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Nola O'Grady #1
License to Ensorcell
Psychic Agent Nola O'Grady isn't sure returning to San Francisco, and living near her unusual family, is a good idea. Her job, with a psychic agency so obscure even the CIA doesn't know it exists, can be perilous, and she's afraid of the relatives getting involved.
Then the Agency saddles her with Israeli secret agent Ari Nathan, and she has a bigger problem on her hands, because tact and compromise are not Ari's strong points. Their mission is to track down a serial killer obsessed with werewolves. He sees them everywhere and shoots whenever he thinks he has one in his sights. Ari assumes the man's psychotic, but in truth he's murdering actual werewolves. Nola should know. Her younger brother Pat, a lycanthrope, was the first victim.
Can Nola's psychic talents and Ari's skill with guns keep them alive long enough to unravel the greater mystery behind the killings? Can they save the werewolves and the world while stopping Nola's family from running headlong into danger?
Then the Agency saddles her with Israeli secret agent Ari Nathan, and she has a bigger problem on her hands, because tact and compromise are not Ari's strong points. Their mission is to track down a serial killer obsessed with werewolves. He sees them everywhere and shoots whenever he thinks he has one in his sights. Ari assumes the man's psychotic, but in truth he's murdering actual werewolves. Nola should know. Her younger brother Pat, a lycanthrope, was the first victim.
Can Nola's psychic talents and Ari's skill with guns keep them alive long enough to unravel the greater mystery behind the killings? Can they save the werewolves and the world while stopping Nola's family from running headlong into danger?
328 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 9, 2010
30 people are currently reading
1478 people want to read
About the author
Katharine Kerr
69 books1,634 followersBorn in Ohio, 1944. Moved to San Francisco Bay Area in 1962 and has lived there ever since. Katharine Kerr has read extensively in the fields of classical archeology, and medieval and dark ages history and literature, and these influences are clear in her work. Her epic Deverry series has won widespread praise and millions of fans around the world.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
March 22, 2011
Although the cover makes it look as if the book plays in the same waters as series like Kate Daniels or other urban fantasy heroines, actually I would say the main tone of the story is a lot more like Tanya Huff's Enchantment Emporium - the focus is squarely on the family, family secrets and abilities of Nola O'Grady.
+ the heroine has an eating disorder that is never ignored but also never explored in the book, she herself is in denial about it
+ Nola is very matter of fact at what she does and the hero lets her do her thing once he accepts that the powers she professes to own actually work
- the pseudo-Agency slang is totally annoying and unnecessary to the story, it hindered the flow for me actually (maybe real government agency thrillers have to have that? I don't usually read in that genre)
- Ari is a full-blown Israeli soldier/warrior, who hates Germans (connected to the Holocaust) and Arabs (connected to Hamas and terror in Israel)
+ Ari hasn't ever had a real family and is quite willing to dive into the somewhat dysfunctional family Nola has.
- The sex scenes fade to black, not something you'd expect in this genre (even Ilona Andrews found a way to deal with sex in the Kate Daniels series, eventually).
+ I liked the little ideas about how such an occult agency would work and the Angel visitations, partially in Latin without much translation.
I won't be reading any more of this, because I read for relaxation and escape, not for having history held up to me - I teach history at school in Germany, I have enough chances to expound on that and explore that in real life. For all that, I think this could be a fun series for the right audience.
+ the heroine has an eating disorder that is never ignored but also never explored in the book, she herself is in denial about it
+ Nola is very matter of fact at what she does and the hero lets her do her thing once he accepts that the powers she professes to own actually work
- the pseudo-Agency slang is totally annoying and unnecessary to the story, it hindered the flow for me actually (maybe real government agency thrillers have to have that? I don't usually read in that genre)
- Ari is a full-blown Israeli soldier/warrior, who hates Germans (connected to the Holocaust) and Arabs (connected to Hamas and terror in Israel)
+ Ari hasn't ever had a real family and is quite willing to dive into the somewhat dysfunctional family Nola has.
- The sex scenes fade to black, not something you'd expect in this genre (even Ilona Andrews found a way to deal with sex in the Kate Daniels series, eventually).
+ I liked the little ideas about how such an occult agency would work and the Angel visitations, partially in Latin without much translation.
I won't be reading any more of this, because I read for relaxation and escape, not for having history held up to me - I teach history at school in Germany, I have enough chances to expound on that and explore that in real life. For all that, I think this could be a fun series for the right audience.
February 2, 2011
Nola O’Grady is a psychic who works for a government agency that officially doesn’t exist. Her agency is called in when there’s a case involving the forces of Chaos – like the one that Israeli agent Ari Nathan is currently trying to solve for Interpol. Someone is murdering werewolves, and somehow traveling between the scenes of the crimes without being seen by any witnesses. Nola and Ari are thrown together on the case and soon learn that the victims all knew each other and that Nola’s late brother Patrick was murdered by the same culprit.
Katharine Kerr creates a host of interesting characters, starting with Nola’s eccentric (and psychic) Irish Catholic family. The setting is fun; Kerr makes great use of San Francisco landmarks such as the Portals of the Past, a columned doorway that is all that’s left of a house that burned during the 1906 earthquake. Throughout License to Ensorcell, the reader feels like he or she is right there in the city with the characters. The fantasy world-building is also interesting. I love plots that revolve around spaces that are subtly wrong in the way they’re laid out (see also M.L.N. Hanover’s Vicious Grace). It’s easy to believe, when feeling disoriented in such a place, that there is something uncanny going on.
The government aspect and Nola’s family combine to make an urban fantasy that feels simultaneously more bureaucratic and more cozy than most of its peers. Nola’s psychic abilities all have official acronyms, which can be hard to keep track of, but there is a glossary in the back – and truth be told, most of the time you can skim over the acronym and just say to yourself “she’s trying to get a psychic read on someone.” The family aspect is often funny and sometimes touching, as in a subplot involving Nola’s teenage brother Michael trying to discover what powers he has inherited.
The main mystery doesn’t work as well. Kerr overcomplicates her villain. The more he is unveiled, the less he makes sense to me. When I finally learned what his real agenda was, many of his actions seemed illogical. They would jeopardize his agenda, or at least add extra work to it.
In addition, License to Ensorcell takes a while to get off the ground. The early chapters bog down a bit in arguments between Nola and Ari. I can deal with bickering if it’s especially witty, but these arguments just made me cranky right along with the characters.
Kerr’s depiction of Nola’s eating disorder is problematic, too. In reality, the reasons someone develops anorexia are rarely as simple as wanting to be fashionably thin, and recovering from it takes more than having one’s hunky new boyfriend coax one into eating.
Consider giving License to Ensorcell a try if you’re looking for something unusual in urban fantasy. It’s not without issues, but with its interesting cast and world-building, it could be the start of a highly original series.
See this and other Katharine Kerr reviews at Fantasy Literature
Katharine Kerr creates a host of interesting characters, starting with Nola’s eccentric (and psychic) Irish Catholic family. The setting is fun; Kerr makes great use of San Francisco landmarks such as the Portals of the Past, a columned doorway that is all that’s left of a house that burned during the 1906 earthquake. Throughout License to Ensorcell, the reader feels like he or she is right there in the city with the characters. The fantasy world-building is also interesting. I love plots that revolve around spaces that are subtly wrong in the way they’re laid out (see also M.L.N. Hanover’s Vicious Grace). It’s easy to believe, when feeling disoriented in such a place, that there is something uncanny going on.
The government aspect and Nola’s family combine to make an urban fantasy that feels simultaneously more bureaucratic and more cozy than most of its peers. Nola’s psychic abilities all have official acronyms, which can be hard to keep track of, but there is a glossary in the back – and truth be told, most of the time you can skim over the acronym and just say to yourself “she’s trying to get a psychic read on someone.” The family aspect is often funny and sometimes touching, as in a subplot involving Nola’s teenage brother Michael trying to discover what powers he has inherited.
The main mystery doesn’t work as well. Kerr overcomplicates her villain. The more he is unveiled, the less he makes sense to me. When I finally learned what his real agenda was, many of his actions seemed illogical. They would jeopardize his agenda, or at least add extra work to it.
In addition, License to Ensorcell takes a while to get off the ground. The early chapters bog down a bit in arguments between Nola and Ari. I can deal with bickering if it’s especially witty, but these arguments just made me cranky right along with the characters.
Kerr’s depiction of Nola’s eating disorder is problematic, too. In reality, the reasons someone develops anorexia are rarely as simple as wanting to be fashionably thin, and recovering from it takes more than having one’s hunky new boyfriend coax one into eating.
Consider giving License to Ensorcell a try if you’re looking for something unusual in urban fantasy. It’s not without issues, but with its interesting cast and world-building, it could be the start of a highly original series.
See this and other Katharine Kerr reviews at Fantasy Literature
September 10, 2011
Overall a likeable story, with lots of caveats. I hesitate to put a rating--I happen to love Kerr's Deverry series, and follow Kerr's blog, but I'm not sure she's done herself justice with this book. First, I'm not sure she knows what tone she wants to take. Very early there's a sort of lighthearted mocking at the Agency's classification system; it seems kind of funny the first time but then the overload of acronyms just becomes annoying. I get that they are poking fun, but we don't need the same joke nine different ways. Then on a completely different track, there's Nola's dysfunctional relationship with food. We don't discover it's a full-fledged problem until later in the book--the only clues for the first third are a fridge empty of everything but arugula and the fact that having a cold piece of pizza instead of a healthy salad is guilt inducing. Eating disorders are a hugely charged issue, so I'm not sure if the inclusion was supposed to be an unique character trait, or a sort of a public service announcement or character flaw, but it's one that is disturbing and complex, and the fact that we don't catch it until the boyfriend points it out seems a rather unfortunate trick of character. Are we in her head or not? If we are, why aren't we given enough clues to know? Or is her boyfriend wrong and he's just accusing her of a disorder? Either way, wierdness, when the "weird" is supposed to be about psychics and werewolves and shooters. Then there's the fact that Ari is very knowledgeable about the Middle East, so we have commentary on fighting and political conflict. Again a very serious subject matter. Yet the rest of the book seems more lighthearted. We have Nola's landlord described as having a "lair." We have Ari trying to count the number of cats in her sister's house. We have Aunt Eileen in her 50's sweater sets commenting on appropriate behavior for young ladies, and one of Nola's sources is a psychic drag queen. Do you see what I mean? It takes quite a trick to be balanced between the sadness of some of these situations with the silliness of the story and characters around them, and I don't think it's achieved here. Ari's solution to the eating disorder is to feed Nola; unfortunately, anyone who loves a devoted anorexic knows it's more complex than that. And as a trait it's kind of inconsistent with the rest of Nola's ideal balanced Harmony mindset. We hear no background negativity about her looks, only the certainty/fear that Ari will disappear because of her strangeness.
May 12, 2011
Sorry all you who like/liked this book. I just couldn't get into it. I found the protagonist just flat annoying and thus the book also.
I stumbled on the Harry Dresden books some years ago and have burned through them as they came out. I liked them greatly and liked the Dresden character...the kind of wise guy you'd like to have a beer with. Since then I've tried many urban fantasy books hoping to find some I like as well. I've found a few that were close. This/these are not ones I'd consider to be on that list.
Much of this I freely admit is personal taste. I see some like this book and to you I say, great. I'm happy for you, please enjoy.
For me this is simply another failed part of my search... These aren't the books I'm looking for. I'll move along, just move along.
I stumbled on the Harry Dresden books some years ago and have burned through them as they came out. I liked them greatly and liked the Dresden character...the kind of wise guy you'd like to have a beer with. Since then I've tried many urban fantasy books hoping to find some I like as well. I've found a few that were close. This/these are not ones I'd consider to be on that list.
Much of this I freely admit is personal taste. I see some like this book and to you I say, great. I'm happy for you, please enjoy.
For me this is simply another failed part of my search... These aren't the books I'm looking for. I'll move along, just move along.
March 4, 2011
This was a strange book.
I had two issues:
I never fully understood the world so that does not work for me. Or maybe I just did not like the world either way it did not work for me.
I just could not figure out what chaos was and why it needed an agency??
The heroine has an eating disorder that she was not aware of that was rather strange. She also had powers which I also did not get
Things that made it tolerable
The writing is awkward but good for some strange reason it did not flow for me. I think it was the world building.
The family was big and dysfunctional and I was more curious about them than the plot.
In the end I consider it a great success I finished it!
I had two issues:
I never fully understood the world so that does not work for me. Or maybe I just did not like the world either way it did not work for me.
I just could not figure out what chaos was and why it needed an agency??
The heroine has an eating disorder that she was not aware of that was rather strange. She also had powers which I also did not get
Things that made it tolerable
The writing is awkward but good for some strange reason it did not flow for me. I think it was the world building.
The family was big and dysfunctional and I was more curious about them than the plot.
In the end I consider it a great success I finished it!
May 24, 2017
I liked everything about this book except the relationship between Nola and Ari. I love the idea of the secret agency(s) working to keep things normal, and I loved the complications Nola had with being back in her hometown and having to interact with her family. I loved the way Chaos and Order were balanced by Harmony. I loved the way her past became involved in the present day problems she faced, and I thought it was a clever and enjoyable mystery. I loved the two main characters too, or at least the way that they were initially portrayed.
What I hated was the relationship between the characters and more specifically the way Nola constantly changed to be what Ari wanted from a woman. Nora is supposed to be tough and no-nonsense and then suddenly when she is next to the raging pile of testosterone that is Ari she changes from being vegetarian to loving carnivore pizza. She has trouble doing her magic in the first of the book because of all the energy flowing between her and Ari, but then when they have sex (his idea) suddenly even though the energy between them is greater now, she has no trouble doing magic. If there hadn't been an off scene change to Ari I have no doubt she would have ended the book climbing on a plane to Tel Aviv just like Ari wanted to do.
I'm not sure I can read more in this series. I read this one because my lovely wife had a copy around, so if I stumble across the next book I guess I'd read it, but I won't be going out of my way to find it. Which is a real shame, because I love the world building that went on here. Now that I think of it I kind of hope that I run across the next book just to see if any of my complaints change. If the relationship between the two leads had been more real I would have given this four stars and maybe the author fixes it in the next book.
What I hated was the relationship between the characters and more specifically the way Nola constantly changed to be what Ari wanted from a woman. Nora is supposed to be tough and no-nonsense and then suddenly when she is next to the raging pile of testosterone that is Ari she changes from being vegetarian to loving carnivore pizza. She has trouble doing her magic in the first of the book because of all the energy flowing between her and Ari, but then when they have sex (his idea) suddenly even though the energy between them is greater now, she has no trouble doing magic. If there hadn't been an off scene change to Ari I have no doubt she would have ended the book climbing on a plane to Tel Aviv just like Ari wanted to do.
I'm not sure I can read more in this series. I read this one because my lovely wife had a copy around, so if I stumble across the next book I guess I'd read it, but I won't be going out of my way to find it. Which is a real shame, because I love the world building that went on here. Now that I think of it I kind of hope that I run across the next book just to see if any of my complaints change. If the relationship between the two leads had been more real I would have given this four stars and maybe the author fixes it in the next book.
May 13, 2014
I really wanted to like this book. I was excited and I almost bought the second one.
But I didn't.
So I saved money.
It's the writing. The plot had promise, the world building seemed like it was gonna be exciting but then we got to the dialogue and the weird tenses. One minute the heroine is saying that "then I just assumed he meant this but later on I would find out I was wrong." NO! I don't want to know now that this little tidbit of information is incorrect, I'll find out later like the book had originally set me up to.
Also, the dialogue and use of language. At first I thought I was reading a translation.
Ex (page 57): "Well, I'm sorry about that. I've been working into a new job..." Stop the presses. What's working into a new job? This isn't even Ari Nathan, the Israeli agent. Him I can understand. This is Nola. Born and bred American. Irish Catholic family.
That's not the first time that language was used oddly, but it's the first and best example I could come up with it. It successfully took me out of the world enough for me to anticipate another occurence.
To me the dialogue was stilted. If there was supposed to be chemistry between the two mains, I didn't feel it and I especially didn't feel it with their conversations. Nola comes off as a brat and Ari like a controlling anger ball.
I don't know at the end of the day I'm just glad I saved money on the sequel.
But I didn't.
So I saved money.
It's the writing. The plot had promise, the world building seemed like it was gonna be exciting but then we got to the dialogue and the weird tenses. One minute the heroine is saying that "then I just assumed he meant this but later on I would find out I was wrong." NO! I don't want to know now that this little tidbit of information is incorrect, I'll find out later like the book had originally set me up to.
Also, the dialogue and use of language. At first I thought I was reading a translation.
Ex (page 57): "Well, I'm sorry about that. I've been working into a new job..." Stop the presses. What's working into a new job? This isn't even Ari Nathan, the Israeli agent. Him I can understand. This is Nola. Born and bred American. Irish Catholic family.
That's not the first time that language was used oddly, but it's the first and best example I could come up with it. It successfully took me out of the world enough for me to anticipate another occurence.
To me the dialogue was stilted. If there was supposed to be chemistry between the two mains, I didn't feel it and I especially didn't feel it with their conversations. Nola comes off as a brat and Ari like a controlling anger ball.
I don't know at the end of the day I'm just glad I saved money on the sequel.
April 17, 2011
reviewed by http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blo...
This book had a ton of mixed reviews so I was uneasy about starting it. I really like the cover and as you know by now I'm a "judge the book by the cover" kind of girl so I bought it and brought it home to read. NOW I had NO clue what the word Ensorcell meant and had to look it up so if your anything like me you will want to know that Ensorcell means to enchant or fascinate. Nola is kind of a loner and has an eating disorder that is definitely noticeable and talked about. I have read a few reviews where that has bothered a few people so I thought I would include that in case your one of those people that that would bother. I loved the use of San Francisco for the setting and landmarks. Kerr described things so that you feel right there inside the city right along with her characters. Nola's power is neat, she's comfortable with it and has no problem with making sure others know she is comfortable and confident in what she does. There was some slow parts in the plot, and some flow issues sporadically. The sex scenes were awkward and didn't really flow within the story. They would be getting down to business but the writing would just say, we had sex then jump right into the next paragraph being the next day. I thought the book was ok but am glad I read it as I think it has potential. It was different and I would like to see what happens with Nola in the future.
This book had a ton of mixed reviews so I was uneasy about starting it. I really like the cover and as you know by now I'm a "judge the book by the cover" kind of girl so I bought it and brought it home to read. NOW I had NO clue what the word Ensorcell meant and had to look it up so if your anything like me you will want to know that Ensorcell means to enchant or fascinate. Nola is kind of a loner and has an eating disorder that is definitely noticeable and talked about. I have read a few reviews where that has bothered a few people so I thought I would include that in case your one of those people that that would bother. I loved the use of San Francisco for the setting and landmarks. Kerr described things so that you feel right there inside the city right along with her characters. Nola's power is neat, she's comfortable with it and has no problem with making sure others know she is comfortable and confident in what she does. There was some slow parts in the plot, and some flow issues sporadically. The sex scenes were awkward and didn't really flow within the story. They would be getting down to business but the writing would just say, we had sex then jump right into the next paragraph being the next day. I thought the book was ok but am glad I read it as I think it has potential. It was different and I would like to see what happens with Nola in the future.
April 25, 2011
Although Katharine Kerr has long been one of my favorite authors, I found myself struggling to finish this book. The characters were interesting and the plot was good enough that I'd truly consider reading a sequel.
Now, I had no problem accepting our heroine's, Nola O'Grady, full range of psychic abilities, and I loved that her new partner had a hard time accepting them and frankly didn't believe her for most of the book. I also thoroughly enjoyed her unusual family with their own wierd and wonderful abilities, ranging from werewolves to seeing the future.
The problem was the "technical jargon". I found the sci-fi descriptions of Nola's abilities to be jarring, like using "Search Mode: Individual" to locate an someone. It just felt wrong for this kind of urban-fantasy book. I felt like Kerr was trying too hard to quantify her abilities to the reader.
Now, I had no problem accepting our heroine's, Nola O'Grady, full range of psychic abilities, and I loved that her new partner had a hard time accepting them and frankly didn't believe her for most of the book. I also thoroughly enjoyed her unusual family with their own wierd and wonderful abilities, ranging from werewolves to seeing the future.
The problem was the "technical jargon". I found the sci-fi descriptions of Nola's abilities to be jarring, like using "Search Mode: Individual" to locate an someone. It just felt wrong for this kind of urban-fantasy book. I felt like Kerr was trying too hard to quantify her abilities to the reader.
April 28, 2011
Sorry all you who like/liked this book. I just couldn't get into it. I found the protagonist just flat annoying and thus the book also.
I stumbled on the Harry Dresden books some years ago and have burned through them as they came out. I liked them greatly and liked the Dresden character...the kind of wise guy you'd like to have a beer with. Since then I've tried many urban fantasy books hoping to find some I like as well. I've found a few that were close. This/these are not ones I'd consider to be on that list.
Much of this I freely admit is personal taste. I see some like this book and to you I say, great. I'm happy for you, please enjoy.
For me this is simply another failed part of my search... These aren't the books I'm looking for. I'll move along, just move along.
I stumbled on the Harry Dresden books some years ago and have burned through them as they came out. I liked them greatly and liked the Dresden character...the kind of wise guy you'd like to have a beer with. Since then I've tried many urban fantasy books hoping to find some I like as well. I've found a few that were close. This/these are not ones I'd consider to be on that list.
Much of this I freely admit is personal taste. I see some like this book and to you I say, great. I'm happy for you, please enjoy.
For me this is simply another failed part of my search... These aren't the books I'm looking for. I'll move along, just move along.
July 31, 2011
I read Katharine Kerr's Daggerspell ages ago and intend to read her entire Deverry series. This is not part of the series. It's the first book in an urban fantasy series featuring the character Nola O'Grady, and the second book is set to be released in the next week.
Here's the set-up: Nola O'Grady works for the Agency, a government group that deals with anything that appears to be out of the ordinary in any given investigation. Nola herself--and pretty much everyone in her family--have powers. Nola is sort of a psychic--she can do mental "searches" for people, danger, etc. As part of the Agency, she's working to restore Harmony to the world, so she doesn't work for Chaos or Good, she seeks a balance between the two. She's been called back to her homework on San Francisco because there's been recent reports of an upsurge in Chaos activity and she's there to scope it out. In addition, someone has been killing people--including her brother, a werewolf--using silver bullets. A few of the murders in SF, but some internationally, specifically in Israel. Enter Ari Nathan, an Israeli agent who's paired with her to figure out what's going on with the silver bullet murders.
Since the UF field is so flooded now with books, it's become a game of what's different about each book coming out in the genre. So I figured I'd focus there. In this case, I think License to Ensorcell stands out for a few reasons.
One, the book has a much more international flavor to it, even though it's all set in San Francisco. You get the sense that there is much more to the world, and that the evildoers are out there, everywhere. Most of the UF that I've read has felt rather . . . insular, all concentrated on one city, with no sense of the world at large and how the larger world WORKS with the introduction of the supernatural. There certainly hasn't been a UF book I've read that brings in governmental agencies and such as believably and completely as this one does. Nola has to file reports, has to justify her use of sorcery when she pulls out the big guns, etc, just like cops have to justify every shot fired that kills someone. This makes the book feel much more realistic than most.
Another reason this one stood out is that Nola O'Grady has lived with her powers for a long time, and is already firmly entrenched and comfortable with her powers. There isn't any of the "discovery" of her powers and the trope plotline of being found and pulled into a larger organization or whatnot. She's already there. All of that has happened already. She doesn't fumble with her powers, or make "newbie" mistakes, and such. I found this refreshing.
And lastly, even though this featured werewolves, it turns out the plot isn't really about that at all. That's just what starts off the investigation, and as Nola's original purpose (discovering why Chaos is in an upsurge) begins coinciding with the werewolf murders, a larger and different supernatural element comes into play. I can't say much more than that without spoiling something, but this other factor was certainly interesting and I look forward to seeing what Kerr does with it in future novels.
So, a good book, with some interesting and different elements than some of the other urban fantasy out there. Certainly one of the more indepth at explaining how the supernatural elements have been incorporated into the rest of the world. I did feel that I wanted to connect a little more emotionally with Nola--she seemed withdrawn and distant--but this is Katharine Kerr's style, based on my read of her other book. But the book was tight, meaning it didn't feel loose or messy, with plot elements sort of happening for no reason, or anything like that. I'll be looking for the sequel when it hits the shelves.
Here's the set-up: Nola O'Grady works for the Agency, a government group that deals with anything that appears to be out of the ordinary in any given investigation. Nola herself--and pretty much everyone in her family--have powers. Nola is sort of a psychic--she can do mental "searches" for people, danger, etc. As part of the Agency, she's working to restore Harmony to the world, so she doesn't work for Chaos or Good, she seeks a balance between the two. She's been called back to her homework on San Francisco because there's been recent reports of an upsurge in Chaos activity and she's there to scope it out. In addition, someone has been killing people--including her brother, a werewolf--using silver bullets. A few of the murders in SF, but some internationally, specifically in Israel. Enter Ari Nathan, an Israeli agent who's paired with her to figure out what's going on with the silver bullet murders.
Since the UF field is so flooded now with books, it's become a game of what's different about each book coming out in the genre. So I figured I'd focus there. In this case, I think License to Ensorcell stands out for a few reasons.
One, the book has a much more international flavor to it, even though it's all set in San Francisco. You get the sense that there is much more to the world, and that the evildoers are out there, everywhere. Most of the UF that I've read has felt rather . . . insular, all concentrated on one city, with no sense of the world at large and how the larger world WORKS with the introduction of the supernatural. There certainly hasn't been a UF book I've read that brings in governmental agencies and such as believably and completely as this one does. Nola has to file reports, has to justify her use of sorcery when she pulls out the big guns, etc, just like cops have to justify every shot fired that kills someone. This makes the book feel much more realistic than most.
Another reason this one stood out is that Nola O'Grady has lived with her powers for a long time, and is already firmly entrenched and comfortable with her powers. There isn't any of the "discovery" of her powers and the trope plotline of being found and pulled into a larger organization or whatnot. She's already there. All of that has happened already. She doesn't fumble with her powers, or make "newbie" mistakes, and such. I found this refreshing.
And lastly, even though this featured werewolves, it turns out the plot isn't really about that at all. That's just what starts off the investigation, and as Nola's original purpose (discovering why Chaos is in an upsurge) begins coinciding with the werewolf murders, a larger and different supernatural element comes into play. I can't say much more than that without spoiling something, but this other factor was certainly interesting and I look forward to seeing what Kerr does with it in future novels.
So, a good book, with some interesting and different elements than some of the other urban fantasy out there. Certainly one of the more indepth at explaining how the supernatural elements have been incorporated into the rest of the world. I did feel that I wanted to connect a little more emotionally with Nola--she seemed withdrawn and distant--but this is Katharine Kerr's style, based on my read of her other book. But the book was tight, meaning it didn't feel loose or messy, with plot elements sort of happening for no reason, or anything like that. I'll be looking for the sequel when it hits the shelves.
October 24, 2011
I've been thinking that with all of the UF out there it must be easy to write an urban fantasy novel. Well, maybe not, because this one is not good. We have a main character that works for an agency that is trying to stop chaos from taking over and restore balance to the world. What is chaos you may ask? We don't really know. Foggy blotches in the water, hazy areas in the street, you know, things like that. So this novel starts out with our main character telling us that what she does for a living involves walking around randomly, because you obviously can't go looking for chaos, it's one of those things you only see when you aren't trying. Oh, she sees saints as well, but don't worry that is never really brought up again in the novel. Starting to see why I think this is silly? If you aren't, I'll give you another example. Our main character is walking around her apartment one day and runs across a little demon looking creature. She blasts it to smithereens and then continues to go about her business. No explanation, no fear, and nothing like that ever happens again. All of this makes me think this novel is silly. It's not well thought out, it's just a bunch of random weird crap thrown at you all at once, but fine, I can deal with that, so I continued.
Next we meet our tall, dark, and handsome love interest. He is a bit rude to begin with, but that's understandable as he is an interpol agent assigned to work with chaos girl here. She proceeds to draw him a picture with a crayon using her special ability to see things, and he is obviously skeptical. By the way, each chapter has a crayon under the chapter number, yet her ability is only used occasionally. Honestly, most of the novel contains pointless banter between the characters, but even that wasn't a deal breaker for me. It made me skip page long conversations about coffee and other idiotic things, but I did continue reading just in case the actual mystery was worth reading. It wasn't. Tall, dark, and handsome doesn't believe in the supernatural, and I have to say, with Miss Colors-a-Lot I wouldn't believe in it either. Our color queen introduces our "mystery" of the werewolf killings, connects it to her brothers death, and we proceed in a logical fashion from there. The characters begin tracking down our werewolf killer and uncover some noninteresting tidbits along the way. So, there really isn't a mystery here. We know who the killer is, and we know how to find him. Some weird portals and another universe are thrown in, because the book isn't silly enough yet, and the end.
I mean, come on, really? This is what passes for urban fantasy now? This is what gets published? It's not a mystery, not a romance, not a character study. It's just silly events, chewed, swallowed, and regurgitated randomly. One more irritating tidbit for me was the willingness of the love interest to want to move in with the main character a few days after her met her. He doesn't get to know her (what is there really to get to know about cardboard though), he disliked her immediately, but now all of the sudden wants to be around her always. She, of course, thinks he would never like a girl like her, yet he calls her beautiful and she ignores it like it's nothing. Was this book even thought out at all? Ok, end rant. This book was not for me, but people that aren't as picky as me may enjoy it. I just couldn't suspend my intelligence enough to ingest this silliness.
Next we meet our tall, dark, and handsome love interest. He is a bit rude to begin with, but that's understandable as he is an interpol agent assigned to work with chaos girl here. She proceeds to draw him a picture with a crayon using her special ability to see things, and he is obviously skeptical. By the way, each chapter has a crayon under the chapter number, yet her ability is only used occasionally. Honestly, most of the novel contains pointless banter between the characters, but even that wasn't a deal breaker for me. It made me skip page long conversations about coffee and other idiotic things, but I did continue reading just in case the actual mystery was worth reading. It wasn't. Tall, dark, and handsome doesn't believe in the supernatural, and I have to say, with Miss Colors-a-Lot I wouldn't believe in it either. Our color queen introduces our "mystery" of the werewolf killings, connects it to her brothers death, and we proceed in a logical fashion from there. The characters begin tracking down our werewolf killer and uncover some noninteresting tidbits along the way. So, there really isn't a mystery here. We know who the killer is, and we know how to find him. Some weird portals and another universe are thrown in, because the book isn't silly enough yet, and the end.
I mean, come on, really? This is what passes for urban fantasy now? This is what gets published? It's not a mystery, not a romance, not a character study. It's just silly events, chewed, swallowed, and regurgitated randomly. One more irritating tidbit for me was the willingness of the love interest to want to move in with the main character a few days after her met her. He doesn't get to know her (what is there really to get to know about cardboard though), he disliked her immediately, but now all of the sudden wants to be around her always. She, of course, thinks he would never like a girl like her, yet he calls her beautiful and she ignores it like it's nothing. Was this book even thought out at all? Ok, end rant. This book was not for me, but people that aren't as picky as me may enjoy it. I just couldn't suspend my intelligence enough to ingest this silliness.
July 5, 2015
2.5 stars.
To me this book read as if Kerr woke up one day, looked at what was selling well, and decided to jump on the UF-with-a-dash-of-romance bandwagon to pay the bills. If anyone else had written this it'd probably have faded quietly in to a very middle of the road not-terrible-yet-not-great read. However, that theoretical someone else didn't write this, an author with a long established career and large fan base did, and so there are a lot of people out there who are probably coming to this straight from Kerr's epic fantasy "Deverry Cycle" expecting more of the same merely with an UF varnish applied and being confused and angry when they don't get it.
I'd say this had some good ideas and leaves a number of hooks open for later books, but it's rather slow going for the most part with a rather "weak" introductory plot that isn't always great at showing how much time is passing, and a tacked on "we're in a relationship now" part between the main characters that I felt lacked chemistry. I suspect that the plot of this book will make more sense and become part of a more complex pattern as the series goes on, but it only makes for a passable stand alone instalment.
I also found it difficult to connect to the characters. Nola came across as rather bland and humdrum to me. There's a chance that could be deliberate since she's supposed to be an "Agent of Harmony" that is not swayed towards order or chaos, but if that's the case it didn't really come out in the writing to me. Ari on the other hand managed to cross the line between assertive and aggressive for me. It's one thing to me confident in yourself and your abilities, and another to rudely take charge of other people (such as telling Nola to eat more or not letting her drive even though his scares her to death). Also the character was an Israeli Jew and at times I felt as if I wasn't just reading about his opinions or reactions, but being bludgeoned with a heavy-handed message about both the Middle Eastern situation and the persecution of Jews in (and since) World War 2. Both of those things are important and a good idea to educate myself on, but at the same time I really don't enjoy having very real, very serious world problems crammed down my throat when I'm reading some escapist literature.
Despite the problems within this book I think I'd like to read the second in the series to see where things are heading and to find out if the problems in this one were "first in a series" problems or not. I'm not exactly champing at the bit to do so though and think I may even benefit from going away and reading something else first.
To me this book read as if Kerr woke up one day, looked at what was selling well, and decided to jump on the UF-with-a-dash-of-romance bandwagon to pay the bills. If anyone else had written this it'd probably have faded quietly in to a very middle of the road not-terrible-yet-not-great read. However, that theoretical someone else didn't write this, an author with a long established career and large fan base did, and so there are a lot of people out there who are probably coming to this straight from Kerr's epic fantasy "Deverry Cycle" expecting more of the same merely with an UF varnish applied and being confused and angry when they don't get it.
I'd say this had some good ideas and leaves a number of hooks open for later books, but it's rather slow going for the most part with a rather "weak" introductory plot that isn't always great at showing how much time is passing, and a tacked on "we're in a relationship now" part between the main characters that I felt lacked chemistry. I suspect that the plot of this book will make more sense and become part of a more complex pattern as the series goes on, but it only makes for a passable stand alone instalment.
I also found it difficult to connect to the characters. Nola came across as rather bland and humdrum to me. There's a chance that could be deliberate since she's supposed to be an "Agent of Harmony" that is not swayed towards order or chaos, but if that's the case it didn't really come out in the writing to me. Ari on the other hand managed to cross the line between assertive and aggressive for me. It's one thing to me confident in yourself and your abilities, and another to rudely take charge of other people (such as telling Nola to eat more or not letting her drive even though his scares her to death). Also the character was an Israeli Jew and at times I felt as if I wasn't just reading about his opinions or reactions, but being bludgeoned with a heavy-handed message about both the Middle Eastern situation and the persecution of Jews in (and since) World War 2. Both of those things are important and a good idea to educate myself on, but at the same time I really don't enjoy having very real, very serious world problems crammed down my throat when I'm reading some escapist literature.
Despite the problems within this book I think I'd like to read the second in the series to see where things are heading and to find out if the problems in this one were "first in a series" problems or not. I'm not exactly champing at the bit to do so though and think I may even benefit from going away and reading something else first.
February 14, 2011
I wasn't sure what to make of this one:
* it starts out as sort of a vaguely private-investigator-ish book,
* then takes sort of a sudden turn into romance-novel territory when the main character spends several chapters dealing with bubbling hormones for her newly assigned partner. Then, halfway through the book, there's a paragraph that says, essentially "...And then we had sex. The next day...",
* and then we're back in private-investigator territory, except the main character is a psychic, so she doesn't actually investigate anything, she just periodically gets flashes of plot insight and says "oh that's interesting",
* and two-thirds of the way through the book, on the fifth or sixth flash of plot insight, they find and shoot the badguy,
* and then there's some mucking about in parallel worlds that didn't seem so much about plot development as setting the stage for a sequel.
So I think in summary I wanted something more tightly plotted.
The main character's eating disorder was also sort of weird. I'm not sure whether to class that as some sort of future plot point ("i've just discovered if i absorb enough magic i don't have to eat") or as a public service announcement by the author ("dear girls: don't be anorexic it sucks").
* it starts out as sort of a vaguely private-investigator-ish book,
* then takes sort of a sudden turn into romance-novel territory when the main character spends several chapters dealing with bubbling hormones for her newly assigned partner. Then, halfway through the book, there's a paragraph that says, essentially "...And then we had sex. The next day...",
* and then we're back in private-investigator territory, except the main character is a psychic, so she doesn't actually investigate anything, she just periodically gets flashes of plot insight and says "oh that's interesting",
* and two-thirds of the way through the book, on the fifth or sixth flash of plot insight, they find and shoot the badguy,
* and then there's some mucking about in parallel worlds that didn't seem so much about plot development as setting the stage for a sequel.
So I think in summary I wanted something more tightly plotted.
The main character's eating disorder was also sort of weird. I'm not sure whether to class that as some sort of future plot point ("i've just discovered if i absorb enough magic i don't have to eat") or as a public service announcement by the author ("dear girls: don't be anorexic it sucks").
March 26, 2011
Forget the cover that makes this book look just like umpteen other urban fantasies; you're in for a real treat. Kerr is a seasoned pro who handles the genre of noir psychic detective stories with consummate skill, pitch-perfect balance of humor and depth, and a level of respect for the reader's intelligence that puts most others in the shade. Even minor characters are vividly depicted and every story element is placed with precise care. Kerr brings complexity and depth to the expected tropes, from Ari Nathan's struggle to believe in Nola O'Grady's psychic abilities when they are thrown into partnership to solve the serial murders of werewolves, to the dynamics and relationships in a family with unusual mental talents, to the geography of San Francisco, to a foray into a parallel and very much less savory reality. I'm eagerly anticipating the next adventure!
October 10, 2013
I wanted to like this I really did, but I just could do it. This book took me forever to finish because it just bored me silly. Everything about it just fell flat from the characters, to the plot, to the setting, and the backstory. Nothing stood out to me except that I liked Nola marginally better than Ari mostly because Ari's refusal to believe in anything was annoying, and then to have them suddenly be in love made no sense. I found him a bit patronizing, arrogant, and controlling, and I enjoy none of that. Their bond never felt real to me, and by the end I just didn't care about the mystery at all. At first I sort of liked how magic had sort of become prosaic, but by the end the acronyms just drove me crazy. I will not be finishing this series.
March 19, 2023
Interesting. Very different from Deverry.
I think the agency’s alphabet and stupid red tape names thrown about kept breaking my read. I guess it is highly likely that a government agency would complicate everything to unnecessary level, but it did help me stay in the story.
I think the agency’s alphabet and stupid red tape names thrown about kept breaking my read. I guess it is highly likely that a government agency would complicate everything to unnecessary level, but it did help me stay in the story.
Read
March 2, 2017Love the world depth and there is clearly a lot beneath the surface but I haven't connected with the characters at pg 100. There is a weird mixture of overly specific things like Long Distance Remote Sensing to scry and overly vague like the Agency and Nola's weird family powers. I really liked the details involved with the Israeli love interest, but that wasn't enough to keep me hooked.
July 4, 2013
I was hoping for a good book out of experienced author Kerr (even though I got bored with her Deverry fantasy series well before it finished up), and I was not disappointed. And for once, I even had some clear ideas about *why* I liked it.
1. The characters. First-person narrator Nola O'Grady is smart, self-motivated, and knowledgeable about her areas of expertise, but not without flaws. Her expertise doesn't, however, extend to every possible permutation of paranormal phenomena. She is a bit too determined to be self-reliant (although given her mother, that seems understandable); and also rather too determined to stay a size 4.
Ari Nathan, the other major character (and love interest) is also well-drawn, though as he's seen entirely from Nola's point of view some of her opinions can't be relied on. He wrestles creditably with the news (and evidence) that some paranormal stuff is real. But what I found particularly entrancing is not that he's Israeli, but that the fact that he's Israeli occasionally trips up his interactions with Nola - that is, he's actually written as having a different cultural and historical background than an American. That's a feat worthy of a standing ovation in any book, in my not especially humble opinion; in a work of American speculative fiction, which often seems to believe that everybody's really an American at heart, raucous cheers are in order.
2. The paranormal aspect of the setting. In this iteration of a paranormal real world, most people can't perceive paranormal things, which is what I prefer (how else can this stuff be kept secret?). Different people who can perceive them, have different talents to different degrees, and if you train at them, you generally get better at them (another plus). The general tendency appears to be inheritable. Nobody actually knows everything about paranormal phenomena, and some of what they think they know may be wrong. The "Agency" Nola works for deals with incursions of what they call Chaos, trying to keep the balance between it and Harmony. Yes, not a new idea, but one that I like.
3. The plot. Devoid of stupid-for-the-sake-of-the-plot. Sometimes, the bad guys just outmaneuver the good guys; sometimes, the good guys overestimate their own abilities; sometimes, there's no way to see what's coming (despite the best of efforts). Lots of problem-solving, consulting resources, investigation. Good stuff, more than one thing going on, plenty of tension without being exhausting. The romance was there but not (I'm glad to note) take over the whole plot or devolve into sweaty sex scenes.
I found the bureaucratese used by the Agency to describe the "Talents" and various "procedures" amusing (and very believable), though I daresay it might annoy some folks.
Overall, an excellent example of the urban-fantasy type, and the second volume is already on its way to us through the mail.
1. The characters. First-person narrator Nola O'Grady is smart, self-motivated, and knowledgeable about her areas of expertise, but not without flaws. Her expertise doesn't, however, extend to every possible permutation of paranormal phenomena. She is a bit too determined to be self-reliant (although given her mother, that seems understandable); and also rather too determined to stay a size 4.
Ari Nathan, the other major character (and love interest) is also well-drawn, though as he's seen entirely from Nola's point of view some of her opinions can't be relied on. He wrestles creditably with the news (and evidence) that some paranormal stuff is real. But what I found particularly entrancing is not that he's Israeli, but that the fact that he's Israeli occasionally trips up his interactions with Nola - that is, he's actually written as having a different cultural and historical background than an American. That's a feat worthy of a standing ovation in any book, in my not especially humble opinion; in a work of American speculative fiction, which often seems to believe that everybody's really an American at heart, raucous cheers are in order.
2. The paranormal aspect of the setting. In this iteration of a paranormal real world, most people can't perceive paranormal things, which is what I prefer (how else can this stuff be kept secret?). Different people who can perceive them, have different talents to different degrees, and if you train at them, you generally get better at them (another plus). The general tendency appears to be inheritable. Nobody actually knows everything about paranormal phenomena, and some of what they think they know may be wrong. The "Agency" Nola works for deals with incursions of what they call Chaos, trying to keep the balance between it and Harmony. Yes, not a new idea, but one that I like.
3. The plot. Devoid of stupid-for-the-sake-of-the-plot. Sometimes, the bad guys just outmaneuver the good guys; sometimes, the good guys overestimate their own abilities; sometimes, there's no way to see what's coming (despite the best of efforts). Lots of problem-solving, consulting resources, investigation. Good stuff, more than one thing going on, plenty of tension without being exhausting. The romance was there but not (I'm glad to note) take over the whole plot or devolve into sweaty sex scenes.
I found the bureaucratese used by the Agency to describe the "Talents" and various "procedures" amusing (and very believable), though I daresay it might annoy some folks.
Overall, an excellent example of the urban-fantasy type, and the second volume is already on its way to us through the mail.
May 31, 2012
I enjoyed this quirky contemporary fantasy from Katharine Kerr, but let me stress one thing – this is not a romance. This is not a paranormal romance. This is quite definitely a contemporary fantasy. The copy I picked up from the library has a ROMANCE sticker on it. Nope. Not even a little.
Psychic Agent Nola O’Grady works for a very special agency, one of those ones that most of us never hear about. Born into a large Irish-American Catholic family of eccentrics, Nola came into her power in her mid-teens, and discovered that nothing would ever be the same again. Now she works for the preservation of Harmony – balance in the Universe. It’s not working for Good – it’s recognizing that things can go seriously wrong in the universe when there is not a balance.
Nola has managed to keep her distance from her crazy, enthusiastic family for years, but now her agency needs her to return to San Francisco, her hometown. Seems that there’s a serial killer out there who claims that he’s killing werewolves. The killer is popping up all over the world – even in countries where travel is restricted – and that has the CIA and Interpol involved. Nola ends up saddled with Ari Nathan, an Israeli secret agent who is as tactless as he’s honest. Ari is looking for a nutcase. Nola, sadly, knows that the killer may indeed see werewolves – because her younger brother, a lycanthrope, was the first victim.
Psychic Nola and skeptic Ari must learn to work together, to trust each other, and in the end face things that even her agency is not sure exist. There’s the problem of Qi, too – sympathetic energy that is making Ari look entirely too good to Nola, who’s been alone too long.
Kerr has chosen two disparate individuals as her protagonists. Nola is a deep introvert, both entangled and feuding with her family, anorexic in her desire to control her relationship with food, while Ari is hyper focused on his calling, and has managed to alienate the majority of his working associates with his blunt micro-managing. They weave their way through a San Francisco that is both familiar and strange even to folk who know the city. We’re talking definitely contemporary fantasy/noir here. This book may be like the first Kate Daniels tale – one where the protagonists show promise, but are not initially likable. I didn’t dislike them, but I did not warm to them – although I love Nola’s aunt!
I’ll definitely read the next one in the series – Kerr makes me want to see what happens next in her world.
Psychic Agent Nola O’Grady works for a very special agency, one of those ones that most of us never hear about. Born into a large Irish-American Catholic family of eccentrics, Nola came into her power in her mid-teens, and discovered that nothing would ever be the same again. Now she works for the preservation of Harmony – balance in the Universe. It’s not working for Good – it’s recognizing that things can go seriously wrong in the universe when there is not a balance.
Nola has managed to keep her distance from her crazy, enthusiastic family for years, but now her agency needs her to return to San Francisco, her hometown. Seems that there’s a serial killer out there who claims that he’s killing werewolves. The killer is popping up all over the world – even in countries where travel is restricted – and that has the CIA and Interpol involved. Nola ends up saddled with Ari Nathan, an Israeli secret agent who is as tactless as he’s honest. Ari is looking for a nutcase. Nola, sadly, knows that the killer may indeed see werewolves – because her younger brother, a lycanthrope, was the first victim.
Psychic Nola and skeptic Ari must learn to work together, to trust each other, and in the end face things that even her agency is not sure exist. There’s the problem of Qi, too – sympathetic energy that is making Ari look entirely too good to Nola, who’s been alone too long.
Kerr has chosen two disparate individuals as her protagonists. Nola is a deep introvert, both entangled and feuding with her family, anorexic in her desire to control her relationship with food, while Ari is hyper focused on his calling, and has managed to alienate the majority of his working associates with his blunt micro-managing. They weave their way through a San Francisco that is both familiar and strange even to folk who know the city. We’re talking definitely contemporary fantasy/noir here. This book may be like the first Kate Daniels tale – one where the protagonists show promise, but are not initially likable. I didn’t dislike them, but I did not warm to them – although I love Nola’s aunt!
I’ll definitely read the next one in the series – Kerr makes me want to see what happens next in her world.
January 15, 2013
2.75 Stars
Nola O'Grady is from a large family with peculiar quirks & talents. She works for a unnamed branch of the government that keeps an eye on Chaos and maintains Harmony in the US. Her latest assignment lands her back home in San Francisco, right in the midst of family love & squabbles and joining forces with Ari Nathan to track down a killer. A killer that may have also been the one to kill her brother Patrick, a werewolf.
I've had this book listed to read in my pile of books for a while and brought it up as a something to share in a Buddy read with a friend. When asked to pick a book between this one and another, I picked License to Ensorcell because it made me laugh with the very first line! I took that to be an excellent beginning. However, as I read the story, I found myself fighting to read the book. The premise has a lot of potential and the O'Gradys are fascinating group. The mystery or the family should have been the driving force but it's not.
The setting takes place in San Francisco but I'm constantly thrown into a loop by Nola's speech. She sounds like a Brit half the time. The slang in the story doesn't vibe with being in the States. Too much of the story takes place inside Nola's mind as she worries in a vague manner about the case and her family.
I'm much more fascinated by Michael, the seventh child of a seventh child and the youngest of the O'Grady clan. Kerr's short "observation" about Michael's potential of becoming a stark, hard man of intelligence, honor and outsider intrigued my interest more than the whole book.
I think I need to give the series another chance and read the next book. I'll take a while before I come back to this series. What a disheartening way to react to an author that I love! I've been reading Kerr's work for a good chunk of my life. It's odd to dislike something she's written.
Nola O'Grady is from a large family with peculiar quirks & talents. She works for a unnamed branch of the government that keeps an eye on Chaos and maintains Harmony in the US. Her latest assignment lands her back home in San Francisco, right in the midst of family love & squabbles and joining forces with Ari Nathan to track down a killer. A killer that may have also been the one to kill her brother Patrick, a werewolf.
I've had this book listed to read in my pile of books for a while and brought it up as a something to share in a Buddy read with a friend. When asked to pick a book between this one and another, I picked License to Ensorcell because it made me laugh with the very first line! I took that to be an excellent beginning. However, as I read the story, I found myself fighting to read the book. The premise has a lot of potential and the O'Gradys are fascinating group. The mystery or the family should have been the driving force but it's not.
The setting takes place in San Francisco but I'm constantly thrown into a loop by Nola's speech. She sounds like a Brit half the time. The slang in the story doesn't vibe with being in the States. Too much of the story takes place inside Nola's mind as she worries in a vague manner about the case and her family.
I'm much more fascinated by Michael, the seventh child of a seventh child and the youngest of the O'Grady clan. Kerr's short "observation" about Michael's potential of becoming a stark, hard man of intelligence, honor and outsider intrigued my interest more than the whole book.
I think I need to give the series another chance and read the next book. I'll take a while before I come back to this series. What a disheartening way to react to an author that I love! I've been reading Kerr's work for a good chunk of my life. It's odd to dislike something she's written.
June 11, 2014
I usually like paranormal fiction, and this one sounded like something a little different. Unfortunately, it had nothing to keep me interested at all, and was ultimately a miss for me.
These stories usually have a male and female character who start out either not liking each other, or have some sort of conflict that ramps up the sexual tension between them, and sets the stage for them to eventually get together. This book has the two characters who don't like each other, but for me there was absolutely zero chemistry between them - zip, nada. These two characters - Ari and Nola - just came across as two people who don't like each other and are forced to work together anyway. There was not the slightest indication for me that there was something happening between them in spite of themselves.
As far as the plot goes, it was really dry. I got a full third of the way through the book, and it felt like all that happened was Nola and Ari either driving, or walking around San Francisco. The story suggests that they are investigating the case at hand, but it didn't feel like anything actually HAPPENED in the first 110 pages of the book. I kept waiting for them to find something or come across someone who knew something, but there was just more wandering around of two people I didn't particularly like, and who didn't particularly like one another.
When I realized I was forcing myself to keep reading and that I really didn't care about these people or their seemingly randome wandering around the city, I gave up. Just not a book I enjoyed, unfortunately.
These stories usually have a male and female character who start out either not liking each other, or have some sort of conflict that ramps up the sexual tension between them, and sets the stage for them to eventually get together. This book has the two characters who don't like each other, but for me there was absolutely zero chemistry between them - zip, nada. These two characters - Ari and Nola - just came across as two people who don't like each other and are forced to work together anyway. There was not the slightest indication for me that there was something happening between them in spite of themselves.
As far as the plot goes, it was really dry. I got a full third of the way through the book, and it felt like all that happened was Nola and Ari either driving, or walking around San Francisco. The story suggests that they are investigating the case at hand, but it didn't feel like anything actually HAPPENED in the first 110 pages of the book. I kept waiting for them to find something or come across someone who knew something, but there was just more wandering around of two people I didn't particularly like, and who didn't particularly like one another.
When I realized I was forcing myself to keep reading and that I really didn't care about these people or their seemingly randome wandering around the city, I gave up. Just not a book I enjoyed, unfortunately.
June 20, 2011
Four and a half stars.
I really like this book but I'm struggling to pinpoint why. The romance is pretty standard but I really like all the characters. I will admit the "as soon as he gets by himself for a few days he won't love me because I'm too strange" trope got old but oh well.
I think part of it is that Kerr did some great world building. I really like the magic system she's set up and the wide variety makes it interesting and leaves me wanting to find out more. I also loved the way she searched for things as though carrying out a Google search.
It also really helps that while O'Grady is special because of her magic compared to most of the population, within the magical community (such as it is) she's not the one extra special end all be all one in a billion kind. She has some powerful gifts but so does most of her family and clearly other workers in her agency have similar (and it's suggested equally strong) gifts.
I'm very much looking forward to the next book in the series.
I really like this book but I'm struggling to pinpoint why. The romance is pretty standard but I really like all the characters. I will admit the "as soon as he gets by himself for a few days he won't love me because I'm too strange" trope got old but oh well.
I think part of it is that Kerr did some great world building. I really like the magic system she's set up and the wide variety makes it interesting and leaves me wanting to find out more. I also loved the way she searched for things as though carrying out a Google search.
It also really helps that while O'Grady is special because of her magic compared to most of the population, within the magical community (such as it is) she's not the one extra special end all be all one in a billion kind. She has some powerful gifts but so does most of her family and clearly other workers in her agency have similar (and it's suggested equally strong) gifts.
I'm very much looking forward to the next book in the series.
November 4, 2012
This is an odd little novel. On the one hand, there is the paranormal romance plotline as Nola O'Grady, who uses psychic powers as agent of some never-named paranormal agency is forced to work with an Israeli agent who doesn't believe in such things, especially not that the killer they are seeking targets actual werewolves. But there is a whole second plotline revolving around Nola's family, many of whom have various powers of their own. The two intersect as Nola's brother is developing the ability to step into parallel worlds which disrupts the bad guys route back.
The book is far from perfect as characters seem to miss the obvious for too long. Gee, just why would the bad guys be caching bulk goods from Costco just outside a spot Nola knows is a portal to parallel worlds. Any sf/fantasy writer can figure that one out as soon as it's introduced. Still, Ari's reactions to Nola's craziness and the strong sense that family are the people you love even when you can't stand them carry the book for me. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
The book is far from perfect as characters seem to miss the obvious for too long. Gee, just why would the bad guys be caching bulk goods from Costco just outside a spot Nola knows is a portal to parallel worlds. Any sf/fantasy writer can figure that one out as soon as it's introduced. Still, Ari's reactions to Nola's craziness and the strong sense that family are the people you love even when you can't stand them carry the book for me. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
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February 3, 2011First impressions are that this book has some original ideas. One thing of note is the desire to bring current real-world topics into the story which is okay and I hope it does not feel like reaching. There is discussion about Chaos very early in the book but no explanation about what that entails. Is it an organization or just the general definition of chaos. Later it is capitalized which makes it appear to be an organization. There are references to things that either receive no definition or discussion to clue in the reader about the author's world or take on the topics discussed. I am hoping that definitions from other books will cover it so I do not miss anything. I feel like I am guessing about some of this. I tried so hard. There were so many good things in this book. I liked the characters. I liked the mystery but I just had trouble with the mechanics and have to stop for now. I'll give it another try in the future.
February 24, 2011
I approached Licence to Ensorcell with trepidation, despite it being by Katherine Kerr who is one of my favourite authors. I’m very nervous about the whole UF genre – perhaps a bit of snobbery but to quote Georgette Heyer ‘every feeling revolts’.The outer signs, however, were promising – despite being billed as urban fantasy the cover featured a fully clad woman with no tramp stamp in evidence nor six-packed male with some variety of weapon.
Well – it was thoroughly enjoyable. Nola’s use of acronyms for her psychic tasks, the delightfully odd O’Grady clan, and the running gag about Ari’s driving provide comedy, and the mystery is wrapped well-enough to provide resolution for the book whilst leaving enough plot elements to fuel many more books. To add to the enjoyment, San Francisco’s unique vibe permeates the book, really bringing the urban to the fantasy. Definitely one for those who prefer their urban fantasy more urban than fantasy man.
Well – it was thoroughly enjoyable. Nola’s use of acronyms for her psychic tasks, the delightfully odd O’Grady clan, and the running gag about Ari’s driving provide comedy, and the mystery is wrapped well-enough to provide resolution for the book whilst leaving enough plot elements to fuel many more books. To add to the enjoyment, San Francisco’s unique vibe permeates the book, really bringing the urban to the fantasy. Definitely one for those who prefer their urban fantasy more urban than fantasy man.
February 5, 2012
An okay read and not my favorite Kerr that I've read. A few things stopped this book from being great and it wasn't lack of setting or some darn good characters. For one, the focus on the plot changed halfway through. For two, a major character changed personality halfway or 3/4s through, and not only did this bug me, had the character been developed from the beginning, it would have added a wonderful plotline/intrigue. There were some very good characterizations, but one of the main characters was distinctly flat and lacking in true "forward the plot" and general usefulness. This left me with a bit of boredom in some scenes. Some of the dialogue just didn't come together so overall a bit of a choppy read.
It's a decent UF, and has the added bonus of being appropriate for cozy paranormal readers (and in fact that might be the most perfect audience) and also for YA.
It's a decent UF, and has the added bonus of being appropriate for cozy paranormal readers (and in fact that might be the most perfect audience) and also for YA.
July 10, 2013
Nola O’Grady is a psychic who works for a government agency that officially doesn’t exist. Her agency is called in when there’s a case involving the forces of Chaos – like the one that Israeli agent Ari Nathan is currently trying to solve for Interpol. Someone is murdering werewolves, and somehow traveling between the scenes of the crimes without being seen by any witnesses. Nola and Ari are thrown together on the case and soon learn that the victims all knew each other and that Nola’s late brother Patrick was murdered by the same culprit.
Katharine Kerr creates a host of interesting characters, starting with Nola’s eccentric (and psychic) Irish Catholic family. The setting is fun; Kerr makes great use of San Francisco landmarks such as the Portals of the Past, a columned door... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Katharine Kerr creates a host of interesting characters, starting with Nola’s eccentric (and psychic) Irish Catholic family. The setting is fun; Kerr makes great use of San Francisco landmarks such as the Portals of the Past, a columned door... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
July 24, 2016
Fan of Katherine Kerr and have read pretty much all her other printed works so this was a big let down.
The world/story line/characters did not seem fully developed.
She also tried to bring in some political topics such as Israel and terrorists without seeming to actually know a lot about these topics and it wasn't very well done at all.
Skip it. Tanya Huff is a better read and in a similar style for what this tries for but doesn't accomplish.
The world/story line/characters did not seem fully developed.
She also tried to bring in some political topics such as Israel and terrorists without seeming to actually know a lot about these topics and it wasn't very well done at all.
Skip it. Tanya Huff is a better read and in a similar style for what this tries for but doesn't accomplish.
March 18, 2012
I really really really loved Katherine Kerr's Deverry books. I can't say the same about this although I did enjoy it. I liked the characters and was very interested in the notion of alternate universes and gateways. I will be reading the other books in the series. I noticed a lot of people complained about the acronyms used in the book and I have to say I did find them annoying, they greatly slowed down the pacing of the book.
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