Your Score: Dark Chocolate

Urban Shaman
Writer: C.E. Murphy
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 344

Sue me, I lied. This isn't the review for Karen E. Peterson's Write. 10 Days to Overcome Writer's Block. Period. But honestly, if you read my last review, you knew I wouldn't get back to it RIGHT away. The urban fantasy bug has bit me once again, and I must let it run its course. :)

So why Urban Shaman? Story time: as you probably all well know by now, the SHU Writing Popular Fiction program features a genre a term and the writers in that genre pick a book they feel represents their genre for the whole program to read for the next residency and discuss. For this June, the genre is fantasy. Urban Shaman wasn't the book chosen (interesting story about that, the fantasy writers picked a book that wasn't even on the LIST), but it was on the list, and I decided I wanted to give all the books on the list a go, just to see if any of them would've been a better fit for the program than the book selected, as well as just see the differing types of fantasy the list had to offer.

The list, in case you're curious, is the following:

Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy
A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham
Acacia by David Anthony Durham
Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner

The book chosen by the fantasy writers of the program was:

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

With each book I read, I'll report whether or not I think the book would've made a good fit for the program, especially for readers who may not have read a lick of fantasy ever.

And in theory, the urban fantasy genre would have been a great way to ease them into it. When you think about it, urban fantasy is usually a smooth blend of mystery, horror, and oftentimes romance. But when I saw Murphy's name on the list, while I recognized it, I immediately thought that if urban fantasy must be represented, it should've been a different book by a different author. I'm partial to Carrie Vaughn's Kitty and the Midnight Hour, but we all know I'm biased. I would've been happy with Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking too.

After reading Urban Shaman, I still feel that way. I know one of the goals with residency reads is to present imperfect books so that readers can discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly, but it's a fine line when so many of the readers aren't familiar with the genre to begin with. Even the most perfect books have their flaws (real or imagined), and I feel if a book is going to be chosen, it should encourage outside readers to read more of the genre. Therefore, this book didn't work for me in that regard.

But then again, I've read enough urban fantasy by now to be biased.

Let's put the whole "residency read" issue aside now and actually talk about the book itself. You know, the good, the bad, and the ugly. :)

The premise: after witnessing a woman in danger, protagonist Joanne Walker sets out to find this woman and make things right. Naturally, Jo finds herself entangled in a world she didn't know existed, where gods and godlings roam the Earth, banshees exist, and people are shamans.

The kicker is, she's just learned she's one of them.

( Urban Shaman )

My rating: Wish I'd Borrowed It: It's not a bad book by any means, but it certainly didn't grab me and make me want to keep reading. Mild curiosity brought me to this title anyway, so I would've been happy reading it and giving it back to its owner, and since I have no need to keep reading this trilogy, I wouldn't have lost anything by not keeping it on hand.

That said, I wouldn't mind reading Murphy's other, later work. After all, Urban Shaman is her debut, and I'd like to see how she's grown as a writer and what she does differently with a book completely unrelated to this character, world, or plot.

Urban Shaman certainly gels as an overall book, and it doesn't feel sloppy by any means. It certainly has some interesting world-building aspects to offer. Readers who want to immerse themselves in the genre should check it out, especially as a point of comparison (hell, that's what I do).

Next up: Write. 10 Days to Overcome Writer's Block. Period. by Karen E. Peterson (eventually)

And...

Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Remember when I was begging for your opinions about a rating system for my reviews? I got some great ideas, but none of them really stuck to me as feasible for a number of reasons. For starters, I wanted something that was intuitive, where you all wouldn't have to consult some random post to figure out what the rating meant. But I also wanted something different than the star system, grading scale, and the #/10 system, because both seem (to me) to be far more concrete in their impressions rather than clearly an opinion.

I know I'm not making any sense, but I think I came up with a rating system that works for me and makes it obvious that it's MY rating based on MY reading experience (whereas with the ratings I mentioned above, they're so widely used that they tend to be "separate" from the review itself), and I'd love your opinion on it, especially in terms of the categories themselves.

I buy all of the books I read. Well, a few I get for free, and sometimes, a friend lets me borrow a title, but the latter's really rare since all my friends are spread across the nation. Libraries are out for me since the best ones are nearly an hour away, so most likely, I buy what I'm reading.

So why not create a rating system based on that premise? Here's the rough version of it:

Collector/Top Shelf (I need help with this one because I don't want to imply the books rated this way are collector items): books that I'd not only pay money for, but I'd pay a ridiculous amount of money for if necessary. Books I'll keep forever and ever and might actually buy multiple copies of should the opportunity arise. These are books I love to pieces.

Worth the Cash: I liked it, don't regret spending money on it, and will most likely keep my copy.

Give it Away: I liked it okay, but I'll be passing this title along to a more interested reader.

Wish I'd Borrowed It: a book I didn't mind reading (or it's okay), but I wish I'd borrowed it rather than spent money on it.

Waste of Time & Money: Didn't like it and/or it pissed me off and/or bored the snot out of me. I think it's obvious what this category means. :)

All categories would be followed with a tight explanation of why I'm putting it in that category over another, and in the cases where some books fall "between" categories, I'll explain so.

Thoughts?

Moon Called
Writer: Patricia Briggs
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 288

I'd never given Patricia Briggs's work much thought, but two of my SHU colleagues highly recommended it. Between that and my random fetish for werewolves, I picked it up and decided to give it a whirl. And I know I said my next review would be Karen E. Peterson's Write. 10 Days to Overcome Writer's Block. Period., but I warned you that I'd need a break, so a break I took.

There's a lot that's appealing in this urban fantasy despite its cast of the usual suspect of fangs, fur, and fey. Top on the list is the main character herself, Mercy Thompson, who is a "walker" (derived from "skinwalker") and can shape-shift into a coyote, but more important is the fact she's an auto-mechanic. That, my friends, is just too damn cool.

Mercy keeps her head down and her nose clean when it comes to the supernatural beings around her, many of which would rather see her dead because of what she is (a walker, not a mechanic). But when a newly-Changed werewolf shows up at her shop in obvious need of help, Mercy lends him a hand. In doing so, she gets herself caught in the middle of a pack war and has to use every resource available to make things right. Every resource means herself and her friends (of the vampire, fae, and were variety).

It's a good book. I was very pleased to see a different set of werewolf dynamics that followed the loose structure (Alphas, yo) but kept its werewolves different from those I'm already familiar with, like Carrie Vaughn's and Kelley Armstrong's.

So, if you're a fan of the weres, but worry that this book will be yet just another in a string of nothing-specials, never fear. This is worth the read.

( Moon Called )

There's a total of .01% romance in this, so those of you who fear that most all urban fantasy must also have paranormal romance, never fear. This book is steeped in mystery and the supernatural, and there's only a spark of romance. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if that spark turned into a flame in later books.

And speaking of later books, I was quite tempted to make the 45 minute drive to Knoxville just to pick up the rest of the books in the series. I enjoyed this well enough to keep reading, and next time I'm in Knoxville, I'll pick up the rest. But for now, I'll just have to make due with the other unread urban fantasy sitting on my shelf, as well as the writer's block/procrastination books I need to finish.

Is it bad that even though I should be reading more of the latter books, I want to read urban fantasy instead? *whistles innocently*

Next up: Write. 10 Days to Overcome Writer's Block. Period. by Karen E. Peterson

IF I don't break down and snatch another urban fantasy off the shelf. The thought's tempting. Really, you have NO idea... :)

No, not mine, but since I know some of the people reading this like Miyazaki's films, I figured I'd post a link to 80 Miyazaki icons posted elsewhere on LJ.  

Jeg blir glad av pent vær og grønne trær og blomster og gode sommerlukter :)
I morgen vil jeg være ute hele dagen. Hva med dere?