a new review
Jul. 20th, 2004 09:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lagilmanhttp://thebestreviews.com/review22072
My only complaint is that they call Wren a cross between Buffy and Anita Blake, and neither of those characters were inspiration (am curious to see if anyone does get her source material). But they got two of the three media influences* on Sergei, so I won't gripe too much. Especially since they called the book "delightful... a magical treat."
Now, if I could only get a look from the SF/F reviewers....(or maybe not. I suspect Certain Purists will sneer).
*actually, both characters were based more on real people than media characters. But that's another game only close friends can play.
ETA: And another review, this time from the ContraCosta Times
• "Staying Dead" by Laura Anne Gilman (LUNA, $13.95, 352 pages)
Wren Valere is a retriever, and not the canine sort. She finds things that are missing, weird things like the bewitched cornerstone of a Manhattan office building that vanishes into thin air.
Wren's Manhattan is more interesting than the one most of us experience. To find the cornerstone, she enlists the aid of a mostly crazy mage, a furry demon who looks like the Abominable Snowman from the old "Rudolph" Christmas special, and her smooth and sexy business partner, Sergei. Along the way she encounters a powerful Council of Mages, assorted demons and magical Talents, a secret organization, and one very angry ghost.
"Staying Dead" is a contemporary urban fantasy mystery with romantic highlights. It's snarky and cynical, a little violent, broody and amusingly perceptive. It's also tough to put down. Gilman's got a winner here.
My only complaint is that they call Wren a cross between Buffy and Anita Blake, and neither of those characters were inspiration (am curious to see if anyone does get her source material). But they got two of the three media influences* on Sergei, so I won't gripe too much. Especially since they called the book "delightful... a magical treat."
Now, if I could only get a look from the SF/F reviewers....(or maybe not. I suspect Certain Purists will sneer).
*actually, both characters were based more on real people than media characters. But that's another game only close friends can play.
ETA: And another review, this time from the ContraCosta Times
• "Staying Dead" by Laura Anne Gilman (LUNA, $13.95, 352 pages)
Wren Valere is a retriever, and not the canine sort. She finds things that are missing, weird things like the bewitched cornerstone of a Manhattan office building that vanishes into thin air.
Wren's Manhattan is more interesting than the one most of us experience. To find the cornerstone, she enlists the aid of a mostly crazy mage, a furry demon who looks like the Abominable Snowman from the old "Rudolph" Christmas special, and her smooth and sexy business partner, Sergei. Along the way she encounters a powerful Council of Mages, assorted demons and magical Talents, a secret organization, and one very angry ghost.
"Staying Dead" is a contemporary urban fantasy mystery with romantic highlights. It's snarky and cynical, a little violent, broody and amusingly perceptive. It's also tough to put down. Gilman's got a winner here.
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 07:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 10:07 am (UTC)In fact, I pitched the book originally as "Remington Steele with a touch of To Catch a Thief. Only with magic."
no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 08:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 08:16 am (UTC)...and while I guess I can maybe see where they might be able to make the comparison, they're so not even close to either character. IMO.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 08:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 11:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 11:14 am (UTC)*grin*
no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 11:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 12:09 pm (UTC)Ahem. I just have this fondness for them.... (And of course they didn't guess Walter. No one expects an AD for the FBI. Kinda like the Spanish Inquisition)
*glee on your behalf*
no subject
Date: 2004-07-22 10:30 am (UTC)Only without the restraints and, uh, well. Ne'ermind.
*angelic smile, adjusting halo*
Whee!
Date: 2004-07-20 09:58 pm (UTC)Looking forward to--I added it to my Wish List!