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A review by trike
Bookburners by Margaret Dunlap, Max Gladstone, Brian Francis Slattery, Mur Lafferty
5.0
I'm a sucker for stories about secret histories and secret worlds hiding behind our mundane reality, so this was right in my wheelhouse. This tome about magic books and the Vatican team tasked to retrieve them is great fun from start to finish.
The fact that this was written by four different authors each taking turns in serial format and yet it hangs together in terms of tone and style is a kind of magic all its own. After a while I could kind of see slightly different styles here and there (Lafferty's comma-spliced compound sentences, Gladstone's syncopation) but the vast majority's melds so astoundingly well that the seams are virtually invisible.
This is a long-running idea used before: John Steakley's [b:Vampire$|843588|Vampire$|John Steakley|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1309212607s/843588.jpg|98664] hinted at other groups hunting different supernatural critters, the tales of modern Templar knight Peter Crossman and his kickass nun comrade by James D. Macdonald in [b:The Apocalypse Door|1277155|The Apocalypse Door|James D. Macdonald|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1312018241s/1277155.jpg|1266132] used this idea offscreen, and, more recently, the TV series Supernatural adding a new international secret society of monster hunters called The Men of Letters has revitalized that show. And, of course, the Watchers who pulled strings (mostly) behind the scenes in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
But now we finally have a terrific, pure version of the concept, complete with cool characters, smashing action, holy crosses and unholy double-crosses, plus moral conundrums.
I really enjoyed how they set us up with the apparently typical Five Man Band situation and then subverted expectations. The Smart Guy (Liam Doyle) who is the computer hacker also happens to be handy in a fight, because he regularly spars with the River Tam "action girl" analogue (Grace), and so on. This also sports one of the smoothest integrations of the Audience Avatar (aka Audience Surrogate) into the secret world that I've seen in a while, when NYPD detective Sally Brooks gets swept into the demon-hunting world because her brother is into some shady shenanigans. She meets the team, led by a priest, and discovers there's some spooky shit going down. It flows like water.
There are twists and turns which feel natural, but best of all everyone is smart. I can't stress that part enough. The good guys are smart. The demons are smart. The bad guys are smart. The people in charge are smart. The hired help is smart. No one does something dumb just because the plot demands it.
People get caught unawares because they experience things beyond their comprehension or because they didn't have all the information, but once they acclimatize and adjust, it's full speed ahead.
Despite the 800 page length, this was also a fast read. Everything entertainment should be: smart, fast and fun.
The fact that this was written by four different authors each taking turns in serial format and yet it hangs together in terms of tone and style is a kind of magic all its own. After a while I could kind of see slightly different styles here and there (Lafferty's comma-spliced compound sentences, Gladstone's syncopation) but the vast majority's melds so astoundingly well that the seams are virtually invisible.
This is a long-running idea used before: John Steakley's [b:Vampire$|843588|Vampire$|John Steakley|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1309212607s/843588.jpg|98664] hinted at other groups hunting different supernatural critters, the tales of modern Templar knight Peter Crossman and his kickass nun comrade by James D. Macdonald in [b:The Apocalypse Door|1277155|The Apocalypse Door|James D. Macdonald|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1312018241s/1277155.jpg|1266132] used this idea offscreen, and, more recently, the TV series Supernatural adding a new international secret society of monster hunters called The Men of Letters has revitalized that show. And, of course, the Watchers who pulled strings (mostly) behind the scenes in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
But now we finally have a terrific, pure version of the concept, complete with cool characters, smashing action, holy crosses and unholy double-crosses, plus moral conundrums.
I really enjoyed how they set us up with the apparently typical Five Man Band situation and then subverted expectations. The Smart Guy (Liam Doyle) who is the computer hacker also happens to be handy in a fight, because he regularly spars with the River Tam "action girl" analogue (Grace), and so on. This also sports one of the smoothest integrations of the Audience Avatar (aka Audience Surrogate) into the secret world that I've seen in a while, when NYPD detective Sally Brooks gets swept into the demon-hunting world because her brother is into some shady shenanigans. She meets the team, led by a priest, and discovers there's some spooky shit going down. It flows like water.
There are twists and turns which feel natural, but best of all everyone is smart. I can't stress that part enough. The good guys are smart. The demons are smart. The bad guys are smart. The people in charge are smart. The hired help is smart. No one does something dumb just because the plot demands it.
People get caught unawares because they experience things beyond their comprehension or because they didn't have all the information, but once they acclimatize and adjust, it's full speed ahead.
Despite the 800 page length, this was also a fast read. Everything entertainment should be: smart, fast and fun.