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269th out of 913 books
—
286 voters
Spiral Hunt (Evie Scelan #1)
Some people have the Sight. Genevieve Scelan has the Scent.
They call her "Hound," and with her unique supernatural sense Evie can track nearly anything—lost keys, vanished family heirlooms . . . even missing people. And though she knows to stay out of the magical undercurrent that runs beneath Boston's historic streets, a midnight phone call from a long-vanished lover wi
...morePaperback, 307 pages
Published
January 27th 2009
by Harper Voyager
(first published January 21st 2009)
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The author is a friend, and boy can my friend write! This starts out as "Oh, okay, this is pretty good, where is this all going?" and quickly turns into "I know I have to go to work/sleep, but just 5 more minutes of reading!" The character has a great voice, the mythology holds up, the urban setting is used beautifully, the doubts and suspense are well-placed.
I agree with posters who compared it to Neil Gaiman's work, such as American Gods and Neverwhere - Spiral Hunt is similarly able to place...more
I agree with posters who compared it to Neil Gaiman's work, such as American Gods and Neverwhere - Spiral Hunt is similarly able to place...more
I'm certainly in a reading rut right now, because I cannot seem to find a book that satisfies. My last "failure" was David Willimas "The Mirrored Heavens". I bailed after 150 pages.
I switched to Margaret Ronald's "Spiral Hunt" and it hasnt' gotten any better. Ronald was mentioned to me as a refreshing newcomer to the glutted urban fantasy market. I've read many of these the past few years, and have grown increasingly unsatisfied with the lack of growth in the genre as a whole. Just how many ways...more
I switched to Margaret Ronald's "Spiral Hunt" and it hasnt' gotten any better. Ronald was mentioned to me as a refreshing newcomer to the glutted urban fantasy market. I've read many of these the past few years, and have grown increasingly unsatisfied with the lack of growth in the genre as a whole. Just how many ways...more
3 likes · like · see review
The setting is Boston, where a large Irish migrant population goes hand in hand with this urban fantasy moving away from the usual werewolves and vampires, and takes it's supernatural aspects from celtic mythology. Evie Scelan is a bike messenger with a side business as a Finder. Her nickname is Hound because Evie has an ability to track things with scent. At the start of this book, Evie gets a mysterious phone call from ex-lover Frank. Despite her reservations with who he may be mixed up with,...more
I have to admit: this book is written by a friend, so my opinion may be biased!
The two best things about this book are the protagonist, who I find to be a very solid, believable character; and the world, which I'm hoping Ronald is going to continue shaping in future books. I also appreciate that the book involves a healthy amount of mythology that I'm not really familiar with--but didn't feel I needed to be to understand the book.
The two best things about this book are the protagonist, who I find to be a very solid, believable character; and the world, which I'm hoping Ronald is going to continue shaping in future books. I also appreciate that the book involves a healthy amount of mythology that I'm not really familiar with--but didn't feel I needed to be to understand the book.
Spiral Hunt is a first novel, but it has a very strong and well-defined presence, with an engaging style and
interesting characters. This book was also something of a surprise, since most of the urban fantasy I’ve been seeing lately has been urban fantasy romance, where most of the action and characterization is based off of getting the female protagonist hitched up with a male character as quickly as possible. (I’m amazed at how few of these “urban fantasy romances” have anything to do with actu...more
interesting characters. This book was also something of a surprise, since most of the urban fantasy I’ve been seeing lately has been urban fantasy romance, where most of the action and characterization is based off of getting the female protagonist hitched up with a male character as quickly as possible. (I’m amazed at how few of these “urban fantasy romances” have anything to do with actu...more
Urban fantasy novels can go in a couple of different directions, and this one tends towards the gritty and grim. In Margaret Ronald's alternate Boston, almost all the magic users are addicts living marginal half-lives, consumed by paranoia. The magicians who aren't flat-out bums fit into another, even more unsavory category: they're evil. A group known as the Bright Brotherhood keeps a mafia-style chokehold over Boston's supernatural population - if you're not with the Brotherhood, you're agains...more
Evie has a unique super-national sense of smell and can track down almost anything from missing keys to missing people. Boston has a magical underground, which Evie has stayed out of until a midnight phone call from a long vanished lover. To find the missing lover she is pulled into the secret world of magic by betrayal, and conspiracies. For the first time Evie is being hunted.
The character Evie, AKA Hound, was an intriguing first person protagonist. Nice world building, especially Boston’s set...more
The character Evie, AKA Hound, was an intriguing first person protagonist. Nice world building, especially Boston’s set...more
Jun 30, 2010
Joletta
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Fans of: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy and Modern takes of Mythological figures.
Okay, this book was definitely a sleeper. It was sorta/kinda interesting and I would pick it up, read a few chapters and become distracted....until about chapter four, that is.
The main character, Evie Scelan has an extraordinary sense of smell. In magic rich Boston this equals a side job as a PI of sorts, known to a few as the Hound, finding lost objects. She has to be careful how she exhibits her talents, there are supernatural baddies who make magic users of all kinds disappear.
This book owe...more
The main character, Evie Scelan has an extraordinary sense of smell. In magic rich Boston this equals a side job as a PI of sorts, known to a few as the Hound, finding lost objects. She has to be careful how she exhibits her talents, there are supernatural baddies who make magic users of all kinds disappear.
This book owe...more
2 likes · like · see review
Disclosure: The author is a friend. And an adorable drunk.
Yay, it's Maggie's first book! Noirish paranormal mystery with Irish mythology, set in Boston. First-person female narrator, cool magic powers, you know the sort of thing.
Things I liked: Boston – this book has an excellent sense of place, and it made me want to spend more time there, maybe even sober this time. Female friendships, which make up a lot of the tension in the book, and these relationships are not about men and are about women...more
Yay, it's Maggie's first book! Noirish paranormal mystery with Irish mythology, set in Boston. First-person female narrator, cool magic powers, you know the sort of thing.
Things I liked: Boston – this book has an excellent sense of place, and it made me want to spend more time there, maybe even sober this time. Female friendships, which make up a lot of the tension in the book, and these relationships are not about men and are about women...more
I tend to get obsessed with certain types of books for a period of time, and then can't read anything after that until a new obsession takes me. This book was meant to fit into my recent paranormal noir obsession, and I was delighted at how well it worked as paranormal noir while still feeling utterly different from the others I've read. Even if I go on to read more in this sub-genre, I think this will be the cap on the genre for me.
What seems to start out as a typical noir mystery with a missin...more
What seems to start out as a typical noir mystery with a missin...more
I would never have picked up this book if I hadn't gone to a panel at Arisia, a convention in Boston, about setting stories in Boston. I went into the book, therefore, with the expectation that it put one of my favorite cities to good use. In that, it did not disappoint.
The city of Boston is practically its own character in this book. Its strange history is put to good use, and its oddities are far better explained through magic than the true history. Ms. Ronald does an excellent job making the...more
The city of Boston is practically its own character in this book. Its strange history is put to good use, and its oddities are far better explained through magic than the true history. Ms. Ronald does an excellent job making the...more
1 like · like · see review
Genevieve, or Evie as friend from school call her, works as a bike courier in Boston. But, on the side works to help recover, or find, items for people - for a fee to help pay rent. Evie has a special ability passed down in her family blood of years past, she can smell scents even almost taste them at times. Evie has the nick name in the Undercurrent of Hound. But one night, after midnight she receives a call from a friend of the past who Evie thought was gone or dead. Frank, someone Evie had no...more
OMG. This is solid urban fantasy with a major dollop of Irish mythology thrown in. Great characters, fantastic sense of place and setting, and many great lines. The first half was maybe a tad slow - though compelling - and the second half was basically un-put-down-able. Definitely read this. (Disclaimer: I know the author, but not all that well. So I don't think I'm all that biased.)
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Jan 24, 2010
CJ - Secret Charm
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
celtic myth fans, people who like good books
First of all I am an amateur Ancient Celtic Myth and Historian and this book...wow. Ronald did her research and her homework and she owned it. The history and the myths come out strong without sounding like they were planted in the plot to explain something (while sounding like an encyclopedia) but both were woven into the story and the characters and became one.
Evie Scelan is a Hound - her magic is of the olfactory kind. She can smell a 'church by daylight" (to quote Shakespeare) and due to her...more
Evie Scelan is a Hound - her magic is of the olfactory kind. She can smell a 'church by daylight" (to quote Shakespeare) and due to her...more
Urban fantasy with a basis in the Celtic Mythos: sounds like a great idea for a book, neh? Since resolving to review every book I read this year, I am becoming more frustrated with the lackluster glut overwhelming my go-to genre. The use of Ogham was a nice touch, but I had difficulty unraveling the spiral of characters. All the men in this book ran together; I never quite worked out which fellows were good guys or bad. Evie, our major character, is able to smell magic. The Fiana are wizard type...more
Jul 19, 2011
Writtenwyrdd
added it
Excellent new voice in urban fantasy with a celtic twist. Well written, interesting characters, a protagonist with something new.
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This is the first book by Ms. Ronald in the Evie Scelan series. I really liked the plot and Evie's character...she is very no nonsense and practical. The downside that I found was that there wasn't a lot of background to the characters so I kept thinking maybe I'd started on the 2nd or 3rd book. Some people may love this since you can invent the past or it allows the author to reveal their past a little at a time.
The plot was a little slow going at first, but finally settled into a groove and I...more
The plot was a little slow going at first, but finally settled into a groove and I...more
I quite liked this. The heroine is a bike courier and finder of lost things, with the nickname Hound, and she's trying to make a living while staying clear of the supernatural underworld of Boston. Some nice touches of humour, and the heroine is tough but not a kickass ninja-babe, so it's not a generic urban fantasy. It didn't engage me as much as I might have liked, in part because Evie herself isn't very engaged with anyone, though her growing friendship with a young girl hints of character de...more
This book was pretty good. I liked the location (Being a Masshole) and I enjoyed, for the most part, Evie's character. The world held my attention, but sometimes felt almost vague, in the magic aspect. I sometimes felt confused on what terms meant, for example Loci(and it's variants used) It was used a lot in the first few chapters, but no explanation given for a while, I found myself thinking.. what the heck is it? and I hate that. I own the next one, and will read that as well. I hope there is...more
Maybe a 3.75 star book because it doesn't quite have that level of "wow" that makes me want to force everyone I know to rush out out start reading it right away, but it's very solid storytelling that I thoroughly enjoyed. Evie is smart, level-headed and likable, the system of magic is interesting, and the mythological elements are included in an original way. Some of the double crosses I expected and others snuck up on me, and things being more complicated than I expected meant that they were al...more
4 likes · like · see review
Evie is a hound she enjoys the hunt & as well as running messages she works on the side finding heirlooms, people, even sniffing out magic, her nose is very discerning. she avoids using magic because magic uses you back. Plus if you have any gifts the 'Fiana' tend to take an unhealthy interest & once noticed, your picked up and you don't get out again.
After a phone call she sets out to find a childhood friend, who she reckons disappeared under the Fiana because of her, Evie is also aske...more
After a phone call she sets out to find a childhood friend, who she reckons disappeared under the Fiana because of her, Evie is also aske...more
This is pretty good, especially considering that it is the author's first novel. The strong, plausible female characters and modern fantasy/noir are fairly fresh in the genre. It reads like Snow Crash meets Jim Butcher, with a dash of American Gods.
I wish that the genre cliches in plot, pacing, character, and phrasing weren't there and that the writing was a little more careful about point of view. Characters sometimes notice things that they shouldn't be able to and the plot hints are dropped...more
I wish that the genre cliches in plot, pacing, character, and phrasing weren't there and that the writing was a little more careful about point of view. Characters sometimes notice things that they shouldn't be able to and the plot hints are dropped...more
Really enjoyed this book, and think it's a great start to a new series! Hadn't read any reviews, so went into it with no expectations and was very pleasantly surprised. Evie is doing her best to keep her head down and avoid notice, while barely making a living as a bike courier by day and a Finder by night. She has a unique talent which lets her track things by scent, which is how she got her nickname of "Hound."
Despite her best efforts, Evie comes to the attention of The Bright Brotherhood, who...more
Despite her best efforts, Evie comes to the attention of The Bright Brotherhood, who...more
This book starts off with a bang as Evie Scelan is awakened with a phone call from her ex, Frank. He tells her he's finally getting out and then it seems as if something or someone else is talking through him and the line goes dead. Evie Scanlon is a little different than everyone else she is called the Hound because she has a/n (magically?) enhanced sense of smell that she can use to track anything or anyone. She tries to use her gift to find her ex-lover after he goes missing. This story is se...more
This is the first new urban fantasy novel I've read in a while. I know the author, and like her, so I was predisposed to like the book, but I'm sure I would have enjoyed it even if I'd never met her. The protagonist and her friends and acquaintances are all believably complex and vivid. I enjoyed the fairly-recent-past Boston setting mixed in with the Celtic mythology.
I'm just beginning the second book in the series now, and look forward to the third installment!
I'm just beginning the second book in the series now, and look forward to the third installment!
This is a detective story set in Magic Boston.
Interactions with the other characters seemed a bit forced: the main character would get in fights with her friends for no obviously good reason, and she kept trusting the bad guy even after it was obvious he was going to backstab her.
I read this and its sequel three days ago, and my recollection is already a bit fuzzy. Maybe not a good sign? On the other hand it might be a good sign that I got the sequel.
Interactions with the other characters seemed a bit forced: the main character would get in fights with her friends for no obviously good reason, and she kept trusting the bad guy even after it was obvious he was going to backstab her.
I read this and its sequel three days ago, and my recollection is already a bit fuzzy. Maybe not a good sign? On the other hand it might be a good sign that I got the sequel.
I started out thinking this was a somewhat formulaic urban fantasy (kickass loner tomboy heroine, heir to magical abilities, friends with convenient connections/skills), but it really grew on me. The Boston settign was used to good effect, and I LOVED the explanation of "The Curse" and Evie's very realist hatred of all things Yankees (I'm married to a New Englander, so I know it well). Looking forward to searching out the next book in the series!
Good choice for fans of urban fantasy. The main character, Evie, lives in Boston and has an unusual magical ability to find things through their scent. She works for herself doing "retrieval and recovery" and bike messengering as well. She keeps carefully off the radar of the mob of magicians that runs the Boston underground, until a phone call from an old friend pulls her into danger. Fun start to a new series. Recommend to Jim Butcher fans and the like.
Pros: UF heroine with an uncommon ability with an interesting mythological basis and an actual life with people in it separate from her "otherness."
Cons: An uncommon ability with an interesting mythological basis isn't good enough; we have to fall back on the typical Special Snowflake-Chosen One-Mary Sue crap because a woman who can resolve a problem with her own brains and strengths without being possessed by a goddess just isn't DONE.
Cons: An uncommon ability with an interesting mythological basis isn't good enough; we have to fall back on the typical Special Snowflake-Chosen One-Mary Sue crap because a woman who can resolve a problem with her own brains and strengths without being possessed by a goddess just isn't DONE.
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Margaret Ronald learned to read on a blend of The Adventures of Tintin, Greek mythology, and Bloom County compilations. Her vocabulary never quite recovered. Her fiction has appeared in Realms of Fantasy, Strange Horizons, Baen's Universe, and Fantasy Magazine. Spiral Hunt is her first novel.
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Apr 06, 2012 12:50am