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The American Arcane #1
West Coast Witch
My life used to be simple. Then a PI showed up, asking about a missing ex of mine. A corpse and a vampire attack later, I've got a guardian dragging me further in to the world of magic with a gift of magic I never knew I had. Now I'm getting pulled into vampire politics, the arcane drug wars, and trying to get the hang of magic. Saving my own skin, much less anyone else's, is looking like a tall order now...
324 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 30, 2013
18 people are currently reading
400 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 21, 2015
Eric’s life was pretty simple – he had his job as a bar tender and his books.
Until a vampire attacks him and an ex girlfriend of his goes missing and he meets Amy who introduces herself as his Guardian because of a pact with his family. Now he’s up to his eyeballs in vampire politics, werewolf gangs and so much more than he ever dreamed of
Above all the fact that he has magic – he’s a witch, one of the few left in the world, and a challenge, asset and threat to the other Arcane of San Francisco.
This is the first novel of a new series – which means as much as it is about telling a story it’s also about introducing a world and cast to convince us that we want to play in it – and I think this book has done a pretty decent job all round, albeit perhaps not a stellar job
The world is a good one – but not an especially original one. We have vampires in all their ancientness and werewolves in all their furriness with assorted shapeshifters around the periphery for funness. The characters themselves are interesting (the werewolf mob boss, the vampire club owner) and it’s all presented well with bonus extras that we don’t see a lot elsewhere – the undefined Guardians and the hinted at Red Angels with extra mystery brought by the fae
I think when these are developed – along with the whole near-extinction of the witches and their nature – have potential to throw in lots of new angles. I also think it’s probably a good idea not to overdevelop them at this stage so the book can spend more time focusing on introducing Eric, the protagonist. This means the world is decent, fun, interesting and also very very very very similar to a lot of worlds out there. That’s not inherently a bad thing – I liked those books, I like big worlds full of the supernatural, but until these extra elements are developed there’s little in the world to make it stand out in the genre.
The primary role of this book is to set up Eric, the protagonist – and I have mixed feelings about him
Eric has lived nearly his entire life without any real familiarity of the supernatural. Sure he’s aware that vampires and werewolves exist along with the rest of the population since they’ve recently had a Masquerade breaking a few years ago, but otherwise he’s quite clueless. Yet he doesn’t let that stop him leaping into the supernatural world head first without much in the way of hesitation. He often steps in things completely against the advice of his friend/mentor/guardian/totally-not-an-angel. He’s reckless, he’s foolish and if he weren’t the protagonist with a truly epic level of plot armour, he would be dead several times over.
I don’t know what frustrates me more, the lack of good decision making or the fact that his decisions nearly always work without any real consequences
Eric also trusts extremely easily – like Amy. Sure she saved his life but she won’t even tell him her last name, what exactly she is, what her relationship with his mother or his family is but has already declared herself to be his guardian and follows him around. And if he does trust her so much could he at least trust her enough to listen to her advice?! Like she tells him it’s very important he not let the world know he’s a witch and I don’t think the echoes of her warning have died before he’s told half of San Francisco.
He’s so blasé and careless – he falls in with the vampires (after going to see them. Alone. Against all advice. And still not getting eaten) and even starts dating Teresa - again against advice and just a few short days after being attacked by a vampire and describing the whole experience as traumatic and violating. In fact, Eric’s life changes a lot very quickly and becomes a lot more violent and messy but he rolls with it incredibly easily. Now, I’m no fan of drawn out angst, reading my past reviews will make that clear – but some reflection or pause would have helped a lot here.
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Until a vampire attacks him and an ex girlfriend of his goes missing and he meets Amy who introduces herself as his Guardian because of a pact with his family. Now he’s up to his eyeballs in vampire politics, werewolf gangs and so much more than he ever dreamed of
Above all the fact that he has magic – he’s a witch, one of the few left in the world, and a challenge, asset and threat to the other Arcane of San Francisco.
This is the first novel of a new series – which means as much as it is about telling a story it’s also about introducing a world and cast to convince us that we want to play in it – and I think this book has done a pretty decent job all round, albeit perhaps not a stellar job
The world is a good one – but not an especially original one. We have vampires in all their ancientness and werewolves in all their furriness with assorted shapeshifters around the periphery for funness. The characters themselves are interesting (the werewolf mob boss, the vampire club owner) and it’s all presented well with bonus extras that we don’t see a lot elsewhere – the undefined Guardians and the hinted at Red Angels with extra mystery brought by the fae
I think when these are developed – along with the whole near-extinction of the witches and their nature – have potential to throw in lots of new angles. I also think it’s probably a good idea not to overdevelop them at this stage so the book can spend more time focusing on introducing Eric, the protagonist. This means the world is decent, fun, interesting and also very very very very similar to a lot of worlds out there. That’s not inherently a bad thing – I liked those books, I like big worlds full of the supernatural, but until these extra elements are developed there’s little in the world to make it stand out in the genre.
The primary role of this book is to set up Eric, the protagonist – and I have mixed feelings about him
Eric has lived nearly his entire life without any real familiarity of the supernatural. Sure he’s aware that vampires and werewolves exist along with the rest of the population since they’ve recently had a Masquerade breaking a few years ago, but otherwise he’s quite clueless. Yet he doesn’t let that stop him leaping into the supernatural world head first without much in the way of hesitation. He often steps in things completely against the advice of his friend/mentor/guardian/totally-not-an-angel. He’s reckless, he’s foolish and if he weren’t the protagonist with a truly epic level of plot armour, he would be dead several times over.
I don’t know what frustrates me more, the lack of good decision making or the fact that his decisions nearly always work without any real consequences
Eric also trusts extremely easily – like Amy. Sure she saved his life but she won’t even tell him her last name, what exactly she is, what her relationship with his mother or his family is but has already declared herself to be his guardian and follows him around. And if he does trust her so much could he at least trust her enough to listen to her advice?! Like she tells him it’s very important he not let the world know he’s a witch and I don’t think the echoes of her warning have died before he’s told half of San Francisco.
He’s so blasé and careless – he falls in with the vampires (after going to see them. Alone. Against all advice. And still not getting eaten) and even starts dating Teresa - again against advice and just a few short days after being attacked by a vampire and describing the whole experience as traumatic and violating. In fact, Eric’s life changes a lot very quickly and becomes a lot more violent and messy but he rolls with it incredibly easily. Now, I’m no fan of drawn out angst, reading my past reviews will make that clear – but some reflection or pause would have helped a lot here.
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April 19, 2014
This story is not a romance of any kind. What it is is a wild ride through the Arcane of San Francisco. The vast cast of characters were interesting and fairly well developed. The nice twist on the end begs for a second book.
August 4, 2015
Hey, how about we start looking into a dictionary; witch (female), warlock (male) dude, get your phrases right.
Sorry that just needed to get out. I did not like that book and would only recommend to read it if you can cope with a very flat and in parts illogical plot.
Fantasy, the parent genre of urban fantasy is a great thing to read, on its own or in any form of its offspring, it is (for me) more color full than the normal non fiction stuff. But you can't take the depth away. There are feelings, behavior patterns, flaws in characters, different types of humans or human beings and they all make the character feel right.
Here in my hands I simply have an other version of guy with only very few flaws and in of course completely fit and well trained shape discovers his special ability and becomes a hero, even if it is not called that.
That is just plain boring!
Not that every book has to have a different "ground plot" to which it can summarized to but at least give your main characters a coat of your own paint. That is normally enough to make a book worth being read. But if that paint is missing, I can only see the the flaws in this book and they are destroying my reading experience to the point where I had to drop it.
Sorry that just needed to get out. I did not like that book and would only recommend to read it if you can cope with a very flat and in parts illogical plot.
Fantasy, the parent genre of urban fantasy is a great thing to read, on its own or in any form of its offspring, it is (for me) more color full than the normal non fiction stuff. But you can't take the depth away. There are feelings, behavior patterns, flaws in characters, different types of humans or human beings and they all make the character feel right.
Here in my hands I simply have an other version of guy with only very few flaws and in of course completely fit and well trained shape discovers his special ability and becomes a hero, even if it is not called that.
That is just plain boring!
Not that every book has to have a different "ground plot" to which it can summarized to but at least give your main characters a coat of your own paint. That is normally enough to make a book worth being read. But if that paint is missing, I can only see the the flaws in this book and they are destroying my reading experience to the point where I had to drop it.
March 23, 2015
Full Disclosure: Got the book as part of a Goodreads Giveaway.
In general I did like the book. Likeable characters, fun plot. However, urban fantasy is a hard genre to write in currently. We have greats like Jim Butcher and his Dresden Files series, which is a tough competitor and for those who prefer a female lead and a stronger sexual undertone there is Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series. The comparison to these does East Coast Witch no favors.
I personally found this take on vampires, werepeople etc, limited and somewhat derivative. It's not a new take, which doesn't detract from the plot, but is somewhat disappointing for someone who reads in this genre a lot.
My only other issue with the book is that the ease and speed with which a random guy eases into the craziness of his abilities and a world he doesn't know is not believable, even a little. Going from bartender to kicking down doors with a vampire SWAT team in a few days simply seemed a stretch.
Quick, easy, enjoyable read though.
In general I did like the book. Likeable characters, fun plot. However, urban fantasy is a hard genre to write in currently. We have greats like Jim Butcher and his Dresden Files series, which is a tough competitor and for those who prefer a female lead and a stronger sexual undertone there is Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series. The comparison to these does East Coast Witch no favors.
I personally found this take on vampires, werepeople etc, limited and somewhat derivative. It's not a new take, which doesn't detract from the plot, but is somewhat disappointing for someone who reads in this genre a lot.
My only other issue with the book is that the ease and speed with which a random guy eases into the craziness of his abilities and a world he doesn't know is not believable, even a little. Going from bartender to kicking down doors with a vampire SWAT team in a few days simply seemed a stretch.
Quick, easy, enjoyable read though.
June 19, 2015
Of all the urban Fantasy I've read I think this one was the most optimistic. Not that it didn't involve murder or Vampires or betrayals, just that the main character wasn't some hang-dog moper or burn out as it seems is the case in most. Don't get me wrong, there is a place for that but it just seemed as if He could handle things better than most. A good read, some editing issues, but if you can look past them and you enjoy Dresden I think you'll enjoy this one.
October 5, 2013
Ok, where is book 2? Although this book does finish nicely, i would love to see a book 2 come out! A very good book about magic, mayhem and mysteries that will keep you going. I would say this is a coming of age book with a twist. The guy is already 25....but he is just learning about his "skills".
August 2, 2015
really really bad grammar and spelling mistakes on every page. I wrote a longer review but accidentally deleted it and it's just not worth writing it again, because that about sums up what might have been a good story.
December 8, 2013
Where is book 2?! It's nice to see a well written urban fantasy book with a male protagonist. Definitely a change up from my usual reading.
February 16, 2014
I loved this book.
April 12, 2014
great book. awaiting the next one
May 22, 2015
Desperately needs editing! Still, it's a good story, creative and interesting.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews