Kate Griffin (2)Rezensionen

Like 3.5 stars. I know the book is about London, but Jesus, stop talking about London. Still cool though.

Brilliant book

Inexplicably long-winded. If you like heavily descriptive prose — so much so that the book is 524 pages long when it could have easily been half of that — you'll love A Madness of Angels.

And don't get me wrong. I thought the prose was essential in the nature of Matthew and the angel's personalities. Especially given the concept of urban magic and the important of everything around us.

But really, it dragged. It took me quite a while to finish this novel, but I was satisfied with the plot, characters, and ending well enough.

Even though Kate Griffin is writing this sequel series in the same universe as that of Matthew Swift (Midnight Mayor, electric blue angels, sorcerer of Londn) she tells a starkly different story within the magical confines of London through the medium of Sharon Li, shaman (in training). Unlike Swift, who is a lone wolf at heart, Li's shamanic nature urges her to seek out a tribe, creating eventially the self-help group (of sorts) for those of a magically afflicted nature. As expected with any support group, she is inundated with the strange, the almost, the trouble of London's magical community, which ends up being extremely effective as a means to the storytelling. Each strange and unique character provides somehting necessary to the story, whether it is the unwitting brute force of Gretel (a bridge troll with a penchant for takeout), the comedic sarcasm of Kevin (a germaphobic vampire), or the unexpected ralling point of Rhys (a hay-fever plagued almost-druid). Alongside Sharon this motel crew is tasked with finding the disappeared Lady of 4am (Greydawn), whose Dog is plaguing the city in revenge, and with taking on a green-driven wending who has learned to play on the money-driven nature of London's financiers. We have some interactions of the Midnight Mayor, because being within London and being another of the magically inclined he has unwittingly become part of Sharon's tribe, but it is undoubtedly Sharon's unique force of will that drives this story. I won't reveal the outcome, but let's just say that we're very much looking forward to the next book in the series (and feeling a touch sad that there are only two books...)

As if Griffin/Webb needed to do any better than with the astounding first novel in this series, but somehow she managed to one up herself in this second book in the story of Matthew Swift and the Electric Blue Angels. She delves ever deeper into the magic of London, this time focusing on the inate powers of the city itself and specifically the persona of the Midnight Mayor (and his accompanying dragons). For those of us who understand the allure and power of the world that lives hidden in the shadows that the daylight-blinded of humanity never notice the concept of a Midnight Mayor fits perfectly with urban magical lore, and is even more perfect in his/its role as the protector of one of the world's oldest and greatest cities. I don't think that we could have asked for a better sequel to a Madness of Angels (which had Matthew break with his roots), since this book firmly re-establishes his (and the angels') place in the reconfigured almost-sorcerer-free city of London with new responsibilities and new challenges.

It's rare that I read an entire series of books back to back; I spread them out to savour them, to keep from getting overwhelmed by too much of the same thing, and to make sure that I don't neglect the rest of my extensive reading list. But, the more that I read of Matthew Swift's London, the more I wanted of it - and now I'm finished the entire series (totalling around 1.5k pages) in less than 6 months. Griffin's magic-filled city is exactly the kind of urban fantasy that the world needs more of, since she constantly expands her characters' views of the world to pace the readers' exploration without varying from the central themes of the story. Matthew has grown a lot since the seminal book in this series - from rising from the dead to learning to live alongside the Electric Blue Angels, all while battling foes and forging new alliances. What astounds me about Matthew (and is not really surprising considering the author's penchant for wayward characters) is that even at the height of his power (both as the Midnight Mayor wielding the magics of the City of London and as the Angels set free to carry out a bloody vengeance) Matthew is still a very conflicted, but doing his best, kind of sorcerer. In my opinion, his story could go on for ages, but he seems to have come to terms with his greater responsibilities at the finale of this book, so we'll let him be for now! Come be we and be free; we be blue electric angels!

Kate Griffin takes our hero (though that's likely not how he would describe himself), Matthew Swift, on a more traditional adventure in this third book in his series as the host of the Electric Blue Angels, incumbent Midnight Mayor, and general saviour du jour of London. She introduces the idea of the Neon Court - a twist on the Seelie/Unseelie Court structure, with a reigning fey queen dubbed Lady Neon and a typical obsession with looks and glamour - alongside a more modern rival, the Tribe - a group who prides themselves on being the opposite of everything that the Court holds dear: the idea of being outcasts as manifest through bodily mutilations and general "ugliness" - who's most recent conflict stems from their mutual quest for a "chosen one." Like all things in the modern world, the concept of a "chosen one" is not as simple as in days of old; gods don't really make the calls anymore, and the general population has wisened up to the concept of divine intervention - both of which Matthew (in his infinite wisdom) rejected loudly from the outset, even as he set off in search of the child in an attempt to stop their impending war.

To complicate matters further, another antagonist is thrown into the mix - the horrifying manifestation of all the things in the darkness that humanity dare not speak of - and surprisingly it is Matthew's almost-constant companion Oda who is taken over by this magical concept. Her transformation into a magical being is seemingly the final straw in her damnation, but Matthew's keen observation that someone else is pulling the strings in both her downfall and that of the chosen one is right on target. It doesn't quite surprise me that Griffin made the Order (and its rather smarmy leader) the brains behind both issues, since he was showing signs of questionable doings from the very outset. Or maybe I just have a healthy scepticism of fundamentalist religious orders, and assume that at some point all of them will pervert the message of belief into one of "one belief, and our belief only" with a quick translation into violence as a means of persueding people to their cause.

Before I get into an actual review of this novel, let me just express how annoyed I am about authors using pseudonyms, and then not telling their readers. I read Catherine Webb's first novels and absolutely loved them, but up until now had been living under the impression that she had disappeared into the ether and never written anything else. Seriously. Thankfully, some algorhythm on Goodreads was doing its job because I was recommended this book anyways.

I'm seriously glad that I did decide to finally read this book (after putting it on my list, and then letting it sit there for a few years, whoops), because this author writes urban fantasy exactly how I like it. Fantastic characters, led by the sorcerer Matthew Swift, traipse around London on a journey to discover who (and why) brought Matthew back from the dead and to defeat the reigning Tower. Swift is such an amusing character on his own (we get a sense of his own self, which is highly distrustful and kind of random), but he becomes even more intriguing when readers realize that he isn't just back from the dead - he contains within himself the Electric Blue Angels, a being/beings of some indeterminate power brought to life by the emotion invested by humanity in the phone lines. This being - only one of the many that Griffin/Webb introduces, along with a myriad of human magic wielders - is case and point of her understanding of the possibilities of urban magic. Like the forests have their dryads and treemen, the urban magical landscape has it's own native beings created as a result of the rampant growth of the urban world alongside humans.

I can't wait to read the next book in this series, since Matthew is sure to have even more at stake now that he has defeated his first foe and made himself (and the Electric Blue Angels) known to the wider magical community. Will he go back to teaching magic in the greatest traditions of sorcery and form new allies, or will he continue the alliance with the Whites? Either way he'll eventually have to face the anti-magic consortium (if not the ascerbic Oda).

This one was a little harder to get into for me than the Matthew Swift books, but I promise it's worth the effort!

Brilliant. Original, detailed and gripping. A pleasure to read. As much of a love of for London as Ben Aaronvitch's series with a large extra helping of magic.

I had a few issues with the description of Chapel Market and the RBS building would never have graffiti on it and there are no benches on the bit of the Reagents Canal where he sat talking to foxes, and if youre heading to Piccadilly in a rush from Charing Cross there are quicker ways to go than via Leicester Square. But other than that... :p

I picked this up on a semi-whim and largely because it’s an accidental life goal to read every urban fantasy set in London ever. It was pretty good overall and if Griffin hadn’t made a few character choices that had me sighing loudly, I’d be continuing with the series. It’s light but creepy, keeping whimsy and humour well-balanced with darker stuff, which is what I’ve come to think of as the “good London UF vibe.” Think Neverwhere with a touch of Strange Practice.

Griffin’s a good writer on multiple levels. She does some really neat things here with points of view and chapter structures, and has that arch British tone I love so much. She’s also really good at character voice, getting the London sound right, and I loved the cast of oddballs she created, who have attributes you don’t often see and which are at odds with themselves. A troll who likes Thai food. A druid with allergies. That sort of thing. Just about everyone’s sweet and adorable while still being rounded or relatable, and even the bad guys are kind of overblown and silly. And there’s a good bit of casual racial diversity too.

As for plot: it felt fresh and reasonably original and went to expected places through unexpected means. There was a bit too much harping on certain topics, some of which I’ll touch on in a second, which slowed things down for me, but overall, that gets a decent thumbs-up too.

But. Well. I get that this is a slightly older book and awareness of diversity issues wasn’t as much of a thing as it is now, but still, I feel like Griffin could have made different choices. There’s a variant of that “anonymous pair of hitmen who finish each others’ creepy sentences” trope, slightly played for laughs like everything else, except that they keep naming female body parts and male sex acts. She wanted a scary but unusual villain, so chose something First Nations and then changed core aspects until it was basically just a demon. (She did this with banshees too.) There’s a vampire who’s health-conscious to the point of germophobia and everyone calls him OCD.

As red flags go, none of those are horrible, I know, but they still made me annoyed with the story and lowered my enjoyment enough that I can’t rec it. It’s another of my “wish it had been better” reads, because, like I said, so much of the book hit the spot for me. And yet….

Warnings: Sex-based slurs and casual misogyny doing double duty as creepy and funny. A non-Native wendigo and a non-Irish banshee. Conflation of germophobia with OCD.

5.5/10 (was a 7 before the warnings kicked in)½

There were a couple of things I liked about this book – the shifting dual identity of the protagonist, with changing pronouns, was intriguing and inspiring for my own writing. The descriptions of magical London were lovely too.

But the problem here is that I didn't like any of the characters. Not a one. I felt no emotional connection to the protagonist, I didn't care about any of the betrayals or character deaths. I think the problem is that he starts the story with no living friends at all, with the possible exception of Dana Mikeda, and she doesn't show up until the end. It's hard to feel anything for a character who has no meaningful connections to other people.

Hugely enjoyable. Really fun. Though part of that may have been my reading it as a strage, "London Above" continuation of Gaiman's 'Neverwhere.'

I'm looking forward to the next volumes.

Well, crap. I loved A Madness of Angels and both the Magicals Anonymous books. But this one is just pain danger and fear and a generousness of dislike in all characters. I’m half way through and may abandon it if it doesn’t improve.

Finished it and will attempt book 3, but getting impatient with the dense negative story.

Fuck yeah, Sharon Li.

Hats off for a heroine in an urban fantasy who's genuinely dealing with all the crap of being a little (just a little) left of centre as a young city woman, with the friends and the lack of job and the lack of guy and crazy shit happening but like hell is she going to be belitted, condescended at or led around by the nose. Hats off for a heroine who isn't white-as-white-can-be, who doesn't kick arse so much as shoulder into her powers and rearrange reality, who doesn't have a big, burly, swoony love interest (love ya, Rhys), and who is so very, very real.

Because Sharon is so down-to-earth and dealing with the unbelievable, this has a more comedic, light-hearted touch than the adventures of Matthew Swift (though, note, the Midnight Mayor is a recurring support character, and it's delightful to see him from other points of view). There are certainly Pratchettarian overtones. But it retains that "this is soul-charringly serious, mum" element that gives Kate Griffin's work such satisfying weight and resonance. I found the combination not quite as delicious as I do Matthew Swift alone, but still highly entertaining and very nicely put together.

I enjoyed this second outing from Sharon Li and Magicals Anonymous even more than Stray Souls - as is often the case when characters and concepts don't need to worry about introduction and can just (at the risk of sounding rather a lot like Sharon herself) be.

Also, there's lots of Kelly Shiring and I dig her the mostest.

But, to get back to the point: I felt like this one managed a finer, sharper, more serrated edge to the still somewhat fluffier approach of Sharon; the final scene puts a ringing capstone on this impression, and left me going, "Yes. YES. like THAT." Still Pratchettarian around the edges, but it's Pratchett at his most canny and ruthless, and really, there is no bad there. No bad at all.

(Logistically, I'm not sure about some aspects of the finale, but dramatically it's majestic, so all good.)

From a slowish start (for Ms Griffin - it didn't really grab me like her others have) this built itself up into something huge and deeply involving. Matthew Swift never gets to sit pretty, but I think she's done a particularly magnificent and touching job of putting him through the wringer this time, and his supporting cast of awesome women is extra-special varied and delightful this time around. All the usual snigger-out-loud moments, and all the expected poignant and desperate notes.

But I am so sad that now I have no more Matthew Swift to read.

Just wonderful. Ms Griffin was in magnificent form with this volume of Matthew Swift's adventures, her prose sparkling, the characters vivid, the rising menace genuinely terrifying and delivered with effective implacability.

(And I think, of all the amazing facets of Swift, the biggest shard of genius in his construction is Dana Mikeda.)

Splendid. Perhaps not as "my mind! it just went out my EARS!" as [b:A Madness of Angels|6186355|A Madness of Angels (Matthew Swift #1)|Kate Griffin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1305861910s/6186355.jpg|6366640], but perhaps that is only because I'm now familiar with Ms Griffin's lush and grimy style and Matthew Swift's on-the-fly panache; neither are any less joyous, but they are not as sparkling-new. There is no disappointment, only proper old-school wonder.

I loved this book.

My (library) copy has a soundbite quote calling it "Neverwhere for the digital age" but that's not it at all, frankly; it's Constantine for the digital age. It's gritty street-sorcery that isn't so much making-do as it's the understanding that this is magic. It's beautiful and it's poetic but it's all of these things in wry, urban, working style, and that's what makes it perfect.

The start is a little full-on, inasmuch as it pushes you in at the deep end of some magnificent stylistic choices that are handled with enviable deftness to really elevate the story into something solid. It has abundant witticisms and deep, serious character and wonderful layers of complexity.

It is magic. It just is.

I really, really want to like this book. But I don't. The author provides lush descriptions that engage all five senses, loving in detail.... in the middle of action scenes. Repeatedly within a single action scene, in fact. While I love lush language, there comes a time to back off and tell the damn story or lose the feeling of immediacy and danger that the descriptions were meant to inspire.

Applying a sympathetic magic system to an urban environment was interesting. The relationship between Matthew Swift and the angels of the wires was intriguing -- more so as Matthew recovered his own separate personality as the book unfolded. But the heavily-descriptive style prevented me from getting any traction in the story. If it hadn't been a book club pick, I probably would have given up on it.

You can read my review of the book here: http://www.thegenretraveler.com/fantasy/travel-reads-the-midnight-mayor/

*difficult* to read though... so hard.

One of those books I thought I'd really like. Couldn't get into the writing style and characters at all, sadly. May try again someday.

Nancy Pearl'd it. After about 100 pages, I just couldn't find any reason to continue reading this.