurgh!) Twilight, I think urban fantasys success is surfing on the recent popularity of fantasy in general.
In urban fantasy novels, regular human beings may be completely unaware of mythological beings walking amongst them, or they can be an accepted part of everyday life. In Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, the situation is in transition. The fæ decided to come out, and unfortunately have ended up in the equivalent of modern Indian reservations. Needless to say, this has put other creatures on edge about preserving their secret identities.
The main character is Mercedes (or Mercy) Thompson, a 32-year-old skilled automobile mechanic of partial Native American ancestry who can turn herself into a coyote. While this is an advantage, she doesnt have super-strength or any other special powers that can get her out of a tight spot; she must rely on her wits. Mercy is not a trickster or a manipulator, but shes observant and smart. Having a very strong understanding how people tick, she knows how to get along with others. Shes a very friendly character, and is written in a believable way.
Her neighbors are the local pack of werewolves, who form most of the secondary protagonists in this book series. The plot begins with a young, newly-converted werewolf showing up on her doorstep with the disturbing news that someone may be conducting strange experiments on their kind. Before Mercy can even start to look into the situation, her neighbors are attacked and she must seek out medical help for her werewolf friends. This being the first book in the series, much of it is devoted to setting up the story universe and introducing the major characters and their backgrounds. So by the time Mercy and her gang finally start to investigate whats happened, youre already two-thirds of the way through the book. Despite this late start (and a long-shot which by necessity must pay off), the ending is strong and its antagonist quite surprised me in a rather touching, tragic way.
If youre a transformation fan, this is not the book for you; Mercys changes happen in the blink of an eye, and the werewolves changes are described offhand as painful and ugly. If youre a werewolf fan, this may be the book for youpeople can be terribly picky about their werewolves; I know I am. So forgive me for the griping Im about to do, because afterwards Im going to be very positive.
Werewolves in the Mercy Thompson series are zoomorphic and heavily into the pack hierarchy thing. I find this intrinsically annoyingIve read too many bad fan-fictions where someone snarls, Who dares to challenge the Alpha! The human side of the werewolf must constantly be mindful of its wolf side, yet after years of getting their inner beast to behave, some basic instincts seem uncontrollable, and I found this to be beyond my suspension of disbelief. Two examples:
That being said, the story universe sets out in very understandable detail why werewolf packs operate the way they do. Without such a structure, theyd probably be hunted down; its only by policing themselves and maintaining such heavy, strict rules that they manage to survive in the modern world at all. However, no system is perfect and they know it. Some werewolves, if trusted by the rest of the community, are allowed to go rogue as long as they stay out of trouble.
Its also very difficult to become a werewolf in this story universe. First, you have to be mauled almost to death. If you survive that, you may not survive your first changes. After that, you have to learn how to tame your beast side fairly quickly or youll be killed by the other werewolves for the sake of the communitys safety. And if you dont get along with other werewolves or break the rules, youll also be killed. So, assuming you make it through all that, you become virtually immortal, in the peak of your youth and physical health. Sounds great, except most werewolves dont make it past their first ten years because of stupid dominance fights like the thing between #2 and #3 above.
Another element that annoyed me were the vampires. Theyre not a huge part of the book, but I am just so sick of vampires. Anne Rice, Twilight, The Lost Boys, Buffy
arrrgh! I cant stand færies, either.
But you know what? I liked this book. Despite overblown pack dynamics, despite vampires, the story was interesting, the characters engaging, the universe was well thought-out
I enjoyed reading it from cover to cover. I still dont like vampires, but any time I can enjoy a book even though its got things I dont likenow, that is the sign of a good writer. And Im not the only one; Patricia Briggs books have hit #1 in the New York Times bestseller list more than once. Its good fantasy fluff thats fun to pass the time with, if you dont take it too seriously.
I really liked Mercy Thompson as a character, and if youre a werewolf fan, its worth giving this a try. Dont judge the series by its covers though, theres no steamy romantic content. (Although at the end of book one, a love triangle is obviously developing.) And if you prefer werewolves as the main characters, theres a spin-off series called Alpha and Omega. If youre still unsure about the werewolf content, fans of the series have compiled a list of facts about the story universe, including a comprehensive page on werewolf ethology in the Patricia Briggs forum.
Another urban fantasy book of interest to werewolf fans is Fool Moon, book two in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. Harry Dresden is a wizard in Chicago who ends up fighting all sorts of nasties, and in this book Dresden encounters not one, but four different types of werewolves. This series has even more vampires and færies than Mercy Thompson, and again the writing quality carries my interest all the way through. Its a bit fluffier in content with more humor than youd expect. A good, light read with lots of action.
Moon Called | The Seventh Chakra |
Title: | The Seventh Chakra | |
Author: | Kevin Frane | |
Publisher: | Sofawolf Press (St. Paul, MN), Jan 2010 | |
ISBN: | 978-0-9819883-5-1 | |
Paperback, 322 pp, USD $19.95 | ||
This is the first time Ive read anything by Kevin Frane. Its the second book in the same setting as his previous novel, Thousand Leaves, but my understanding is that the two exist fairly independently of one another. The Seventh Chakra is a spy thriller, but if youre thinking James Bond, its not that kind of spy thriller.
The story starts out with the Iolite League, a religious organization bent on world peace and unity. Arkady Ryswife is a ferret and one of their secret agents, part of a sort of black ops sent out to do dirty work when peaceful methods wont work. The League has several secret projects underwayscientific and biological research, creating a living AI to act as their future computer mainframe, and also the recovery of ancient artifacts belonging to a mysterious pre-civ culture that was lost over 4,000 years ago.
The start of the book dives immediately into fast-paced action that makes it hard to put down. Arkady and his team visit a casino on a mission to recover some pre-civ items from the hands of private collectors, intending to add them to the Iolite Leagues archives, which will eventually be shared with the rest of the world. The secondary purpose of their mission is to send a warning to a rival organization. Unfortunately the mission quickly goes wrong in several ways, leaving Arkady and the rest of his team emotionally shattered when they return to the Leagues headquarters.
Unlike some spy thrillers, these secret agents carry doubts and question their self-confidence. Not about their religious motivations, but whether they could have carried out their work with less bloodshed and better organization. This is primarily a character-driven story. Arkady feels particularly at fault as the teams leader, wondering whether he can be called upon to make the right decisions during difficult situations.
Arkady is therefore surprised when his team is rushed into a second mission. After he and one of his team undergo experimental surgery giving them heightened senses and reflexes, they find themselves deep in enemy territory. But vestiges of the previous missions mistakes remainArkady and his two team-mates seem to be drifting apart, and soon everything starts going wrong again. Their resources are cut off, their intel is unreliable, and theyre playing a dangerous game without knowing exactly who the other players are.
If theres a recurring theme to this work, its one of lossloss of trust, of ones self, of control, of friends, of culture, and of life (though not how youd expect). The ending is somewhat sad but with signs of hope for the future, and plenty of opportunity for a sequel. The only thing that threw me off was how names were adapted from civilizations all over the world (China, India, etc), yet in the books setting, the entire planet speaks one language. Maybe this was supposed to be a hint about who the pre-civ peoples were, but I found it a little distracting; I kept wondering if the use of a Russian name was symbolic or not, or whether etymologists existed in the story universe. Still, I found Kevin Franes writing style very approachable and it didnt stop me from enjoying the underlying story.
How furry is this book? Marginally. Except for the heightened animal senses, most of the characters could have been replaced by humans of different ethnic groups and nationalities. The many species mentioned throughout the book seems largely symbolic of the Iolite Leagues mission to unite the world despite peoples differences.
As for the story itself, it definitely made me want to keep reading, especially after Arkady and his team are constantly on the move once they begin their second mission. Worth a read? Yesand if my review has piqued your interest, I think youll agree. I look forward to Kevin Franes future publications!
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Moon Called | The Seventh Chakra |