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Mar. 15th, 2009
Spiral Hunt by Margaret Ronald
Mar. 15th, 2009 07:03 pmSpiral Hunt is a brand new 2009 entry into the urban fantasy field. Even the cover is different from the usual leather clad, weapon-totin', tattooed monster fighting chicklet on just about every other cover I see on the book shelves. Score one.
See? See? It's an Irish green, framing Boston (more on that) on the top of the cover, and the primary motif of the book below that, along with a hint of the main character (or is it?) in there, too.
Boston, as you can see from the cityscape seen across the Charles River, is a presence in Spiral Hunt. Evie, the protagonist, is a bicycle messenger, and spins her cycle to destinations all over the city. Boston, for those who don' t know it, is not that large, and very cyclable. It's big enough for several distinct neighborhoods, and those are mentioned by Evie as she finds herself going through them, or to them. It's a lot of fun for me, because I'm originally from the Boston area, and went to school in the Fenway across the street from the MFA and lived in Jamaica Plain (one of the areas Evie mentions). Unfortunately, Ronald doesn't give much *flavor* to the environs. If it weren't for the names and the knowledge of the locations, Evie Scelan could by bike messengering anywhere along the East Coast. I can see why a reader not familiar with Boston would be scratching their head and feel lost in Ronald's Boston.
The protagonist is Evie Scelan, a 29ish year old woman who earns her money riding a bike through Boston, but also by Finding things. She is even listed in the phone book as Finder. She finds misplaced cookbooks, lost dogs, lost children (tragically, sometimes), anything the owners want, she can literally sniff it out--though not exactly like a dog would, in a very similiar fashion. It's unique in the UF field for this sort of "power" of supersmell to be used, but Ronald makes good use of Irish myth and legend in the rationale for Evie's talent--which even she doesn't know exactly how it works, or what she's truly capable of.
There are plenty of women in Ronald's book. There's Rena Santestaban, a police detective and friend, and Sarah, a Wiccan who owns a magic shop (in Brookline, was it?) with some genuine magic objects in it. And then there's Katie, a little girl who's much older brother, Nathan, is interested in Evie, but not overpoweringly so. Lots of conversations that pass the Bechdel test.
Evie's adventure starts off with a strange phone call from an old boyfriend who also had magical talent. But she hasn't seen him in fifteen years, and has no idea what's going on. Shortly after, we begin to find out about the undercurrent, Boston's local magic presence and culture. So far, no elves, no fairies, no little people or leprechauns (yay!). Instead, bodies start showing up, from the past and the present, with odd lines carved or drawn into their skin and flesh. And now, Evie's friends and acquaintances are slowly being eliminated.
Worth the read--at least, it was for me, it was like a trip home, sort of. Unlike Rob Thurman going overboard with minute metaphoric descriptions of every little thing in Cal Leandros' voice in Nightlife, Margaret Ronald goes completely in the other direction, making her setting and characters, although alive, not *living*. It's dry with the absence of sensory inputs other than Evie's magical sense of smell. It took me a long time to figure out what seemed missing, and I think that's what it is. The plotting is okay, and the story is fine, and the characters have a lot of promise. There's simply a lack of emotional connection in there for me, and I *love* Boston. I don't ask for purple prose, and I don't ask for too much description; but I do enjoy being able to feel like I'm right there in the book with the characters, It didn't quite happen for me.
It's the first in a projected series based on Evie Scelan, and I'm looking forward to them. I just hope Ronald is able to 'warm' the story up a bit and make me feel I'm back in Beantown.
See? See? It's an Irish green, framing Boston (more on that) on the top of the cover, and the primary motif of the book below that, along with a hint of the main character (or is it?) in there, too.Boston, as you can see from the cityscape seen across the Charles River, is a presence in Spiral Hunt. Evie, the protagonist, is a bicycle messenger, and spins her cycle to destinations all over the city. Boston, for those who don' t know it, is not that large, and very cyclable. It's big enough for several distinct neighborhoods, and those are mentioned by Evie as she finds herself going through them, or to them. It's a lot of fun for me, because I'm originally from the Boston area, and went to school in the Fenway across the street from the MFA and lived in Jamaica Plain (one of the areas Evie mentions). Unfortunately, Ronald doesn't give much *flavor* to the environs. If it weren't for the names and the knowledge of the locations, Evie Scelan could by bike messengering anywhere along the East Coast. I can see why a reader not familiar with Boston would be scratching their head and feel lost in Ronald's Boston.
The protagonist is Evie Scelan, a 29ish year old woman who earns her money riding a bike through Boston, but also by Finding things. She is even listed in the phone book as Finder. She finds misplaced cookbooks, lost dogs, lost children (tragically, sometimes), anything the owners want, she can literally sniff it out--though not exactly like a dog would, in a very similiar fashion. It's unique in the UF field for this sort of "power" of supersmell to be used, but Ronald makes good use of Irish myth and legend in the rationale for Evie's talent--which even she doesn't know exactly how it works, or what she's truly capable of.
There are plenty of women in Ronald's book. There's Rena Santestaban, a police detective and friend, and Sarah, a Wiccan who owns a magic shop (in Brookline, was it?) with some genuine magic objects in it. And then there's Katie, a little girl who's much older brother, Nathan, is interested in Evie, but not overpoweringly so. Lots of conversations that pass the Bechdel test.
Evie's adventure starts off with a strange phone call from an old boyfriend who also had magical talent. But she hasn't seen him in fifteen years, and has no idea what's going on. Shortly after, we begin to find out about the undercurrent, Boston's local magic presence and culture. So far, no elves, no fairies, no little people or leprechauns (yay!). Instead, bodies start showing up, from the past and the present, with odd lines carved or drawn into their skin and flesh. And now, Evie's friends and acquaintances are slowly being eliminated.
Worth the read--at least, it was for me, it was like a trip home, sort of. Unlike Rob Thurman going overboard with minute metaphoric descriptions of every little thing in Cal Leandros' voice in Nightlife, Margaret Ronald goes completely in the other direction, making her setting and characters, although alive, not *living*. It's dry with the absence of sensory inputs other than Evie's magical sense of smell. It took me a long time to figure out what seemed missing, and I think that's what it is. The plotting is okay, and the story is fine, and the characters have a lot of promise. There's simply a lack of emotional connection in there for me, and I *love* Boston. I don't ask for purple prose, and I don't ask for too much description; but I do enjoy being able to feel like I'm right there in the book with the characters, It didn't quite happen for me.
It's the first in a projected series based on Evie Scelan, and I'm looking forward to them. I just hope Ronald is able to 'warm' the story up a bit and make me feel I'm back in Beantown.