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The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump
David Fisher, a humble but dedicated bureaucrat of the Environmental Perfection Agency finds that an evil ancient deity (the sort that likes human sacrifices) is about to take over L.A. -- unless he can stop it
Audiobook
First published December 1, 1993
About the author
Harry Turtledove
570 books2,005 followersDr Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced a sizeable number of works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.
Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977.
Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.
Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977.
Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
June 23, 2015
I've always thought of much of the urban fantasy field as taking off with Ann Rice and Laurel Hamilton books, so when I saw this book was published in 1993, I had to give it a shot. It is of the alternate history kind of urban fantasy, with magic as the basis for technological development. David Fisher works for the Environmental Perfection Agency as an inspector. His manager in the District of St. Columbia wants him to unofficially follow up on a tip that a waste dump north of Angels City might be experiencing problems. As David investigates, he discovers that three area children have been born soulless, and there's more than the usual numbers of elf-shot, werewolves and vampires in the area. The dump manager seems like an honest sort, but it'll take a warrant and legal challenges to get more information. When a monastery is burned down, it becomes clear that David is onto a deadly conspiracy.
Apparently arising out of a discussion at a convention, Turtledove created a world-view that mostly works by Principle of Substitution. Instead of 'Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley,' we have 'Angels City and St. Ferdinand's Valley.' Telephones use imps to pass information, and alarm clocks are powered by small spirits. People use flying carpets instead of cars, and doesn't that just create a new level of merging challenge! Parchment is used instead of paper, but David will still need to convince a judge to issue a warrant to further investigate the dump. Elevators are powered by spell-inscribed parchments and an air spirit. It's an interesting technique; while it allows one to jump right into a story without extensive world-building, I did get the pun-ish vibe of Piers Anthony's Xanth series.
The concepts I found the most intriguing was the general idea of separate-but-equal religions that seems to underlie the worldview. However, I'm not sure it entirely worked, particularly with how the story developed. And no, I don't remember what they said about atheism, except that everyone agreed that the three children born without souls was a profound tragedy. I'm not sure that was ever explained, as it didn't sound like it would impact their earthly experience. There's also some aspects of the story that deal with immigration, an ongoing discussion in the L.A. Basin. I appreciated it was integrated and acknowledged in the story, as so many 'urban' fantasies seem to ignore the nature of the urban setting. However, as the story progressed, I'm not entirely sure that it worked out in a non-judgmental kind of way.
Characters were well developed. Unfortunately, David's a mid-level bureaucrat, and much of his routine is rather mundane. His inner narrative gives insight to the world he lives in, but even discussion of imps and telephones couldn't keep me interested in his phone calls. I particularly liked his relationship with Judith, an editor and proofreader at a grimoire publishing firm. David uses her as a sounding board, and she contributes valuable ideas when they brainstorm. But what I liked even more is that their relationship seemed mature and balanced, without the interpersonal drama (usually due to misunderstandings) that so characterizes the genre.
Plotting was acceptable, although it dragged a bit in the beginning. I almost felt as if Turtledove really had followed a mid-level bureaucrat through a week of his life and then magicalized it. And, as you might imagine, most people's professional details are not interesting enough that detailing them gives any benefit to the sense of routine. I won't spoil it, but as the investigation of the dump starts to escalate, the plotting picks up and becomes more complicated, almost to the point where it seems like another story.
While I was glad to have finally read Turtledove, a classic fantasy author, the story didn't deeply engage me. I read it with intellectual interest as to the world-building, but that isn't always sustainable for a story. Aspects also reminded me of Terry Pratchett, although I'd be hard pressed to say why. Perhaps the tongue-in-cheek tone that simultaneously wants the reader to care about character predicaments while jokes are being made. I'd recommend it for people that are interested in a wide variety of urban fantasy, those who want perspective on the genre, and fans of the time period.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Open Road Media for providing a review's copy of this book
Apparently arising out of a discussion at a convention, Turtledove created a world-view that mostly works by Principle of Substitution. Instead of 'Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley,' we have 'Angels City and St. Ferdinand's Valley.' Telephones use imps to pass information, and alarm clocks are powered by small spirits. People use flying carpets instead of cars, and doesn't that just create a new level of merging challenge! Parchment is used instead of paper, but David will still need to convince a judge to issue a warrant to further investigate the dump. Elevators are powered by spell-inscribed parchments and an air spirit. It's an interesting technique; while it allows one to jump right into a story without extensive world-building, I did get the pun-ish vibe of Piers Anthony's Xanth series.
The concepts I found the most intriguing was the general idea of separate-but-equal religions that seems to underlie the worldview. However, I'm not sure it entirely worked, particularly with how the story developed. And no, I don't remember what they said about atheism, except that everyone agreed that the three children born without souls was a profound tragedy. I'm not sure that was ever explained, as it didn't sound like it would impact their earthly experience. There's also some aspects of the story that deal with immigration, an ongoing discussion in the L.A. Basin. I appreciated it was integrated and acknowledged in the story, as so many 'urban' fantasies seem to ignore the nature of the urban setting. However, as the story progressed, I'm not entirely sure that it worked out in a non-judgmental kind of way.
Characters were well developed. Unfortunately, David's a mid-level bureaucrat, and much of his routine is rather mundane. His inner narrative gives insight to the world he lives in, but even discussion of imps and telephones couldn't keep me interested in his phone calls. I particularly liked his relationship with Judith, an editor and proofreader at a grimoire publishing firm. David uses her as a sounding board, and she contributes valuable ideas when they brainstorm. But what I liked even more is that their relationship seemed mature and balanced, without the interpersonal drama (usually due to misunderstandings) that so characterizes the genre.
Plotting was acceptable, although it dragged a bit in the beginning. I almost felt as if Turtledove really had followed a mid-level bureaucrat through a week of his life and then magicalized it. And, as you might imagine, most people's professional details are not interesting enough that detailing them gives any benefit to the sense of routine. I won't spoil it, but as the investigation of the dump starts to escalate, the plotting picks up and becomes more complicated, almost to the point where it seems like another story.
While I was glad to have finally read Turtledove, a classic fantasy author, the story didn't deeply engage me. I read it with intellectual interest as to the world-building, but that isn't always sustainable for a story. Aspects also reminded me of Terry Pratchett, although I'd be hard pressed to say why. Perhaps the tongue-in-cheek tone that simultaneously wants the reader to care about character predicaments while jokes are being made. I'd recommend it for people that are interested in a wide variety of urban fantasy, those who want perspective on the genre, and fans of the time period.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Open Road Media for providing a review's copy of this book
May 19, 2026
"People are being born without souls. People are dying, too, if you’ll remember the Thomas Brothers fire. You started me on this and now you won’t give with what you know? That’s—damnable.” “I have to pray you’re wrong,” Charlie answered. “But whether you are or not, I can’t give you what you’re asking. This whole matter is bigger than what you seem to grasp—bigger than I thought, too. If I could, I’d shut down your whole investigation.”"
Turtledove is one of our best writers of “alternative history” but that isn’t all that this book is about. Here, he gives us a mashup of religion and magic and the power of prayer and the existence of all sorts of creatures (fairies, leprechauns) and monsters of almost any mythology. But what makes this book great, for me, is that Turtledove does his best to channel Jonathan Swift and gives us a very nuanced satire of our modern “Western civilization” life.
Turtledove starts us out quickly surmising that “we’re not in Kansas anymore” (as Dorothy shared with Toto). Here is the opening and this is David Fisher narrating. Fisher is an investigator for the Environmental Perfection Agency’s branch located in the City of Angels (California):
"I hate telephones. For one thing, they have a habit of waking you up at the most inconvenient times. It was still dark outside when the one on my nightstand went off like a bomb. I groaned and tried to turn off the alarm clock. Since it wasn’t ringing, it laughed at me. The horrible racket from the phone kept right on. “What time is it, anyhow?” I mumbled. My mouth tasted like something you’d spread on nasturtiums. “It’s 5:07,” the clock said, still giggling. The horological demon in there was supposed to be friendly, not sappy. I’d thought more than once about getting the controlling cantrip fixed, but twenty-five crowns is twenty-five crowns. On a government salary, you learn to put up with things. I picked up the receiver. That was the cue for the noise elemental in the base of the phone to shut up, which it did—Ma Bell’s magic, unlike that from a cheap clock company, does exactly what it’s supposed to do, no more, no less.
“Fisher here,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound as far underwater as I felt. “Hello, David. This is Kelly, back in D.St.C.” You could have fooled me. After the imp in one phone’s mouthpiece relays words through the ether to the one in another phone’s earpiece and the second imp passes them on to you, they hardly sound as if they came from a real person, let alone from anyone in particular. That’s the other reason I hate phones. But the cursed things have sprouted like toadstools the past ten years, ever since ectoplasmic cloning let the phone company crank out legions of near-identical speaker imps, and since switching spells got sophisticated enough so you could reliably select the imp you wanted from among those legions. They say they’re going to have an answer to the voice problem real soon. They’ve been saying that since the day after phones were invented. I’ll believe it when I hear it. Some things are even bigger than Ma Bell."
Dave Fisher is an EPA investigator in an alternative world. He is Jewish and he enlists the help of a Catholic Monk so he can investigate a “toxic spell dump” in what we know as California.
This is Harry Turtledove in a very engaging story that works on two levels:
1. What is it in the toxic spell dump that is causing illness, disease and birth defects; and,
2. How many giggles and guffaws can Turtledove provide us with as he satirizes modern technological life?
Here are several examples of the latter:
Los Angeles Traffic
"The Watcher who lets carpets onto St. James’ Freeway from a feeder road is of a different breed from your average building’s watch demon. He holds the barrier closed so many seconds at a time, then opens it just long enough for one carpet to squeeze past. Nobody’s ever figured out how to propitiate a Watcher, either. Oh, if you’re quick—and stupid—you may be able to squeeze in on somebody else’s tail, but if you try it, he’ll note down the weave of your carpet, and in a few days, just like magic, a traffic ticket shows up in your mailbox."
Legal Matters
"You want to see every kind of human being any kind of God ever made, go the the Criminal and Magical Courts building: secular judges in black robes, canon law judges in red ones, bailiffs and constabulary and sheriffs looking more like soldiers than anything else, defendants sometimes looking guilty of everything in the world (regardless of whether they’re only charged with flying a carpet too fast) and others who from the outside might be candidates for sainthood, witnesses, doctors, rabbis, wizards … If you like people-watching, you won’t find better entertainment."
On Foreign Manufacture, Virtuous Reality and Human Replacement
“"Mark my words, the accuracy breakthrough that will come with virtuous reality is going to throw a lot of sharp people onto the streets.” “Change has a way of doing that: the more efficient the spells get, the more they do and the less anybody needs actual people,” I said. One of the reasons the General Movers plant in Van Nuys is going under is that the Japanese have figured out a way to power the looms that make their flying carpets by kamikazes—divine winds. “That does look to be the way it’s going,” she said, “but what do we do with all the people who lose jobs? Eventually nobody will need people for anything, and then where will we be?” “The two answers that occur to me are bored and broke,”""
Who Has the Latest and Greatest Tech:
"The firecrew forensics man was talking with his opposite number in the constabulary, a skinny blond woman who had a spellchecker that made my little portable look like a three-year-old’s toy. I stared at it with honest envy. As soon as Kawaguchi introduced me to her—she was Chief Thaumatechnician Bornholm—I asked, “How many megageists in that thing, anyway?” She must have heard me salivating, because she smiled, which made her look a little younger and a lot less tough. “Four meg active, eighty meg correlative,” she answered."
(and that “spellchecker” actually checks magical spells)
And when you substitute jinnetic engineering for genetic engineering:
"“Jinnetic engineering can accomplish things no one would have imagined possible only a generation ago,” Durani said. “Combining the raw strength of the jinn with the rigor and precision of Western sorcery—” “That much I know,” I said. Jinnetic engineering outfits have fueled a lot of the big boom on the Bourse the past few years, and with reason. The only way their profit margins could be bigger would be for the jinni to fetch bags of gold from the Other Side. But Durani had found something else for them to do Over There: jinn-splicing, he called it. What he had in mind was for the jinni to take a tiny fraction of the spiritual packet that made up a disembodied human soul, bring it back to This Side, and, using recombinant techniques he didn’t—wouldn’t—describe, join it with a bunch of other tiny fragments to produce what was in essence a synthesized soul, which could then be transplanted into some poor little apsychic kid."
Somethings go by so quickly that it is easy to miss them: "“We’ll send out the Special Wizards and Thaumaturges team,” Higgins said. “If they can’t handle it, nobody this side of D.St.C. can." (S.W.A.T. team)
And
"I took my troubles down to Madame Ruth—you know, that medium with the gold-capped tooth. She had an office down on 34th and Vine. I hoped she could help with a problem like mine."
The geography is the same but the names have changed. For example, on the East Coast we have New Jorvik and the District of St. Columba. On the West Coast we have the City of Angels, St. Ferdinand’s Valley, and the Baroney of Orange.
Much of this is in a substitute for the USA and is known as the Confederacy, a place where magic and religions intertwine.
"All at once, I wished again that magic were impossible, that we just lived in a mechanical world. Yes, I know life would be a lot harder, but it would be a lot simpler, too. The trouble with technology is that, as soon as it solves a problem, the alleged solution presents two new ones. But the trouble with no technology, of course, is that problems don’t get solved. I don’t suppose apsychics, suddenly offered the chance for a better hereafter, would worry about risks. I wouldn’t, in their shoes. I guess nothing is ever simple. Maybe it’s just as well. If things were simple, we wouldn’t need an Environmental Perfection Agency and I’d be out of a job."
How Fires are Fought
"…only military magic takes a tougher toll on the operator. But this fellow was cool as an ice elemental. He called on Vepar in a clear and piercing voice: “I conjure thee, Vepar, by the living God, by the true God, by the holy and all-ruling God, Who created from nothingness the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all things that are therein, Adonai, Jehovah, Tetragrammeton, to pour your waters upon the blaze there in such quantity and placement as to be most efficacious in extinguishing it and least damaging to life and property, in this place, before this pentacle, without grievance, deformity, noise, murmuring, or deceit. Obey, obey, obey!”"
As brilliant as Gulliver’s Travels and as much a test for the reader’s endurance. Written decades ago, this book is thought-provoking in the best way. I was glad that I stuck around and finished this magnum opus.
4.5
Turtledove is one of our best writers of “alternative history” but that isn’t all that this book is about. Here, he gives us a mashup of religion and magic and the power of prayer and the existence of all sorts of creatures (fairies, leprechauns) and monsters of almost any mythology. But what makes this book great, for me, is that Turtledove does his best to channel Jonathan Swift and gives us a very nuanced satire of our modern “Western civilization” life.
Turtledove starts us out quickly surmising that “we’re not in Kansas anymore” (as Dorothy shared with Toto). Here is the opening and this is David Fisher narrating. Fisher is an investigator for the Environmental Perfection Agency’s branch located in the City of Angels (California):
"I hate telephones. For one thing, they have a habit of waking you up at the most inconvenient times. It was still dark outside when the one on my nightstand went off like a bomb. I groaned and tried to turn off the alarm clock. Since it wasn’t ringing, it laughed at me. The horrible racket from the phone kept right on. “What time is it, anyhow?” I mumbled. My mouth tasted like something you’d spread on nasturtiums. “It’s 5:07,” the clock said, still giggling. The horological demon in there was supposed to be friendly, not sappy. I’d thought more than once about getting the controlling cantrip fixed, but twenty-five crowns is twenty-five crowns. On a government salary, you learn to put up with things. I picked up the receiver. That was the cue for the noise elemental in the base of the phone to shut up, which it did—Ma Bell’s magic, unlike that from a cheap clock company, does exactly what it’s supposed to do, no more, no less.
“Fisher here,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound as far underwater as I felt. “Hello, David. This is Kelly, back in D.St.C.” You could have fooled me. After the imp in one phone’s mouthpiece relays words through the ether to the one in another phone’s earpiece and the second imp passes them on to you, they hardly sound as if they came from a real person, let alone from anyone in particular. That’s the other reason I hate phones. But the cursed things have sprouted like toadstools the past ten years, ever since ectoplasmic cloning let the phone company crank out legions of near-identical speaker imps, and since switching spells got sophisticated enough so you could reliably select the imp you wanted from among those legions. They say they’re going to have an answer to the voice problem real soon. They’ve been saying that since the day after phones were invented. I’ll believe it when I hear it. Some things are even bigger than Ma Bell."
Dave Fisher is an EPA investigator in an alternative world. He is Jewish and he enlists the help of a Catholic Monk so he can investigate a “toxic spell dump” in what we know as California.
This is Harry Turtledove in a very engaging story that works on two levels:
1. What is it in the toxic spell dump that is causing illness, disease and birth defects; and,
2. How many giggles and guffaws can Turtledove provide us with as he satirizes modern technological life?
Here are several examples of the latter:
Los Angeles Traffic
"The Watcher who lets carpets onto St. James’ Freeway from a feeder road is of a different breed from your average building’s watch demon. He holds the barrier closed so many seconds at a time, then opens it just long enough for one carpet to squeeze past. Nobody’s ever figured out how to propitiate a Watcher, either. Oh, if you’re quick—and stupid—you may be able to squeeze in on somebody else’s tail, but if you try it, he’ll note down the weave of your carpet, and in a few days, just like magic, a traffic ticket shows up in your mailbox."
Legal Matters
"You want to see every kind of human being any kind of God ever made, go the the Criminal and Magical Courts building: secular judges in black robes, canon law judges in red ones, bailiffs and constabulary and sheriffs looking more like soldiers than anything else, defendants sometimes looking guilty of everything in the world (regardless of whether they’re only charged with flying a carpet too fast) and others who from the outside might be candidates for sainthood, witnesses, doctors, rabbis, wizards … If you like people-watching, you won’t find better entertainment."
On Foreign Manufacture, Virtuous Reality and Human Replacement
“"Mark my words, the accuracy breakthrough that will come with virtuous reality is going to throw a lot of sharp people onto the streets.” “Change has a way of doing that: the more efficient the spells get, the more they do and the less anybody needs actual people,” I said. One of the reasons the General Movers plant in Van Nuys is going under is that the Japanese have figured out a way to power the looms that make their flying carpets by kamikazes—divine winds. “That does look to be the way it’s going,” she said, “but what do we do with all the people who lose jobs? Eventually nobody will need people for anything, and then where will we be?” “The two answers that occur to me are bored and broke,”""
Who Has the Latest and Greatest Tech:
"The firecrew forensics man was talking with his opposite number in the constabulary, a skinny blond woman who had a spellchecker that made my little portable look like a three-year-old’s toy. I stared at it with honest envy. As soon as Kawaguchi introduced me to her—she was Chief Thaumatechnician Bornholm—I asked, “How many megageists in that thing, anyway?” She must have heard me salivating, because she smiled, which made her look a little younger and a lot less tough. “Four meg active, eighty meg correlative,” she answered."
(and that “spellchecker” actually checks magical spells)
And when you substitute jinnetic engineering for genetic engineering:
"“Jinnetic engineering can accomplish things no one would have imagined possible only a generation ago,” Durani said. “Combining the raw strength of the jinn with the rigor and precision of Western sorcery—” “That much I know,” I said. Jinnetic engineering outfits have fueled a lot of the big boom on the Bourse the past few years, and with reason. The only way their profit margins could be bigger would be for the jinni to fetch bags of gold from the Other Side. But Durani had found something else for them to do Over There: jinn-splicing, he called it. What he had in mind was for the jinni to take a tiny fraction of the spiritual packet that made up a disembodied human soul, bring it back to This Side, and, using recombinant techniques he didn’t—wouldn’t—describe, join it with a bunch of other tiny fragments to produce what was in essence a synthesized soul, which could then be transplanted into some poor little apsychic kid."
Somethings go by so quickly that it is easy to miss them: "“We’ll send out the Special Wizards and Thaumaturges team,” Higgins said. “If they can’t handle it, nobody this side of D.St.C. can." (S.W.A.T. team)
And
"I took my troubles down to Madame Ruth—you know, that medium with the gold-capped tooth. She had an office down on 34th and Vine. I hoped she could help with a problem like mine."
The geography is the same but the names have changed. For example, on the East Coast we have New Jorvik and the District of St. Columba. On the West Coast we have the City of Angels, St. Ferdinand’s Valley, and the Baroney of Orange.
Much of this is in a substitute for the USA and is known as the Confederacy, a place where magic and religions intertwine.
"All at once, I wished again that magic were impossible, that we just lived in a mechanical world. Yes, I know life would be a lot harder, but it would be a lot simpler, too. The trouble with technology is that, as soon as it solves a problem, the alleged solution presents two new ones. But the trouble with no technology, of course, is that problems don’t get solved. I don’t suppose apsychics, suddenly offered the chance for a better hereafter, would worry about risks. I wouldn’t, in their shoes. I guess nothing is ever simple. Maybe it’s just as well. If things were simple, we wouldn’t need an Environmental Perfection Agency and I’d be out of a job."
How Fires are Fought
"…only military magic takes a tougher toll on the operator. But this fellow was cool as an ice elemental. He called on Vepar in a clear and piercing voice: “I conjure thee, Vepar, by the living God, by the true God, by the holy and all-ruling God, Who created from nothingness the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all things that are therein, Adonai, Jehovah, Tetragrammeton, to pour your waters upon the blaze there in such quantity and placement as to be most efficacious in extinguishing it and least damaging to life and property, in this place, before this pentacle, without grievance, deformity, noise, murmuring, or deceit. Obey, obey, obey!”"
As brilliant as Gulliver’s Travels and as much a test for the reader’s endurance. Written decades ago, this book is thought-provoking in the best way. I was glad that I stuck around and finished this magnum opus.
4.5
August 4, 2010
This book is deceptively good. I originally picked it up based solely on the really cheesy illustration on the front. But the world is absolutely fascinating: a reality where EVERY SINGLE religion is correct and therefore is reflected in the world. It's an amazing interwoven tale that delves into theology as an everyday occurrence.
It's interesting to see how people relate in a world where one religion is not superior over another, and each religion impacts its members on a day to day basis. If you pray to your deity, chances are you get an immediate response. Against this world is set a basic detective story which is made imminently more intriguing by the theological implications that effect the main characters.
I treasure some of the smallest details in this book. For instance, a salamander, normally used to refer to a hot plate, is in fact a salamander, contained in an asbestos cage who produces the heat which cooks food or is used as a water heater. There is no 'technology' as we know it but everything runs on faith based magic. There's no clockwork to make a wrist watch work, but a tiny horological demon can be trained to hang out on your wrist and tell you the time.
Oh, and the people fly on magic carpets.
It's interesting to see how people relate in a world where one religion is not superior over another, and each religion impacts its members on a day to day basis. If you pray to your deity, chances are you get an immediate response. Against this world is set a basic detective story which is made imminently more intriguing by the theological implications that effect the main characters.
I treasure some of the smallest details in this book. For instance, a salamander, normally used to refer to a hot plate, is in fact a salamander, contained in an asbestos cage who produces the heat which cooks food or is used as a water heater. There is no 'technology' as we know it but everything runs on faith based magic. There's no clockwork to make a wrist watch work, but a tiny horological demon can be trained to hang out on your wrist and tell you the time.
Oh, and the people fly on magic carpets.
August 1, 2021
This book was weird in all the right ways. I've recently discovered Harry Turtledove and I will for sure read many more books by him. This book just feelt fun and engaging. Part genre bending with a lot going on, but never feelt like the author tried to add to much. Was a perfect blend of everything and I'm so excited to listen/read more from him in the future
June 4, 2015
A delightful genre-bender of a book! I'd call it, perhaps, an Alternate Universe fantasy procedural. How I'd never heard of Harry Turtledove before now is a mystery to me -- he's quite prolific and known for his Alternate History novels -- but if he's always this good at blending reality and fantasy, and at considering the full implications of every tiny detail, the man must be a genius. His plays on language certainly made me smile all the way through.
I was immediately endeared to narrator David Fisher, a bureaucrat at the EPA (Environmental Perfection Agency) who finds himself in too deep with a bunch of complicated, ultimately interconnected cases of what's essentially harmful magical pollution in and around Angels City (that's Los Angeles to us). All of the other characters, big and small, are brought to life on every page, right along with the AU version of So-Cal urban life.
At different times I was reminded of various other books, but this one predates them all, as it was first published in 1993. Because it features technology (phones, etc.) based on magic and magical creatures rather than real-world science, it is rarely dated. There are a couple of scenes featuring "Virtuous Reality" -- wherein helmets allow the wearer to enter the spirit realm, or at least a constructed approximation -- that have an early-1990s feel to them due to that era's interest in and anticipation of Virtual Reality, but that's about it, and because this is, like, a Hell Dimension being visited rather than a computer game, it's funny in an intentional way (and not a retrospectively unintentional one). The only real way I'd say that this book is dated is that there is sometimes surprise when a female character is strong and smart. That is to say: pretty much all of the female characters are awesome, and absolutely equal to the males; the odd thing is that the males are frequently surprised by this. But one could also argue that Turtledove's awareness of this makes a kind of 1990s feminist statement in and of itself (and one could also argue that not much has changed in the intervening decades...)
My ARC had an unusual number of copy editing mistakes, which I hope will be rectified in the final publication. In any case, they in no way impeded my enjoyment of the book.
** I received a Review Copy of this book via NetGalley **
(2015 Open Road Media edition)
I was immediately endeared to narrator David Fisher, a bureaucrat at the EPA (Environmental Perfection Agency) who finds himself in too deep with a bunch of complicated, ultimately interconnected cases of what's essentially harmful magical pollution in and around Angels City (that's Los Angeles to us). All of the other characters, big and small, are brought to life on every page, right along with the AU version of So-Cal urban life.
At different times I was reminded of various other books, but this one predates them all, as it was first published in 1993. Because it features technology (phones, etc.) based on magic and magical creatures rather than real-world science, it is rarely dated. There are a couple of scenes featuring "Virtuous Reality" -- wherein helmets allow the wearer to enter the spirit realm, or at least a constructed approximation -- that have an early-1990s feel to them due to that era's interest in and anticipation of Virtual Reality, but that's about it, and because this is, like, a Hell Dimension being visited rather than a computer game, it's funny in an intentional way (and not a retrospectively unintentional one). The only real way I'd say that this book is dated is that there is sometimes surprise when a female character is strong and smart. That is to say: pretty much all of the female characters are awesome, and absolutely equal to the males; the odd thing is that the males are frequently surprised by this. But one could also argue that Turtledove's awareness of this makes a kind of 1990s feminist statement in and of itself (and one could also argue that not much has changed in the intervening decades...)
My ARC had an unusual number of copy editing mistakes, which I hope will be rectified in the final publication. In any case, they in no way impeded my enjoyment of the book.
** I received a Review Copy of this book via NetGalley **
(2015 Open Road Media edition)
June 30, 2015
You may have read my review of Bombs Away, here on Goodreads. In it, I complained about what I coined as the “Turtledove Formulaic Doctrine.” I went on to say that some of the best works of Turtledove were the ones that weren’t part of a series. The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump (TCTSD) was recommended by an internet colleague. I’d wanted to read it in the **checks watch** twenty-two years since TCTSD was first published, but time, life, and finances had prevented me from reading it.
I’ve fervently enjoyed Turtledove’s stand-alone works for three decades. When Turtledove is doing one of his series, there’s a certain expectation that the reader is familiar with the previous works in the series. He doesn’t make you read it cold, but the back-story is sometimes lacking. This isn’t the case with TCTSD. I can appreciate that Turtledove wrote this story based on a humorous comment at a panel during a convention in Tuscon.
I won’t call TCTSD punny, per se, but there is quite a bit of blatant, and tongue-in-cheek humor with more than one groan-worthy pun. I’ve often enjoyed Turtledove’s non-alternate history stories including the Krispos series, Between the Rivers, the Darkness series, and my all-time favorite: Household Gods, with Judith Tarr. I’m happy to include TCTSD among these works.
The best way to describe TCTSD is by saying it’s a mash up of Harry Potter, and the TV series Supernatural, with a sprinkling of American Gods, by Neil Gaimen. Of course, Turtledove beat J.K Rowling to the punch by four years and Eric Kripke by more than a decade.
The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump is a great read, and each chapter ends with you promising yourself “one more chapter.” The only reason I’d give TCTSD four stars instead of five, is that it wouldn’t be universally accepted, and there were enough proofreading issues to require another passthrough.
I’ve fervently enjoyed Turtledove’s stand-alone works for three decades. When Turtledove is doing one of his series, there’s a certain expectation that the reader is familiar with the previous works in the series. He doesn’t make you read it cold, but the back-story is sometimes lacking. This isn’t the case with TCTSD. I can appreciate that Turtledove wrote this story based on a humorous comment at a panel during a convention in Tuscon.
I won’t call TCTSD punny, per se, but there is quite a bit of blatant, and tongue-in-cheek humor with more than one groan-worthy pun. I’ve often enjoyed Turtledove’s non-alternate history stories including the Krispos series, Between the Rivers, the Darkness series, and my all-time favorite: Household Gods, with Judith Tarr. I’m happy to include TCTSD among these works.
The best way to describe TCTSD is by saying it’s a mash up of Harry Potter, and the TV series Supernatural, with a sprinkling of American Gods, by Neil Gaimen. Of course, Turtledove beat J.K Rowling to the punch by four years and Eric Kripke by more than a decade.
The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump is a great read, and each chapter ends with you promising yourself “one more chapter.” The only reason I’d give TCTSD four stars instead of five, is that it wouldn’t be universally accepted, and there were enough proofreading issues to require another passthrough.
August 26, 2024
Teen Mikhail loved it. Adult Mikhail thinks its amusing but a bit dull.
June 25, 2015
This was my first Harry Turtledove, and I've been wanting to read his works for a while, but mostly for the alternate histories. I eventually read this one, which wasn't one of those, because I got it from Netgalley as a reprint from the original title that came out in 1993.
It's an early Urban Fantasy. I loved the concept behind this world, where all religions are not only valid, but they have a certifiable presence and weight. Our main character is Jewish, and while I started getting excited at first that he might whip out some mystical Kabbalah to handle the problems of his ho-hum government job of investigating environmental spell abuse and leakages, he never did. Alas. Instead, we were at least treated to a Pratchett-esque humorous naming system that turned a spellchecker into just that: a spellchecker, identifying and reporting on spells in use in the environment. Okay.
Others were groanworthy, like ethernet, the network that runs on the ether, or virtuous reality, that lets people walk around on the Other Side behind a helmet with wires. They were cute, and there were a lot more, besides.
The feel of the story was like an average mystery, even though our hero works for the magical equivalent of the EPA. His love interest is right out of the 1950's sensibilities, strong but slightly looked down upon. Even the ideas surrounding native americans being not quite worthy to develop their own land was almost too distasteful to continue reading, but I chalked it up to the kind of feel that Turtledove was trying to evoke. So many of his novels were set in alternate WWII settings, after all, and nothing I read was out of place for that time period. I try to let it slide, but it did make me halt a few times.
The religions and monster mashups were pretty damn fun, all said. I was constantly reminding myself that American Gods hadn't been written yet, but I kept feeling the shadow of it on my reading.
Then again, I was also reminding myself that this novel came at the early days of Urban Fantasy before it got its own shelves and before it spread its wings. I was kind of left dragging along with the mystery, but at least the final action sequence was pretty fun.
The only other complaint I might have about the novel was the number of off-page action sequences that would have given the tale more depth and roundness. They even seemed a bit more interesting, after the fact, than most of the actual novel. I wanted to slap someone.
And speaking of slapping someone, I wanted to slap the main character for how he proposed to Judy. Or perhaps Judy should have done it for me. Seriously.
It wasn't a bad novel by any stretch. I have my issues with it, but it held together nicely. It can't hold a candle to many of the later Urban Fantasies I've had the pleasure of reading in the years since this was first published, but that's neither here nor there. In it's proper time and place it might have made a big impact on the scene. I don't really know.
As for me, the outdated worldview and the somewhat clunky treatment of the possibilities brought my scoring down.
It's an early Urban Fantasy. I loved the concept behind this world, where all religions are not only valid, but they have a certifiable presence and weight. Our main character is Jewish, and while I started getting excited at first that he might whip out some mystical Kabbalah to handle the problems of his ho-hum government job of investigating environmental spell abuse and leakages, he never did. Alas. Instead, we were at least treated to a Pratchett-esque humorous naming system that turned a spellchecker into just that: a spellchecker, identifying and reporting on spells in use in the environment. Okay.
Others were groanworthy, like ethernet, the network that runs on the ether, or virtuous reality, that lets people walk around on the Other Side behind a helmet with wires. They were cute, and there were a lot more, besides.
The feel of the story was like an average mystery, even though our hero works for the magical equivalent of the EPA. His love interest is right out of the 1950's sensibilities, strong but slightly looked down upon. Even the ideas surrounding native americans being not quite worthy to develop their own land was almost too distasteful to continue reading, but I chalked it up to the kind of feel that Turtledove was trying to evoke. So many of his novels were set in alternate WWII settings, after all, and nothing I read was out of place for that time period. I try to let it slide, but it did make me halt a few times.
The religions and monster mashups were pretty damn fun, all said. I was constantly reminding myself that American Gods hadn't been written yet, but I kept feeling the shadow of it on my reading.
Then again, I was also reminding myself that this novel came at the early days of Urban Fantasy before it got its own shelves and before it spread its wings. I was kind of left dragging along with the mystery, but at least the final action sequence was pretty fun.
The only other complaint I might have about the novel was the number of off-page action sequences that would have given the tale more depth and roundness. They even seemed a bit more interesting, after the fact, than most of the actual novel. I wanted to slap someone.
And speaking of slapping someone, I wanted to slap the main character for how he proposed to Judy. Or perhaps Judy should have done it for me. Seriously.
It wasn't a bad novel by any stretch. I have my issues with it, but it held together nicely. It can't hold a candle to many of the later Urban Fantasies I've had the pleasure of reading in the years since this was first published, but that's neither here nor there. In it's proper time and place it might have made a big impact on the scene. I don't really know.
As for me, the outdated worldview and the somewhat clunky treatment of the possibilities brought my scoring down.
June 23, 2015
https://koeur.wordpress.com/2015/05/2...
Publisher: Open Road
Publishing Date: June 2015
ISBN: 9781504009430
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3.1/5
Publisher Description: David Fisher pushes paper for the EPA in a world that’s a lot like ours . . . only different. In this California—and throughout the alternate United States—all gods are real, science doesn’t exist, and magic rules everything, running imp-driven computers and creating anxiety-inducing bumper-to-bumper flying-carpet rush hours.
Review: Since this was first published long ago and has had scads of reviews, I will limit my review to a paragraph. I had a good time reading this. It dwells more on the surface and emotes in a shallow field, but that’s ok. It is meant to render in a light hearted and often times funny/punny way. The downside is that the world building parallels our reality with an infusion of magic and assorted Laws, usually of the Demi-godly sort. Not real inventive but interesting in an expected presentation.
Publisher: Open Road
Publishing Date: June 2015
ISBN: 9781504009430
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3.1/5
Publisher Description: David Fisher pushes paper for the EPA in a world that’s a lot like ours . . . only different. In this California—and throughout the alternate United States—all gods are real, science doesn’t exist, and magic rules everything, running imp-driven computers and creating anxiety-inducing bumper-to-bumper flying-carpet rush hours.
Review: Since this was first published long ago and has had scads of reviews, I will limit my review to a paragraph. I had a good time reading this. It dwells more on the surface and emotes in a shallow field, but that’s ok. It is meant to render in a light hearted and often times funny/punny way. The downside is that the world building parallels our reality with an infusion of magic and assorted Laws, usually of the Demi-godly sort. Not real inventive but interesting in an expected presentation.
August 8, 2013
Harry Turtledove is, for me, one of the foremost practitioners of the alternate history genre. Since 1993, I’ve been secretly amused at the idea that Turtledove turned his hand to fantasy in addition to alternate history. I’ve passed by The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump on more than one occasion and, sadly for Mr. Turtledove’s royalty status, only picked it up on sale at a used bookstore. Even then, it was because I was picking up paperbacks that I could leave on trains, planes, and in hotels. But I didn’t leave this one behind. I guess a person who can visualize the details and interconnections between the components of an alternate history will have no trouble creating a coherent and fascinating fantasy universe. This is a delightful book with lots of intriguing connections and an economy of style and plot that turns a humorous and imaginative mystery into something bordering on epic.
The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump has a satirical edge, particularly parodying the relationship between religious culture and government bureaucracy. In Turtledove’s “Confederation,” essentially the Alternate Fantasy States of America, there are “higher” laws governing the Other Side and mundane laws dealing with the immediate reality. The problem, for Inspector David Fisher, EPA investigator (Environmental Perfection Agency because all of the places and companies in this novel are “close” but not “quite” what they seem), is that the Other Side keeps bleeding into the material world and vice-versa. Hence, Fisher is concerned with a thecology (as opposed to merely an ecology). When he is visited by a “spook” from Central Intelligence, it’s a real spirit (and some might be amused that his name is “Legion,” Henry Legion). In Turtledove’s world, religion (in all its forms) is important because even phones and “glasses” (ie. computers), lights and elevators, flying carpets and water heaters are powered by spirits. And, of course, the only way to control said spirits is through ritual.
In The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump, Fisher is tipped by a District of St. Columba (See, everything is so close, but not “quite!”) source that something might be happening at a supernatural containment area in the hills above Angels City—an extension of St. Ferdinand’s Valley. When he investigates, everything seems to be in order except for an eerie sensation of nothingness. He requests some documentation and discovers that everything is multi-layered and his investigation involves some heavy-hitters on both “Sides.” He is truly caught in a No Man’s Land between the “magical” equivalent of biotech companies and the secret government work from Loki’s Cobold Works (Yes, I recognized the reference to Lockheed’s Skunk Works. Interestingly, Turtledove spells it “Cobold” early in the book (e.g. p. 87) and “Kobold” on p. 317). This novel was written in the days before Google Maps, an era where a lot of us purchased Thomas Brothers map books to navigate metropolitan eras. In Turtledove’s Angels City, the Thomas Brothers are a monastic group who compile all sorts of information. By utilizing the facilities of the Thomas Brothers, he brings about problems for the “brothers.” All of this makes the situation as hot for Inspector Fisher as the so-called St. Ann’s Wind (p. 282, aka Santa Ana Winds in our world where the hot breezes have a tendency to increase the Los Angeles suicide and homicide rates significantly).
The frontispiece of the book tells of a panel at a World Fantasy Convention where Alexandra Honigsberg suggested that any manipulation of the environment has a price, no matter whether one was using magic or technology (Remember, that any sufficiently high technology will “seem” like magic to the uninitiated, but in Turtledove’s story, it really is magic. In response to this, Turtledove tossed off a line about toxic spell dumps that seems to have taken seed in his fertile imagination. So, what would happen if the waste materials of used magical components had to be contained in a special depository so that the evil spiritual powers couldn’t gain access to the human world? Then, what would happen if there was some kind of leakage? How would one discover the source?
Of course, such speculation is Turtledove’s forte. He is brilliant at perceiving inter-relationships between events and visualizing unintended consequences. Perhaps, it is this realistic footing that makes me take a story seriously that is filled with puns worthy of Robert Asprin, but without the total silliness. These hold together in a consistent way. I have to presume that UCAC is the University of the Confederation at Angels City, that Blue Scutum (using the Latin word for “shield”) insurance has an obvious connection to a ubiquitous plan in our world (p. 338), and that a Golden Steeples fast food franchise would be more common than Golden Arches in a land where religion and magic play such an integral role. Naturally, a SWAT team would be a Special Wizards and Thaumaturges team (p. 125), software has become “sorceware” (p. 223, as in “sorcery ware?), certain patients end up in IPU (Intensive Prayer Units, p. 343), and, instead of talking about “virtual reality,” one reads of “virtuous reality.” (p. 170)
Another nice touch is that Turtledove is not only aware of how the tenets found in comparative religion might affect his fantasy world, but he draws from the Judeo-Christian Bible for very interesting perceptions. Early on, he captures the reality that the Hebrew word usually translated word can be “thing, deed, or word” and builds on the Greek “logos” tradition to understand how the symbolic value of a word can have practical implications. He builds even stronger when he pulls that “logos” tradition into the Gospel of John and notes, “But John 1:1 and its variants in other creeds are also the basis of modern information theory. Because words partake of the divine, they manifest themselves in the spiritual world as well as in our own.” (p. 10) In another section, he has an experience which sets him in The Garden (p. 172, again, Turtledove shows an awareness of rabbinic thought where The Place may be understood as one of the names for God because it represents a venue for God’s epiphanic presence). Inspector Fisher wonders what would happen if he ate of the Tree of Knowledge in his current state. He quickly realizes that eating of that knowledge can cause oneself and others to suffer (p. 177). In addition to Torah, Turtledove seems conversant in Protestant theology (and comparative religion, of course), as well. During one particularly horrific incident, Fisher observes, “You’d have to be a very thoroughgoing Calvinist to find the mark of divine plan in that.” (p. 322) Originally, I thought Turtledove was merely making use of theological symbols because they provided a quick, easy, and often misunderstood semiotics. Upon reading the book, I am convinced that he has made some in-depth study of the Torah himself.
Of course, if one is not given to religious philosophy, one can also apply the analogy of “magic” in Turtledove’s fantasy world to the power of the spoken word (or even being able to define, diagnose, or identify a phenomenon with a word/name) in firming human volition. We tend to set our agendas based on what we diagnose as important. Though not always, this often conforms to what we say we have decided to accomplish because that sets a standard of accountability. “Magic uses words to realize what had only been imagined. I was using them to turn tragedy and horror into memory, which is ever so much easier to handle.” (p. 254)
What really grabbed me was the change of attitude expressed when the protagonist thinks, “Saving the world, not just one person, looked bigger all the time.” (p. 283) That was particularly meaningful given who the person was that he was resigned to not saving. It’s a fascinating human insight in demonstrating how we sometimes virtuously place our personal interest to the side in order to accomplish a greater purpose. One of the good things about fiction is the fact that it causes you to think about (without having to “be there”) what you would do if you needed to place your personal interest aside. Maybe it’s a little bit like “virtuous reality?”
The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump has a satirical edge, particularly parodying the relationship between religious culture and government bureaucracy. In Turtledove’s “Confederation,” essentially the Alternate Fantasy States of America, there are “higher” laws governing the Other Side and mundane laws dealing with the immediate reality. The problem, for Inspector David Fisher, EPA investigator (Environmental Perfection Agency because all of the places and companies in this novel are “close” but not “quite” what they seem), is that the Other Side keeps bleeding into the material world and vice-versa. Hence, Fisher is concerned with a thecology (as opposed to merely an ecology). When he is visited by a “spook” from Central Intelligence, it’s a real spirit (and some might be amused that his name is “Legion,” Henry Legion). In Turtledove’s world, religion (in all its forms) is important because even phones and “glasses” (ie. computers), lights and elevators, flying carpets and water heaters are powered by spirits. And, of course, the only way to control said spirits is through ritual.
In The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump, Fisher is tipped by a District of St. Columba (See, everything is so close, but not “quite!”) source that something might be happening at a supernatural containment area in the hills above Angels City—an extension of St. Ferdinand’s Valley. When he investigates, everything seems to be in order except for an eerie sensation of nothingness. He requests some documentation and discovers that everything is multi-layered and his investigation involves some heavy-hitters on both “Sides.” He is truly caught in a No Man’s Land between the “magical” equivalent of biotech companies and the secret government work from Loki’s Cobold Works (Yes, I recognized the reference to Lockheed’s Skunk Works. Interestingly, Turtledove spells it “Cobold” early in the book (e.g. p. 87) and “Kobold” on p. 317). This novel was written in the days before Google Maps, an era where a lot of us purchased Thomas Brothers map books to navigate metropolitan eras. In Turtledove’s Angels City, the Thomas Brothers are a monastic group who compile all sorts of information. By utilizing the facilities of the Thomas Brothers, he brings about problems for the “brothers.” All of this makes the situation as hot for Inspector Fisher as the so-called St. Ann’s Wind (p. 282, aka Santa Ana Winds in our world where the hot breezes have a tendency to increase the Los Angeles suicide and homicide rates significantly).
The frontispiece of the book tells of a panel at a World Fantasy Convention where Alexandra Honigsberg suggested that any manipulation of the environment has a price, no matter whether one was using magic or technology (Remember, that any sufficiently high technology will “seem” like magic to the uninitiated, but in Turtledove’s story, it really is magic. In response to this, Turtledove tossed off a line about toxic spell dumps that seems to have taken seed in his fertile imagination. So, what would happen if the waste materials of used magical components had to be contained in a special depository so that the evil spiritual powers couldn’t gain access to the human world? Then, what would happen if there was some kind of leakage? How would one discover the source?
Of course, such speculation is Turtledove’s forte. He is brilliant at perceiving inter-relationships between events and visualizing unintended consequences. Perhaps, it is this realistic footing that makes me take a story seriously that is filled with puns worthy of Robert Asprin, but without the total silliness. These hold together in a consistent way. I have to presume that UCAC is the University of the Confederation at Angels City, that Blue Scutum (using the Latin word for “shield”) insurance has an obvious connection to a ubiquitous plan in our world (p. 338), and that a Golden Steeples fast food franchise would be more common than Golden Arches in a land where religion and magic play such an integral role. Naturally, a SWAT team would be a Special Wizards and Thaumaturges team (p. 125), software has become “sorceware” (p. 223, as in “sorcery ware?), certain patients end up in IPU (Intensive Prayer Units, p. 343), and, instead of talking about “virtual reality,” one reads of “virtuous reality.” (p. 170)
Another nice touch is that Turtledove is not only aware of how the tenets found in comparative religion might affect his fantasy world, but he draws from the Judeo-Christian Bible for very interesting perceptions. Early on, he captures the reality that the Hebrew word usually translated word can be “thing, deed, or word” and builds on the Greek “logos” tradition to understand how the symbolic value of a word can have practical implications. He builds even stronger when he pulls that “logos” tradition into the Gospel of John and notes, “But John 1:1 and its variants in other creeds are also the basis of modern information theory. Because words partake of the divine, they manifest themselves in the spiritual world as well as in our own.” (p. 10) In another section, he has an experience which sets him in The Garden (p. 172, again, Turtledove shows an awareness of rabbinic thought where The Place may be understood as one of the names for God because it represents a venue for God’s epiphanic presence). Inspector Fisher wonders what would happen if he ate of the Tree of Knowledge in his current state. He quickly realizes that eating of that knowledge can cause oneself and others to suffer (p. 177). In addition to Torah, Turtledove seems conversant in Protestant theology (and comparative religion, of course), as well. During one particularly horrific incident, Fisher observes, “You’d have to be a very thoroughgoing Calvinist to find the mark of divine plan in that.” (p. 322) Originally, I thought Turtledove was merely making use of theological symbols because they provided a quick, easy, and often misunderstood semiotics. Upon reading the book, I am convinced that he has made some in-depth study of the Torah himself.
Of course, if one is not given to religious philosophy, one can also apply the analogy of “magic” in Turtledove’s fantasy world to the power of the spoken word (or even being able to define, diagnose, or identify a phenomenon with a word/name) in firming human volition. We tend to set our agendas based on what we diagnose as important. Though not always, this often conforms to what we say we have decided to accomplish because that sets a standard of accountability. “Magic uses words to realize what had only been imagined. I was using them to turn tragedy and horror into memory, which is ever so much easier to handle.” (p. 254)
What really grabbed me was the change of attitude expressed when the protagonist thinks, “Saving the world, not just one person, looked bigger all the time.” (p. 283) That was particularly meaningful given who the person was that he was resigned to not saving. It’s a fascinating human insight in demonstrating how we sometimes virtuously place our personal interest to the side in order to accomplish a greater purpose. One of the good things about fiction is the fact that it causes you to think about (without having to “be there”) what you would do if you needed to place your personal interest aside. Maybe it’s a little bit like “virtuous reality?”
March 6, 2018
I like puns as much as the next guy, but this is just too many
August 6, 2016
I've read better. The book's most serious flaw is the uneven application of same-but-different. We have Angels City, which is exactly the same as Los Angeles, except all religions are true and magic is real. You get flying carpet traffic jams instead of car traffic jams, wool fibers in the air instead of smog, toxic magic waste dumps instead of toxic industrial waste dumps...it pretends to be imaginative but it's an exercise in purely surface differences. This is driven home by a few diatribes by our protagonist who just cannot imagine how civilization could possibly exist without magic. This was a very strange diatribe, since it places the audience squarely superior to the protagonist we are supposed to sypmathize with, since he is too dumb to imagine things and we apparently are not. The plot hums along nicely, but many of the key points come out of nowhere - it's not so much deus ex machina (even though they involve literal god machines), but it's like a mystery where the hints weren't there. If you didn't research the Garuda Bird for yourself, there's not enough in the novel to help you understand what it does in the book, for example.
April 26, 2011
Още един роман, който се основава на идеята за общество, което е постигнало развитието си благодарение на магията, а не на технологията. Въпреки приликата си с „Операция „Хаос”, написаната през 1993 г. творба на Търтълдав не може да бъде определена като плагиатство.
Преди всичко, защото историята вече се развива в деветдесетте години на двайсети век в алтернативни САЩ. Проблемите там са съвсем същите като при нас – изострена външнополитическа ситуация, държавна бюрократщина и проблеми с индустриалното замърсяване. Чиновникът от „Агенция за природно усъвършенстване” Дейвид Фишър тръгва по следите на теч от Девънширското бунище за токсична магия...Още
Преди всичко, защото историята вече се развива в деветдесетте години на двайсети век в алтернативни САЩ. Проблемите там са съвсем същите като при нас – изострена външнополитическа ситуация, държавна бюрократщина и проблеми с индустриалното замърсяване. Чиновникът от „Агенция за природно усъвършенстване” Дейвид Фишър тръгва по следите на теч от Девънширското бунище за токсична магия...Още
June 2, 2024
A "favor" to check out a toxic spell dump quickly becomes a much bigger problem.
What I enjoyed:
* I liked Dave. He was down to earth and committed to his job and his girlfriend. And willing to do whatever it takes.
* Nice to see a gov't agency where the employees are competent
* Good supporting characters
What could have been better:
* I still don't completely understand the magic of this world
* The sly innuendos to a world based on technology didn't really fit
*
What I enjoyed:
* I liked Dave. He was down to earth and committed to his job and his girlfriend. And willing to do whatever it takes.
* Nice to see a gov't agency where the employees are competent
* Good supporting characters
What could have been better:
* I still don't completely understand the magic of this world
* The sly innuendos to a world based on technology didn't really fit
*
June 11, 2015
I have read many of Harry Turtledove's alternate histories but this one was quite different. Instead of some pivotal moment in history turning out different, in this case the world was different because magic was real and in most cases had taken the place of technology.
Although the idea intrigued me initially, I ended up being very distracted by the differences between the two worlds - the different names for places, the use of "sand crown" instead of "sand dollar", and other such turns of phrase. It wasn't an awful book, but I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
Although the idea intrigued me initially, I ended up being very distracted by the differences between the two worlds - the different names for places, the use of "sand crown" instead of "sand dollar", and other such turns of phrase. It wasn't an awful book, but I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
January 13, 2009
This book was fun to read. If I remember correctly, it was based on the idea that, just as with mundane energy use there are by-products and waste products, with magic use there are by-products and waste as well. And the story is about a particularly toxic dump of such waste products and the efforts of the main character to clean things up.
Sounds pretty dreary, I guess, but I remember it as quite enjoyable. A nice twist on the idea of magic requiring a price.
Sounds pretty dreary, I guess, but I remember it as quite enjoyable. A nice twist on the idea of magic requiring a price.
August 29, 2024
Interesting alternative history novel by Turtledove who is the king of this genre. An environmental investigation officer looks into toxic spells leaking from a 'magic dumping ground' and becomes entangled in a wider conspiracy that threatens to unleash a dark force on his version of Earth. Quite funny and there is a good story hiding there but is slow going - very fond of the vampire hamsters though - Vampsters. Decent enough.
December 15, 2022
Early 90s urban fantasy in an alternate universe where magic is technology. It’s clever and the stakes are high—but anti-Native prejudice knocks it from the four star position it would have had. Native people are not “better off” or “more advanced” because of colonialism. Turtledove would also have benefited by asking a Jew about Jewish holy days.
October 10, 2015
Читанная лет пятнадцать назад, но все еще отличная новелла - в первую очередь благодаря своему сеттингу, немного напоминающему техномагию вселенной Shadowrun (только без киберпанка и технологического прогресса). Детективная история в таком сеттинге идет влет.
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February 17, 2018I always wanted there to be a sequel or at least other stories written in this universe. Considering how many series Turtledove has written I’ve always felt a little cheated that there is only this one book.
March 12, 2025
Entertaining alternate universe w/ magic, not science. Be on the lookout for obscure-ish puns.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2019
The Many Uses of Enchantment
The Many Uses of Enchantment, February 2, 2016
This review is from: The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump (Kindle Edition)
A pun intensive alternative world mixing magic and religion, equaling Piers Anthony at his very best. Turtledove reinvents spell checkers, inverts history by inserting a secularist revolution in Iran, replaces General Motors by General Movers flying carpets, and intertwines a variety of well researched mythologies with the conservation premise that for every beneficial magical application there is an equal and opposite manifestation of evil. Add to that an ethernet populated by imps and demons and some irony filled speculation how backward a world not driven by magic might be.
The main character, Dan Fisher, is a federal agent of the Environmental Perfection Agency, cast as a gumshoe film noire detective. St. Columbia (Washington) suspects that a particular toxic magic waste facility may be leaking a manifestation of evil. An above normal level of strange births, a few vampires and even worse, some children born without souls, all manifest near the Devonshire Dump north of the City of Angels, and Fisher is sent to investigate.
It's a wonderful premise, beautifully executed, abound with fascinating expositions. Enjoy!!!
The Many Uses of Enchantment, February 2, 2016
This review is from: The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump (Kindle Edition)
A pun intensive alternative world mixing magic and religion, equaling Piers Anthony at his very best. Turtledove reinvents spell checkers, inverts history by inserting a secularist revolution in Iran, replaces General Motors by General Movers flying carpets, and intertwines a variety of well researched mythologies with the conservation premise that for every beneficial magical application there is an equal and opposite manifestation of evil. Add to that an ethernet populated by imps and demons and some irony filled speculation how backward a world not driven by magic might be.
The main character, Dan Fisher, is a federal agent of the Environmental Perfection Agency, cast as a gumshoe film noire detective. St. Columbia (Washington) suspects that a particular toxic magic waste facility may be leaking a manifestation of evil. An above normal level of strange births, a few vampires and even worse, some children born without souls, all manifest near the Devonshire Dump north of the City of Angels, and Fisher is sent to investigate.
It's a wonderful premise, beautifully executed, abound with fascinating expositions. Enjoy!!!
January 7, 2021
My only previous experience with Turtledove's writing was in his alternative history series predicated on the idea that the South won the Civil War, so this was a bit of a change of pace, to say the least. Based on this book, I must conclude that Turtledove is a master of alternate realities. Here, he posits a world very much like our own, but where gods and demons and spirits demonstrably exist, where magic and prayers visibly impact events in this world, as well as the spiritual realm. And while this world mirrors ours in many ways, Turtledove's magic-based analogs for much of our technology are inspired, creative, and often amusing.
Narrated by David Fisher, an inspector for the EPA (the Environmental Perfection Agency), we explore the City of Angels as he tries to determine what might be escaping the containment of a toxic spell dump in St. Ferdinand's Valley. But what starts as a routine effort to contain an environmental hazard soon evolves into a much bigger, more dangerous threat. And Fisher, along with his fiancee, find themselves both in the middle of a potentially world changing crisis.
This bit of alternate reality is far closer to fantasy than the other Turtledove I've read, but it is highly entertaining, full of amusing imagery, even as it provides a suspenseful and dramatic story.
Narrated by David Fisher, an inspector for the EPA (the Environmental Perfection Agency), we explore the City of Angels as he tries to determine what might be escaping the containment of a toxic spell dump in St. Ferdinand's Valley. But what starts as a routine effort to contain an environmental hazard soon evolves into a much bigger, more dangerous threat. And Fisher, along with his fiancee, find themselves both in the middle of a potentially world changing crisis.
This bit of alternate reality is far closer to fantasy than the other Turtledove I've read, but it is highly entertaining, full of amusing imagery, even as it provides a suspenseful and dramatic story.
September 7, 2021
4.5 An unconventional Turtledove novel in that there are no perspective shifts and no attempt to explain the whole timeline's history. It's quite close in world-building and tone to Poul Anderson's Operation Chaos / Operation Luna, the latter of which it apparently inspired. There's more of a focus on religious ritual instead of just magical traditions, but overall they feel quite similar down to the magic carpet rides. What's pure Turtledove though are the puns and more generally the lovingly crafted terminology of everything.
The cast is ethnically and religiously diverse and despite the whole focus on religion people don't generally seem to be bigots. Of course, nobody is gay in an early nineties mainstream novel. The plot develops rather slowly until the last fifth of the book, but that adds to the charm of reading about an "ordinary public servant" working for the Environmental Perfection Agency. There are a couple of iffy edges about the villains and a conversation about native rights and European hegemony that - while not especially bad - do not sit completely right nowadays. But that's the only negative I see.
Overall a very enjoyable romp through an alternate universe with magical mass-production, but problems very similar to our own. The ending is quite good too. And there's a nice case of subtle but converging Chekov's Guns.
The cast is ethnically and religiously diverse and despite the whole focus on religion people don't generally seem to be bigots. Of course, nobody is gay in an early nineties mainstream novel. The plot develops rather slowly until the last fifth of the book, but that adds to the charm of reading about an "ordinary public servant" working for the Environmental Perfection Agency. There are a couple of iffy edges about the villains and a conversation about native rights and European hegemony that - while not especially bad - do not sit completely right nowadays. But that's the only negative I see.
Overall a very enjoyable romp through an alternate universe with magical mass-production, but problems very similar to our own. The ending is quite good too. And there's a nice case of subtle but converging Chekov's Guns.
May 3, 2024
It was a really good book up until I got to the part where one character goes on like a 2 page rant about how it's actually a really good thing that the Americas were colonized because "bla bla look how much better everything here is now, not like how it would have been if those poor, stupid natives had stayed in charge." Pretty shocking, honestly. It's pretty racist and comes completely out of left field. I wasn't even sure I wanted to finish the book at that point, but it was so close to the end I ended up just reading the rest.
And in case you're thinking that maybe that character was supposed to be wrong, or sound like a jerk for saying that, he's not. He's consistently portrayed as being smart and correct about things. And the main character even has several moments later on in the book where he reflects back on how smart and correct he was for saying that. So there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that it wasn't something I miss interpreted, or that the author threw in on a whim and forgot about.
10 out of 10 world building. I was prepared to rate this book highly until that part. 0 out of 10 for a whole hog endorsement of settler colonialism.
And in case you're thinking that maybe that character was supposed to be wrong, or sound like a jerk for saying that, he's not. He's consistently portrayed as being smart and correct about things. And the main character even has several moments later on in the book where he reflects back on how smart and correct he was for saying that. So there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that it wasn't something I miss interpreted, or that the author threw in on a whim and forgot about.
10 out of 10 world building. I was prepared to rate this book highly until that part. 0 out of 10 for a whole hog endorsement of settler colonialism.
July 22, 2020
I love the originality of this novel. It takes the First Amendment to an originally illogical extreme. The author created a magic system based solely on religion and all religions are allowed, with certain aspects being taboo (like human sacrifice). I found David Fisher's ruminations about what a world without magic and based on mechanics would be like to be overly idealistic, particularly since we are talking about our world as we know it. The story itself was riveting, suspenseful and action-packed, much like a Tom Clancy novel. David Fisher even bears a slight resemblance to Jack Ryan - no military background but still very much an everyman-type. I would keep this on my bookshelf if my brother would not keep snitching it.
July 7, 2019
This fantasy world is a tongue-in-cheek replacement of technology with ritual magic, like Terry Pratchett, but one where all religions are valued for their gods and rituals. If you know the San Fernando Valley, this is a must read (helps if you are also from a Jewish background). The protagonist works for the EPA, that's Environmental Perfection Agency, and something strange is happening at a toxic spell dump--place names are slightly changed, but streets are recognizable, even if the traffic jams are produced with flying carpets.
July 29, 2020
I didn't know much about The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump before I started it. I should have guessed it would be fantasy from the title, but didn't spot it. I must say I really enjoyed it. It was fast paced, plenty happened and funny which is not something you find a lot of in either Fantasy or Science Fiction. I don't think it would be for everyone but if light urban fantasy is your thing or you want to try something different you might enjoy it.
May 21, 2024
I'm a huge Turtledove fan, but mainly of his alternate histories and sci fi. Never been much into fantasy. But he does a great job on those too, and I've read all his others in my chosen genres so am starting to dip my toes into this kind of thing. And this is a wonderful novel, well-written, well-researched, full of interesting characters and plot twists and oddities, just like his alt histories. I was sad when it was over.
July 19, 2018
This was a lot of fun - and was thought provoking at the same time.
Interesting warping of timeframes and history, involving many similar events, just with magic and Gods rather than technological advancement.
Interesting warping of timeframes and history, involving many similar events, just with magic and Gods rather than technological advancement.
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