*This title will be released on December 7th*
| Title: Right Hand Magic Paperback: 304 pages
Review Copy Source: Publisher |  |
Book Description
Like most Manhattanites, aspiring artist Tate can't resist a good rental deal-even if it's in the city's strangest neighborhood, Golgotham, where for centuries werewolves, centaurs, and countless other creatures have roamed the streets.
Her new landlord is a sorcerer name Hexe, who is determined to build his reputation without using dark, left-hand magic. As Tate is drawn into Hexe's fascinating world, they both find that the right hand does not always know what the left hand is doing-and avoiding darkness is no easy trick...
Review
Whenever a series is named after its location, I expect that location to be as much a character as the protagonist. And the new Golgotham urban fantasy series delivers. The fictitious New York city of Golgotham is a strange and wonderful place populated by centaur cabbies, Amazon bikers, and warlocks for hire. I loved everything about Golgotham, if only the rest of the book had been as good as its setting.
Most urban fantasy titles fall into two camps: open world (the supernatural elements are common knowledge) or closed world (most of the population has no clue that supernatural creatures exist). In RIGHT HAND MAGIC we get the best of both worlds. Magic and supernatural beings are openly known to exist, but they are essentially segregated from the main population. Humans, or numps as they are derogatorily referred to, are largely ignorant of magical culture and what is and isn’t possible. When Tate moves to Golgotham she’s as clueless about her new surroundings as we are. She has to learn everything, but gets to avoid those often tedious ‘I can’t believe this is real’ passages that often drag down other books.
For a book with a gritty and immersive world as Golgotham, I found the writing, specifically the dialogue, to be lacking. I’d be reading about some very cool underground were fight club, and someone would say something so redundant or over the top maniacal that I got completely pulled out of the scene.
Weak dialogue aside, I did like the character of Tate and her romantic interest Hexe. The romance isn’t overpowering and does build credibly (none of that instant love at first sight). Even the supporting characters including a teenage werecougar and a demon/cat familiar were entertaining comic relief. The real selling point of RIGHT HAND MAGIC is Golgotham, and it’s strong enough that I’ll be checking out the sequels LEFT HAND MAGIC followed by MAGIC AND LOSS sometime next year.
Sexual Content: A brief, non graphic sex scene.
My Rating:
3/5
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.
Click HERE to read an excerpt from RIGHT HAND MAGIC
Previous books in the series:
- N/A
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I've fancied reading this one for a while. I think I'll take your advice and have read an excerpt first.
ReplyDeleteSad to hear the writing was lackluster but I am very intrigued by the world!
ReplyDeleteThe Slowest Bookworm - The world does make up for the shortcomings IMO. I hope you'll check it out.
ReplyDeleteSmash Attack - The writing just isn't great, but it's far from terrible. Still a fun read.
Oh, I think I have seen this book in another book blog too.
ReplyDeleteIt seems pretty original and interesting!
Thanks for the review!
And I do like it when paranormal creatures are known to exist but the particulars of their existence is still obscure!
Kelly - Yep, I noticed popping up on a few other blogs too. And the world building is fantastic. You'll love that aspect of this book.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear this one is enjoyable. Really been looking foward to this one.
ReplyDeleteShera - It was a solid fun read. If you like the excerpt, you'll enjoy it too.
ReplyDelete