It’s hallowe’en and Joanne is facing the walking dead.
And the ghostly dead. A big cauldron that brings back the dead. And mediums who
talk to the dead. And even Cernunnos, a god of the dead swoops back in for a
visit and a rematch
There’s a lot of dead around which for Joanne, shaman
brimming with life magic, it isn’t really her area of expertise. Thankfully she
has good friends who are there to support her – but even that is fraught with
her uncertain love life and friends learning the true extent of her abilities.
With the dead coming from all sides there’s a lot to
handle, but they all come together in one, epic confrontation – with lots of
zombies, ghosts and zombie squirrels (and even Joanne draws the line there)
along the way
One things I loved about this book is that it managed to
keep its feet on the ground. This series
has a habit of Joanne jumping into flashbacks or spiritual quests or different
realms of existence and generally completely losing me. This story kept it much
tighter – she still went into her internal garden and the Dead zone – but we
were much clearer about when and where she was going (and why) rather than
having random spiritual confusions inserted throughout the story and leaving me
lost. In fact, the writing was generally very tight not just compared to
previous books in the series but also in general. This story has multiple plot
lines – the ghosts, the zombies, the murder, the Wild Hunt, the Cauldron; while
they are all related and touch each other frequently, they’re also very
separate threads. There was an excellent balance maintained between them, none
were neglected and none overwhelmed the others. I was never left confused as to
what was happening when we returned to a storyline as can happen (sometimes a
thread is neglected for a while is returned to – but by that time I’ve
completely forgotten who these people are or what’s happening in their lives).
I also found each of the storylines integral. I admit
that while reading it I did think the Wild Hunt’s appearance seemed awfully
unnecessary and just a way to try and bring some of the older books to the
present, but it really fleshed out as a storyline and then interwove really
well with the other plot lines. I thought it was going to be a distraction but
it merged excellently – I know I’m going on about it but I really have to
praise how the writing of this book worked bringing all the disparate elements
together, especially after the last few books which rather floundered.
The world building continues to be vast – but, again,
focused. There’s a lot there and a lot of development that is constantly
alluded to but it isn’t abstract or a distraction. We’re also getting a greater
sense of a meta-plot with a big bad raising its ugly head. I feel the series is
getting into it’s stride now. Also the undead are interesting – especially the
stinking, icky zombies that terrify Joanne (it’s nice to see SCARY zombies in
Urban Fantasy – dystopians manage it, but zombies tend to be low down the food
chain elsewhere)
I do like that this book is dealing with issues that
Joanne has not caused – whether directly or indirectly – and it allows for
Joanne herself to develop without the constant guilt and self-recriminations
that have plagued her for 2 books. She still has some details with that – which
is great in an evolving character, but she’s not stuck in that rut any more.
I’ve always liked her as a very real character – her complex history, her
examination of both her Cherokee and Irish histories, her fraught relationship
with both parents, her past pregnancy – they’ve all been fraught and difficult
without being so completely overwhelming and angst laden as we so often see. It
is a lot of issues and she could probably do without one or two of them,
though. I think she does learn and grow – maybe not always as fast as I’d like
but she does. I think I’d like to see her be competent more – she’s not exactly
incompetent but she’s always flailing with misunderstanding and ignorance even
after what she’s learned – and it’s starkly contrasted with Billy’s calm, cool
knowledge. We do get moments like her healing of Tir Na Nog but, again, it’s a
whimsical, spare of the moment decision she’s not sure will work and could kill
her – there’s very few situations where Joanne can step forward and say “I know
this, step back folks, I’ve got this.”
She is also very funny and terrified of zombie rats –
which is wonderfully humanising and she does work through the fear, even if she
doesn’t lose it. A strong protagonist doesn’t mean she has to be fearless nor
does it mean she has to be the big stoic super-woman in the face of fear.
I actually really like the romance. Not Thor/Edward, that
was never going to work – but between her and her boss. It’s one of the few “I’m
in love with you but you drive me up the wall” romances I’ve seen that actually
work. And I like that, despite her extreme attraction to Morrison, she doesn’t
make him a priority and she took her promotion, her career progression and her
ability to help people ahead of pursuing the relationship.
What she does need is some other female characters that
aren’t back seated. Her closest friends are Billy and Gary. Then she’s got
Thor/Edward her love interest and the Captain (her really real love interest).
The female characters generally have much smaller roles (like Billy’s wife,
Melinda, or Phoebe or the detective from missing persons) and/or are feel
linked to this book rather than the ongoing series.
As the other women in the show book don’t have a great
role, the same holds true for POC (since they’re largely the same). Further,
Joanne herself spends much less time on the Native American side of her
ancestry in this book, and considerably more on the Irish side – though last
book was the other way round
This book comes close to making odd potential GBLT
inclusion moments – then quickly turns round and runs away from them. Take
Phoebe, her friend and fencing instructor. Now there have been, through the
series, repeated hints that she could, maybe, be a Lesbian. But only hints (and
if she were that makes her a Lesbian BFF which, while not as common as a GBF,
is still not ideal). Like this book – Phoebe is referred to as Joanne’s
“Sapphic sidekick”. I thought “aha,
confirmation!” but, no, they’re referring to their hallowe’en costumes and
Phoebe has pushed Joanne to dress as Xena so she can dress as Gabrielle.
Then there’s Billy, the cross dresser who she always made
a point of saying identified as a man, but when she see’s his inner self she
describes his appearance as “feminine”. What does that mean? He likes old
fashioned, ornate frilly shirts and is “more delicate” – namely, he doesn’t
picture himself as being as big as his 200llb 6 foot self. We have the
“feminine” and then a description that suggests that just means he doesn’t see
himself as huge as he actually is and has a liking for antique fashion.
I keep feeling like the series is sneaking up on GBLT
inclusion – then turns round and runs away.
In terms of writing and fun, I think this book was
immensely better than the last and restores a lot of my hope in the series.
There’s more I’d like to see – inclusionwise and the growth of Joanne’s
competence and expertise, but the writing and characterisation is excellent,
the pace much better and the overall book was one I had trouble putting down.
