Both of them are in the Urban Fantasy genre, but they couldn't be any more different. One follows the typical tropes of the genre, while the other is much more humorous and turns a few of them on their heads. I definitely enjoyed and recommend both of them, however.
The first one is Doppelgangster, by Laura Resnik. This is a story of Esther Diamond, a struggling New York stage actress who has also gotten herself involved both with an organization that is tasked with saving the world from the stench of Evil as well as the Mob (no, the Mob does not have the stench of Evil, though it does have a stench of evil). Hopefully this book will not be similar to the life my niece will eventually lead, though if it does, she'll have a funny story to tell!
From the review:
"Esther Diamond is a struggling New York actress who has just been let go from a horrible play that nevertheless paid the bills. As she looks for other work, she returns to waitressing at a Manhattan restaurant frequented by mobsters, something that her potential new boyfriend, Detective Lopez, isn't happy with. As she tries to make ends meet, duplicated gangsters start appearing right before the originals of these gangsters start getting killed off. It's up to Esther and her friend Max the Magician to figure out what's going on and put a stop to Evil's plans before a general Mob War breaks out. She also has to keep Lopez in the dark that she's involved in all this."
I have to say I loved this book, and not just because I read it on a plane trip. I had to stifle my laughter at times, it was so funny. Go read the review and tell me what you think.
The second book is a more mundane example of the urban fantasy genre. Shadow Blade, by Seressia Glass, has all of the usual tropes: sexy woman who knows some kind of magic, part of an organization that's tasked with defending the world, but at odds with some of her superiors. A loner at heart, but there's a sexy male figure who's also involved. A couple of friends who aren't involved in the organization, who may not even know magic, are around to help out as necessary. Rinse and repeat.
"Kira Solomon is a Shadowchaser. Raised by the head of the Gilead Commission because her powers made it impossible to raise her as a normal girl, she has become one of their best. Her very touch will suck the life energy out of a person. Now her day job is as an antiquities dealer, but her night job is to take out the Fallen as they try to enable Shadow to take over the world. An old friend and mentor brings her an ancient Egyptian dagger that seems infused with dark energy and intelligence. A dagger that people will kill for. Does that include Kefar, the blade’s 4000-year-old owner? Or will he be a great help against the forces of Shadow trying to obtain it for their own evil ends?"
Even though it's much the same as many others, I still enjoyed the book, and would recommend it to fans of the genre. It's just not a genre-buster that will attract non-fans.
To each their own.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.