Who's Afraid by Maria Lewis

Maria Lewis has a new book out, which makes it a good time to go back to her first urban fantasy novel Who's Afraid.

The protagonist Tommi is a young woman seeking out her birth family in New Zealand, only to stumble across a world-shattering secret. (Spoiler alert: she's a werewolf). Said family reunion does not go well and now she must fight to defend herself and her loved ones.

There's a lot that's good about this book. Its premise is similar to Kelly Armstrong's Otherworld series - young woman undergoes traumatic initiation to the supernatural community - but it approaches the subject matter in its own unique way. Sometimes I'd argue a better way. For example, when your family knocks you out and locks you in a cage, it's not for your own good. They're just assholes.

However the book is undermined by its jarring tones. Tommi's light breezy narrative clashes with the trauma she undergoes, and not in a 'bad things happen to good people' kind of way. More as if it can't decide what kind of story it wants to tell. Halfway through a riveting tale of abduction and escape, the book takes a sharp  turn into paranormal romance.

To be clear, there's nothing wrong with paranormal romance. Nor is there anything wrong with dark and deconstructive. In this instance, the combination just doesn't work well together.

It's hard to care about Tommi's forbidden relationship with the mysterious Lorcan when the first half of the book worked so hard to set up her conflict with her family. Lorcan works perfectly well as a mentor figure and exposition-giver. But as a love interest, he offers nothing I haven't see a hundred times already and - if I'm being completely honest - comes off as kind of skeevy, given what Tommi just went through.

Finally, I found the presentation of Maori culture problematic, similar to Stephanie Meyer's appropriation of Quileute beliefs. For a more indepth outline, see this article which articulates it far better than I ever could.

There's a good story in Who's Afraid, about a vicious fight for survival and families of choice versus blood. Unfortunately it focuses on the least interesting aspect, making it a rather frustrating read. I may get round to the sequel eventually, but I'm not exactly panting for it.

Final Verdict: Okay. Has good stuff, but I'd like it better if it could follow through on the grittiness of its premise.

"I screamed, and not with fear this time, with pure exhileration. It took me a second to realise I wasn't screaming at all. Following me down into the unknown was a piercing howl."

The Changeling Detective by Phillip Berrie

If you're looking for something short and sweet in urban fantasy, The Changeling Detective by Phillip Berrie might be just up your alley.

It starts off seemingly grounded in science fiction, with a private detective John who is a shapeshifter and - as far as he knows - the only one of his kind. When a seemingly harmless job takes a murderous turn, he must use all his abilities to survive.

This novella bolts out of the gate and never slows down. Whether it's an overzealous bodyguard or corrupt cops, there always seems to be someone in John's face. It reminded me of Harry Dresden how the character keeps ricocheting from disaster to disaster, accumulating a truly astounding number of damage points. This kept the pages turning even when the characters weren't particularly deep or complex.

Which, unfortunately, leads into the story's biggest weakness for me. Despite being an interesting premise, John is a rather blandly heroic character, never giving the reader any real sense of what he wants beyond the short-term. Events happen, he responds, and by the end of the book he hasn't grown or changed in any significant way. Even his female love interest/sidekick Ruth is more developed because she at least has a goal she works toward.

It's a shame, because there's several interesting directions he could have gone. Had his amoral traits been more emphasized and his goal been to return to his life as he likes it (drinking, spying on people, sleeping with hot bartenders...) that would have given him a place to grow from. In fact, the horror of his potential future could have been a real wake-up call as he was confronted what he could become.

Or if the entire point is that his moral code is not changed by his origins, Berrie could have pushed the tragedy and isolation of John's life a lot more. The material is there already. There's no one John can be truly honest with and his identification with X-Men comics suggests that he too feels like an outcast. And that in turn would have given more weight to his attachment to Ruth.

On a more positive note, the villain was excellent. Newman is a disturbingly unpredictable antagonist. Swinging between wanton cruelty and cold practicality, his goals remain opaquely inhuman for most of the book. I was utterly invested in the characters' efforts to escape him, as I'd be running like hell if he were after me too.

There wasn't much in the way of world-building, but that worked in this instance as half the tension comes from not understanding is going on. The book ends on a cautiously optimistic note, leaving just enough threads dangling for a sequel.

Final Score: Good. I'd have liked it to be longer, but as a tasty introduction to a series it does exactly what it's supposed to. You can also check out the author's website here for free samples of his other work.

"I felt like an actor who'd missed an important rehearsal; 

someone had definitely changed the script on me."

City of Light by Keri Arthur

As a rule, I steer clear of Keri Arthur's work. Not because it isn't good (it is), but because it leans too far into paranormal romance territory for my tastes. I like my action bloodier and my romance more subdued.

But her recent novel, City of Light, is like she psychically sensed all my reservations and wrote a 300 page book just to prove me wrong. 

It's set in a future dystopia after humanity lost a war with shapeshifters (thus combining my two favorite things; magic and science fiction). Life is hard on everyone, but especially Tiger, a genetically engineered supersoldier that miraculously survived the purge of her kind after the war. She spends her time hiding out in an old lab and talking to ghosts, until she rescues two living people and is reluctantly drawn into a mystery of disappearing children and illegal experimentation.

What's interesting about Tiger is that she exists so much in her head. Being discovered as dechet is a death sentence so she spends most of her time calculating who to lie to and what to lie about. It makes the outside world so exhausting it's completely understandable why Tiger would prefer to be alone and not deal with that rig-moral.

The real surprise is that she's not more introverted and bitter than she is. What happened to her kind is horrifying, especially when they were the most blameless faction in the war. They were exploited by humans, murdered by the shapeshifters, and depicted as monsters by history.  It's the kind of horrendous injustice that can only be reflected by real life and Tiger is way too calm and philosophical about it.

To kill or not to kill Jonas.
That is the question. 

For example, there is that gem of a moment where potential love-interest Jonas first refuses to believe in the dechet massacres, then says it was the only way to get rid of the "perversion". And he throws it in the face of a woman he suspects to be a survivor. If Tiger had decided to throw Jonas to the vampire horde there and then, I'd have held her coat. I didn't hate even Branna this much because at least Branna was upfront about wanting to kill Tiger. Jonas' words are something more insidious.

I will say this though - Tiger doesn't turn into a puddle of goo when Jonas softens toward her. She correctly perceives that his shift in attitude isn't a change of opinion toward her kind, just a re-evaluation of how valuable her skill-set is. Like her human masters before him, he wants to use her. And she is not afraid to tell him and his asshole friends to eat a dick.

Slow. Fucking. Clap.

I really hope that she doesn't backslide in the next novel, because it is incredibly satisfying to see a protagonist stick to her guns. If Jonas does become a love interest in Winter Halo, he'd better do some damn character development first.

WTF...

Someone added Down Under by Tam Ames to my Goodreads list of Australian Science Fiction.

It looks like a gay love story in futuristic dystopian Australia involving a road trip with a man who shape-shifts into a kangaroo. This is either a hilarious satire of urban fantasy or stone-cold serious, which will also be hilarious.

I'm guiltily intrigued. I must read this. Because he shapes-shifts into a kangaroo.

I mean, most people would go straight for dingo or crocodile. You know, the traditionally dangerous Australian animal.

...though red kangaroos are freaking scary. Have you ever been up close to one? They are massive and built of this ropy muscle with clawed hindlegs for disembowelling, and if it's hit by a car, the car loses...

On second thought. Kangaroo shapeshifter. Good choice.

Vigil by Angela Slatter

Angela Slatter is one of those writers I wish I'd discovered sooner. Her short stories have been nominated three times for Aurelis awards and despite being mostly fantasy, there's nothing sweet or trite about them. They go back to the dark heart of fairy tales, where trespassing children can and do end up in the witch's oven, and fair maidens only get out of their predicaments by being very resourceful and brave.

So imagine my glee at discovering Slatter's recent full-length novel Vigil!

This book is full-blown urban fantasy, delving into a rich underworld underlying Brisbane where the supernatural Weyrd live unseen among humankind. The half-human Verity Fassbinder must find a dangerous monster before it exposes the Weyrd while solving two disappearances that may or may not be related.

Verity is your standard urban fantasy protagonist. She stands between two cultures and occupies a role of protector/mediator that is thankless but necessary (for other examples, see Rachel Morgan, Anita Blake and Harry Dresden). She's smart, cynical and is quick with irreverent quips. However, repetition is not necessarily a bad thing, as this kind of character is traditional in urban fantasy for a reason. (For an example of this kind of character that doesn't work, see Faythe from Stray, who allegedly possesses all these qualities and demonstrates none).

That said, Verity does manage to distinguish herself from her cohorts in at least one important way: she doesn't have anyone telling her how special she is. This might sound cruel, but it's a recurring trope in urban fantasy I find blatantly manipulative. The Hollows, a series I otherwise adore, is particularly guilty of this sin, with characters continuously telling Rachel Morgan that everything about her is just incredible, from her sex life to her moral code.

Verity firmly defies this trope. Her divided heritage is not particularly unique and gives her an even balance of advantages and disadvantages just like any other Weyrd. In fact the entire book deconstructs the seductive fantasy of 'special'. Whether you are offered the chance to become special, or born that way, more often than not it's a crapshoot. 'Special' can also mean freak, which entails isolation, rejection and sometimes violence.

Before this review goes overboard praising Tall Poppy Syndrome, I will note that I was very uncomfortable with Verity's solution to the 'double-winged' problem. At the very least she was removing choices a person might want in the future. Being different might not always be wise, but it's still a valid choice. (There's a reason 'be yourself' is a powerful message). Granted the alternative was 'apocalypse' but the text shouldn't have tried to pass Verity's actions off as an unambiguously good act. She was doing something horrible to stop something worse and should have acknowledged that.

Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed Vigil. Slatter's weaving of fantasy with the real-life Brisbane and Gold Coast landscape created a powerful mythology. Despite some occasionally shaky footing, she has crafted a neatly thought-out barb aimed at the heart of the urban fantasy genre. Hopefully it won't go unnoticed and we will get less 'special' protagonists in future.

Also, for fellow-natives, the mysterious Boatman apparently paddles the Brisbane river with the souls
of the dead in his canoe. Try catching the citycat at night and thinking about that.

Short Story Recommendations

And just for something different, here are some short stories. Both are available free online (links below) and are set in Australia.

Reading Coffee by Anthony Panegyres - Mixes history with superstition. A young girl with the ability to foresee death watches events unfold in Kalgoorlie 1916 (anyone who knows much about Australian history may already be spoiled).

Brisneyland by Night by Angela Slatter. Urban fantasy set in Brisbane! A half-breed Weyrd investigates the disappearance of children.

Five Worst Fathers in Australian Fantasy

Father's Day is come and gone, and I've decided to incorporate this into my next article; the five worst father or father figures in Australian fantasy. Why the worst? Because whinging about things is easier than praising them, obviously.

To be fair, what's happening here is
only partly due to StarDrifter's
absentee parenting...

Remember, these are not the King Magnuses or StarDrifters of the world. These are not fathers who tried their best, but made mistakes or bad judgement calls. These are the fathers that either didn't give a damn or went out of their way to make their kid's life hell.

Remember,*SPOILERS BELOW*. 

***

5. Galen Flint from The Last Stormlord
He's a minor character who only appears in the first book, but I argue he is indirectly responsible for every bad thing that happens in that series. His solution to abject poverty is to drink until he forgets about it and his reaction to his son's god-like power is to terrify him into hiding it. If this guy had been even remotely supportive, Shale would have showed his abilities to the Rainlords, the Rainlords would have taken him to the Cloudlord in time to learn rain summoning properly, and Taquar would never have got his greasy mitts on the throne. There's a lesson here; good parenting can save the world.

A naive, lonely sorcerer
with god- like power and
daddy issues..just what every
demon wants!

4. Michael from Mage Heart
How to mess up a kid; buy her from her desperate mother, lie to her about the circumstances, teach her to fear and despise her own gender, isolate her within her own culture, then die leaving her alone in the world. Small wonder Dion keeps playing around with demons; she is so deeply confused about her own sexuality I'm surprised she doesn't have a breakdown every time a man stops to ask her the time.

3. Longfield from Tender Morsels
Honestly, this guy doesn't even merit the title of father. Abusive rapist jerkass that deserves to be eaten by a bear is closer. You know what, on second thought, I'm taking Longfield off this list and saving him for that 'most contemptible characters you'd like to bury in a swamp' list I'm working on.

3. Battu from Prophecy's Ruin
Another text-book demonstration on how to screw up a child. Granted, we can't quite put the blame for Losara and Bel's severing on Battu; he wasn't even in the same country when that happened. But we can blame him for stealing a child from loving parents, raising him in an atmosphere that's by turns neglectful and oppressive, grooming him for a battle quite literally against his own self, and attempting to manipulate his affections for Battu's own selfish agenda. Luckily Losara doesn't have any pesky 'feelings' and manipulates him right back. Happy Father's day, Battu. You deserve everything that comes to you.

Not only did Gayed raise a
fanatically loyal psychic
assassin, he was genre
savvy enough to die before
she inevitably turned on him.

2. General Gayed from the Mirage Makers
This guy is clearly taking notes from Battu and Michael. He also steals a child from loving parents, brainwashes her to serve his own agenda and turns her against her own identity in fundamentally damaging ways.
The difference is he's actually good at it. Considering Ligea is psychic, the fact that he has her so twisted round she believes he loves her is kind of impressive... in a sick, horrifying, you-bastard kind of way.

1. Everyone from Evil Genius
And for the winner we have a group nomination; Cadel's adoptive father, his secret imprisoned father, and his psychologist father-figure. All of them work together to manipulate Cadel in deliberate, callous ways and screw him up severely. Really it's mostly luck that he didn't turn out a raving psychopath like they were hoping. Fortunately he has the sense to go find himself a healthy father-figure elsewhere or we'd have a lot more to worry about than a toddler playing god with the Sydney public transport system.

So there you have it - the five worst of the worst fathers in Australian fantasy. This will either destroy your faith in fatherhood or make you appreciate the one you have. One of the two.

The Art of Arrow Cutting by Stephen Dedman (or six degrees of separation from awesome writers!)

They say everyone in the world is connected to everyone else by six degrees of separation. I discovered how true this was when my mum casually mentioned she'd gone to primary school with a writer, Stephen Dedman.

So I got curious and went hunting on the internet, where I found he'd written quite a bit. I only bought one, The Art of Arrow Cutting, but it was a good read. Well done, mum's school friend. Well done.

The premise is that the main character 'Mage' (yeah, not joking) screws himself over by performing a good deed. He buys a bus ticket for a girl in need and she, in true fairy tale fashion, returns the favor with the gift of a magic key. Not that she tells him it's magic, but he figures it out once people start trying to kill him for it. (Thus the screwing over part.  You'd think a gift card would probably have sufficed.) He sets out to find her and hopefully figure out what the hell is going on.

I was puzzled a bit by it being set in America, as it was the kind of story that could really be set anywhere. Probably trying to expand the target audience. But the contrived coincidence of fantasy that usually annoys me - the right people showing up at the right moment with the right abilities - doesn't apply here. Yes, Mage conveniently gets exactly what he needs at any given time, but it's justified in a way that ties it into the larger plot.

Mage himself is a chivalrous pervert with an extremely slashy vibe with his stuntman friend Takumo, who is the most competent, badass sidekick anyone could ever ask for. Batman would kick Robin to the curb if he saw this guy's moves. Their ally, the down-to-earth lawyer Kelly, is a perfect example of how to include female characters in a male-dominated narrative. She didn't get involved because she couldn't resist Mage's magic dick (although technically, I suppose his dick could be magic) but because of spoilery reasons I won't get into. Basically she had a motivation and a useful role that wasn't love interest. Other writers take note.

The narrative is fast-paced, the action clear and to the point. Lets say I never got bored with this story. Occasionally the characters would blurt out a lot of exposition about mythology that even I couldn't spit out at a moment's notice (and I spent a lot of my childhood in libraries memorising mythology books) but it was always relevant to the plot, with later pay-off. I particularly liked that Mage thought outside the box to come up with surprising but logical ways to utilise his new powers.

I'd recommend this to urban-fantasy readers who want a supernatural mystery. If you like Harry Dresden, you'll enjoy this as well. There is violence and sex, but nothing too gory, so I think it would be appropriate for older teenagers and above. It can be found on Amazon in paperback and the Australian Amazon in electronic form.

And just to be different this week, I'll finish with a great and wise quote from the book:

"Most of us aren't equipped to handle miracles, man. I'm not sure that I am, not without being seriously stoned." - Takumo

Australian Urban Fantasy You Should Be Reading

In light of my recent foray into Urban Fantasy, I decided to combine two of my favourite things: lists and fantasy authors!

Here are three Urban Fantasy authors from Australia that are worth reading. I'm sure there are others, but these are ones I've read previously. No doubt more will be added to this blog over time :-)

1. Narrelle M. Harris

I picked up one of Narrelle Harris' books up at Supanova a few years ago, which was actually the start of my interest in indie authors. She's a Melbourne author that does several  genres, one of which is Urban Fantasy.

I started with her Opposite of Life series (the second book actually) which had the most depressing and yet realistic take on vampires I've read in a long time. In this world, vampires are trapped as they were at the moment they died. They have extreme difficulty learning anything past what they already knew when they were alive and so have to watch the world change around them, growing increasingly isolated and out of place.

It sounds tragic and horrible, and it is, but the characters' genuine affection for each other made it all worthwhile. Similar to the British tv show Being Human, Harris' work explores the isolating affect of the supernatural while showing that the support of friends and family can ease the burden.

2. Keri Arthur

Keri Arthur (also from Melbourne!) has written a number of paranormal books, including the Circle of Fire which I have previously reviewed. I'll be honest, I wasn't that impressed by her. However, I have been told by a friend whose judgement I trust that the series steadily improves, so I'm not going  to write her off just yet.

She is more on the Paranormal Romance side of the fence than Narelle Harris, who is more skewed toward Urban Fantasy. To elaborate, Paranormal Romance is very similar to Urban Fantasy except with a more heavy focus on romance. I definitely prefer Urban Fantasy myself, which is probably part of the reason I didn't really enjoy Keri Arthur's work, but that's just my own preference so don't let that scare you off. She's fairly well-known, so clearly she's doing something right.

3. Daniel O'Malley

Some would argue that Daniel O'Malley does not write Urban Fantasy. I'd tell them to take a long walk off a short pier.

He has supernatural creatures existing behind the scenes of an unsuspecting world, working to keep the masquerade going. There's a no-nonsense female protagonist who's solving a mystery and finding depths she didn't know existed. There are lives in danger and a world in need of saving. If that's not pure Urban Fantasy, it's definitely heavily involved.

If you ignore every other author on this list, check out this guy! You won't regret it. The Rook is his first novel, while the sequel is coming out this year. Go to his website (see above link) to read the first four chapters. I guarantee you'll be hooked by the end of the first.

Circle of Fire by Keri Arthur

It occurs to me that I've been doing a lot of high fantasy on this blog, but nothing in the way of urban fantasy, which is just a crying shame because there are some damn good paranormal authors out there.

The book I'm reviewing today is Circle of Fire, which is the first novel in the Damask Circle trilogy and involves a woman with psychic abilities trying to save missing children from a supernatural threat. While not the best urban fantasy I've ever read - that honor goes to Kim Harrison's Hollows series - it does have its own light charm. 

The story is fairly interesting, involving kidnappings and dark rituals, but is unfortunately overshadowed by the less-than-compelling sexual tension between the two main characters. Note that this might be due to my own bias, as I can't stand 'true love' that happens over a course of twenty-four hours and a single sexual encounter where one of the participants was drugged...

....and I just made it sound a whole lot worse than it really is. Okay, backing up. 

The supernatural elements are the best part of the book, as the main character Madeline steps deeper into a world she's only been peripherally aware of. There's just enough hints to give us a taste of what's to come, while leaving plenty of fodder for the next book. 

As a character Madeline is a bit of a doormat, but considering her background you can understand why. Not only does she have a power she can't control, she's the survivor of an abusive relationship, is estranged from her family, and the suspect in a murder. And all of this is prior to the events in the book. Fortunately the plot is about her growing out of her shell and fixing back together her shattered self-confidence, so things do get better for her. 

The main male character Jon was a rather generic love interest as supernatural novels go: mysterious, brooding alpha male with hint of danger. As a lot of the tension in the book centered around his interactions with Madeline, that's probably part of why I wasn't overly invested in the romance. If I don't care for one of the characters, I can't care about the relationship. The one thing I can say for him is that he treats Madeline with respect, which is something a lot of love interests in paranormal novels struggle with (I'm looking at you, Edward). 

To sum it up, I've read a lot worse urban fantasy - do not get me started on Stray - and at least the characters were attempting to act with consistent logic. The action starts slow, but picks up speed around the halfway point (noting that that isn't a particularly long book in the first place). So long as you don't take it too seriously it'll do you no lasting harm. 

Which, in all honesty, is pretty good advice concerning most urban fantasy.

Circle of Fire can be ordered in digital form on Amazon, and in phyiscal form on Booktopia and Book Depository. Otherwise, Keri Arthur is fairly popular at the moment so just check the paranormal section at your local bookstore. 

Self-published Australian fiction you should be reading

With the past decade and advent of Amazon, self-published books have become more widely available. There is some stigma attached to them, and not without reason. Self-published books don't have the same checks as those that go through publishing firms, and so tend to have more mistakes and problems.

However there are some pretty decent ones out there, available for fairly reasonable prices. Here are the some of those I've found deep-diving through the depths of Amazon and Booktopia: 

1. The Silence of Medair (High Fantasy)

This is a goodie. The titular character was sent to retrieve an artifact that could save her kingdom from invaders. However, in retrieving the artifact, she goes to sleep and awakens hundreds of years later to find the invaders succeeded and her world irretrievably altered. It's an interesting premise and unfolds in a way that offers no easy answers. Be warned though; it ends on something of a cliff-hanger and has a sequel. 

For a story on why the author chose to self-publish, see here; it's pretty daunting for anyone looking to break into the industry. 

2. Contest (Science Fiction)

This book is proof that self-publishers can break into the market; it's actually how Matthew Reilly was discovered. It's more science-fiction-y than what I usually recommend, but makes for a great action-adventure thriller. 

The premise is that the main character has been chosen to represent Earth in a fight to the death competition against representatives from seven other worlds. It's a little rough in place, but still an exciting, fast-paced read. 

3. Through the Whirlpool  (High Fantasy)

This one is a cross-dimensional adventure with two characters from very different worlds. It's a relatively recent arrival in self-publishing that needs some more love. It's up on Amazon.com and I can't seem to find it anywhere else. 

Be warned that the sequel is a lot more expensive than the first book, so be wary of starting this one unless you don't mind paying more to see how it ends. 

4. Wisdom Beyond Her Years (Science Fiction, Romance)

This one isn't high literature (not that any on this list are!) but is a very fun lesbian love story set 200 years in the future in a world of efficiency and rigid class structure. Has lots of action and is a little bit kinky, so probably avoid if bondage isn't your thing. 

The setting is futuristic Sydney and has fascinating world-building. 

Out of interest the author has a Youtube tutorial on self-publishing. 

5. Dark Shadows (Paranormal Romance)

This is a vampire paranormal romance, so if you're into that sort of genre this is definitely your book. Not for children, and has been compared favorably to Twilight (as I hated Twilight myself, this doesn't say much). 

Personally I prefer urban fantasy to paranormal romance (the difference being that the romance is a sideline rather than the focus) but people that do like it have loved this book. 

As with any book, it all depends on what you're into. 

So there you have it. Five self-published books by Australian authors that are worth reading. But don't take my word for it, go investigate companies like Vivid and Indimosh. There's plenty of talent out there; it's just a question of finding it.