Tim Pratt
Blood Engines (2007)
Nathan raved about Blood Engines a couple months ago, so I decided to move it higher in the list, based on his recommendation.
Marla Mason is guardian of Felport, but is off the ranch in San Francisco, searching for a Cornerstone–a magical artifact that will give her the power to fight off the sorcerer trying to take over her territory. Unfortunately for Marla, and her assistant of sorts Rondeau, things are never as easy as one could hope, and often worse than one can imagine.
Blood Engines is a supernatural fantasy that takes place in the world as we know it, where magic exists, but is hidden from regular humans. Marla is a moderately amoral magician whose interests are first and foremost her own. If she happens to do a good deed or two along the way, it happens only because the right thing was easy to do.
This ended up being my problem with the story. I found Marla annoying.
I liked Rondeau, who in many ways acted as Marla’s conscience, and I liked B, but Marla? Not so much. She wasn’t bad, she simply didn’t care about anything other than herself, and this is a trait I have a difficult time comprehending, and so makes for a character I have a difficult time relating to.
Which is too bad, because the writing was strong, the dialog was good, and the story was very very good. All the characters were well-developed and could be easily told apart in dialog. Although I have to admit that Rondeau reminded me in many ways of Bob the Skull in the Dresden Files books, only with an actual body.
I could have done without the tour of the sex party. Sure, it makes sense that there are sorcerers that would gain their power from sex, and would throw the type of party described there, but I could have done without three chapters of it. I’m not saying it was badly done–it wasn’t (i.e. it didn’t make me cringe) but I just didn’t need three chapters of it.
What is it, anyway, about supernatural fantasy that compels people to fill whole chapters with lots of boinking?
I was also unsure about the limits upon magical power, and how one develops certain strengths and levels of power. Essentially, I was unsure what the limit of Marla’s power were. She said she had them, but they were never completely clear from the context of the story.
So Blood Engines was good, but it certainly isn’t the best supernatural fantasy I’ve ever read. The story, however, was very good and the writing was very strong, so it might be worth checking out the sequel, though I don’t think I’ll go out of my way to look for it.
Rating: 6/10
Poison Sleep (2008)
Nathan raved about the first Marla Mason book, Blood Engines. I thought the book was good, but nothing really drew me into the story. But Michael liked Blood Engines so I bought the second book, and decided to read it while I was on vacation.
Marla is called out to an emergency at the Blackwing Institute–a home/prison for insane sorcerers. One of the worst inmates there has attempted to escape, but by the time Marla arrives the threat has been contained, and the only concern is that Genevieve, a possible reweaver, has escaped from Blackwing. Genevieve, an empath and possibly a reweaver–was brutally attacked and has spent decades comatose. However something has awakened her, and no one is sure what she’ll do now she’s awake.
Additionally, she hires a new–and dangerous in a completely unexpected way–member of the team, and picks up a personal assistant.
I have to say that I enjoyed Poison Sleep much more than Blood Engines. I think the difference was that Marla was in here element here–Freeport is her home, and her actions made sense in light of the fact that she was protecting the city she was sworn to guard. She makes hard choices here, but instead of seeming sociopathic, those decisions make sense in light of her duty to guard the city.
I also liked the Marla was able to make those hard choices–and that she was willing to admit when she was wrong. It definitely added a complexity to her character that I don’t remember from the first book.
One thing bugged me however.
SPOILER
(rot 13)
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END SPOILER
Other than that, I thought the story was strong, the characters were good, the pacing was nice, and I appreciated the extra complexity. In other words, I definitely preferred Poison Sleep to Blood Engines.
Rating: 7/10
Marla Mason: Blood Engines (2007), Poison Sleep (2008)
