Worlds Almost Ours. Almost but Not Quite…

It’s very easy to focus on the new and shiny, isn’t it? Very easy to look straight past the shelves of books that already exist and look for something in the new releases you might have missed. But there is so much already out there that needs reading! So many series where you can pick up book 1, enjoy it, and know that you’ve got a few more in the pipeline. It’s like watching an episode of a TV show that’s new to you, loving it, and realsing that there are 6 further seasons and a spin-off movie already out there. I know Netflix set the bar at 3 seasons – after that it’s all too daunting for new viewers to jump onboard. But readers are made of sterner stuff. And you need a series to really get to know the characters.

I’ve written before about looking beyond Rivers of London – just here, in fact: Looking Beyond London – and there are some sound recommendations there that still hold true. Some of those are, unfortunately, series that their authors abandoned. I often wonder whether a crowdfunded campaign could get them to come back and finish them off. The literary equivalent of the mosh pit screaming “One more song!”

For me the beauty of Urban Fantasy is finding out just how the world of the book is different to our own. In a way, the movie Yesterday is a beautiful example of Urban Fantasy. The protagonist wakes in a world almost identical to the one he went to sleep in apart from one or two minor differences. And so it is with all good Urban Fantasy series.

Let’s start in Norwich. Because why not. Nothing wrong with Norwich. What could possibly be different in Norwich?

Norwich Map Runners – Eva St John

Flint in the Bones, Fire in the Flint, Blood in the Maps. By the same author as the Quantum Curators (haven’t read those yet but my wife thoroughly enjoyed them) and personally recommended by none other than Jodi Taylor herself, about who more later.

The central conceit of this one, strangely, isn’t that magic is real. We enter a world where magic is commonplace and used to power all manner of devices that we would use batteries for. Magical iPod? Not a problem. Magical bluetooth headphones? Yup. The problem is Norwich itself. Without giving too much away, there was a magical accident involving a cupboard full of maps and that fused every incarnation of Norwich mapped in that cupboard together. Individuals with certain abilities – the eponymous map runners – can use those maps to access streets and passageways that no longer exist to move around the city. Are their abilities confined to just Norwich? Possibly not…

The world building is excellent. Enough questions are answered in book 1 to satisfy your curiosity, enough threads are left dangling to keep you reading into the next book and beyond. The writer has a wonderful voice and, in common with many writing today, has clearly been inspired by Sir Terry Pratchett and there are one or two nods to the Discworld in there to raise a laugh when you spot them. Im a firm believer that the city itself should be as much a character as any of the protagonists and Norwich (past and present) lives and breathes in this book, if you know it – or if you use the included map – you can follow the action as the protagonists rove around.

I found myself mentally casting the TV series for this one as I read it.

And now, to Birmingham.

Oddjobs – Heide Goody & Iain Grant

A common theme in Urban Fantasy is the secret government organisation who’s job it is to prevent the General Public from finding out that the world isn’t quite as straightforward as it could be. Oddjobs falls neatly into that slot. You could quite easily picture this organisation sitting alongside Charles Stross’s Laundry or letting Peter Grant know that he doesn’t have a monopoly on the Falcon stuff just because he works for The Met. This one was a recommendation from an online source, we were commenting on the same post and they insisted I tried this. Did not regret!

Where The Laundry Files drops you in with Bob, a lowly office IT spod, Oddjobs gives you Morag. Morag has been there, done that, burned the T-shirt after that got spilled on it, and is not taking any of your crap today. The world just is. Deal with it. And make sure you fill in the right paperwork afterwards, you know what happened last time.

It’s a lighter tone of comedy when dealing with the end of the world than you’ll usually find, more Men In Black than Sean of the Dead, but no less compelling a read. And Birmingham comes across rather well. Last time I was there I found myself location spotting.

Now a short hop up the M6. I think. Geography over that side of the country never was my strong suit.

The Netherweird Chronicles – Violet Fenn

8 books to this one and I have a love-hate relationship with the series. Start with Red & Dead and go from there. I’ve got the first 6 books, read the first 3. So far. The author is a solid presence in the right social media groups and enjoys interacting with readers, both of her works and those of others. Think I found these ones through The Stranger Times…

The world building here is superb. I love the Liverpool setting, the fact that the main protagonist hasn’s been explained but that the Liver Birds have. But I do find it hard to distinguish between some of the other characters, particularly the main family our protagonist is pitted against/working with. I don’t know why this is, it’s well-written and the stories flow beautifully. Many big series struggle with internal consistency and power creep (Dresden Files, I’m looking at you here – Jim, I know you rely on your fan-created wikipedia pages to keep track of who did what and when!) and this suffers from neither so far. But… Oh, I know! The latest Chris Brookmyer comes with a family tree of the important characters at the start. That would definitely help here.

Hey, there’s enough here to keep the next one hovering near the top of my TBR pile and the story just keeps getting deeper and weirder. Love the ghosts!

The Jodiverse – Jodi Taylor

Right. Get yourself comfortable, this one could take a while. I cannot remember whether it was me buying this on the back of the title, someone getting me this because it “sounded like something I would enjoy”, or whatever. I suspect St Mary’s would have to launch an investigation to find out how I came across these. But I have not regretted it once. Well, that’s not true. I’ve regretted reading these many times over the years, usually the day after I stayed up til 3AM to finish one of them.

In the beginning was Just One Damned Thing After Another. Here we’re introduced to St Mary’s, an institution somewhere in the north of England – unless she’s moved Northallerton – where historically significant events are investigated in contemporary time. Don’t call it time travel. But it is, really. We meet Max, and Leon, and Dr Bairstow, and Markham, the R&D department, Mrs Enderby… And we’re introduced to the Time Police, the Big Bads of the place. Possibly. The problem with the St Mary’s books – and indeed everything Jodi’s written – is that it’s all so damn readable! Her prose just flows off the page and into the brain. It’s elegant, it’s beautifully written, it’s almost poetic at times. And you’re hooked in. I gave book 1 to a colleague at school a few weeks ago, she’s now on book 8 and has stopped watching TV in order to read. The other problem is that no matter how much of it there is, it isn’t enough.

Apart from the time travel aspect, Jodi picked 3 events that hadn’t actually occurred when setting up her world. One, Britain leaving the EU. Two, a global pandemic. Three, America closing its borders and turning in on itself. Yeah, we’ve asked if she could pick all of her readers winning a million pounds as the next unlikely event!

The historical events in the books are researched in-depth. The what-if’s, the alt-history aspects, thought out in depth. I swear she’s got two files of stuff – one of interesting historical events for St Mary’s to investigate, one of weird stuff that couldn’t possibly be real for the Time Police to investigate. Or cause. All the pendulum clocks in Paris stopping at once for 20 minutes? No, really? Yep. The Tunguska blast? Yep.

If you’re reading them in order, you’ve got a task almost as Herculean as keeping up with Marvel movies. Especially if you’re in the habit of doing a “quick” re-read before the next one is released. There’s the 14 (at time of writing) books of the Chronicles of St Mary’s plus innumerable short stories. There’s the 5 6 Time Police spin-off books, the 2 Smallhope & Pennyroyal spin-off books. And then because at this point you’ll happily read anything the lass has written, several books of the White Silence series (I want to say 4 but it’s more likely 5), a couple of Frogmorton Farm, and A Bachelor Establishment. I figure I’m running at about 85% of her output at the moment. She’s got her own bi-annual convention, for heaven’s sake! How many authors get that?

Right. That should keep you lot occupied for a little while. And I’ve not even left the UK yet. Mind you there’s a lot more London weirdness out there, more than enough to dedicate a whole blog post to. There’s plenty going on Up North as well – did you know there are Dragons in Yorkshire? You do now. And you don’t want to cross the WI while you’re in that village. And if you’re in Manchester, pick up a copy of The Stranger Times for me, will you?

This post is part of the Ink and Ember Ambassadors’ Program. I’m here to champion Urban Fantasy in its various guises from the cozy to the downright sinister. Remember, the world isn’t what you think – let me show you how the world really is…