Over the past couple of years I have been making a point of
broadening my reading experience, departing from favorite authors to try
new folks, both big names and small press and indies. I confess, the
big names have mostly disappointed, but I have been pleasantly impressed
with a lot of small press books. They offer a cornucopia of stuff that
is off the beaten path of what the Big 6 New York houses are competing
with each other to publish. And that stuff is starting to all look the
same.
Magic, Mensa, and Mayhem by Karian L.
Fabian is a sly delight from Swimming Kangaroo Books, and winner of the
the 2010 INDIE award for fantasy. Get past the cheesy cover and you have
a fun, fast-moving tale told by a dragon, Vern. Vern is a private
investigator paired with a nun, both of whom work for the Faerie
Catholic Church, though in Vern's case, he was dragooned into it by St.
George. He has neither all of his size nor all of the powers he was
created with, having to earn them back through good works over the
centuries. For an immortal dragon, this is a drag, but Vern bears up
well. He is cynical, a punster, and suffers fools not at all. This makes
him delightfully blunt, a character I can truly get behind.
In
this adventure (there are several Vern books and stories), the bishop
sends our duo to Florida to keep an eye on the magical folk who have
been invited to attend a Mensa convention along with a bunch of wary
mortals. There is, of course, an accompanying mystery for Vern and Grace
to solve, though not a strong one. Mostly Vern spends his time dealing
with magical incidents caused by his fellow attendees: pixie pranks and
the like, while pursuing the uber-clean trail left by brownies rampaging
through the guest rooms and trying to figure out what the elves are up
to. Fabian's imagination in this regard set me laughing on several
occasions. She is very good at taking existing mythology and making it
her own.
She also manages to work in a plausible set of
problems related to the intersection of Faerie and the "real" world of
mortals, and what happens when magic and technology mix in worlds that
have never known the other. Ordinary stuff becomes dangerous; the
dangerous becomes a trap for the ignorant. I especially liked poor Vern
dealing with the obnoxious tourists who thought he was a coin-operated
kiddie ride. The underlying plot involving a get-rich scheme in Faerie
has appropriate side effects and drawbacks. I could wish this plot
thread had been brought out more strongly throughout, as it seems to
just appear toward the second half of the book and does not really drive
the action.
However, that is my biggest quibble. If
you are looking for New York Deep Meaning and polished phrasing, keep
looking. This is straightforward, fast storytelling, aimed at laughs
that it gets, and does not purport to be anything else. I like that!
Fabian's style is eminently readable, and her world is sufficiently
different, as is Vern, to offer something to even the most jaded dragon
aficionado. She has solid foundations for many tales to come, and I
intend to read them.
I recommend Magic, Mensa, and Mayhem to
anyone looking for a light read and some laugh-out-loud moments with an
offbeat character. A great book for a dreary winter afternoon.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Sci Fi as the Great Equalizer
Today I welcome Anne E. Johnson to my blog, a wonderful writer with a fresh perspective. Here is what she has to say on how science fiction can help us examine the troubling, perennial problem of prejudice:
I was raised to believe―really, truly believe―that all
people are created equal. That preconceptions about gender, age, creed, race,
or sexual orientation are artificial and simply don’t matter. And I also
believe that people can learn, over time, to see the world this way.
When I started to write my first sci-fi novel, Green Light Delivery, I approached it
from that standpoint. On the whole, males and females work together equally. (I
call them men and women in the novel, although it’s a non-human world.)
All the different species in my fantastical world get
along with each other. Of course, individuals don’t all necessarily adore or
even respect each other (where would the conflict be if they did?), but species
co-exist in peace and equality. All sexual orientations and sexual identities
are accepted without prejudice.
Now, I fully acknowledge that prejudice is a complicated
thing, and a world without it is probably unrealistic. Therefore, I allow some
of my characters to have preconceived expectations about people different from
themselves. And, maybe even more importantly, I allow my characters to doubt
themselves. After all, much of the bigotry and bullying in the real world is
tolerated or even allowed to flourish because people don’t stand up for
themselves and declare it unacceptable.
Webrid, the main character in Green Light Delivery (and its upcoming sequel, Blue Diamond Delivery) is a species called a Yeril. He’s large and
hairy and works pushing a handcart around the city, making deliveries or
selling wares on consignment. His mother did that, and so did his grandmother.
It comes up often in his dialog and thought that he considers Yerils
unintelligent and unambitious. When, a few times in Green Light Delivery, he learns about Yerils who have excelled in
intellectual fields or traveled far and wide, he has a lot of trouble believing
it.
But he learns. By the end, he realizes that, while he may
not be the brainy type, and he really would just prefer to stay home with a
bowl of his favorite booze, there are people who look just like him who are
ambitious to a fault.
Anne
E. Johnson, based in Brooklyn, writes in a variety of genres for both
adults and children. Her short
fiction has appeared in Drunk Monkeys,
Shelter of Daylight, The Future Fire, and elsewhere. Her science fiction
novel Green Light Delivery was
published in 2012 by Candlemark & Gleam. Its sequel, Blue Diamond Delivery, will be released in June, 2013. Anne also
writes novels for tweens. Learn more on her website, http://anneejohnson.com.
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