Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of Broken Magic
Publisher: Roc
Date of Publication: November 5, 2013
Mogsy's Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars - "Action-filled and suspenseful start to a new spinoff series set in the Allie Beckstrom universe. Looking forward to more!"
While it's true I've never read anything by Devon Monk before this,
her name had been on my reading list ever since her Age of Steam books
first caught my eye. I wasn't aware that she was working on something else, which explained my surprise when I saw that she had a first book of a new Urban
Fantasy series out this month. You know me, I can never pass up a chance
to read new UF! The fact that I'll also finally get to check out a book by Devon Monk was
also very exciting.
Hell Bent is the book in
question, starring the jaded Shamus "Shame" Flynn as the main
protagonist and narrator. Being a special kind of magic user called a
Breaker, Shame along with his Soul Complement Terric Conley have the
ability to "break" magic, channeling it in its full force. Thing is,
Shame's magic is Death and Terric's is Life, and both are constantly engaged in a struggle against their power, which can consume them if they're not careful. In Shame's case, he
has to remain control of himself at all times, lest his Death magic harms others
arround him.
In a world where the power of
magic has become so diminished, the Breakers immediately become targets when secrets behind their abilities leak out and become known to the government. A
group of Breakers, including Shame and Terric, choose to stay and fight
on home ground. But then, people with magic in their pasts start
disappearing and dying -- people close to Shame and his friends. Then,
beautiful and mysterious Dessa breezes into his life asking for help to
find her brother's killer, making Shame realize the extent of the threat
if the Breakers' secrets fall into the wrong hands.
Almost
right away, I had to do a double-take of the blurb on the cover, to
make sure I was indeed reading the first book of a new series. I had
that strange feeling of being dropped into the middle of a a situation, much
like walking into a theater fifteen minutes after the movie had already
started. The world of the book had an "established" feel to it already, as well
as a community of characters firmly set in place, described in a way that made me feel I should already know them. I did some research and
that was how I ultimately came to discover Devon Monk's other Urban
Fantasy series, the Allie Beckstrom books. I don't know how I managed to completely miss the boat on this series, because there are nine books all together and they were pretty popular, but I soon found out that Hell Bent is
actually the first book of a spinoff. Which explains a lot!
With
that mystery out of the way, I have to say that while those familiar
with Allie Beckstrom will probably find a lot more to be
excited about in this book, it was nevertheless a pretty fun ride for a
newcomer like me too. Yes, I felt a little lost at first, but that was
mostly due to my own compulsive desire to find out everything about the
world and the relationships between all the members of this tightly-knit
group of magic users (that is, nothing all that pertinent to
understanding the story). The details that were important, on the other
hand, were all there, so readers new to this world need not fear. If
you're anything like me, you might even feel the urge to pick up the Allie
Beckstrom novels. Indeed, my curiosity led me to add Magic to the Bone to my
reading list, because I was just too intrigued by all the mentions and
references to people and events in this previous series.
One
thing I wasn't too sure of about this book was how I felt about the
main character. I can tell Devon Monk is a talented writer from the way
she has crafted this indepth and fully fleshed-out personality for Shamus
Flynn. The problem is, that personality is a very caustic one. I'm used
to reading Urban Fantasy starring snarky characters, but Shame's brand
of snark was tinged with a little too much hostility for my tastes.
Right from the start, I could tell he has a massive chip on his
shoulder. Not that he doesn't have a good excuse, being Death Magic
incarnate and all, but at times his angst would reach levels I could barely
tolerate. It took me a while to warm up to him, when the story got going and the goodness in him
eventually made itself known. He also has an unconventional way of showing
that he cares, which actually won him points from me. Plus, I enjoyed his brutal
and no-nonsense methods of payback. For a character I downright disliked
at the beginning, he certainly has a way of turning things around and
making me change my mind.
The final point I
want to bring up involves the romance. Devon Monk did a fantastic job
building it up and carrying it out, making it emotionally impactful for the
reader. But for whatever reason, it just didn't work for me. Shame and
Dessa were great together, but the way their relationship was written and presented somehow gave me the feeling like it was shoehorned into the story to
make a point. It's definitely not a dealbreaker, but I do prefer it when a romance develops more
realistically between two characters, especially in this case when things happen
so quickly.
Despite being
slightly disappointed at how the story was left wide open for the next book (not all the loose ends were tied up nicely), I did enjoy
how this one ended. The climax was action-filled and suspenseful,
leaving me excited to find out what will happen next. Hell Bent did its job as a
good teaser and gave me a taste of what to expect, and I have a feeling
I'll probably like the second Broken Magic book even more. I can
definitely see Stone Cold in my future, not to mention the Allie
Beckstrom series as well!
3.5 of 5 stars
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Yeah I was sad to learn it was a spin off series.
ReplyDeleteYeah, even though you don't need to have read the other series to follow the story, I felt way out of my depth when it came to the world and magic.
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