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Magicals Anonymous #1
Stray Souls
'Don’t look back. It wants you to look back.’
London’s soul has gone missing. Lost? Kidnapped? Murdered? Nobody knows – but when Sharon Li unexpectedly discovers she’s a shaman, she is immediately called upon to use her newfound powers of oneness with the City to rescue it from a slow but inevitable demise.
The problem is, while everyone expects Sharon to have all the answers – from the Midnight Mayor to Sharon’s magically-challenged self-help group – she doesn’t have a clue where to start.
But with London’s soul missing and the Gate open, there are creatures loose that won’t wait for her to catch up before they go hunting.
Stray Souls is the first novel in the Magicals Anonymous series, set in the same fantastical London as the Matthew Swift novels.
London’s soul has gone missing. Lost? Kidnapped? Murdered? Nobody knows – but when Sharon Li unexpectedly discovers she’s a shaman, she is immediately called upon to use her newfound powers of oneness with the City to rescue it from a slow but inevitable demise.
The problem is, while everyone expects Sharon to have all the answers – from the Midnight Mayor to Sharon’s magically-challenged self-help group – she doesn’t have a clue where to start.
But with London’s soul missing and the Gate open, there are creatures loose that won’t wait for her to catch up before they go hunting.
Stray Souls is the first novel in the Magicals Anonymous series, set in the same fantastical London as the Matthew Swift novels.
465 pages, Paperback
First published October 25, 2012
96 people are currently reading
3898 people want to read
About the author
Kate Griffin
20 books829 followersKate Griffin is the pen name under which Catherine Webb writes fantasy novels for adults. She also uses the pen name Claire North.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 282 reviews
February 9, 2017
No doubt about it, Stray Souls was a fun, fast but dense read, an urban fantasy exploration rife with British and topical humor, mostly about the self-help movement. Which is, depending on your mood, either a strength or a weakness. Choose your timing accordingly.
Sharon is working as a coffee barista at a job she rather hates. She's been making do, sharing a flat with two roommates and reading self-help books for encouragement. Mantra of choice: "I am beautiful. I am wonderful. I have a secret." We meet her as she first rents St. Christopher Hall from the vicar, and then opens the inital meeting of Magicals Anonymous. We meet Rhys, an almost-druid with allergies; Kevin, the hypochondriac vampire (not that there's anything wrong with that); Sally, the banshee who needs to use a whiteboard for conversation (her voice drives humans insane); Mrs. Rafaat, who isn't at all magical but knows something is wrong with London; Chris, the non-confrontational exorcist; Jess who turns into a pigeons; Gretel, the gastronomic troll; and Mr. Roding, who seems to be aging fast enough to become one of his own necromantic subjects.
It turns out Mrs. Rafaat is spot on; spirits are disappearing in London. The Lady Greydawn is missing, and since her role in the city is to help maintain the division between seen and unseen, the gates to the unfriendlies are open. The Mayor of Midnight wants Sharon and Magicals Anonymous to find her and her over-large dog. To do so, Sharon will need to develop her shaman skills under the tutelage of a goblin (the world's second [or third] best shaman), and Magicals Anonymous members will need to face their individual barriers to take action.
Clearly, such a cast of characters is ripe for fun, even if it feels a little like "X-Men: Island of Misfit Toys." There are two problems with the misaligned alliance, one of which Griffin mostly avoids, and the other less successfully. First, when writing a semi-spoof, it's a challenge to maintain the balance of funny and tension, especially when your plot line involves evil and murder. For the most part, Griffin successfully balances the two, a rare feat in urban fantasy. A supernatural quad of hired killers and a wendingo in disguise prove frightening, with just a touch of comedic. Second, if care isn't taken to add character dimension, a composite cast risks becoming stereotypes, or even worse, single-note props. Rhys, Mr. Roding, Gretel and Sally turn out to be interesting people. Jess and Chris are less explored, mostly serving to round out the team, and Kevin becomes the one-note character. I was somewhat annoyed by Kevin's characterization at first, because it was clear Kevin was supposed to"be comfortable with his sexuality, even if the rest of the world wasn't," and really, it was such a stereotype. I became slightly less annoyed as the running joke was framed around vampires/blood, contagion and hypochondriacs, but then returned to annoyed because characterization never went beyond. Much like those skits in Monty Python--funny for the first three minutes, less funny at minute eight and a half.
Plot generally moved steadily, and largely avoided wandering off into too many side stories. However, it was sadly compromised by a multi-voiced narrative that included just about everyone in the cast, including murder victims and supernatural killers. The transitions were rough, especially at first, but I was accustomed to it by the end. While narrative switching does serve to help round out characters and perhaps add a little plot tension, it really needed to stick to fewer characters to be more effective and maintain congruity.
Writing style feels like Douglas Adams on a poetic day. Dialogue is frequently in monologue bursts sans punctuation, in keeping with the style of characters that are uncomfortable taking center of attention, even in their own lives. Then there are moments where poetic-like style intrudes, a voice focused on cadence rather than structure. It is especially used during magical or emotionally tense scenes, perhaps using form to capture nebulous feeling. I didn't particularly mind it, and think it's a useful technique to describe something as vague as magic or a feeling of disquiet. However, I mention it because it has the potential to drive both lovers of punctuation and concrete details batty. A sample passage, with spacing identical to the text:
"A single iron staircase let up to a fire escape whose door was drifting shut behind the man, and there was something here, something...
Missing.
...which she had no better name for.
She stood on the cracked concrete of the yard, and looked up at broken windows, at walls with crumbling mortar, where even the graffiti artists couldn't be bothered to paint. She saw the yellow lichen flaking off the bricks behind the stair, smelt raw sewage from a neglected gutter, saw purple buddleias sprouting from a crack in the wall.
Missing.
A thing missing here.
She put her hand on the stair rail and felt rust, sense the metal warp and hum beneath her step, thought she heard voices a long way off, and bit her lip and climbed."
Then there's the other side of Griffin's writing style, the phrasing that reminds me of Douglas Adams' lovely narrator voice with its matter-of-fact sarcasm/oddball metaphors. It must be the fabled British sense of humor, which I first encountered in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which, come to think of it, is likely why he's my reference point. At any rate, my first page marker went in on page 25 when I read:
"She threw herself upwards in a single motion, not so much an act of strength against gravity, as a moment of pure intimidation in which the forces of nature considered their adversary and decided it wasn't worth kicking up a fuss."
followed by a member summing up the strangeness in the city:
"'So... you're experiencing hollowness, emptiness, doubt, despair and a great sense of wrongness,' she clarified, 'but you can't exactly say what it is. Have you tried acupuncture?'"
But then there were moments of fine descriptive, atmospheric writing:
"There were shadows here trying to be seen, but afraid to go that final step and be perceived."
Then quickly back to the silly:
"'Nice? Nice? Magic ain't supposed to be nice. You want nice, go look after baby penguins at the zoo!'
As career advice went, Sharon had heard worse."
But silly often works. A confrontation with a Big Bad by phone using the verbage of self-help along with a modified 'pass-the-message' game had me laughing out loud. Pacing was strong enough that I didn't want to put the book down, despite the variety of voices chopping the story up into small chapters. Overall, it was a fun read, with re-read potential just to appreciate the wordplay and absurdities. I'll definitely check out the next in the series.
Re-read January, 2017. Even better than I thought the first time around.
Sharon is working as a coffee barista at a job she rather hates. She's been making do, sharing a flat with two roommates and reading self-help books for encouragement. Mantra of choice: "I am beautiful. I am wonderful. I have a secret." We meet her as she first rents St. Christopher Hall from the vicar, and then opens the inital meeting of Magicals Anonymous. We meet Rhys, an almost-druid with allergies; Kevin, the hypochondriac vampire (not that there's anything wrong with that); Sally, the banshee who needs to use a whiteboard for conversation (her voice drives humans insane); Mrs. Rafaat, who isn't at all magical but knows something is wrong with London; Chris, the non-confrontational exorcist; Jess who turns into a pigeons; Gretel, the gastronomic troll; and Mr. Roding, who seems to be aging fast enough to become one of his own necromantic subjects.
It turns out Mrs. Rafaat is spot on; spirits are disappearing in London. The Lady Greydawn is missing, and since her role in the city is to help maintain the division between seen and unseen, the gates to the unfriendlies are open. The Mayor of Midnight wants Sharon and Magicals Anonymous to find her and her over-large dog. To do so, Sharon will need to develop her shaman skills under the tutelage of a goblin (the world's second [or third] best shaman), and Magicals Anonymous members will need to face their individual barriers to take action.
Clearly, such a cast of characters is ripe for fun, even if it feels a little like "X-Men: Island of Misfit Toys." There are two problems with the misaligned alliance, one of which Griffin mostly avoids, and the other less successfully. First, when writing a semi-spoof, it's a challenge to maintain the balance of funny and tension, especially when your plot line involves evil and murder. For the most part, Griffin successfully balances the two, a rare feat in urban fantasy. A supernatural quad of hired killers and a wendingo in disguise prove frightening, with just a touch of comedic. Second, if care isn't taken to add character dimension, a composite cast risks becoming stereotypes, or even worse, single-note props. Rhys, Mr. Roding, Gretel and Sally turn out to be interesting people. Jess and Chris are less explored, mostly serving to round out the team, and Kevin becomes the one-note character. I was somewhat annoyed by Kevin's characterization at first, because it was clear Kevin was supposed to"be comfortable with his sexuality, even if the rest of the world wasn't," and really, it was such a stereotype. I became slightly less annoyed as the running joke was framed around vampires/blood, contagion and hypochondriacs, but then returned to annoyed because characterization never went beyond. Much like those skits in Monty Python--funny for the first three minutes, less funny at minute eight and a half.
Plot generally moved steadily, and largely avoided wandering off into too many side stories. However, it was sadly compromised by a multi-voiced narrative that included just about everyone in the cast, including murder victims and supernatural killers. The transitions were rough, especially at first, but I was accustomed to it by the end. While narrative switching does serve to help round out characters and perhaps add a little plot tension, it really needed to stick to fewer characters to be more effective and maintain congruity.
Writing style feels like Douglas Adams on a poetic day. Dialogue is frequently in monologue bursts sans punctuation, in keeping with the style of characters that are uncomfortable taking center of attention, even in their own lives. Then there are moments where poetic-like style intrudes, a voice focused on cadence rather than structure. It is especially used during magical or emotionally tense scenes, perhaps using form to capture nebulous feeling. I didn't particularly mind it, and think it's a useful technique to describe something as vague as magic or a feeling of disquiet. However, I mention it because it has the potential to drive both lovers of punctuation and concrete details batty. A sample passage, with spacing identical to the text:
"A single iron staircase let up to a fire escape whose door was drifting shut behind the man, and there was something here, something...
Missing.
...which she had no better name for.
She stood on the cracked concrete of the yard, and looked up at broken windows, at walls with crumbling mortar, where even the graffiti artists couldn't be bothered to paint. She saw the yellow lichen flaking off the bricks behind the stair, smelt raw sewage from a neglected gutter, saw purple buddleias sprouting from a crack in the wall.
Missing.
A thing missing here.
She put her hand on the stair rail and felt rust, sense the metal warp and hum beneath her step, thought she heard voices a long way off, and bit her lip and climbed."
Then there's the other side of Griffin's writing style, the phrasing that reminds me of Douglas Adams' lovely narrator voice with its matter-of-fact sarcasm/oddball metaphors. It must be the fabled British sense of humor, which I first encountered in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which, come to think of it, is likely why he's my reference point. At any rate, my first page marker went in on page 25 when I read:
"She threw herself upwards in a single motion, not so much an act of strength against gravity, as a moment of pure intimidation in which the forces of nature considered their adversary and decided it wasn't worth kicking up a fuss."
followed by a member summing up the strangeness in the city:
"'So... you're experiencing hollowness, emptiness, doubt, despair and a great sense of wrongness,' she clarified, 'but you can't exactly say what it is. Have you tried acupuncture?'"
But then there were moments of fine descriptive, atmospheric writing:
"There were shadows here trying to be seen, but afraid to go that final step and be perceived."
Then quickly back to the silly:
"'Nice? Nice? Magic ain't supposed to be nice. You want nice, go look after baby penguins at the zoo!'
As career advice went, Sharon had heard worse."
But silly often works. A confrontation with a Big Bad by phone using the verbage of self-help along with a modified 'pass-the-message' game had me laughing out loud. Pacing was strong enough that I didn't want to put the book down, despite the variety of voices chopping the story up into small chapters. Overall, it was a fun read, with re-read potential just to appreciate the wordplay and absurdities. I'll definitely check out the next in the series.
Re-read January, 2017. Even better than I thought the first time around.
October 8, 2016
☠ DNF at 45%
Oh crap. I'd completely forgotten I was reading this book. I seem to remember it was slightly boring in a cure-for-insomnia kind of way. Which is why I put it on hold to finish Seven Forges. Then Magic Binds happened. Then then, The Tower of Fear happened. Then then then, The Castle Doctrine happened. Then then then then, Full Metal Magic and Dirty Magic happened. And this, my Little Barnacles, is how this extraordinarily entertaining piece of literature escaped my usually fail-proof crustacean memory.
Strangely enough, now that I've remembered that I can't remember what the shrimp this little gem is about (apart from something that has to do with a silly self-help group for the magically challenge or something), I don't feel like reading it anymore. Weird. So I think I'll just put an end to this wonderfully fascinating masterpiece's misery, and send it for a extended stay over at the DNF graveyard. Oh come on, Kate Griffin, it's not that bad! Your book will love it there! I'm giving it the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bond with some of its most famous coma-inducing colleagues! You should feel really proud right now! Don't you realize the DNF Graveyard is only for the chosen few? A book has to be all kinds of special to be sent there! This is quite an honor, you know, and you should be thrilled! No? Damn. Authors nowadays. So hard to please.
Read
October 11, 2021Second read for this spin off series, lighter than the Matthew Swift books but using the same world very well. Funnier and more fast paced than I remembered with a delightful gang of magical creatures--allergic druid, decrepit necromancer, OCD vampire, pigeon shifter, and Sharon the Self Help Shaman. Huge fun.
March 27, 2022
Rhys, in blue dressing gown and borrowed pyjamas, leaned on Sharon's arm in the doorway and tried not to gape.
A goblin sat cross-legged on the kitchen table; he was licking the end of a tube of toothpaste with a foul grey tongue. The fridge door hung open, and a troll, in fact the most troll-like troll Thys had ever seen, was considering which cheese would serve best as the topping to her five-cheese lasagne. By the kitchen sink Kevin the vampire was unloading a fresh bag of anti-bacterial handcreams, while, from a pipe on the ceiling, Sally dangled, head buried in a copy of Van Gogh-Life and Times. A thump from the bathroom and an unmistakable smell heralded the arrival of a fifth - Mr Roding, who greeted Rhys as he swanned into the living room, trailing the odour of lavender and decaying flesh. Over the sound of the TV Rhys heard Edna exclaiming, "Good grief, and what did the gnome do next?" As his gaze returned to the kitchen, the certainty came to him that he wasn't dead, and this couldn't be hell, because even Lucifer couldn't have thought of it.
Kate Griffin could though, and YAY for the fact that she did, because her Matthew Swift series and this are some of my favourite books ever. Stray Souls was the book I found first, though I decided to start with Matthew Swift, and that turned out to be amazing. So hopes were high for this book, and finally getting to read it absolutely paid off.
It's a pivot from the Matthew Swift series, though he's very much still part of the proceedings, and focuses on Sharon Li, who discovers she's a shaman after she experiences a moment of revelation and begins to be able to walk through walls. So naturally, she starts a facebook group and organises support meetings, because invisibility and intangibility are one kind of super power - organisation, leading a group, and the gift of talking people to a standstill are another.
But the parts I love about Kate Griffin's writing are still there, and those glorious run-on descriptions of London still get me every single time. I really enjoyed characters who had more connections between them - much as I love Matthew, he's not a people person - and the heartstring-tugging was just as effective as it was meant to be. Loved this, love this series, absolutely going to continue.
A goblin sat cross-legged on the kitchen table; he was licking the end of a tube of toothpaste with a foul grey tongue. The fridge door hung open, and a troll, in fact the most troll-like troll Thys had ever seen, was considering which cheese would serve best as the topping to her five-cheese lasagne. By the kitchen sink Kevin the vampire was unloading a fresh bag of anti-bacterial handcreams, while, from a pipe on the ceiling, Sally dangled, head buried in a copy of Van Gogh-Life and Times. A thump from the bathroom and an unmistakable smell heralded the arrival of a fifth - Mr Roding, who greeted Rhys as he swanned into the living room, trailing the odour of lavender and decaying flesh. Over the sound of the TV Rhys heard Edna exclaiming, "Good grief, and what did the gnome do next?" As his gaze returned to the kitchen, the certainty came to him that he wasn't dead, and this couldn't be hell, because even Lucifer couldn't have thought of it.
Kate Griffin could though, and YAY for the fact that she did, because her Matthew Swift series and this are some of my favourite books ever. Stray Souls was the book I found first, though I decided to start with Matthew Swift, and that turned out to be amazing. So hopes were high for this book, and finally getting to read it absolutely paid off.
It's a pivot from the Matthew Swift series, though he's very much still part of the proceedings, and focuses on Sharon Li, who discovers she's a shaman after she experiences a moment of revelation and begins to be able to walk through walls. So naturally, she starts a facebook group and organises support meetings, because invisibility and intangibility are one kind of super power - organisation, leading a group, and the gift of talking people to a standstill are another.
But the parts I love about Kate Griffin's writing are still there, and those glorious run-on descriptions of London still get me every single time. I really enjoyed characters who had more connections between them - much as I love Matthew, he's not a people person - and the heartstring-tugging was just as effective as it was meant to be. Loved this, love this series, absolutely going to continue.
June 1, 2014
You can also read mine, and MLE's reviews on our blog.
This book kind of makes me sad. I love the Matthew Swift novels, and it looks like these are taking over, which sucks. I want Swift back. I mean Griffin can do both, I will understand switching back and forth between series.
Please.
So in saying that, this is why I gave this book four stars. I liked it, but I didn’t like it as much as the Matthew Swift series.
Sharon is not Swift.
Sharon (Hello Sharon) is a new age, walking self help book, which can be funny at times; did get a little wearing. I love her group Magical Anonymous, some more than others. I really loved Sally the art loving Banshee, Gretel the gourmet troll, and Kevin the OCD vampire with acute Mysophobia. These characters were fun, chock full of Griffins writing idiosyncrasies, her odd way of seeing things.
I also loved the running gags in this, Griffin is awesome with the running gags. I have been fond of them since The Great Muppet Caper (what color are their hand now), and there are two or three of them in this.
I also liked that you get another perspective on Swift, one where you are not in his head and you can see just how fallible he is. That he can't do everything, that he needs help sometimes, and that he is really not a people person.
I also liked the theory that every place has a soul, and that maybe the reason that no business can stay in business in certain buildings is because the soul is missing. We have a few buildings like that where I live, its a running joke to guess how long the new place is going to stay in business.
I digress, I really liked the melancholy ending with the big bad evil, the way Griffin made you think, and maybe feel just a little bit sad for him. Yes he was evil, but maybe there, just maybe there was a reason why.
Perhaps.
Just sayin'
This book kind of makes me sad. I love the Matthew Swift novels, and it looks like these are taking over, which sucks. I want Swift back. I mean Griffin can do both, I will understand switching back and forth between series.
Please.
So in saying that, this is why I gave this book four stars. I liked it, but I didn’t like it as much as the Matthew Swift series.
Sharon is not Swift.
Sharon (Hello Sharon) is a new age, walking self help book, which can be funny at times; did get a little wearing. I love her group Magical Anonymous, some more than others. I really loved Sally the art loving Banshee, Gretel the gourmet troll, and Kevin the OCD vampire with acute Mysophobia. These characters were fun, chock full of Griffins writing idiosyncrasies, her odd way of seeing things.
I also loved the running gags in this, Griffin is awesome with the running gags. I have been fond of them since The Great Muppet Caper (what color are their hand now), and there are two or three of them in this.
I also liked that you get another perspective on Swift, one where you are not in his head and you can see just how fallible he is. That he can't do everything, that he needs help sometimes, and that he is really not a people person.
I also liked the theory that every place has a soul, and that maybe the reason that no business can stay in business in certain buildings is because the soul is missing. We have a few buildings like that where I live, its a running joke to guess how long the new place is going to stay in business.
I digress, I really liked the melancholy ending with the big bad evil, the way Griffin made you think, and maybe feel just a little bit sad for him. Yes he was evil, but maybe there, just maybe there was a reason why.
Perhaps.
Just sayin'
April 27, 2014
As far as I am concerned Kate Griffin can do no wrong. I loved every word of her Matthew Swift novels and I was so happy to see him back in this new series and still playing a pivotal role. I hope the author intends to keep him there in future books. I could read Griffin's descriptions of London all day and never get bored. How does she know so much? Does she walk around the city herself for days on end to get her details correct and to soak up all that fantastic atmosphere? Can't wait to go and read the next book. Please keep them coming Ms Griffin and please do not lose Matthew!
December 24, 2013
**edit 12/23/13: I ended up doing a reread. I'm keeping the first-read review here, but you can find the updated review at http://pagefault.booklikes.com/post/7... .
In a sudden, overwhelming rush of light and noise and music and emotion and knowledge, Sharon Li becomes an urban shaman. And just like that, it's gone again. But Sharon Li isn't one to wait on the universe; as a yoga-deep-breathing, self-help-reading, blue-haired optimist, she decides to take her problems to the internet. She sets up a Facebook group ("Weird Shit Keeps Happening to me and I Don't Know Why But I Figure I Need Help,"), which quickly becomes the Magicals Anonymous self-help meeting. Once a week, misunderstood necromancers, art-loving banshees, hypochondriac vampires, gourmand trolls, and hay-fever-hindered druids gather in a circle of creaky folding chairs and introduce themselves to a chorus of "hello's", then tell their stories to a sympathetic, tea-drinking audience. But Sharon and her motley crew aren't left to talk out their problems in peace. Souls are being stolen from the city, the Midnight Mayor can do nothing, and only an urban shaman can bring back balance. It would be a lot easier if all those supernatural monsters weren't after her, though...
Hi, I'm Carly (Hello Carly) and I'm addicted to urban fantasy.
So, yeah, I know there are worse things I could be addicted to--Starbucks coffee habits take a bigger bite of your budget--but it's becoming a real problem. See, I crave the stuff with originality and creativity and whimsy and imagination, and they're increasingly hard to find. Fortunately, Kate Griffin is here to feed my habit with stories chock full of urban magic, toothpaste-chomping goblins, and ninja builders. The light-hearted, quirky character of the book is reflected in its structure. Its short chapters, which tell Sharon's story from the third-person perspective, are each emblazoned with a vapid self-help platitude ("One Door Closes, Another Opens", "Reflect But Do Not Dwell Upon the Past", etc). These are liberally interleaved with mini-chapters in which each character introduces him/herself in extremely colloquial first person. I really enjoyed the structure; it might be a bit gimmicky, but the choppy chapters do a wonderful job in tempering Griffin's rather elaborate stream-of-consciousness prose and are an excellent fit for the mood of the book. As someone who hears character voices in my head, I found that the conversational style and slang brought the characters to life.
One striking difference between Stray Souls and the Matthew Swift books, Griffin's previous series, is the overall tone. While the Matthew Swift books have a tendency towards earnest moralisation, Stray Souls is far lighter. Griffin doesn't try to leverage tragedies in the plot to delve into deeper moral issues, which I think provided a better fit for the eccentric characters and farcical scenes. Unlike the desperately unhappy Matthew Swift, Sharon Li is a very cheerful person, as she should be--she certainly works hard at it. Sharon is an inveterate self-actualiser; she practices deep breathing, repeats a catechism of self-encouragement to herself in times of trial, has a tendency towards evening classes and the self-help section of the library, and almost always attempts to be "nice." Most importantly to me, unlike the ever-isolated Matthew, Sharon is indeed a people person, and quickly collects a coterie of quirky sidekicks who may or may not be more trouble than they are worth; as she puts it,
The only major flaw, for me, was the characterisation Matthew Swift. Swift, the protagonist of the earlier series, has become an avatar of the city and is now too powerful, too static, and too inhuman to be the main protagonist. While I applaud Griffin's decision to change focus, I don't think she quite succeeded in relegating him to the background. To limit Swift's involvement, Griffin made him both impressively incompetent and irritatingly cryptic. If you compare his pathetic excuses with his comments in Midnight Mayor, his hands-off policy is horribly hypocritical. Although I understand the story's need for such contrivances, I found him frustratingly rude and inept and found my emotional investment from the previous books quickly dissolving. My sense of alienation was accentuated by Griffin's tendency to refer to him as "The Midnight Mayor" or "the sorcerer" rather than "Matthew" or even "Swift"; I am always rather startled by the dehumanising effect of withholding a name. This book takes place after the Matthew Swift series, and while I would initially have recommended Midnight Mayor as a prerequisite to even understand what is going on, I'm not sure anything will make Matthew comprehensible. (NOTE: if you choose to read this before the Matthew Swift books, Griffin doesn't provide recaps, so here are the Cliff Notes: Honestly, Matthew Swift comes off as an utter pillock, and now I'm dreading that the next few books will be Swift's journey from Annikin to Darth Vader--I can't quite believe that the personality switch is just the effects of seeing him via third person. Maybe I just like the angels better than Matthew. I admit that I greatly enjoyed his presence: Swift has an almost Miles-Vorkosigan-like tendency to "happen to" people and I found myself laughing at the other characters' varied reactions to him. One of my favourites:
All of the characters--including Matthew--fall somewhere on the scale between engaging and disturbing, and I warmed to almost all of them. Although some, like the hypochondriac vampire Kevin, were on the stereotyped side, I liked most of Sharon's gang, from Rhys the tech support druid to the gentle troll Gretel. Not all of the magical misfits are exactly pleasant people--the necromancer is a dubious character at best, and I found the surly goblin more irritating than entertaining--but their flaws serve to make them more interesting. I think the book's character mini-chapters proved to be a very effective way of (literally) giving each character a distinctive voice.As usual, I felt quite a bit of unwilling sympathy for the villains. I quite liked Sharon; outwardly rather ditsy, she is fiercely determined to "be the best she can be," which most definitely does not involve acting as a damsel in distress. Take her attitude on the subject of brow-mopping:
Yet again, the crazy antics creative worldbuilding plastered a smile on my face throughout. Although the book does have a few flaws, Griffin's fantastic imagination makes up for them. When I finished, I was wavering between 4.4 and 4.5, but the incident with the magical swarm of plastic bags flapping around like malignant jellyfish made up my mind: a 4.5 it is.
So, anyway, yeah, my name is Carly.
I'm naff at tea but I can brew a fair coffee.
So, um, I guess I was just wondering--can I join Magicals Anonymous?
I can bring the mugs.
Note: I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads promotional program.
In a sudden, overwhelming rush of light and noise and music and emotion and knowledge, Sharon Li becomes an urban shaman. And just like that, it's gone again. But Sharon Li isn't one to wait on the universe; as a yoga-deep-breathing, self-help-reading, blue-haired optimist, she decides to take her problems to the internet. She sets up a Facebook group ("Weird Shit Keeps Happening to me and I Don't Know Why But I Figure I Need Help,"), which quickly becomes the Magicals Anonymous self-help meeting. Once a week, misunderstood necromancers, art-loving banshees, hypochondriac vampires, gourmand trolls, and hay-fever-hindered druids gather in a circle of creaky folding chairs and introduce themselves to a chorus of "hello's", then tell their stories to a sympathetic, tea-drinking audience. But Sharon and her motley crew aren't left to talk out their problems in peace. Souls are being stolen from the city, the Midnight Mayor can do nothing, and only an urban shaman can bring back balance. It would be a lot easier if all those supernatural monsters weren't after her, though...
Hi, I'm Carly (Hello Carly) and I'm addicted to urban fantasy.
So, yeah, I know there are worse things I could be addicted to--Starbucks coffee habits take a bigger bite of your budget--but it's becoming a real problem. See, I crave the stuff with originality and creativity and whimsy and imagination, and they're increasingly hard to find. Fortunately, Kate Griffin is here to feed my habit with stories chock full of urban magic, toothpaste-chomping goblins, and ninja builders. The light-hearted, quirky character of the book is reflected in its structure. Its short chapters, which tell Sharon's story from the third-person perspective, are each emblazoned with a vapid self-help platitude ("One Door Closes, Another Opens", "Reflect But Do Not Dwell Upon the Past", etc). These are liberally interleaved with mini-chapters in which each character introduces him/herself in extremely colloquial first person. I really enjoyed the structure; it might be a bit gimmicky, but the choppy chapters do a wonderful job in tempering Griffin's rather elaborate stream-of-consciousness prose and are an excellent fit for the mood of the book. As someone who hears character voices in my head, I found that the conversational style and slang brought the characters to life.
One striking difference between Stray Souls and the Matthew Swift books, Griffin's previous series, is the overall tone. While the Matthew Swift books have a tendency towards earnest moralisation, Stray Souls is far lighter. Griffin doesn't try to leverage tragedies in the plot to delve into deeper moral issues, which I think provided a better fit for the eccentric characters and farcical scenes. Unlike the desperately unhappy Matthew Swift, Sharon Li is a very cheerful person, as she should be--she certainly works hard at it. Sharon is an inveterate self-actualiser; she practices deep breathing, repeats a catechism of self-encouragement to herself in times of trial, has a tendency towards evening classes and the self-help section of the library, and almost always attempts to be "nice." Most importantly to me, unlike the ever-isolated Matthew, Sharon is indeed a people person, and quickly collects a coterie of quirky sidekicks who may or may not be more trouble than they are worth; as she puts it,
"Along with a bleeding druid, a wailing vampire, a toothpaste-addicted goblin, a gourmet troll and a socially inhibited banshee, not to mention there's this confused sorcerer who is not as much use as he should be, plus there's a hundred pigeons to round up. And if that weren't enough, my social life is a mess, my job prospects are nil, and I haven't got a boyfriend."From a quick glance at the reviews, I seem to be in the minority in liking Stray Souls as much or more than the Matthew Swift books, and the difference of tone seems to be a major flaw for many readers. The book still involves a relentless killer stalking the streets, but for once, the adventure isn't littered with the bodies of dead comrades (dead yes, comrades no). As someone who dislikes reading books in which the characters that I have emotionally invested in die horrific deaths, if someone has to die, I strongly prefer redshirts. Personally, I think Griffin has hit her stride: the less intense human tragedy better matches the whimsicality and creativity of the world that she creates.
The only major flaw, for me, was the characterisation Matthew Swift. Swift, the protagonist of the earlier series, has become an avatar of the city and is now too powerful, too static, and too inhuman to be the main protagonist. While I applaud Griffin's decision to change focus, I don't think she quite succeeded in relegating him to the background. To limit Swift's involvement, Griffin made him both impressively incompetent and irritatingly cryptic. If you compare his pathetic excuses with his comments in Midnight Mayor, his hands-off policy is horribly hypocritical. Although I understand the story's need for such contrivances, I found him frustratingly rude and inept and found my emotional investment from the previous books quickly dissolving. My sense of alienation was accentuated by Griffin's tendency to refer to him as "The Midnight Mayor" or "the sorcerer" rather than "Matthew" or even "Swift"; I am always rather startled by the dehumanising effect of withholding a name. This book takes place after the Matthew Swift series, and while I would initially have recommended Midnight Mayor as a prerequisite to even understand what is going on, I'm not sure anything will make Matthew comprehensible. (NOTE: if you choose to read this before the Matthew Swift books, Griffin doesn't provide recaps, so here are the Cliff Notes: Honestly, Matthew Swift comes off as an utter pillock, and now I'm dreading that the next few books will be Swift's journey from Annikin to Darth Vader--I can't quite believe that the personality switch is just the effects of seeing him via third person. Maybe I just like the angels better than Matthew. I admit that I greatly enjoyed his presence: Swift has an almost Miles-Vorkosigan-like tendency to "happen to" people and I found myself laughing at the other characters' varied reactions to him. One of my favourites:
"'Is that something to do with us, Mr Swift?'
'You know, Mrs Rafaat, I think it might be.'
'But all that glass! That's going to cost a fortune to replace.'
'That's what makes me think it might be something to do with us.'
'Do you think everyone is all right?'
'Well, personally I find massive symptoms of architectural destruction a rather positive indication.'
'That's because you're incompetent, sorcerer.'"
All of the characters--including Matthew--fall somewhere on the scale between engaging and disturbing, and I warmed to almost all of them. Although some, like the hypochondriac vampire Kevin, were on the stereotyped side, I liked most of Sharon's gang, from Rhys the tech support druid to the gentle troll Gretel. Not all of the magical misfits are exactly pleasant people--the necromancer is a dubious character at best, and I found the surly goblin more irritating than entertaining--but their flaws serve to make them more interesting. I think the book's character mini-chapters proved to be a very effective way of (literally) giving each character a distinctive voice.As usual, I felt quite a bit of unwilling sympathy for the villains. I quite liked Sharon; outwardly rather ditsy, she is fiercely determined to "be the best she can be," which most definitely does not involve acting as a damsel in distress. Take her attitude on the subject of brow-mopping:
"'You know that thing where the guy gets injured, heroically fighting off monsters and that? And then he gets all romantically feverish and kind of sexily sweaty and stuff? And then there's this girl who sits by him and mops his brow with cold water? I can't be having any of that. I just don't see how it makes any sense, because you know how the girl is usually 'Do I care?' at the start, and by the end is 'Wow I love this guy, he's needy?' I've never seen why I should come over all vapid for needy. Or, in fact, why sweaty is sexy. Sweaty smells.'"
Yet again, the crazy antics creative worldbuilding plastered a smile on my face throughout. Although the book does have a few flaws, Griffin's fantastic imagination makes up for them. When I finished, I was wavering between 4.4 and 4.5, but the incident with the magical swarm of plastic bags flapping around like malignant jellyfish made up my mind: a 4.5 it is.
So, anyway, yeah, my name is Carly.
I'm naff at tea but I can brew a fair coffee.
So, um, I guess I was just wondering--can I join Magicals Anonymous?
I can bring the mugs.
Note: I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads promotional program.
March 22, 2016
The actual story of what was going wrong and why, along with what they were going to do about it was interesting. I also liked seeing someone dealing with developing a magical ability, whereas in the Matthew Swift books, he was an established sorcerer and I don't remember it addressing that. What I really did not like, and what may end up pushing this into two stars in the end, was the characters. I think the author was aiming for Quirky and Eccentric and instead nailed Neurotic and Annoying. I can see these characters being somewhat divisive. If she wrote 10 books in this series, there would be people like me, and then there would be the ones that aren't bothered by the legion of neuroses and these characters would cleave to their heart and soul - they could be endearing, eventually.
It may have helped me be less irritated if I wasn't trying to finish the book in one day. Breaks might have helped.
It may have helped me be less irritated if I wasn't trying to finish the book in one day. Breaks might have helped.
October 24, 2019
You may have noticed that there are some very long reviews on this page, I think because this book is so complicated--in styles (plural!), characters (many!), and content (unusual and rather confusing). There are brilliant ideas here, often masked by the author's style, and at least 20 characters whom the author has given striking individuality--I love the half of that number who belong to the Magicals Anonymous self-help group (and series title).
First, the book's title. The souls in question belong to the buildings, other structures, and places that make up the greater metropolitan area of London, which itself is a sentient living being composed of those souls. If I'm reading it right, the soul of a human-made structure (building, bridge, park, etc.) evolves from all the psychic impressions left by the experiences, feelings, and needs of all the people who have used or frequented it--the sort of thing a psychic sensitive would pick up by touching an object, but our main character Sharon Li is aware of all this at a deeper level. And the crux of it is that souls are going missing--more and more of the structures are lifeless and on all sides Sharon keeps hearing the call "Help me!"
Also absent is Greydawn, better known as Our Lady of 4 a.m., the spirit who protects night workers, homeless, and everyone else who's awake on the streets of London during the dangerous hours before dawn. Her dog, who sounds rather like a hell-hound, is heard howling as he searches for her. An unknown but powerful magical force is destroying the inner order of the city, bit by bit.
It's like swimming upstream through mud, though, to understand even this much, thanks to a poetic, impressionistic writing style that I've only seen previously in mainstream fiction that's aimed toward winning a literary prize. That's just one of the styles in this mix. There's also a nice, direct narration of events (often interrupted, though, by poetic fuzzy patches); a facile shift of points of view among the 20 or so characters I mentioned (see below), both for action scenes and internal thoughts; dialogue that brings out the speakers' personalities quite well; even dedicated chapters in which one character talks about him/her/itself as if at a self-help group meeting. It's the mixture of styles that made this book a very slow read for me.
Now for the characters in the Magicals Anonymous support group, whose first meeting is part of a gentle parody of the self-help movement that extends throughout the book and its 111 chapter titles. I especially liked--
Sally the flying banshee and fine art enthusiast, who prefers to hang upside down from rafters; knowing the effect her voice has on humans, she very considerately communicates by writing neatly on a tablet;
Gretel the gentle, enormous gourmet troll, at odds with trollkind because she wants peace with humans;
Kevin the hypochondriac vampire, terrified of infections, who insists any blood he drinks be thoroughly tested;
Rhys the not-quite-qualified druid and IT consultant who, despite failing his final druid exam, can do all manner of druid things but sneezes uncontrollably when stressed;
Mr. Roding the somber, slowly decomposing necromancer;
Jess the nice young woman who transforms into a flock of 100 or so pigeons;
Mrs. Rafaat, a pleasant middle-aged lady who wears a sari and comes to meetings because, as she modestly puts it, she just knows things and doesn't know why--she's the one who tells them that the heart of things is vanishing;
Mrs. Somchit the alderman who represents the Midnight Mayor, about whom more below;
Chris the exorcist from Melbourne; and
Sharon Li the young self-help enthusiast who started Magicals Anonymous and facilitates the meetings; she walks through walls, suddenly became one with the city, and finds out she is a shaman.
That brings us to less lovely characters. Sammy the Elbow, a surly toothpaste-addicted goblin only three feet tall who claims repeatedly that he is the world's second greatest shaman, takes Sharon on as his apprentice, and their dialogue provides the other big original element of world-building--it seems that shamans aren't what I thought they were, and it's Sharon's shaman-hood that's going to save the day if anything can.
Sammy explains that there are "almost no" shamans; sorcerers (like the Midnight Mayor) are a dime a dozen and get their power from feeding on the city, whereas shamans "have the deeper thing": they are one with the city and know everything that's in it without having to ask. So, Sammy tells Sharon, you'll never be alone because the city is always with you and in you, and you'll always be alone because
In addition to the adversaries (and we get their perspectives too), there's Dez, Sharon's cheerful spirit guide who's just a projection of her subconscious; there's Edna, leader of the Friendlies--night workers who appreciate Greydawn's protection--and Derek, her secretary and perhaps high priest; there's Dr. Seah, who treats magical humans and nonhumans when they're injured; and there's the Midnight Mayor, whose name (rarely mentioned in this book) is Matthew Swift.
It's very odd to have to say this, because this book is laid in the world of the author's Matthew Swift series, which I haven't read yet, but for me he's the weakest element in this story--and he keeps popping up and pulling levers in the background and so on. Sharon even seems to be talking about him when she says there's "a confused sorcerer who's not as much use as he should be." If she really is referring to the Midnight Mayor, I agree. I couldn't make sense of his actions or strategies, and the way it's written he seems to be out of his league here.
Still: a great deal of beauty and delightful humor, splendid ideas about cities and shamans, and characters who won me over.
First, the book's title. The souls in question belong to the buildings, other structures, and places that make up the greater metropolitan area of London, which itself is a sentient living being composed of those souls. If I'm reading it right, the soul of a human-made structure (building, bridge, park, etc.) evolves from all the psychic impressions left by the experiences, feelings, and needs of all the people who have used or frequented it--the sort of thing a psychic sensitive would pick up by touching an object, but our main character Sharon Li is aware of all this at a deeper level. And the crux of it is that souls are going missing--more and more of the structures are lifeless and on all sides Sharon keeps hearing the call "Help me!"
Also absent is Greydawn, better known as Our Lady of 4 a.m., the spirit who protects night workers, homeless, and everyone else who's awake on the streets of London during the dangerous hours before dawn. Her dog, who sounds rather like a hell-hound, is heard howling as he searches for her. An unknown but powerful magical force is destroying the inner order of the city, bit by bit.
It's like swimming upstream through mud, though, to understand even this much, thanks to a poetic, impressionistic writing style that I've only seen previously in mainstream fiction that's aimed toward winning a literary prize. That's just one of the styles in this mix. There's also a nice, direct narration of events (often interrupted, though, by poetic fuzzy patches); a facile shift of points of view among the 20 or so characters I mentioned (see below), both for action scenes and internal thoughts; dialogue that brings out the speakers' personalities quite well; even dedicated chapters in which one character talks about him/her/itself as if at a self-help group meeting. It's the mixture of styles that made this book a very slow read for me.
Now for the characters in the Magicals Anonymous support group, whose first meeting is part of a gentle parody of the self-help movement that extends throughout the book and its 111 chapter titles. I especially liked--
Sally the flying banshee and fine art enthusiast, who prefers to hang upside down from rafters; knowing the effect her voice has on humans, she very considerately communicates by writing neatly on a tablet;
Gretel the gentle, enormous gourmet troll, at odds with trollkind because she wants peace with humans;
Kevin the hypochondriac vampire, terrified of infections, who insists any blood he drinks be thoroughly tested;
Rhys the not-quite-qualified druid and IT consultant who, despite failing his final druid exam, can do all manner of druid things but sneezes uncontrollably when stressed;
Mr. Roding the somber, slowly decomposing necromancer;
Jess the nice young woman who transforms into a flock of 100 or so pigeons;
Mrs. Rafaat, a pleasant middle-aged lady who wears a sari and comes to meetings because, as she modestly puts it, she just knows things and doesn't know why--she's the one who tells them that the heart of things is vanishing;
Mrs. Somchit the alderman who represents the Midnight Mayor, about whom more below;
Chris the exorcist from Melbourne; and
Sharon Li the young self-help enthusiast who started Magicals Anonymous and facilitates the meetings; she walks through walls, suddenly became one with the city, and finds out she is a shaman.
That brings us to less lovely characters. Sammy the Elbow, a surly toothpaste-addicted goblin only three feet tall who claims repeatedly that he is the world's second greatest shaman, takes Sharon on as his apprentice, and their dialogue provides the other big original element of world-building--it seems that shamans aren't what I thought they were, and it's Sharon's shaman-hood that's going to save the day if anything can.
Sammy explains that there are "almost no" shamans; sorcerers (like the Midnight Mayor) are a dime a dozen and get their power from feeding on the city, whereas shamans "have the deeper thing": they are one with the city and know everything that's in it without having to ask. So, Sammy tells Sharon, you'll never be alone because the city is always with you and in you, and you'll always be alone because
no one else will ever get it, and ... you'll always know how much bigger everything is. You can try and explain it, but you can't, because you're a shaman, and they ain't.And when Sharon does the "shaman walk," moving perfectly in rhythm with the city, she becomes invisible, not because she disappears but because when people look at her they see only the city.
In addition to the adversaries (and we get their perspectives too), there's Dez, Sharon's cheerful spirit guide who's just a projection of her subconscious; there's Edna, leader of the Friendlies--night workers who appreciate Greydawn's protection--and Derek, her secretary and perhaps high priest; there's Dr. Seah, who treats magical humans and nonhumans when they're injured; and there's the Midnight Mayor, whose name (rarely mentioned in this book) is Matthew Swift.
It's very odd to have to say this, because this book is laid in the world of the author's Matthew Swift series, which I haven't read yet, but for me he's the weakest element in this story--and he keeps popping up and pulling levers in the background and so on. Sharon even seems to be talking about him when she says there's "a confused sorcerer who's not as much use as he should be." If she really is referring to the Midnight Mayor, I agree. I couldn't make sense of his actions or strategies, and the way it's written he seems to be out of his league here.
Still: a great deal of beauty and delightful humor, splendid ideas about cities and shamans, and characters who won me over.
April 11, 2013
One day, for one moment, Sharon Li knows every thing about her city. It's too much for her mind to handle, so she forgets, but the experience leaves her with the unsettling ability to walk through walls or become invisible. A fan of self-help books, Sharon decides to start a support group using a facebook invite. This is the start of Magicals Anonymous, a strange mix of creepy (a necromancer constantly in search of new skin-care products, who measures his magical output in the body mass index it takes out of him), odd (a banshee in love with modern art, who communicates with a white-board to avoid killing everyone), pitiful (a druid who is allergic to magic) and annoying (Kevin, the vampire who can only drink O+ blood and is hysterical about germs). My absolute favorite character was Gretel, who started out as a troll scaring the cars who passed over her bridge, but who was lured out by the smell of human food. After Sharon discovers that a financial company has been enslaving spirits and using them to manipulate the markets, this rag tag bunch of oddities is forced to save London.
This is set in the same London as the Matthew Swift stories (which start with The Madness of Angels, and are wonderful) and the magic systems continue to be creepy, amazing, and incredibly creative. This series spends much more time being funny, sometimes at the expense of the plot or the pacing. I really wish the characters' punctuation-free rambles had been shorter and less "naturalistic" (by which I mean, characterized by lots of "likes" and "he's all" and stream-of-consciousness), because so many climactic moments were spent with characters making witty slang-ridden speeches instead of doing anything.
This is set in the same London as the Matthew Swift stories (which start with The Madness of Angels, and are wonderful) and the magic systems continue to be creepy, amazing, and incredibly creative. This series spends much more time being funny, sometimes at the expense of the plot or the pacing. I really wish the characters' punctuation-free rambles had been shorter and less "naturalistic" (by which I mean, characterized by lots of "likes" and "he's all" and stream-of-consciousness), because so many climactic moments were spent with characters making witty slang-ridden speeches instead of doing anything.
January 3, 2013
This begins a new series in the same magical-London setting as the Midnight Mayor books. We have a new central character: Sharon Li, failing barista and (suddenly) urban shaman. Attempting to deal with unexpected at-one-ness with the entire city and an occasional tendency to walk through walls, Sharon does what anyone would do: she starts a Facebook group for people with magical problems.
This new series is a distinct shift in tone and story-shape. The Matthew Swift books were fire, terror, wild magic, and Matthew Swift generally getting the crap kicked out of him -- plus an undercurrent of humor. "Magicals Anonymous" has the humor on top. It is distinctly Douglas Adams, in fact: hapless, flustered people attempting to make sense of their lives. A hypochondriac vampire, a druid with hay fever, an extremely polite banshee, and a foodie troll walk into a support group meeting, right?
(But the fire and wild magic are still there, underneath. This author *does* know when to pass over the snarky comeback and scare you.)
I would say this introductory book takes a little bit too long to get started. Adams introduced Arthur Dent as a hapless prole, but a prole who lies right down in front of a bulldozer -- you start cheering for him immediately. Sharon Li spends quite a while stammering, second-guessing, trying to get enough biscuits for the meetings, and reading terrible self-help books. I was worried that she would be a nonentity, swamped by the colorful crowd around her. Nah. Eventually she gets fed up, starts shouting at people, and the narrative pace goes zoom like a rocket.
(The colorful crowd includes Matthew Swift, finally seen from the outside. Unsurprisingly, he's both scary as hell and a minor pain in the butt. He *doesn't* steal the show, which is the important thing.)
There is a crisis, of course. It is a crisis beyond the remit of the Midnight Mayor -- why? Because story; this isn't the sort of logical worldbuilding where you draw charts. Go read Sanderson for that. This is a newcomer shaman and her tribe, I mean Facebook group, flung in at the way-too-deep end and coping because they're basically decent people who refuse to give in. Did I say Douglas Adams? I meant Terry Pratchett, of course, my mistake. Adams was a cynical bastard. Pratchett loves people. That's this book.
This new series is a distinct shift in tone and story-shape. The Matthew Swift books were fire, terror, wild magic, and Matthew Swift generally getting the crap kicked out of him -- plus an undercurrent of humor. "Magicals Anonymous" has the humor on top. It is distinctly Douglas Adams, in fact: hapless, flustered people attempting to make sense of their lives. A hypochondriac vampire, a druid with hay fever, an extremely polite banshee, and a foodie troll walk into a support group meeting, right?
(But the fire and wild magic are still there, underneath. This author *does* know when to pass over the snarky comeback and scare you.)
I would say this introductory book takes a little bit too long to get started. Adams introduced Arthur Dent as a hapless prole, but a prole who lies right down in front of a bulldozer -- you start cheering for him immediately. Sharon Li spends quite a while stammering, second-guessing, trying to get enough biscuits for the meetings, and reading terrible self-help books. I was worried that she would be a nonentity, swamped by the colorful crowd around her. Nah. Eventually she gets fed up, starts shouting at people, and the narrative pace goes zoom like a rocket.
(The colorful crowd includes Matthew Swift, finally seen from the outside. Unsurprisingly, he's both scary as hell and a minor pain in the butt. He *doesn't* steal the show, which is the important thing.)
There is a crisis, of course. It is a crisis beyond the remit of the Midnight Mayor -- why? Because story; this isn't the sort of logical worldbuilding where you draw charts. Go read Sanderson for that. This is a newcomer shaman and her tribe, I mean Facebook group, flung in at the way-too-deep end and coping because they're basically decent people who refuse to give in. Did I say Douglas Adams? I meant Terry Pratchett, of course, my mistake. Adams was a cynical bastard. Pratchett loves people. That's this book.
October 7, 2016
I read it, albiet slowly. I picked it up. I put it down. I stared at it awhile. I flipped it upside down. I poked it with a stick. And still, after all that, I do not understand the hype.
Final Verdict: Yawn-A-Minute plotline interspersed with moments of Stark Confusion
Was this a self help book for weirdos everywhere? Was this a story of a manical evil sucking the soul of a city dry? Was this a book about a coming of age shaman with an impossible task? Eh...good question.
Okay. Here is the skinny: our main character is a barista who cannot get to her normal job on time and begins a self help group for magic creatures (it was never really identified if the world accepts magic as normal, but with the self help group and all-I will go with it does not. ) Our secondary main character is a shaman who is suppose to be teaching our up and coming magician a thing or two so she can save the city, but instead spends his time insulting her and wondering why she "just does not get it." The city itself is being attacked every night and having its soul ripped away. And some bloke called the Midnight Mayor expects our tardy barista to have the power to fix it all but explains absolutely nothing.
That is right. We go through most of the book wobbling between magics anon group meetings and our leading lady waking up late for work. The rest of the time, we get petulent attitudes and whining among the characters. And we never really learn much about what is going on with the city. Which is odd because it is supposedly very bad if the city's soul dies.
The world lacks development. The characters lack substance. And the plot is a haphazard bomb of combustible ideas in an unstable medium.
I was alternatively fighting to concentrate and flipping back to see if something was explained and I missed it. How boring. How frustrating. It was a cool concept that the author failed to pull off. It makes me wonder if people are scoring it so high because they enjoyed a previous series that much.
Recommended for those with more patience and less attention deficit than I have.
Final Verdict: Yawn-A-Minute plotline interspersed with moments of Stark Confusion
Was this a self help book for weirdos everywhere? Was this a story of a manical evil sucking the soul of a city dry? Was this a book about a coming of age shaman with an impossible task? Eh...good question.
Okay. Here is the skinny: our main character is a barista who cannot get to her normal job on time and begins a self help group for magic creatures (it was never really identified if the world accepts magic as normal, but with the self help group and all-I will go with it does not. ) Our secondary main character is a shaman who is suppose to be teaching our up and coming magician a thing or two so she can save the city, but instead spends his time insulting her and wondering why she "just does not get it." The city itself is being attacked every night and having its soul ripped away. And some bloke called the Midnight Mayor expects our tardy barista to have the power to fix it all but explains absolutely nothing.
That is right. We go through most of the book wobbling between magics anon group meetings and our leading lady waking up late for work. The rest of the time, we get petulent attitudes and whining among the characters. And we never really learn much about what is going on with the city. Which is odd because it is supposedly very bad if the city's soul dies.
The world lacks development. The characters lack substance. And the plot is a haphazard bomb of combustible ideas in an unstable medium.
I was alternatively fighting to concentrate and flipping back to see if something was explained and I missed it. How boring. How frustrating. It was a cool concept that the author failed to pull off. It makes me wonder if people are scoring it so high because they enjoyed a previous series that much.
Recommended for those with more patience and less attention deficit than I have.
November 26, 2012
See this mini review and others like it at BadassBookReviews.com!
STRAY SOULS had a very interesting premise, but it did take me a little while to get used to the narrative device. The story is told from multiple viewpoints, with Sharon’s being dominant, and often breaks up the main story with excerpts from the self-help group; some chapters are basically confessionals from the group members. Though I found it to be pretty original, it did make the overall flow seem a bit choppy. I found myself skimming through some of the chapters, but never feeling lost in the narrative. I did enjoy the story once it took off and the group banded together to save the city. I liked the way it ended and I want to know what happens to each of the characters enough that I will be looking forward to the next release in this new series. One of my main gripes was not learning enough about the Midnight Mayor, but now I know that Kate Griffin has another series starring him. I am thinking about reading those books as well because the Mayor was a very intriguing character. I would recommend this book to readers that don’t mind a little British comedy mixed into their urban fantasy.
Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for providing an ARC copy of this book!
STRAY SOULS had a very interesting premise, but it did take me a little while to get used to the narrative device. The story is told from multiple viewpoints, with Sharon’s being dominant, and often breaks up the main story with excerpts from the self-help group; some chapters are basically confessionals from the group members. Though I found it to be pretty original, it did make the overall flow seem a bit choppy. I found myself skimming through some of the chapters, but never feeling lost in the narrative. I did enjoy the story once it took off and the group banded together to save the city. I liked the way it ended and I want to know what happens to each of the characters enough that I will be looking forward to the next release in this new series. One of my main gripes was not learning enough about the Midnight Mayor, but now I know that Kate Griffin has another series starring him. I am thinking about reading those books as well because the Mayor was a very intriguing character. I would recommend this book to readers that don’t mind a little British comedy mixed into their urban fantasy.
Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for providing an ARC copy of this book!
February 1, 2015
Fuck yeah, Sharon Li.
Hats off for a heroine in an urban fantasy who's genuinely dealing with all the crap of being a little (just a little) left of centre as a young city woman, with the friends and the lack of job and the lack of guy and crazy shit happening but like hell is she going to be belitted, condescended at or led around by the nose. Hats off for a heroine who isn't white-as-white-can-be, who doesn't kick arse so much as shoulder into her powers and rearrange reality, who doesn't have a big, burly, swoony love interest (love ya, Rhys), and who is so very, very real.
Because Sharon is so down-to-earth and dealing with the unbelievable, this has a more comedic, light-hearted touch than the adventures of Matthew Swift (though, note, the Midnight Mayor is a recurring support character, and it's delightful to see him from other points of view). There are certainly Pratchettarian overtones. But it retains that "this is soul-charringly serious, mum" element that gives Kate Griffin's work such satisfying weight and resonance. I found the combination not quite as delicious as I do Matthew Swift alone, but still highly entertaining and very nicely put together.
Hats off for a heroine in an urban fantasy who's genuinely dealing with all the crap of being a little (just a little) left of centre as a young city woman, with the friends and the lack of job and the lack of guy and crazy shit happening but like hell is she going to be belitted, condescended at or led around by the nose. Hats off for a heroine who isn't white-as-white-can-be, who doesn't kick arse so much as shoulder into her powers and rearrange reality, who doesn't have a big, burly, swoony love interest (love ya, Rhys), and who is so very, very real.
Because Sharon is so down-to-earth and dealing with the unbelievable, this has a more comedic, light-hearted touch than the adventures of Matthew Swift (though, note, the Midnight Mayor is a recurring support character, and it's delightful to see him from other points of view). There are certainly Pratchettarian overtones. But it retains that "this is soul-charringly serious, mum" element that gives Kate Griffin's work such satisfying weight and resonance. I found the combination not quite as delicious as I do Matthew Swift alone, but still highly entertaining and very nicely put together.
November 18, 2012
I've been a big fan of Kate Griffin's "Matthew Swift" novels , & so was keen to read this : the story of Sharon Li , apprentice Shaman , & her attempts to thwart the plans of the mysterious (& frankly unpleasant) Mr Ruislip....
Ok , the bad points 1st : I wasn't keen on the structure of the work : it's written in mainly very short chapters, some of which were only a page long , which I found made it too easy to put the book down rather than persevere . I also found some of the characters a tad one-dimensional ...
However , the upside is : It's bloody funny! What we have here is a brilliant satire on 21st-century life , covering social media , self-help books & support groups , a lot of which is genuine laugh-out-loud material : Big business gets the proverbial pie in the face as well, with Mr Ruislip's "motivational" management-speak being truly hilarious!
So...if you're looking for a serious urban fantasy novel , this may not be the 1st choice I'd recommend....if, however, you fancy some very funny satire on 21st century Britain, this is most definitely worth a look.
Ok , the bad points 1st : I wasn't keen on the structure of the work : it's written in mainly very short chapters, some of which were only a page long , which I found made it too easy to put the book down rather than persevere . I also found some of the characters a tad one-dimensional ...
However , the upside is : It's bloody funny! What we have here is a brilliant satire on 21st-century life , covering social media , self-help books & support groups , a lot of which is genuine laugh-out-loud material : Big business gets the proverbial pie in the face as well, with Mr Ruislip's "motivational" management-speak being truly hilarious!
So...if you're looking for a serious urban fantasy novel , this may not be the 1st choice I'd recommend....if, however, you fancy some very funny satire on 21st century Britain, this is most definitely worth a look.
December 7, 2022
In this urban fantasy, the main character is Sharon, a 20-something barista who discovers that she is a shaman, though she doesn't have a clue what that means. Except that she can walk through walls and sometimes can feel everything about the city, which is disconcerting. So she starts up a self help group for people (and other entities) with magical powers. They find out that they have to save the city, with the help of only an undead "Mayor" (apparently the focus of an earlier series) and a goblin shaman.
The book is written with that wacky but matter-of-fact type of British humor, kind of like Douglas Adams or Monty Python, and it's done very well. The characters were a lot of fun, and the self-help parts were hilarious. The plot made sense, and the action was paced nicely. But for some reason, the book didn't draw me in enough to want to read the sequel. Three and a half stars, rounded up because it's the first time I remember seeing a woman writing in the British humor style and because I'm in a good mood.
The book is written with that wacky but matter-of-fact type of British humor, kind of like Douglas Adams or Monty Python, and it's done very well. The characters were a lot of fun, and the self-help parts were hilarious. The plot made sense, and the action was paced nicely. But for some reason, the book didn't draw me in enough to want to read the sequel. Three and a half stars, rounded up because it's the first time I remember seeing a woman writing in the British humor style and because I'm in a good mood.
January 10, 2013
Set in the same magical London as Griffin’s Matthew Swift novels , this novel skilfully introduces a cast of low powered or inept protagonists, giving a new and exciting perspective on the city.
The plot focuses on Sharon Li, a newly awakened shaman and self-help book addict, and the other members of Magicals Anonymous, a support group for those who have issues with integrating the magical and the mundane. When the spirit of London disappears ancient feuds and political struggles prevent Swift or other established powers from directly investigating, so Sharon is given the task and the rest of MA are drawn in.
As with the Swift series, the plot contains many real challenges without losing the feeling that magic is both powerful and close.
Unlike some urban fantasy series containing more than one supernatural species, Griffin manages to include several of the standard creatures of legend and types of magicians without either losing plausibility or requiring complex explanations.
As well as the core challenge of recovering the spirit, the book portrays the mundane challenges of being magical but not a power: Sharon struggles with a low-wage job to make the rent on a shoddy flat even before her schedule is disrupted by the need to save the city.
Although Sharon is the lead protagonist, other members of MA are equally fleshed out, both directly through their involvement in events and by short chapters in the style of Alcoholics Anonymous testimonies detailing their issues. Some of the characters have the potential to be slapstick, for example a hypochondriac vampire who wants to sue for adequate dental services; however, Griffin makes their concerns seem real issues and so the humour, when it comes, only serves to highlight how dark their world is.
The villains of the book are equally well developed. The non-human threats clearly have very inhuman mindsets but also have backgrounds and desires that caused me to understand, and even sympathise with, some of their actions.
This is clearly written to be the first book in a new series so does not resolve all of the sub-plots; however it does bring each of them to a natural rest point.
It is also set in the world of an existing series and so obviously runs the risk of either over-explaining to established readers or under-explaining for first time readers. Griffin seeks to address this with the trope of inexperienced protagonists and I found myself sympathising with their search for answers without cursing needlessly unhelpful background characters. As I have read the Swift series I am unsure whether it would lack clarity on its own.
I enjoyed this book thoroughly both for its plot and its vivid descriptions of urban magic. I recommend it to any fan of either urban fantasy or magical systems.
The plot focuses on Sharon Li, a newly awakened shaman and self-help book addict, and the other members of Magicals Anonymous, a support group for those who have issues with integrating the magical and the mundane. When the spirit of London disappears ancient feuds and political struggles prevent Swift or other established powers from directly investigating, so Sharon is given the task and the rest of MA are drawn in.
As with the Swift series, the plot contains many real challenges without losing the feeling that magic is both powerful and close.
Unlike some urban fantasy series containing more than one supernatural species, Griffin manages to include several of the standard creatures of legend and types of magicians without either losing plausibility or requiring complex explanations.
As well as the core challenge of recovering the spirit, the book portrays the mundane challenges of being magical but not a power: Sharon struggles with a low-wage job to make the rent on a shoddy flat even before her schedule is disrupted by the need to save the city.
Although Sharon is the lead protagonist, other members of MA are equally fleshed out, both directly through their involvement in events and by short chapters in the style of Alcoholics Anonymous testimonies detailing their issues. Some of the characters have the potential to be slapstick, for example a hypochondriac vampire who wants to sue for adequate dental services; however, Griffin makes their concerns seem real issues and so the humour, when it comes, only serves to highlight how dark their world is.
The villains of the book are equally well developed. The non-human threats clearly have very inhuman mindsets but also have backgrounds and desires that caused me to understand, and even sympathise with, some of their actions.
This is clearly written to be the first book in a new series so does not resolve all of the sub-plots; however it does bring each of them to a natural rest point.
It is also set in the world of an existing series and so obviously runs the risk of either over-explaining to established readers or under-explaining for first time readers. Griffin seeks to address this with the trope of inexperienced protagonists and I found myself sympathising with their search for answers without cursing needlessly unhelpful background characters. As I have read the Swift series I am unsure whether it would lack clarity on its own.
I enjoyed this book thoroughly both for its plot and its vivid descriptions of urban magic. I recommend it to any fan of either urban fantasy or magical systems.
Read
August 25, 2013Started off a strong four, dipped significantly for a long stretch, came back. So, average 3.5, maybe.
It's entirely possible that this would have been more of a hit if I'd realised the Matthew Swift books came first before reading this, or equally possible it wouldn't. What I do feel fairly certain of is that it would have read better with a good pruning. I really liked Sharon Li, and enjoyed her voice, but there were just too many passages in which she bursts out in frustration about the way everyone expects her to know everything just because she's a shaman, and "that nobody telling me shit shit" and it's entertaining, but a fair amount of it goes a bit too far.
Similarly with the more mystical passages, as, for example, this one:
(I suspect the formatting won't be reproduced perfectly, but close enough.)
Almost all of the characters, especially those in Magicals Anonymous, were fun, and some were very endearing. I was particularly fond of Rhys (the Druid with allergies) and Gretel (the gourmet troll), but Kevin (the OCD vampire) got a bit tedious after a while, and Sammy (the second greatest shaman whose ever lived, by his estimate) was also somewhat one-note.
It was definitely a book that came together well towards the end, however, as the humour was tempered with a greater dose of emotion, and while I might go back to read A Madness of Angels first, I'd also like to read more of Sharon's (mis)adventures with her newly-found tribe.
It's entirely possible that this would have been more of a hit if I'd realised the Matthew Swift books came first before reading this, or equally possible it wouldn't. What I do feel fairly certain of is that it would have read better with a good pruning. I really liked Sharon Li, and enjoyed her voice, but there were just too many passages in which she bursts out in frustration about the way everyone expects her to know everything just because she's a shaman, and "that nobody telling me shit shit" and it's entertaining, but a fair amount of it goes a bit too far.
Similarly with the more mystical passages, as, for example, this one:
She could smell the beer-soaked breath of the man who'd left his mark in this place, hear the footsteps of the beggar looking for a place from the cold, the laughter of children playing hide and seek in the park at the end of the alley, smell the coal smoke that had once burned in the chimney stacks of Clerkenwell, see the footsteps that stretched out impossibly behind Sammy, a great long journey at his back, still not complete, and she thought she saw a flash of brilliance as Dez flickered across the surface of her mind, her spirit guide winking lewdly as he passed, and when she looked at the man called Matthew Swift she saw...
feet shuffle lonely on cold street too far too far too far
splash! bus tyres through the puddle sheet of water drenching the passser-by
help us
aerial bum with TV signal
window rustle with feedback noise
we be light we be life we be fire!
hooooowwwwlllll!
come be we and be free
blood in the stones
...everything.
(I suspect the formatting won't be reproduced perfectly, but close enough.)
Almost all of the characters, especially those in Magicals Anonymous, were fun, and some were very endearing. I was particularly fond of Rhys (the Druid with allergies) and Gretel (the gourmet troll), but Kevin (the OCD vampire) got a bit tedious after a while, and Sammy (the second greatest shaman whose ever lived, by his estimate) was also somewhat one-note.
It was definitely a book that came together well towards the end, however, as the humour was tempered with a greater dose of emotion, and while I might go back to read A Madness of Angels first, I'd also like to read more of Sharon's (mis)adventures with her newly-found tribe.
August 30, 2013
I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
Someone has stolen London's soul, and it's up to Sharon, a barista-cum-shaman, to find that soul and return it to the city.
I loved, loved, loved this book. From novice shaman Sharon, to her toothpaste-obsessed goblin mentor, the germ-obsessed vampire, the gourmet troll, and the druid with psychosomatic allergies, the characters were memorable, kooky, and well-developed. None lacked detail or seemed like an afterthought. The city itself became a character in its own right. The storyline was unique, well-paced, and contained dialogue that made me feel like I was right there along with the characters.
I'll definitely purchase the newest in this series (The Glass God), as well as the author's Matthew Swift series. I will purchase physical copies, not on my tablet, because if they are any bit as good as this one, they will be completely bookshelf-worthy.
Someone has stolen London's soul, and it's up to Sharon, a barista-cum-shaman, to find that soul and return it to the city.
I loved, loved, loved this book. From novice shaman Sharon, to her toothpaste-obsessed goblin mentor, the germ-obsessed vampire, the gourmet troll, and the druid with psychosomatic allergies, the characters were memorable, kooky, and well-developed. None lacked detail or seemed like an afterthought. The city itself became a character in its own right. The storyline was unique, well-paced, and contained dialogue that made me feel like I was right there along with the characters.
I'll definitely purchase the newest in this series (The Glass God), as well as the author's Matthew Swift series. I will purchase physical copies, not on my tablet, because if they are any bit as good as this one, they will be completely bookshelf-worthy.
November 23, 2014
Splendido. Fantastico. Geniale. Magari più avanti articolerò meglio il tutto, ma voi non state qui a perdere tempo: correte a leggerlo!!!!
Potete trovare questa recensione anche qui
Iniziamo dalla parte semplice: la Griffin è semplicemente geniale! Il mondo che crea non è particolarmente originale: è una versione magica e misteriosa della nostra Londra, eppure riesce a renderlo un mondo interessante e beh, magico. Nella sua creazione ogni tipo di creatura popola le strade della capitale inglese, ma quello che è veramente degno di nota è la sua interpretazione di queste creature e il fatto che, come ogni buon autore dovrebbe fare, non si prende mai troppo sul serio.
Due sono le cose che rendono unico e fantastico questo romanzo: una, quella più semplice da spiegare (e la più corta) è l'autrice stessa. E' geniale, simpatica, brillante e originale, tutti aggettivi che si applicano sia al suo stile che alla costruzione del racconto. La parte più originale di questo libro credo siano i capitoli che l'autrice ogni tanto introduce qui e là, che ci presentano i pensieri dei diversi personaggi. Sono narrati dalla voce del personaggio di turno e si potrebbero definire dei veri e propri flussi di coscienza che ci aiutano a capire ognuno di loro, perché danno profondità e aggiungono un sacco di realismo ad ogni singolo narratore. Insomma ce li fanno vedere come persone reali, con tutte le loro pecche, le loro ansie e le loro preoccupazioni. E, nonostante questo, sono splendidamente inutili.
Inutili, sì, avete letto bene... so che sembra una contraddizione perché, voglio dire, se aggiungono spessore ai personaggi non possono essere inutili, no? E invece sì, e la genialità dell'autrice sta proprio in questo. Ci fa sembrare inutile un qualcosa che invece è importante e lo fa con uno stile e una classe unici!
Penso di aver riso per ognuno di questi piccoli capitoli. Sono delle piccole perle e già solo per loro meriterebbe leggere il libro.
L'altra cosa che rende splendido il libro (e che è profondamente collegata a queste piccole perle di inutilità) è l'insieme dei personaggi. Ogni singolo personaggio è ben costruito, caratterizzato splendidamente e un monumento alla genialità della Griffin.
Partiamo da Sharon Li, la protagonista: barista senza troppo entusiasmo (e senza troppe capacità) che all'improvviso scopre di poter essere uno con la grande città, scopre di essere uno Sciamano urbano (e da qui inizierà tutta la serie di disavventure che costituiscono il nucleo del romanzo e che la vedranno crescere come personaggio). Ma le cose non sono così semplici, lei scopre sì di avere dei poteri magici, ma non riesce a capire, non sa di essere uno sciamano e la cosa la disturba parecchio (comprensibilmente), quindi cosa fa?
E qui, prestate attenzione, arriva un colpo di genio: crea su facebook un gruppo che dà il via alla nascita di un vero e proprio gruppo di sostegno, un po' come se fossero gli Alcolisti Anonimi per capirci, che prende il nome di Magical Anonymus, appunto.
La cosa di per sé è esilarante (e la reazione del Midnight Mayor a tutto ciò è qualcosa di splendido... si trova tra i primi capitoli ed è stato lì che ho capito che era amore, c'era poco da fare!) ma è anche degno di nota il fatto che l'autrice prenda in considerazione facebook, uno strumento conosciuto a tutti e usato spessissimo, ma che, come tutte le cose tecnologiche, di solito viene ignorato bellamente dagli scrittori. Non fraintendetemi, tanti scrittori nominano diversi siti come facebook nei loro libri, così come nominano le mail e i cellulari, ma sono sempre cose di contorno che non sembrano reali a tutti gli effetti. Non so se mi sono spiegata molto bene, ma non vi siete mai trovati davanti a scene di un libro in cui il vostro unico e solo pensiero è stato "ma usare un cellulare no?", scene in cui con una sola telefonata si risparmiavano pagine e pagine di situazioni disastrose? A me è capitato, ed è sempre una cosa che mi lascia perplessa.
Ma comunque... torniamo ai nostri personaggi. Oltre alla nostra neo-sciamana abbiamo il suo mentore, il terzo...ehm.. secondo, scusate, il secondo più grande sciamano che sia mai esistito... rullo di tamburi.... ed ecco a voi un goblin dal caratteraccio peggiore del mondo e con un'insana passione per il dentifricio! (E no, non lo usa per lavarsi i denti!).
Poi abbiamo Sally, una banshee simpatica con la passione per l'arte contemporanea, Gretel, una troll con la passione per la cucina umana, Kevin, un vampiro maniaco della pulizia (e probabilmente ipocondriaco), Rhys, un quasi druido con un sacco di allergie e tanti altri ancora.
Insomma, ogni personaggio è una piccola perla di per sé, e messi tutti assieme vi lascio solo immaginare cosa ne esca fuori. Ognuno ha una voce che lo rende immediatamente riconoscibile, ha spessore, definizione, non può non sembrarci reale e noi non possiamo fare a meno di volergli bene, almeno un pochino. Ognuno di loro si scaverà un posticino nel vostro cuore, magari non sarà una cosa permanente, ma, almeno per un po', sarà lì ad accompagnarvi nella lettura e a farvi divertire (e magari anche riflettere un po', perché anche se stiamo parlando di troll, goblin, vampiri e simili alla fine sono tutti irrimediabilmente umani).
Spero di avervi incuriosito con questa recensione perché secondo me il libro merita davvero tanto, penso che sia stato una delle migliori scoperte di quest'anno e non vedo l'ora di poter recuperare gli altri libri, sia di questa serie, che di quella dedicata a Matthew Swift (il Migdnight Mayor di cui vi parlavo prima) perché questa serie è.. parallela (penso si possa dire così, non saprei come altro definirla, ma sono aperta a suggerimenti!) a quella principale, dedicata appunto a M. S.
Potete trovare questa recensione anche qui
Iniziamo dalla parte semplice: la Griffin è semplicemente geniale! Il mondo che crea non è particolarmente originale: è una versione magica e misteriosa della nostra Londra, eppure riesce a renderlo un mondo interessante e beh, magico. Nella sua creazione ogni tipo di creatura popola le strade della capitale inglese, ma quello che è veramente degno di nota è la sua interpretazione di queste creature e il fatto che, come ogni buon autore dovrebbe fare, non si prende mai troppo sul serio.
Due sono le cose che rendono unico e fantastico questo romanzo: una, quella più semplice da spiegare (e la più corta) è l'autrice stessa. E' geniale, simpatica, brillante e originale, tutti aggettivi che si applicano sia al suo stile che alla costruzione del racconto. La parte più originale di questo libro credo siano i capitoli che l'autrice ogni tanto introduce qui e là, che ci presentano i pensieri dei diversi personaggi. Sono narrati dalla voce del personaggio di turno e si potrebbero definire dei veri e propri flussi di coscienza che ci aiutano a capire ognuno di loro, perché danno profondità e aggiungono un sacco di realismo ad ogni singolo narratore. Insomma ce li fanno vedere come persone reali, con tutte le loro pecche, le loro ansie e le loro preoccupazioni. E, nonostante questo, sono splendidamente inutili.
Inutili, sì, avete letto bene... so che sembra una contraddizione perché, voglio dire, se aggiungono spessore ai personaggi non possono essere inutili, no? E invece sì, e la genialità dell'autrice sta proprio in questo. Ci fa sembrare inutile un qualcosa che invece è importante e lo fa con uno stile e una classe unici!
Penso di aver riso per ognuno di questi piccoli capitoli. Sono delle piccole perle e già solo per loro meriterebbe leggere il libro.
L'altra cosa che rende splendido il libro (e che è profondamente collegata a queste piccole perle di inutilità) è l'insieme dei personaggi. Ogni singolo personaggio è ben costruito, caratterizzato splendidamente e un monumento alla genialità della Griffin.
Partiamo da Sharon Li, la protagonista: barista senza troppo entusiasmo (e senza troppe capacità) che all'improvviso scopre di poter essere uno con la grande città, scopre di essere uno Sciamano urbano (e da qui inizierà tutta la serie di disavventure che costituiscono il nucleo del romanzo e che la vedranno crescere come personaggio). Ma le cose non sono così semplici, lei scopre sì di avere dei poteri magici, ma non riesce a capire, non sa di essere uno sciamano e la cosa la disturba parecchio (comprensibilmente), quindi cosa fa?
E qui, prestate attenzione, arriva un colpo di genio: crea su facebook un gruppo che dà il via alla nascita di un vero e proprio gruppo di sostegno, un po' come se fossero gli Alcolisti Anonimi per capirci, che prende il nome di Magical Anonymus, appunto.
La cosa di per sé è esilarante (e la reazione del Midnight Mayor a tutto ciò è qualcosa di splendido... si trova tra i primi capitoli ed è stato lì che ho capito che era amore, c'era poco da fare!) ma è anche degno di nota il fatto che l'autrice prenda in considerazione facebook, uno strumento conosciuto a tutti e usato spessissimo, ma che, come tutte le cose tecnologiche, di solito viene ignorato bellamente dagli scrittori. Non fraintendetemi, tanti scrittori nominano diversi siti come facebook nei loro libri, così come nominano le mail e i cellulari, ma sono sempre cose di contorno che non sembrano reali a tutti gli effetti. Non so se mi sono spiegata molto bene, ma non vi siete mai trovati davanti a scene di un libro in cui il vostro unico e solo pensiero è stato "ma usare un cellulare no?", scene in cui con una sola telefonata si risparmiavano pagine e pagine di situazioni disastrose? A me è capitato, ed è sempre una cosa che mi lascia perplessa.
Ma comunque... torniamo ai nostri personaggi. Oltre alla nostra neo-sciamana abbiamo il suo mentore, il terzo...ehm.. secondo, scusate, il secondo più grande sciamano che sia mai esistito... rullo di tamburi.... ed ecco a voi un goblin dal caratteraccio peggiore del mondo e con un'insana passione per il dentifricio! (E no, non lo usa per lavarsi i denti!).
Poi abbiamo Sally, una banshee simpatica con la passione per l'arte contemporanea, Gretel, una troll con la passione per la cucina umana, Kevin, un vampiro maniaco della pulizia (e probabilmente ipocondriaco), Rhys, un quasi druido con un sacco di allergie e tanti altri ancora.
Insomma, ogni personaggio è una piccola perla di per sé, e messi tutti assieme vi lascio solo immaginare cosa ne esca fuori. Ognuno ha una voce che lo rende immediatamente riconoscibile, ha spessore, definizione, non può non sembrarci reale e noi non possiamo fare a meno di volergli bene, almeno un pochino. Ognuno di loro si scaverà un posticino nel vostro cuore, magari non sarà una cosa permanente, ma, almeno per un po', sarà lì ad accompagnarvi nella lettura e a farvi divertire (e magari anche riflettere un po', perché anche se stiamo parlando di troll, goblin, vampiri e simili alla fine sono tutti irrimediabilmente umani).
Spero di avervi incuriosito con questa recensione perché secondo me il libro merita davvero tanto, penso che sia stato una delle migliori scoperte di quest'anno e non vedo l'ora di poter recuperare gli altri libri, sia di questa serie, che di quella dedicata a Matthew Swift (il Migdnight Mayor di cui vi parlavo prima) perché questa serie è.. parallela (penso si possa dire così, non saprei come altro definirla, ma sono aperta a suggerimenti!) a quella principale, dedicata appunto a M. S.
July 24, 2013
I have to start by saying that Stray Souls was initially a little hard to get into the swing of. It’s very British — in speech, language, and sense of humor. But once I did get into the swing of it, I couldn’t put it down.
Sharon Li is a barista in a so-so coffee shop with a crappy boss, who’s eventually told she’s a shaman, but has trouble believing it. Her mentor is cranky and not so much into the whole teaching thing. And when Sharon is told she has to find the missing souls of London, she has no clue where to start.
So she turns to Magicals Anonymous, a self-help group she’d started for those with extra “abilities”. And we meet a cast of characters who put the quirk in quirky…
Stray Souls is wickedly funny, totally modern, and spot-on in its social commentary. I loved that Sharon uses Google and facebook to try to find some answers. I loved that her Magicals Anonymous group worry equally about the fate of the world, and adequate dental care for vampires. I loved that even the big bad villain turns out to have a heart after all.
Most of all though, I love the sense of humor that permeates this urban fantasy. Not that it’s all laughs and marshmallows, because the story has its dark parts. I’m off to wait for the next installment in this series, and am considering picking up Griffin’s Matthew Swift series – I’ve read good things about it!
drey’s rating: Excellent!
Sharon Li is a barista in a so-so coffee shop with a crappy boss, who’s eventually told she’s a shaman, but has trouble believing it. Her mentor is cranky and not so much into the whole teaching thing. And when Sharon is told she has to find the missing souls of London, she has no clue where to start.
So she turns to Magicals Anonymous, a self-help group she’d started for those with extra “abilities”. And we meet a cast of characters who put the quirk in quirky…
Stray Souls is wickedly funny, totally modern, and spot-on in its social commentary. I loved that Sharon uses Google and facebook to try to find some answers. I loved that her Magicals Anonymous group worry equally about the fate of the world, and adequate dental care for vampires. I loved that even the big bad villain turns out to have a heart after all.
Most of all though, I love the sense of humor that permeates this urban fantasy. Not that it’s all laughs and marshmallows, because the story has its dark parts. I’m off to wait for the next installment in this series, and am considering picking up Griffin’s Matthew Swift series – I’ve read good things about it!
drey’s rating: Excellent!
August 19, 2013
I am a big fan of Kate Griffin’s MATTHEW SWIFT books. I think her love of London; the majestic, the beautiful, the historic, the grungy, the run-down and the shoddy, powers those books, as does a system of magic that grown organically from the city (or, as Swift puts it, “Life is magic.”) With Stray Souls, Griffin introduces another character and what appears to second series set in the same magical universe; the MAGICALS ANONYMOUS series.
Sharon Li is twenty-two. She is a barista in a coffee shop and shares a flat with three flat-mates. She is addicted to self-help books, but lately she’s had a few experiences that go beyond the Change-your-mind-change-your-life kind of thing — like, she can walk through walls. Sharon does what anyone would do in this situation; she forms a group on Facebook. Soon the Facebook group evolves into a real support group, with a meeting ... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Sharon Li is twenty-two. She is a barista in a coffee shop and shares a flat with three flat-mates. She is addicted to self-help books, but lately she’s had a few experiences that go beyond the Change-your-mind-change-your-life kind of thing — like, she can walk through walls. Sharon does what anyone would do in this situation; she forms a group on Facebook. Soon the Facebook group evolves into a real support group, with a meeting ... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
February 23, 2013
Fabulous new entry in Kate Griffin's magical London. When I read about the book I was afraid it wouldn't compare to The Minority Council, which I've added to my 'favourite books of all time' shelf, but I was pleasantly surprised. I very much liked seeing Matthew Swift from Sharon Li's perspective. The narrative structure of this story is both fitting and highly entertaining, and gave me a break from the sometimes overwhelming stream-of-consciousness style that Griffin employs when her characters are immersed in magic. The secondary characters are finely drawn and play into the plot in ways I didn't expect. Sammy the Elbow and Sally the Banshee will stick with me for a long time. Although I can't wait for the next Matthew Swift novel, I hope to see more of Sharon Li and her tribe as well!
September 13, 2014
3.5 stars. Good urban fantasy about a London barista who discovers she's a shaman and somehow has to rescue the missing spirit of the city. I enjoyed the unusual premise, but struggled a bit with the style - although that got better as I became more used to it. Plus I think this could've been trimmed down a bit, as bits of the middle seemed to drag.
August 15, 2013
I received this book as part of the GoodReads First Read program. Just so you know.
I've never heard of Kate Griffin before, but the premise of this book intrigued me. A self help group for people who are struggling dealing with their magical impulses? Sounds hilarious! And for the most part, it is. The characters who populate the self help group (started on Facebook, by the way, because the book only mentions that every other page) are, for the most part, genius, and are fully formed with different perspectives and wants and desires. And, because this is fiction and people can't just find learn to grow and change (and how wonderful that all of these isolated, confused individuals are able to find a community)and so they also have to save all of London from a wendigo (who is also a hilarious character, but very, very deadly) who is on the hunt for the mysteriously missing Greydawn.
This book is fun. It's not what I would call literature-with-a-capital-L, but it's the summer and I'm on vacation and sometimes I want to read humorous urban fantasy that takes itself just seriously enough. Because despite all the fun we have, there is a sense of uneasiness laced throughout the novel. There are bad things out there, haunting the city, and soon those bad things are going to invade the safe havens, and everybody will have to go to the tall tower and learn to put their differences aside to succeed, etc. etc. And a lot of the time, it works because you like the characters (I'm mostly talking about Sally the Banshee, but that's my personal preference).
Unfortunately this book isn't perfect. While most of the characters are manageable, and the book does a good job of reminding you who they are in case you forget, there are still way too many of them, and more than once people talk about a character who I'm pretty sure never existed before, I went back and checked. And while some of these characters are fine and manage to work their way back in, there are still characters who I have absolutely no idea who they are, what they do, and why I should care about them. Yes, they're minor, but when our main characters rely on somebody, it would help if we have any reaction (relief, horror, what have you) other than, "Who's that again?"
And there's also this sense that things are going way too fast. Sharon, our plucky main character, starts out the novel incredibly naive. She doesn't seem like the type who would just go off and be irresponsible, but suddenly a goblin and some other person who may have had wings or something (it's also not clear what Matthew Swift does, but I'll cover that below) show up and she's our unwilling hero, which just seems strange... early on, she really has no agency, and a lot of things just go nowhere. She trains with a shaman, he berates her for a night, and then there's no more training? I don't know, things were confusing, and that takes me out of the book because I feel that though confusion, as a whole, is no problem, too much confusion makes things difficult. And so when I finished the books, I still had some lingering questions, like who is Matthew Swift, arguably a major character, and what exactly does he do other than show up every now and then and monologue? Why, after Sammy berates her all night, does she listen to and follow all of his instructions, even though she doesn't like him or what he's teaching her? Why do the members of Magicals Anonymous have to find sacrifices and did I miss something? Whatever happened to Eddie and did he eventually go on a date with Kevin-the-vampire?
I think a big point of my confusion is that Kate Griffin previously wrote a series about Matthew Swift, which I have not read, but which stars him. And so when he shows up in this book, I believe the intention is for people to say, "Yay, he's back! Now I have a new perspective on him!" Because Sharon, who has never heard of him before, is quickly familiar with him and comes to rely on his help. And as somebody who has never read the books in the Matthew Swift series, this seems strange to me, because that whole relationship seemingly sprung out of nowhere, and it's not one that felt authentic. Maybe I'd enjoy this book more if I'd read the previous series, but either way, that's a problem - this book is mostly stand alone, which is good, but I shouldn't have to read three more books in order to like a character as soon as he's introduced. I wish Griffin had spent more time developing him instead of taking it for granted that the audience would know and love him. As it is, he comes across as a little bit flat.
But again, this book is fun! It's a good bit of distraction and a lot of fluff and there are worse ways to spend your day, believe me, I know. Stray Souls isn't perfect by any means, but it's fun, it's a good start to what I assume is going to be another series, and an imaginative blend of fantasy with new characters that I've never really seen before. Griffin does a fantastic job of helping us understand most of the characters (Matthew Swift and Sammy aside), and so even when the villain is at his most monstrous, there's still a sadness as we understand why he's tearing the city apart and killing innocent people. That's a good thing, and it helps the book rise above a number of novels, fantasy or otherwise, where the villain is bad because, duh, they're a villain. So it's fun, smart, but a bit too reliant on previous books that the author has written.
I've never heard of Kate Griffin before, but the premise of this book intrigued me. A self help group for people who are struggling dealing with their magical impulses? Sounds hilarious! And for the most part, it is. The characters who populate the self help group (started on Facebook, by the way, because the book only mentions that every other page) are, for the most part, genius, and are fully formed with different perspectives and wants and desires. And, because this is fiction and people can't just find learn to grow and change (and how wonderful that all of these isolated, confused individuals are able to find a community)and so they also have to save all of London from a wendigo (who is also a hilarious character, but very, very deadly) who is on the hunt for the mysteriously missing Greydawn.
This book is fun. It's not what I would call literature-with-a-capital-L, but it's the summer and I'm on vacation and sometimes I want to read humorous urban fantasy that takes itself just seriously enough. Because despite all the fun we have, there is a sense of uneasiness laced throughout the novel. There are bad things out there, haunting the city, and soon those bad things are going to invade the safe havens, and everybody will have to go to the tall tower and learn to put their differences aside to succeed, etc. etc. And a lot of the time, it works because you like the characters (I'm mostly talking about Sally the Banshee, but that's my personal preference).
Unfortunately this book isn't perfect. While most of the characters are manageable, and the book does a good job of reminding you who they are in case you forget, there are still way too many of them, and more than once people talk about a character who I'm pretty sure never existed before, I went back and checked. And while some of these characters are fine and manage to work their way back in, there are still characters who I have absolutely no idea who they are, what they do, and why I should care about them. Yes, they're minor, but when our main characters rely on somebody, it would help if we have any reaction (relief, horror, what have you) other than, "Who's that again?"
And there's also this sense that things are going way too fast. Sharon, our plucky main character, starts out the novel incredibly naive. She doesn't seem like the type who would just go off and be irresponsible, but suddenly a goblin and some other person who may have had wings or something (it's also not clear what Matthew Swift does, but I'll cover that below) show up and she's our unwilling hero, which just seems strange... early on, she really has no agency, and a lot of things just go nowhere. She trains with a shaman, he berates her for a night, and then there's no more training? I don't know, things were confusing, and that takes me out of the book because I feel that though confusion, as a whole, is no problem, too much confusion makes things difficult. And so when I finished the books, I still had some lingering questions, like who is Matthew Swift, arguably a major character, and what exactly does he do other than show up every now and then and monologue? Why, after Sammy berates her all night, does she listen to and follow all of his instructions, even though she doesn't like him or what he's teaching her? Why do the members of Magicals Anonymous have to find sacrifices and did I miss something? Whatever happened to Eddie and did he eventually go on a date with Kevin-the-vampire?
I think a big point of my confusion is that Kate Griffin previously wrote a series about Matthew Swift, which I have not read, but which stars him. And so when he shows up in this book, I believe the intention is for people to say, "Yay, he's back! Now I have a new perspective on him!" Because Sharon, who has never heard of him before, is quickly familiar with him and comes to rely on his help. And as somebody who has never read the books in the Matthew Swift series, this seems strange to me, because that whole relationship seemingly sprung out of nowhere, and it's not one that felt authentic. Maybe I'd enjoy this book more if I'd read the previous series, but either way, that's a problem - this book is mostly stand alone, which is good, but I shouldn't have to read three more books in order to like a character as soon as he's introduced. I wish Griffin had spent more time developing him instead of taking it for granted that the audience would know and love him. As it is, he comes across as a little bit flat.
But again, this book is fun! It's a good bit of distraction and a lot of fluff and there are worse ways to spend your day, believe me, I know. Stray Souls isn't perfect by any means, but it's fun, it's a good start to what I assume is going to be another series, and an imaginative blend of fantasy with new characters that I've never really seen before. Griffin does a fantastic job of helping us understand most of the characters (Matthew Swift and Sammy aside), and so even when the villain is at his most monstrous, there's still a sadness as we understand why he's tearing the city apart and killing innocent people. That's a good thing, and it helps the book rise above a number of novels, fantasy or otherwise, where the villain is bad because, duh, they're a villain. So it's fun, smart, but a bit too reliant on previous books that the author has written.
March 10, 2019
4.5 Stars
Stray Souls is the first book in the Magicals Anonymous series by Kate Griffin is a fantastic piece of Urban Fantasy. Sure it doesn't hurt that this take place in the world of Matthew Swift, A Madness of Angels is one of my all time favorite books.
This is a fun and fast paced piece of urban fantasy. If you are a fan of Kate Griffin you know what to expect from her amazing and unique writing style. She is a story teller that has a lyrical and often poetic writing style that I cannot get enough of.
Huge fan of Kate Griffin.
Fun read
Stray Souls is the first book in the Magicals Anonymous series by Kate Griffin is a fantastic piece of Urban Fantasy. Sure it doesn't hurt that this take place in the world of Matthew Swift, A Madness of Angels is one of my all time favorite books.
This is a fun and fast paced piece of urban fantasy. If you are a fan of Kate Griffin you know what to expect from her amazing and unique writing style. She is a story teller that has a lyrical and often poetic writing style that I cannot get enough of.
Huge fan of Kate Griffin.
Fun read
May 27, 2018
I hated this book. it was so badly written that I got a headache trying to figure out what the author was trying to say. maybe is because I never her other book but after reading this one I will never read another Kate Griffin book.
April 30, 2021
Friendship is magic
September 19, 2024
Very enjoyable book. I don't remember ever reading a book about magical/fantasy characters who are so out of touch with their abilities. It was somewhat sad and humorous at the same time. It was nice to see them come together as Magicals Anonymous and find out what their true strengths are. Looking forward to the next book in the series.
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