Book Review – Strange Magic by James A. Hunter (This didn’t go down well )

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Book Review from Hybrid Creature

 

23944302 Strange Magic (Yancy Lazarus #1) by James A. Hunter 

Yancy Lazarus is having a bad day: there’s a bullet lodged in his butt cheek, his face looks like the site of a demolition derby, and he’s been saran-wrapped to a banquet table. He never should have answered the phone. Stupid bleeding heart—helping others in his circles is a good way to get dead.

Just ask the gang members ripped to pieces by some kind of demonic nightmare in LA. As a favor to a friend, Yancy agrees to take a little looksee into the massacre and boom, he’s stuck in a turf war between two rival gangs, which both think he’s pinch-hitting for the other side. Oh, and there’s also a secretive ass-hat with some mean ol’ magical chops and a small army of hyena-faced, body- snatching baddies. It might be time to seriously reconsider some of his life choices.

Yancy is a bluesman, a rambler, a gambler, but not much more. Sure, he can do a little magic—maybe even more than just a little magic—but he knows enough to keep his head down and stay clear of freaky-deaky hoodoo like this business in LA. Somehow though, he’s been set up to take a real bad fall—the kind of very permanent fall that leaves a guy with a toe tag. Unless, of course, he can find out who is responsible for the gangland murders, make peace in the midst of the gang feud, and take out said magical ass-hat before he hexes Yancy into an early retirement. Easy right? Stupid. Bleeding. Heart.

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DNF @ 21%

This reads like a noir novel with 70’s lingo and shoddy world building. Those are the good points of this book, what I read of it anyway.

The main character is a ramblin’, gamblin’, mage in an el Camino with a magic system that is just there. That’s right, the magic is just conveniently interwoven with no real descriptions of just what the fuck it accomplishes. It just filters naturally through mages and gives them numerous benefits and no one knows why that is. It may be the lamest description of magic that I’ve ever read.

Fun4freak:

But of course, because he can access magic, he’s the ultimate bad ass. He can wield said magic like it’s no one’s business. He is all powerful and whines a fucking lot. Nothing about him is even remotely interesting. Which leads to the problem with the plot line…

Why do I give two flying fucks that someone is out to get this asshole? Kill him already and give me a new character with some actual substance.

Side note: feels like a Dresden files rip off.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (Members Review by J. Audrey Hammer)

On By KirstyIn Book Reviews2 Comments

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king’s council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her … but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead … quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined. Continue reading “Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (Members Review by J. Audrey Hammer)” →