Strange Magic by James A. Hunter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
STRANGE MAGIC gives us the story of Yancy Lazarus, a wizard of some note who has fought in wars, gotten on a lot of bad sides, drinks and smokes, and manages to piss off some mafiosi types AND a touchy sorcerer. For me, there’s no way to read this without comparing Yancy to Harry Dresden. I’d say Yancy holds up his end pretty well, though I still have a preference for Harry.
If you’re a fan of the Dresden Files, you’ll probably like Yancy. There’s the same wise-cracking hero who doesn’t always know how to deal with what’s happening, but he tries to do what’s right anyway. YL is probably a little more morally grey than HD (at least the HD at the beginning of his series) and doesn’t seem to have the problems with tech that HD has. There’s also the same style of butt-kicking the bad guys (or the guys who are trying to deprive Yancy of his life), with lots of magic flying around. Yancy is a little rougher, there’s more violence and death, and some pretty yucky descriptions that will possibly haunt you for a few days.
I like the Dresden Files a lot, so since this book is so similar, I’m predisposed to like it too. I’m curious to see where the story goes, and while the setting is typical urban fantasy, the author has a lot of nice touches (the dragon-owned bar, the Ways, the baddies from non-Western mythology) to make it the world unique. Sometimes there’s a little too much focus on details (I don’t need to know the name of every gun) but the story moves along and wraps up the plot while leaving plenty of room for more from Yancy. Maybe in the next installment we’ll learn more about how Yancy got his powers.
Received as a free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.