2010 urban fantasy. Evie Scelan was a big part of what happened to the
previous magical rulers of Boston. Which means that everyone's looking
to her to see what she's going to do about the power vacuum that's
been left behind.
Unfortunately, that's mostly not what this book is about. (It's
the second of the trilogy.) That was the story that was clearly being
set up, as Evie becomes a target for all sorts of trouble, and tries
to help her friend who's putting together something like a magical
neighbourhood watch with a code of conduct.
"Sarah, just because there's a significant wacko contingent in the
undercurrent doesn't mean you need to have wacko representation."
But I fear any resolution is for volume three; this time it's about
taking a job from someone who is clearly keeping things back even more
than the usual dysfunctional adept, a frustrating character who has no
diegetic reason to keep silent about certain matters – but it would
make the book a lot shorter if she spoke up sooner.
What's missing, that made the previous book distinctive, is the feel
of Boston: if you changed the place names, this could take place in
any city with reasonably wild country not too far away. Book one made
its setting a character in its own right; here that's not the case any
more.
Still, the characterisation is rather better, starting with Evie
herself: she doesn't make all the connections, but the errors she
makes are consistent with who she is, and her individuality is much
more apparent here than before. There are some good scenes of action
(mostly chases both mundane and magical), and while one or two things
are a bit too obviously setup for the final volume there's a
satisfactory conclusion.
As far as the mythology goes, Ronald takes the interesting step of
including many of the variants of the Wild Hunt from different
cultures – and acknowledging this, and putting them together in a way
that makes sense. It's a very bold move, and one that succeeds
admirably.
I hope to read the next volume sooner than 2022. Recommended by Tim
Emrick.
Comments on this post are now closed. If you have particular grounds for adding a late comment, comment on a more recent post quoting the URL of this one.