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A review by kblincoln
California Bones by Greg Van Eekhout
4.0
I read Van Eekhout's Norse Code lo these many years ago and while I was entertained, wasn't hooked enough to follow up with later work.
For some reason California Bones caught my eye and I decided to give him another try. Glad I did!
Whether I've matured or Van Eekhout's writing has matured is a toss up. However, this book did get me hooked-- right from the start when Daniel Blackland's father forces him to drink melted Kraken spine on a Southern California (that's the Kingdom of Southern California) beach.
Osteomancy is what runs California-- magic derived from the excavated bones (kind of like dinosaurs in our world) of sphinxes, dragons, and smilodons. Only the bones are running out (can anyone say "peak oil") and now the Hierarch, the strongest osteomancer who rules Southern California, has decided to turn to other..ah...sources...of bone magic.
Daniel has been in hiding all these years after his parents met a terrible end. The thief master who took him in is calling in his chips-- he's got one, last heist for Daniel and his team to pull off. Rob the Hierarch's ossuary.
So this is a heist novel. Daniel and his team plan to steal items from an impregnable fortress (guarded by things like Hyakume eyes). But it's also a well-developed world with cool and usually consistent use of bone-magic. And Daniel is cool.
And van Eekhout even managed to slip in some political commentary about how humans use non-renewable resources. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but very sly.
Urban fantasy with adventure, bone-magic, and heist capers.
For some reason California Bones caught my eye and I decided to give him another try. Glad I did!
Whether I've matured or Van Eekhout's writing has matured is a toss up. However, this book did get me hooked-- right from the start when Daniel Blackland's father forces him to drink melted Kraken spine on a Southern California (that's the Kingdom of Southern California) beach.
Osteomancy is what runs California-- magic derived from the excavated bones (kind of like dinosaurs in our world) of sphinxes, dragons, and smilodons. Only the bones are running out (can anyone say "peak oil") and now the Hierarch, the strongest osteomancer who rules Southern California, has decided to turn to other..ah...sources...of bone magic.
Daniel has been in hiding all these years after his parents met a terrible end. The thief master who took him in is calling in his chips-- he's got one, last heist for Daniel and his team to pull off. Rob the Hierarch's ossuary.
So this is a heist novel. Daniel and his team plan to steal items from an impregnable fortress (guarded by things like Hyakume eyes). But it's also a well-developed world with cool and usually consistent use of bone-magic. And Daniel is cool.
And van Eekhout even managed to slip in some political commentary about how humans use non-renewable resources. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but very sly.
Urban fantasy with adventure, bone-magic, and heist capers.