Frost Moon - reading_fox's review discussion thread
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1reading_fox
Frost Moon
My reviewis here copied below. All comments and discussion is welcome.
..................................
Remarkably enjoyable, more restrained than expected - which is excellent - with an inventive world, fun characters, and a consideration to enough (though not all) details. Very obviously the start of a series, it sets the scene well.
Dakota Frost is a skindancer - a tattooist of magical (and mundane) icons which imbued with power can take on a life of their own. A contact requests her to ink a control charm on a werewolf enabling him to keep his beast in check. Having a strict moral code, Dakota delays so that she can get the image checked out for unintended effects. What with one thing and another -giving some advise to local police, contacting the were-specialist and dealing with the consequences - a hectic couple of weeks ensue and full moon is drawing near before she gets the ok. Then Wulf can't be found, and so Dakota has to make some brave decisions ...
I loved the way the story just jumped in to an Atlanta comfortable with the existence of the edgeworld. No protracted explanations or outcries of false shock were needed. The otherworld exists, the mortal world does, and both are happy with the edgeworld and it's most prevalent existence in Little Five Points. (Just one typographical bug slipped through as the initials L5P, all the rest of the time it was spelt out). The beginning couple of chapters were a bit disjointed as one thing seemed to happen after another without any particular reason, but subsequent events tied it all together very nicely, I was impressed at how little got overlooked.
I liked Dakota as a character, and while she's obviously got a few personal skeletons in the closet to come out in later books, we got to see both her strengths and her weaknesses - no Mary Sue here. Her vulnerability after an attack was particularly well done. I wasn't totally convinced by her sexuality and ability to flirt with absolutely everyone she met. Initially I was concerned this was heading into the 'sex sells so stuff some in' paranormal romances of Hamilton and many others in the urban fantasy genre, but actually it was well handled with restraint and delicacy - something the author will have to maintain in later books. The issues of ethics and religion are likewise lightly and sensibly restrained. I wasn’t expecting them to have been mentioned at all, and there is a risk of them coming across somewhat preachy – especially Dakota’s bold statement “I am a Christian” when she doesn’t act like one. But these conflicts will hopefully rise to give interesting situations in later books.
The downsides: The age old problem of how a civilian can co-exist with the police. I just don't buy how friendly the police are with all the civilians in this book - or many others. Federal agent, Phillip, would keep personal and official lives separate, and transfer off the case if he couldn't. Ditto for the consequences of the finale, where the author has been fairly good at consequences throughout the book, here he lets the reader down. Other characters: Dakota has sole voice, which is my preferred style. However it does mean that other characters can come across a little thin, seldom with more than walk on parts. Frost Moon is fairly short - again a good thing - but it does leave the reader wondering about several of Dakota's companions, and her family especially her estranged dad. Hopefully more details will be revealed in later episodes.
Overall it’s good fun. Short, sharp and inventive, I was particularly impressed by the magic system. The fast pacing and clever world that is populated with a good mix of decent and untrustworthy people make it an entertaining read, setting up what promises to be many books of fun, and even the option of some real insight into the issues of dealing with the Other.
An excellant start to what could be a fascinating urban fantasy series - providing a few pitfalls are avoided. I'd particularly like to see some longrunning arch, rather than a concatenation of events. I'll be reading them to find out!
My reviewis here copied below. All comments and discussion is welcome.
..................................
Remarkably enjoyable, more restrained than expected - which is excellent - with an inventive world, fun characters, and a consideration to enough (though not all) details. Very obviously the start of a series, it sets the scene well.
Dakota Frost is a skindancer - a tattooist of magical (and mundane) icons which imbued with power can take on a life of their own. A contact requests her to ink a control charm on a werewolf enabling him to keep his beast in check. Having a strict moral code, Dakota delays so that she can get the image checked out for unintended effects. What with one thing and another -giving some advise to local police, contacting the were-specialist and dealing with the consequences - a hectic couple of weeks ensue and full moon is drawing near before she gets the ok. Then Wulf can't be found, and so Dakota has to make some brave decisions ...
I loved the way the story just jumped in to an Atlanta comfortable with the existence of the edgeworld. No protracted explanations or outcries of false shock were needed. The otherworld exists, the mortal world does, and both are happy with the edgeworld and it's most prevalent existence in Little Five Points. (Just one typographical bug slipped through as the initials L5P, all the rest of the time it was spelt out). The beginning couple of chapters were a bit disjointed as one thing seemed to happen after another without any particular reason, but subsequent events tied it all together very nicely, I was impressed at how little got overlooked.
I liked Dakota as a character, and while she's obviously got a few personal skeletons in the closet to come out in later books, we got to see both her strengths and her weaknesses - no Mary Sue here. Her vulnerability after an attack was particularly well done. I wasn't totally convinced by her sexuality and ability to flirt with absolutely everyone she met. Initially I was concerned this was heading into the 'sex sells so stuff some in' paranormal romances of Hamilton and many others in the urban fantasy genre, but actually it was well handled with restraint and delicacy - something the author will have to maintain in later books. The issues of ethics and religion are likewise lightly and sensibly restrained. I wasn’t expecting them to have been mentioned at all, and there is a risk of them coming across somewhat preachy – especially Dakota’s bold statement “I am a Christian” when she doesn’t act like one. But these conflicts will hopefully rise to give interesting situations in later books.
The downsides: The age old problem of how a civilian can co-exist with the police. I just don't buy how friendly the police are with all the civilians in this book - or many others. Federal agent, Phillip, would keep personal and official lives separate, and transfer off the case if he couldn't. Ditto for the consequences of the finale, where the author has been fairly good at consequences throughout the book, here he lets the reader down. Other characters: Dakota has sole voice, which is my preferred style. However it does mean that other characters can come across a little thin, seldom with more than walk on parts. Frost Moon is fairly short - again a good thing - but it does leave the reader wondering about several of Dakota's companions, and her family especially her estranged dad. Hopefully more details will be revealed in later episodes.
Overall it’s good fun. Short, sharp and inventive, I was particularly impressed by the magic system. The fast pacing and clever world that is populated with a good mix of decent and untrustworthy people make it an entertaining read, setting up what promises to be many books of fun, and even the option of some real insight into the issues of dealing with the Other.
An excellant start to what could be a fascinating urban fantasy series - providing a few pitfalls are avoided. I'd particularly like to see some longrunning arch, rather than a concatenation of events. I'll be reading them to find out!
