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Bookburners #1.3
Fair Weather
Little is at it seems on the high seas when a magical book wreaks havoc on a luxury yacht.
The Team saves on flight costs as the newest mystery happens around the corner. A tip from a local antiquarian doesn’t make it to the Team in time and they are left with a once-bookstore-now-rubble-pile, a missing magical tome, and very few clues beyond a helpful tour guide (one might even say too helpful…). Tracking the missing book to a luxury yacht, the Team gets less of the high-end boating experience and more of the demon-on-the-loose nightmare. All aboard the Fair Weather; but no smooth sailing ahead.
This episode is brought to you by team-writer Margaret Dunlap and introduces readers (and our heroine) to not only the true dangers of Bookburning, but to mysterious secrets even cloudier than the Societas Librium Occultorum.
"Bookburners is sheer enormous fun! Energetic, intense, vivid prose. More soon please."
--Naomi Novik, author of Uprooted and the New York Times bestselling Temeraire series
"Bookburners is the breathless, hallucinogenic love child of Torchwood, the Librarians, and the Laundry Files. More soon, please."
--Ian Tregillis, author of The Mechanical and Bitter Seeds
"Bookburners is an exciting new take on urban fantasy. Love the premise, love the characters, love the unique (and sometimes wonderfully disturbing) spin on the dangers of magic!"
--Cassandra Rose Clarke, author of The Assassins Curse
"Bookburners has everything I want from episodic storytelling - strong writing, a rich premise, and memorable characters that will keep me coming back week after week."
--Mike Underwood, author of the Ree Reyes Geekomancy series
"Bookburners satisfies my craving for pulpy, demonic chaos with sharp writing, deliciously sinister magic, stellar black humor, and a kick-ass cast. The serialized story perfectly suits a sorcerer’s codex of baddies while the plucky Sal digs for deeper truths in her work with the Black Archives squad."
--Lindsay Smith, author of the Sekret Series
The Team saves on flight costs as the newest mystery happens around the corner. A tip from a local antiquarian doesn’t make it to the Team in time and they are left with a once-bookstore-now-rubble-pile, a missing magical tome, and very few clues beyond a helpful tour guide (one might even say too helpful…). Tracking the missing book to a luxury yacht, the Team gets less of the high-end boating experience and more of the demon-on-the-loose nightmare. All aboard the Fair Weather; but no smooth sailing ahead.
This episode is brought to you by team-writer Margaret Dunlap and introduces readers (and our heroine) to not only the true dangers of Bookburning, but to mysterious secrets even cloudier than the Societas Librium Occultorum.
"Bookburners is sheer enormous fun! Energetic, intense, vivid prose. More soon please."
--Naomi Novik, author of Uprooted and the New York Times bestselling Temeraire series
"Bookburners is the breathless, hallucinogenic love child of Torchwood, the Librarians, and the Laundry Files. More soon, please."
--Ian Tregillis, author of The Mechanical and Bitter Seeds
"Bookburners is an exciting new take on urban fantasy. Love the premise, love the characters, love the unique (and sometimes wonderfully disturbing) spin on the dangers of magic!"
--Cassandra Rose Clarke, author of The Assassins Curse
"Bookburners has everything I want from episodic storytelling - strong writing, a rich premise, and memorable characters that will keep me coming back week after week."
--Mike Underwood, author of the Ree Reyes Geekomancy series
"Bookburners satisfies my craving for pulpy, demonic chaos with sharp writing, deliciously sinister magic, stellar black humor, and a kick-ass cast. The serialized story perfectly suits a sorcerer’s codex of baddies while the plucky Sal digs for deeper truths in her work with the Black Archives squad."
--Lindsay Smith, author of the Sekret Series
45 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2015
68 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Dunlap
54 books32 followersHi! My name is Margaret and I write for the small and smaller screens.
I live in Southern California, where I torment the other members of the Bookburners writing team with weather reports and brace myself for the earthquake that will turn Burbank into oceanfront property.
In addition to the books in my profile you can also find my work on The Middleman (ABC Family), Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (Netflix 2019), and The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.
I live in Southern California, where I torment the other members of the Bookburners writing team with weather reports and brace myself for the earthquake that will turn Burbank into oceanfront property.
In addition to the books in my profile you can also find my work on The Middleman (ABC Family), Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (Netflix 2019), and The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 9, 2016
Bookburners Season One: Episode 3...
In Episode 3 of the Bookburners urban fantasy serial Sal and the Vatican team are called out to a bookstore that has dissapeared. They track the book they are looking for to a boat, the Fair Weather, harbored in Ostia which is the closest place to Rome where you can berth a yacht. Just when they think they have the demon contained though, they find their job isn't quite as finished as they thought it was.
This is the first episode I've read by Margaret Dunlap and I liked it a lot, particularly the boat setting. I'm looking forward to reading more of the episodes she's written. Also Sal relieves some tension with a little romance with one of her team members so I'm curious to see how that relationship plays out.
*I received Bookburners: The Complete Season One from NetGalley & Serial Box Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
In Episode 3 of the Bookburners urban fantasy serial Sal and the Vatican team are called out to a bookstore that has dissapeared. They track the book they are looking for to a boat, the Fair Weather, harbored in Ostia which is the closest place to Rome where you can berth a yacht. Just when they think they have the demon contained though, they find their job isn't quite as finished as they thought it was.
This is the first episode I've read by Margaret Dunlap and I liked it a lot, particularly the boat setting. I'm looking forward to reading more of the episodes she's written. Also Sal relieves some tension with a little romance with one of her team members so I'm curious to see how that relationship plays out.
*I received Bookburners: The Complete Season One from NetGalley & Serial Box Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
October 15, 2015
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy:
Perhaps because it didn't involve jetting around the globe, FAIR WEATHER felt shorter than the first two episodes of the BookBurners. Still, it packs a few fun surprises that nearly had me cheering.
Readers were introduced to quite a few new characters in this episode, including the leader of Team 1 (Sal is on Team 3). Team 1 are the ones who will terminate people infected with the evil magic that can leak out of the books. They clean up the messes is Team 3 doesn't recover the artifacts in time, so there is obviously some tension between the two teams. You definitely get the feeling that there is a lot more going on than what Sal's team is doing, and that not all of it is very nice.
The descriptions of the demonic manifestation was super gross this time, and there were some excellent bits of humour and good pacing as they were trying to deal with the black sludge that is slowly filling the cruise ship they find themselves trapped on.
We also get a glimpse at a potential villain for the series, although it's absolutely not what you think it was at the end. A good addition to the series.
Perhaps because it didn't involve jetting around the globe, FAIR WEATHER felt shorter than the first two episodes of the BookBurners. Still, it packs a few fun surprises that nearly had me cheering.
Readers were introduced to quite a few new characters in this episode, including the leader of Team 1 (Sal is on Team 3). Team 1 are the ones who will terminate people infected with the evil magic that can leak out of the books. They clean up the messes is Team 3 doesn't recover the artifacts in time, so there is obviously some tension between the two teams. You definitely get the feeling that there is a lot more going on than what Sal's team is doing, and that not all of it is very nice.
The descriptions of the demonic manifestation was super gross this time, and there were some excellent bits of humour and good pacing as they were trying to deal with the black sludge that is slowly filling the cruise ship they find themselves trapped on.
We also get a glimpse at a potential villain for the series, although it's absolutely not what you think it was at the end. A good addition to the series.
October 3, 2015
Have I mentioned how into this whole serial, noirish, urban fantasy thing I am? Yeah. Still that. Also, very much loving the cliffhanger at the end of this episode.
April 17, 2023
Nice! Relaxing read\listen where things are not quite right...
Little more worldbuilding, and a suspiciously helpful bystander... The search for a local book that "disappeared" - along with the bookshop!
Little more focus of Sam (the cop) and Liam (the info gatherer), as well as the obligatory pov of a victim of the magic...
Feels very procedural, but in the good way of a Supernatural episode.
On to the next!
Little more worldbuilding, and a suspiciously helpful bystander... The search for a local book that "disappeared" - along with the bookshop!
Little more focus of Sam (the cop) and Liam (the info gatherer), as well as the obligatory pov of a victim of the magic...
Feels very procedural, but in the good way of a Supernatural episode.
On to the next!
November 23, 2020
This episode was both tragic and heartbreaking (as if earlier and subsequent episodes aren’t both) as Magic in its quest to consume the world touches innocents with painful consequences. Also, Sal encounters a player new to her, about whose type she disagrees with leader priest Father Menchu.
July 16, 2017
Alerta de personagem novo e, com ele, mais mistérios e tramas para puxar nos próximos episódios!
January 25, 2020
Oh yeah, this is all kinds of fabulous.
September 28, 2015
Originally posted at: http://thebookplank.blogspot.com/2015...
After two very strong episodes we have come to the third episode of Bookburners where Brian Francis Slattery has given the reigns to Margaret Dunlap introducing her first addition to the Bookburners series.
As with the stories of Max Gladstone, which introduced the concept of the Bookburners and that of Brian Francis Slattery, which greatly build on the story of Max Gladstone. The first story showed demonic posession and the second on how a book could influence a small enclosed part of the world. In Fair Weather, Margaret Dunlap takes it up a notch more! As I already mentioned the world proposed in Bookburners has unlimited possibilities and this is precisely what is shown, so far we have seen direct influences, in Fair Weather, there is the small and subtle way of how a book can influence the world. For now onto the story!
Sally has been properly inaugurated into Team Three of the Bookburners, having survived the ordeal with her brother and the flat that turned into a fantasy world. Not long after returning back to Rome another job is waiting for the Team to investigate. Luckily or perhaps unluckily the Team doesn't have to travel long, a bookshop just around the corner is the crime scene. Luckily for the team they are soon pointed in a right direction and once they get to the a bit of an unusual place. The book is on a very luxurious yacht called Fair Weather. But everything is far from fair. The book in question hasn't been opened yet, however this doesn't imply that a book can't influence it's surrounding as describe by earlier historical events... Because once the spine if damaged in any way the demonic powers of the book can slowly seep out and actually cause much more havoc that bluntly opening the book.
The ending of this episode is just as cool as the whole build up. It seems that Team Three isn't the only player in the game! Curious to see who Aaron is and to who he belongs to.
After two very strong episodes we have come to the third episode of Bookburners where Brian Francis Slattery has given the reigns to Margaret Dunlap introducing her first addition to the Bookburners series.
As with the stories of Max Gladstone, which introduced the concept of the Bookburners and that of Brian Francis Slattery, which greatly build on the story of Max Gladstone. The first story showed demonic posession and the second on how a book could influence a small enclosed part of the world. In Fair Weather, Margaret Dunlap takes it up a notch more! As I already mentioned the world proposed in Bookburners has unlimited possibilities and this is precisely what is shown, so far we have seen direct influences, in Fair Weather, there is the small and subtle way of how a book can influence the world. For now onto the story!
Sally has been properly inaugurated into Team Three of the Bookburners, having survived the ordeal with her brother and the flat that turned into a fantasy world. Not long after returning back to Rome another job is waiting for the Team to investigate. Luckily or perhaps unluckily the Team doesn't have to travel long, a bookshop just around the corner is the crime scene. Luckily for the team they are soon pointed in a right direction and once they get to the a bit of an unusual place. The book is on a very luxurious yacht called Fair Weather. But everything is far from fair. The book in question hasn't been opened yet, however this doesn't imply that a book can't influence it's surrounding as describe by earlier historical events... Because once the spine if damaged in any way the demonic powers of the book can slowly seep out and actually cause much more havoc that bluntly opening the book.
The ending of this episode is just as cool as the whole build up. It seems that Team Three isn't the only player in the game! Curious to see who Aaron is and to who he belongs to.
October 6, 2015
I ran into the Book Burners team at PHXCC2015. I liked the idea of the way they wanted to do their serial. I’ve been a fan of collaboration in my own writing, and the group of authors I met seemed down to earth. I was interested in the serial, but a few delays along the way led me to “back burner” the serial, and it wasn’t until I saw episodes two and three on NetGalley that I remembered the entire venture.
The first thing I need to say about Book Burners is that it is definitely episodic, rather than serialistic. Each episode is a self-contained story, and the overarching theme introduced in the first episode is moved forward. Unlike many serials, I didn’t feel cheated when I got to the end of each episode. I can easily see a TV series being produced from each episode, and I’d love to watch it.
Episode three had a Fringe vibe to it. I loved the TV series, Fringe, and episode three was the best of the bunch. We’re getting to know the protagonist more, and starting to get emotionally invested in the supporting characters. The self-contained story seemed a little shorter than the previous two, but that left more ink to advance the overall story of the protagonist and the fate of her brother. I’m looking forward to episode four.
I’d recommend the serial, and hope that when all sixteen episodes are published, there’d be an omnibus, or a season one collection.
The first thing I need to say about Book Burners is that it is definitely episodic, rather than serialistic. Each episode is a self-contained story, and the overarching theme introduced in the first episode is moved forward. Unlike many serials, I didn’t feel cheated when I got to the end of each episode. I can easily see a TV series being produced from each episode, and I’d love to watch it.
Episode three had a Fringe vibe to it. I loved the TV series, Fringe, and episode three was the best of the bunch. We’re getting to know the protagonist more, and starting to get emotionally invested in the supporting characters. The self-contained story seemed a little shorter than the previous two, but that left more ink to advance the overall story of the protagonist and the fate of her brother. I’m looking forward to episode four.
I’d recommend the serial, and hope that when all sixteen episodes are published, there’d be an omnibus, or a season one collection.
December 31, 2015
When a bookstore in Rome abruptly vanishes, Sal tracks down the latest evil book to a nearby yacht, and promptly gets herself, her team, and some innocent bystanders trapped on-board with a deadline ticking down until they're all buried by demon goo. This was by far my favorite episode yet. The writing was fantastic – very funny in the beginning, with lots of great snappy dialogue – and then with a surprising dark twist at the end that I did not see coming at all. It was less creepy than the previous episode, but the action and mystery were just *so* clever and well-done.
(I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.)
(I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.)
September 22, 2015
The third installment of the Bookburners series, Fair Weather, brings Team Three close is disaster. A book store collapsed after a dangerous book is traded there. Strange things are occurring and while the Orb has not gone off, a magical taint is oozing around Rome an Ostia. Eventually, the case is resolved only after some casualties on the part of civilians. Interesting developments in the series with character growth and the introduction of Team One. Waiting to see what pops up next for Sal and Team Three.
July 17, 2016
With this episode, Sal is introduced to the darker side of the organisation she's joined, and the other option that could have come out of the first episode.
I am still enjoying the series, and the narrator of the audiobook edition still does not disappoint.
I am still enjoying the series, and the narrator of the audiobook edition still does not disappoint.
September 24, 2015
I wasn't sure that I would stay the course with this series but so far so good. I really enjoyed this instalment which added further layers to the "story of the week" format.
September 30, 2015
Three episodes in & I'm still on the hook. Fun stuff.
http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2015/0...
http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2015/0...
October 11, 2015
3,5 stars.
Good story. A bit rushed towards the end.
Good story. A bit rushed towards the end.
April 24, 2016
Neither the characters nor the plot of this third installment were interesting enough to keep me following the series. Retread of Warehouse 13 without the fun snarkiness.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews