Magic, wizards and talking animals. Those would all be totally cool with Thomas except he woke up as a talking cougar! Now he's viewing the magical world from the bottom up, and everyone's telling him he better roll over if he knows what's good for him. Or else!
Thomas runs for "else" as fast as he can on four legs, surprising the entire magical community as they scrambled to keep up. In this three book series, can Thomas keep a collar off his neck and claw out a place for himself in a high stakes game of magic where every bet could mean his life? He'll find steadfast friends in a squirrel with an explosive habit and a fire magus who simply cannot catch a break. Together they'll face off against wizards, werewolves and Thomas's own lack of thumbs in these non-stop adventures.
This box set includes the first three books in the Freelance Familiars series, including Off Leash, Marking Territory, and High Steaks.
Daniel Potter has always been inspired by the mysteries of the world. His early interest lead him to become avid researcher as well as gamer and writer. After obtaining his PhD in vascular biology, he began exploring fictional magic and spiritualism using his own particular scientific lense. Daniel published the webcomic Walking the Lethe from 2010-2012 and is an active member of the East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Meet-up group. His debut novel, Off Leash, is just the first in his Freelance Familiar series. When he's not chasing his imagination, Daniel works as a vascular biologist in the Bay Area. He shares an apartment with his wife, two cats, and a large collection of video games.
Book 1: a bit slow paced, but nice refreshing perspective on contemporary fantasy.
Book 2: still slow paced. Wasn't sure what was going on sometimes as things got further out of hand. Learned a lot, but not my fav. Kinda survived this one in order to understand book 3.
Book 3: The pace picked up here. I enjoyed learning about the magic and the way it works better in this episode. I enjoyed the characters more. Setting it in Vegas was an interesting macguffin, but it didn't make me mad. This was easily my favorite book in the series and I own all 4 he's released as well as the side story about Rudy.
I love his pop culture references. I feel very comfortable with Thomas. The eye rolling puns are there, but it never gets outright corny. I've been stuck on the couch for 8 weeks waiting for surgery and this series helped me get through.
I read the first book of this series years ago and I don't know why it took me so long to get to the next books.
Book 2: This sees Thomas trying to work between different groups within his home town and maintain his relationship with Noise. None of that works out how he wanted. And Rudy goes from being an annoying sidekick to one you want to know far more about!
Book 3: After the showdown at the end of book 2, Thomas and his friends are hiding out under Vegas. More shenanigans occur as they try to get to the bottom of why their friends are disappearing. They end up on top of the pile, but I can't help but feel there is now a long way down for them to fall.
A thoroughly entertaining take on the "secret magic in the real world" setup. The author has a flair for situation comedy and dialogue with plenty of humor--but the stories themselves tackle serious issues. The main character is relatable and sympathetic, the supporting cast is interesting, fully-developed--and often hilarious--and the action builds to satisfying conclusions in all three books. I'm glad I bought the boxed set because it meant I could go from one to the next without pause.
Magic wielding assholes shoving unwilling humans into animal bodies to be used as slaves. The main character of the book describes it perfectly on page 113 as, 'You're all like the plantation owners who think they saved their Black slaves by ripping them out of their country and home.". Even his so called friend thinks it's justified merely because they can, and humans are just things. Unless that's your thing, don't waste your money. I wish I hadn't wasted mine. I'm done at page 113.
I purchased the first book because I love the big cats. I had no idea of what the book was about. I have already told several people and I think some are interested enough to investigate further...I hope. I have never read a book like these. I am usually into fantasy and dragons or sci-fi in general. I am really enjoying Thomas and his antics. Love Rudy too. Actually I want to hear more about Grace and Alice!
A cougar may seem like an unlikely champion of fair play and justice, but Daniel Potter has imbued this cat with heroism as well. You will find this adventure to contain a wealth of wisdom as well. I could not put it down and look forward to seeing more from this author.
I had such fun reading the Freelance Familiars books. The plot was interesting, Thomas Khartoum is wonderfully snarky and altruistic at the same time. The idea of harvesting magical energy called Tass was novel. I loved Alice the Cow, and Noise the Wherecow too. How can you go wrong with such interesting characters?
I truly enjoyed this story, the settings, and characters. I absolutely intend to continue reading their adventures. If I have one constructive criticism, however, it would be to have an editor go through one more time and fix all of the typos. They weren't bad enough to ruin the experience, but did stop the flow a few times. Still a good read.
It was a decent trilogy. I think the first book was probably stronger than the second which was stronger than the third, but all were good, entertaining fun. They're full of magic, monsters, and talking animals, so ya gotta like that. I was hoping for more closure with the girlfriend and the owl, but there is a fourth book, so perhaps we'll see them again.
Good set of stories. They all build off of each other, so best to start with the first. Enjoyable and emotional at the same time. Everyone has their own baggage and dreams, but watch out for the fireworks.
Box sets are great for binge reading. Even better if you truly enjoy the stories. Bad though if you can’t stop until you reach the very last page, just as dawn breaks.
You get what's on the cover with this series, it's an urban fantasy romp filled to the brim with humor. It's popcorn fantasy pure and simple, and it's just a delightful read.
I really enjoyed book one but I didn't bother to read more than the first few pages of book 2 because I thought the whole "disguise yourself as a human and walk around on two legs to go have a date" thing to push things too far in terms of what can be hidden from mundane humans by the veil.
Fantastic books. I enjoyed them immensely and highly recommend them. You won't be disappointed! I can't decide if Rudy or O'Mera is my favourite. Headed off to buy book 4.