Unshapely Things
My absolute favorite series right now is the Dresden Files, and I tend to compare any other urban fantasy type series to that. I was pleasantly surprised by this. I took me a while to get into it - I kept putting it aside to read something else, but around the 40% mark it hit me (yeah - I can be slow at times) - this is the closest to an actual detective story that I've read in a long time. Connor Grey, a druid who lost his powers (due to a crazed environmentalist elf, of all things), detects! He really does. I know other series feature private eyes with magical powers, and while their story does involve some sort of case, they tend to get sidetracked into, say, setting things on fire (Harry!) or saving the world (Harry!).
Grey, instead, follows clues, ponders the case, does the cyber equivalent of making 3x5 cards to trace who/what/where, all of that detecting work that usually happens behind the scenes in other UF series. I liked Connor Grey's character, although he developed slowly for me. He's refreshingly insightful in acknowledging what an ass he was pre-druidic-power-loss. I'm trying to put my finger on why Grey didn't captivate me as much as Harry Dresden, or Alex Verus, and I think it might be because of the stronger emphasis on detecting - maybe that created a distance between me and the characters.
The world building was all right but I do tend to forget just what rules apply to which world in all of these series - it's fun, though, because everyone has a slightly different take on fey creatures, and what can and cannot happen.
Overall I did enjoy this book and plan on reading further into the series to see how the world, and Grey, are fleshed out.
3
5
