Ben is the new member of the Spokane Ecology Board, after
his predecessor was murdered. Of course, it isn’t generally known what the full
nature of the job entails – policing and investigating problems with the
supernatural community of Spokane. A community Ben never knew about before –
and certainly isn’t a part of.
It comes with a partner – Ari. A Bigfoot. She’s hoping this job will earn her some respect from the Bigfoot colony that has made her an outcast – she doesn’t have a great deal of experience with humans. Her predecessor has also been murdered
Both of them face something of a learning curve. But they
have to learn fast – whoever killed the people before them may be targeting them
next and, with the evidence heavily tampered with, the perpetrator may be one
of the few people they need to trust.
Given that, Thunderbirds having a temper tantrum in town
seems quite minor.
This is a neat murder mystery – it’s a story with lots of
interesting little twists and tangents that unfold as the book progresses at an
excellent pace. It has a few nifty red herrings that are thrown in with skill
and aplomb, we have some action that’s in keeping with the characters. It’s a
good plot and it has some points I really appreciated – like the action scenes
not being one-on-one fights (because why going into such equal battles?) and
the enemy not being so simplistic as is common place.
But the story is a far better vehicle for the world and
the characters
The characters are excellent – Ari and Ben bounce off
each other, flounder together, annoy each other, try not to annoy each other, fail
to understand each other but keep bouncing back and coming together again
trying to decide whether to sit down and figure out what happened or to Not
Talk About It. They have pasts and experiences and fully realised characters
that I just want to burrow through
If it weren’t for the world, the characters would be the best thing about this
book. But the world, with the different supernatural groups, hefty amounts of
Native American tradition, entirely newly created lore in places sprinkled with
politics, tensions and strong connections to themes of colonisation – is even
better.
There was a lot of Native American tradition and beliefs
in this book and even without the bibliography at the end you can tell that
there has been some research gone into them which is always great to see and
helped contribute to the richness of this world (along with the development of
the Bigfoots mentioned below). The combination and blending of well researched
actual tradition and beliefs with really well founded and well made fictional
worlds made for a very strong setting
I also like that Blue Jay was used. If you make a pile of Urban Fantasy books containing Native American traditions you’re probably going to run into a gazillion Coyotes, half a gazillion Ravens (and innumerable Skinwalkers and Wendigo – ALWAYS THE WENDIGO!) but this is the first Blue Jay.
I loved the world building of the different mystical
creatures, in particular the Bigfoots, because there has been world building. Not
just “big people with fur” but a fully developed separate species – they have
their own biological differences, their own culture, their own faith, their own
different families and ways of living and society and prejudices. These can be
big things like the whole explanation of how Bigfoot families are structured or
the problems Ari faces as a Sunstruck, but also little things like the Bigfoot
needing the chew things to wear down their teeth because modern human food they
largely eat is too soft. A huge amount of effort has been put into making the
Bigfoots a fully developed people with all the positives and the negatives that
that implies (one of my favourite elements is the way they speak English, the
accent they preserve because it’s a marker of the people who bothered to teach
them).
This also led to a way in which a fictional
marginalisation can actually be done well. Ari is regarded with a level of fear
and revulsion by her fellow Bigfoot, has her role in their society very much
defined by it. At no point is there direct appropriation of actual marginalised
groups in the real world while still presenting the problems a marginalised
person would face – ostracism, hostility, disconnect with culture, a desire to
prove oneself etc. As well as issue for her because she was raised by
non-Bigfoots – which has all kinds of disconnect.
Ari’s outsider status in human society also lends some other
interesting little moments where she is confused by human culture and human
behaviour (there are some especially excellent moments where she and Ben
tip-toe around each other, not sure how they annoyed or offended the other or
how to react to it). This in turn led to some interesting little elements –
like Ari’s habit of splitting the world into “locals” (Native Americans) and “migrants”
(anyone not-Native American) which works for Ben – until she applies it to a
Black woman and then Ben leaps in with the complexity of that.
I believe Ben is Two Spirited by a pretty strong reference
that was made, it didn’t overtly use those words, but at very least it was
inherently implied and with a strong edge of Ben not feeling entirely
comfortable with the idea of a gender binary and connecting that with his grandmother
who was very connected to Spokane (Native American not the city) traditions.
Ben also has Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder and it’s nicely done –
it doesn’t consume his character to the exclusion of all else, but nor is it a
disability that is “turned off” when it’s useful to do so – which is something
I’ve found to be a habit especially with non-physical disabilities or invisible
disabilities.
There was also a Thunderbird that used ASL.
One of the protagonists, Ben, and a huge number of other
characters are POC, I think most of the characters may be, in fact. Certainly I
can only think of one White character in a major role and he is kept somewhat
at a distance due to story based suspicion. There’s a lot of cultural
connections without delving into stereotypes and Ben has some fascinating and
layered experiences both within and outside the reservation he was born.
This book is a great book – and is a truly
excellent first book in a series. As a stand alone book we have an interesting
plot, a murder mystery/monster hunt with some completely unexpected twists and a
great cast as characters. But it’s a book that is better served at introducing
the characters and showcasing the world more than it is for telling a story –
since the world is fascinating and I love the characters that makes for a great
book. But if this is just introducing us to a whole new series using this world
and characters, now they’ve been introduced, then that is absolutely ideal.
