Magic Lost, Trouble Found (Raine Benares, #1) by Lisa Shearin

Dec 23, 2008 Angie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: good-uns

This series seems to be most often described as regular fantasy with a decidedly urban fantasy heroine, complete with charming (at times self deprecating) sense of humor. I would agree with this assessment. Raine's internal dialogue is very much in keeping with urban fantasy trends. She'll be the first one to tell you, she's one part disreputable imp, two parts defender of all that is good. And she can handle anything that comes her way.

And the excellent part is--all kinds of heinousness comes h...more This series seems to be most often described as regular fantasy with a decidedly urban fantasy heroine, complete with charming (at times self deprecating) sense of humor. I would agree with this assessment. Raine's internal dialogue is very much in keeping with urban fantasy trends. She'll be the first one to tell you, she's one part disreputable imp, two parts defender of all that is good. And she can handle anything that comes her way.

And the excellent part is--all kinds of heinousness comes her way and she handles it with aplomb (and the aforementioned sense of humor). Raine Benares is a seeker, finder of lost things and/or people. Raine's family name is a bit on the infamous side and, for the most part, Raine is just fine with that. In the opening scene of the book, she and her rake of a cousin Phaelan find themselves fighting off goblin shamans in an attempt to protect Raine's sometime partner and thief extraordinaire Quentin. Just what Quentin has stolen remains a mystery, but it soon becomes crystal clear every agent of evil in the vicinity would like to get their paws on it. Turns out the object is an ancient amulet which finds its way around Raine's neck and refuses (rather gruesomely) to be removed. Enter the Conclave Guardians, an elite force of healer-magicians whose job it is to retrieve the amulet and stash it back under lock and key. Stat. Dangerous and colorful characters abound, including the powerful Mychael Eilieson--Paladin of the Guardians--and Raine's friend Tamnais Nathrach--shady nightclub proprietor and former member of the goblin royal family. Oh and, by the way, these aren't your run-of-the-mill goblins. You want these goblins to sit down and stay awhile.

What a pleasant surprise this book was and how well-timed a read. A funny, delectable treat smack dab in the middle of winter. Raine is extremely likeable and I appreciated that she always seemed fully cognizant of her own motivations and never persisted in sugar-coating them or in being stubborn beyond all reason. In that way she reminded me of Kate Daniels from Ilona Andrews' Magic Bites. Like Kate, Raine appears to have a few secrets she's not interested in revealing, even to her closest confidantes. I have a few suspicions and look forward to finding out more as the series progresses. All of the side characters felt fully formed and like people/elves/goblins/what have you that I'd like to have around, and certainly want to read more about. And, while I would really rather the love triangle not drag out anywhere near as long as the whole Morelli-Stephanie-Ranger fiasco has, I have to say I am a hopeless Babe and am therefore (unsurprisingly) firmly in the Team Tam camp. Mychael is nice. Of this there is no doubt. But, aqua eyes aside, there's just no contest. This really is a delightful, addictive debut novel and I am very happy to have the sequel sitting on my nightstand.
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Aug 12, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy

Well....here I was pleasantly surprised. If you've checked back on my profile often you may have noticed that this book has been on my "currently reading" shelf for a long time. Unfortunately (sort of) I own the book. So, it was continuously having to be put aside so I could read library books that had to be finished and returned.

The book was one I'd purchased from my favorite used books store on a recommendation but I'd left it on my shelf a long time. Let's face it. The cover sports an attract...more

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Jul 11, 2008 Ann rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: wpf-masters-reading

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I found myself conflicted by this book. There are parts of this novel that I loved, parts that made me read and read because I couldn't put it down, and parts that popped me out of the story and had me saying "Oh, come on!"

The novel is written in a first-person chatty style reminiscent of chick-lit. It's not quite as... dark and heavy as the urban fantasy I've read... but it also has a bit of that kind of modern thief/magician thing... kinda a perky female Harry Dresden without so much angst. Oh...more

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Jul 28, 2009 Summer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, magic, need-to-buy, favorites

It's been a long time since I read a book that was straight fantasy. I've heard so many good things about this book and wasn't disappointed.
Raine, the main character, is an elf with average magical abilities who's current job is as a seeker. Meaning, she finds things that were stolen or lost. In 'Magic Lost, Trouble Found' Raine herself stumbles upon something that was once lost and is sought after by some very bad people. There is a race of goblins in this book, with some that are good and som...more

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Dec 25, 2010 Sofija rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't know why I didn't like this book. It has everything I seek in good read. Writing was decent and understandable for me. The world building was fine too. I like Raine, she was quite pleasant character. There are romance and love triangle in the book. But apparently this wasn't enough. It just didn't hook me up.
I read all this great review, and the book rating is really high. So I just hoped, that it will be better soon, I just need to read another page, another chapter. On page 195 (it has...more

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Dec 22, 2008 Debbie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

The book contains technology that's appropriate for the 17th century, but the dialogue is completely modern (full of slang and clichés). While this isn't necessarily a problem since this is a light-hearted fantasy romp, there was just too much of it for me. I normally like heroines who make wise-cracks in the face of danger, but she was making wise-cracks on every page in the first thirty pages and at a very frequent rate after that. It was like watching a movie where several of the characters w...more

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Apr 29, 2008 Gina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, suspense, fantasy

An excellent first novel to a new series!

I thought it was great! As a first book, you meet the characters - all of them. The ones to adore, the ones to hate... Raine is an excellent female character. Brave, strong, does what she has too despite how she feels about doing it. I can't wait to see what she gets herself into next.

The secondary characters all tie in with her in some way, and I like the diversity of them, whether friend, family, or a really hot guy. And I can't wait to read more about...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Nichole ~Bookaholic~ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: z-2011, fantasy-romance, z-2012

Doing a reread/listen, I want to finish the series and it has been long enough that I don't remember all that happened in the first 3 books so am starting over

Raine Benares is a Sorceress Seeker of average ability until she comes into possession of an amulet that amplifies her powers...powers that she is discovering as she goes along. As she discovers more powers and how to use them, she is discovering more enemies that want her and/or to use her for that power.

This was a good read, especially...more

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Aug 17, 2009 Amy or "Ames" rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy, read-in-2009, magic-users, historical, 1st-in-series, to-donate

I found it quite hard to get into this, but about halfway through it picked up a bit. The main character, Raine Benares, reminds me a little of Anita Blake (the creation of Laurell K Hamilton) a wise-cracking, brave, protective and independent woman. However, Raine has a tendency to wise-crack a little too much, and she finds the dangerous goblins beautiful. The description of the goblins made me instantly think of vampires, with the long canines and deadly grace. On the whole, it was slow start...more

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Aug 07, 2008 Roberta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fantasy fans

Shelves: fantasy

A good solid first effort. I must say I never thought I'd see a goblin characterized as good-looking, but Shearin has done so in a most yummy way.

Our heroine is an elven seeker--a person who uses magic to find lost things, and she goes to help a reformed thief friend who has decided to steal a powerful artifact.

Hijinks ensue, and she must go up against the goblin king and his shaman. In doing so, she gets help from her sexy goblin friend and a hot elven paladin.

A nice action packed fantasy wit...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Kylara Jensen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: vaginal-fantasy, cops-and-robbers

I just want to talk about this book, I'm not really recommending it. It's so weird that now I look at so many things from a writer's perspective. So I read this book because it was recommended by famous geek Felicia Day in her self-titled genre Vaginal Fantasy. I thought it would be smutty but also campy with fantasy/scifi elements . Not so this book. This book is pretty high fantasy with goblins and elves and a lot of Magic and an Isle of Mages. It's also not smutty at all and barely a romance...more I just want to talk about this book, I'm not really recommending it. It's so weird that now I look at so many things from a writer's perspective. So I read this book because it was recommended by famous geek Felicia Day in her self-titled genre Vaginal Fantasy. I thought it would be smutty but also campy with fantasy/scifi elements . Not so this book. This book is pretty high fantasy with goblins and elves and a lot of Magic and an Isle of Mages. It's also not smutty at all and barely a romance expect that a guy gets the girl in the end and there is kind of another guy with feelings for her. There is however a strong heroine. It's in first person and she is a snide, snarky, sarcastic elven seeker (can find anything) who narrates in a grim Dick Tracy-esque kind of way. Very film-noir. She gets tangled in a search for a very powerful object and a goblin civil war and a crazy adventure ensues.

It's just written so oddly. It's very weird. It's almost disjointed. I was caught up in the plot, and wanted to know what happened. I kind of care about the characters, but the way it was written made me care about some more than others and I never knew who would be important or not. (Except I picked out the male lead right away, duh.) But the writing was very disjointed I feel like it wasn't written very well. Or maybe it was? I literally felt like the story were not her thoughts of the story, but her thoughts as the story happened. So a disjointed feel with no foreshadowing would make sense. Like you know how people don't notice everything and some things stand out in the brain more than others? Any, there was very little introduction to the main character, the setting or her family as if we the reader already knew them for years. It didn't really work for me. I was halfway through the book before I realized the city was built on canals like venice. Also there was this one time she was being caught in a trap and her..cousin? (I don't even know how he was related to her. It was that disjointed) was suddenly also there being brought by thugs for her cooperation and it was quite convenient. it never said how they caught him. And he was crucial to her escape so convenient plot device.

It was all very confusing if you really think about it, but I got caught up in the ride and enjoyed it while I read it. It was a quick read. I can't decide if I want to read further in the series. Honestly, I only want to because it only implied the girl got with the guy and I want to see them really get together. Anyway, it gives me hope for being published, lol.(less)

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Jul 30, 2012 Janet rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, middle-grades, feel-good-fantasy

I didn't fall in love with Magic Lost, Trouble Found, but you may enjoy it when you're in the mood for a cozy YA fantasy lite. Raine finds trouble when she goes as unsolicited backup for her friend Quentin's ill-advised burglary of a powerful necromancer, and ends up hiding the stolen artifact when a deluge of psychotic religious fanatic goblins crash the burglary. Raine gets stuck with figuring out why the powerful magic thingy is so important, why the goblins want it, and who to trust. I read...more I didn't fall in love with Magic Lost, Trouble Found, but you may enjoy it when you're in the mood for a cozy YA fantasy lite. Raine finds trouble when she goes as unsolicited backup for her friend Quentin's ill-advised burglary of a powerful necromancer, and ends up hiding the stolen artifact when a deluge of psychotic religious fanatic goblins crash the burglary. Raine gets stuck with figuring out why the powerful magic thingy is so important, why the goblins want it, and who to trust. I read a lot of brain candy, but this world and character building was just too 'lite' for me to enjoy. Raine's an elf, but Shearin doesn't show us any difference between being an elf and being a magic-talented human. I don't think elves have to be Tolkien-esque, but there should be some sense of a different culture, not just pointless pointy ears. Similarly, the only difference we're told about goblins is that they have fangs, are often sexy and dangerous, and can be evil. Physical setting is very lightly sketched - the original description of mercantile islands built out of swampland was promising, but not connected to the closeups - dirty alleys or palatial settings when convenient for plot. I didn't get a vivid sense of setting. Similarly, the characters felt like simple tropes designed for crush appeal and plot convenience. Quentin weirdly disappears after the opening scenes, even though Raine is in piles of trouble (some friend), to be replaced by a second young in-trouble-needs-Raine's-help character, Piaras. Mychael and Tam are there as noble good hottie and bad-boy hottie, respectively. Raine's extended family gave Raine places to run to, but we don't get much sense of them as people. The goblins fall into simple camps of entirely-evil and maybe-less-evil. The protagonist, Raine, was cheerful and likeable, but a shade too perky for me, personally - she seemed like the kind of girl who would draw a heart over the 'i' in her name (although perhaps I was unfairly biased by the sparkles over the book title and each chapter heading). Her self-descriptions got repetitive ("Trouble always finds me" is repeated over and over, but not related to any stories beyond the present). But my main complaint with her was that I couldn't quite buy into her choices - when she decided to go to whom, when she avoided authorities and when she went to them. The action sequences are fun as long as you aren't too critical of how the plot moves from point A to point B. Other plot elements are YA tropetastic (find out who Raine's father was! showdown at the big ball!) but some of the details are enjoyable. Reading level and low sexual content make it MG appropriate as well as YA. Overall, this book is not trying to hide what it is - it has a pink, purple, and sparkly cover after all - so be sure you're in the mood for light, girly escapism when you pick it up. Fans of Dawn Cook (Kim Harrison)'s The Decoy Princess duology may like it.(less)

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Jun 01, 2012 Alicia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

4.5 stars

I picked this book up on a whim, and I am really glad I did. It has been a while since I picked up a book that made me desperately want to reach for the next in the series. I ended up reading the whole series in one shot, which was kind of nice because then I didn’t have to struggle to remember what had happened the last time.

I will say that at first, the main character’s voice/way of speaking was a bit off putting – for example there were multiple instances of “I can move small object...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Christina Stind rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, series, audio-books

So I’ve had this fantasy trilogy on my to-read list for a while now. It’s written by Lisa Shearin and looked like a great series with lots of action, fighting and fun. A nice easy fantasy read. I decided it was perfect to try for my first audio books in several years. I started listening and after listening a bit to the first one, I checked out the author’s homepage – only to find out, this isn’t a trilogy. I don’t know why I think that fantasy books always come in trilogies (or, I do – I blame...more So I’ve had this fantasy trilogy on my to-read list for a while now. It’s written by Lisa Shearin and looked like a great series with lots of action, fighting and fun. A nice easy fantasy read. I decided it was perfect to try for my first audio books in several years. I started listening and after listening a bit to the first one, I checked out the author’s homepage – only to find out, this isn’t a trilogy. I don’t know why I think that fantasy books always come in trilogies (or, I do – I blame it on the way Lord of the Rings was published). Anyway, I just assume this. I did it with Adrian Tchaikovsky’s brilliant Shadows of the Apt series. I bought three volumes, excited about this fantasy bug trilogy – only to discover that it’s supposed to be in 10 volumes…! And now this Raine Benares series – not a trilogy, no, so far there’s published 5 books with the sixth installment being published later this month…

Anyways. Enough of me ranting. As I've written earlier, I decided to listen to this book because I needed something fun and interesting to distract me while gardening. And it certainly did live up to my expectations. So much that I didn’t only listen to it while gardening – I also listened to it while cleaning the oven. And … I actually want to be in my garden pulling up weeds, something that has never happened to me before. But I want to listen to the book and so, I pull up weeds.

This is the story of Raine Benares, a Sorceress and Seeker. When Quentin, one of her friends, takes on a job to rob a necromancer’s house, Raine decides to watch over him to make sure he gets through it alive – without him knowing. Raine’s cousin Phaelan tacks along and suddenly the three of them find themselves fighting goblin shamans appearing out of nowhere. The trio makes it out alive but when Quentin goes to deliver the retrieved object, he finds himself in trouble again. With more goblins.

For Quentin’s protection, Raine has taken over the object he stole. It turns out to be a very old silver medallion – with a mind of it’s own. It doesn’t want Raine to take it of, it enhances her powers – and it makes everyone look for her. And not everyone nice. See, this medallion isn’t just an ordinary medallion – but what it is, exactly, is hard to find out for Raine. And when she does find out, it’s from highly unlikely sources. How to get rid of it again, is even harder to figure out. In her attempt to rid herself of it, her loved ones are endangered more than once as she is herself. But her possession of the medallion also introduces her to new – and rather pleasant – acquaintances.

There is a bit of a love triangle that doesn’t improve much on the overall storyline, in this novel at least – maybe it will in the sequels. It doesn’t get in the way of the story though so it’s not a real irritation (it just seems that love triangles are all over the place, see Twilight and Hunger Games).

This is a great fantasy ride. It’s got lots of action, not a lot of slow parts. It keeps a fast pace and really moves the story along. It does this in a great way and it makes it a perfect light fantasy read. What I really appreciate about this book, is the amount of humor in it. There is, though, a bit of repetitiveness in the way it’s written – she clutches things in her white-knuckled hands several times in a few pages. It feels like the author wanted to write a certain something and wasn’t quite sure where to write it – and then missed deleting these repetitive sentences while editing. Overall, the writing flows easily and gets the story told in a good way.

So with this being an audio book, I of course have to comment on Eileen Stevens, the narrator. For the most part, I enjoyed her. I liked her reading voice and the sound of her voice is the sound of Raine Benares to me. However, I didn’t feel she did the male voices very well – they all sounded a bit alike. That being said, I didn’t need her to do more than she did for me to enjoy this listen and to be able to distinguish between who was talking.

Overall, I highly recommend this book as a light, easy and very entertaining fantasy novel that works perfect for the audio way of ‘reading’. I had a really good time listening to it and I’m looking forward to listening to the next in the series, Armed & Magical(less)

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May 20, 2012 Alice Liu rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love urban fantasy featuring vampires, werewolves, and the fae, but I have to say that "Magic Lost, Trouble Found" was a wonderful change of pace. Featuring elves, goblins, and mages in a finely balanced situation where anyone looking for power can find it, buy it, or kill for it. The problem for elven Raine Benares is that she is saddled (or rather, amulet-ed) with a soul thieving power that she doesn't want. She is perfectly happy with her modest magical abilities and her job as a profession...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Jacey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, fantasy

This was one of those books that kept cropping up on the Amazon site under the list presented as: If you liked X you'll also like Y. Eventually I cracked and bought it.

Raine Benares, an elf, is a sorceress of moderate powers. Her chief skill is finding things which have been lost. For lost read stolen (or possibly kidnapped). When Quentin, her some-time employee and supposed friend, does a little illicit thieving, he picks the wrong target and almost gets himself killed. Luckily Raine and her pi...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Madame X rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Magic Lost, Trouble Found follows the adventures of Raine Benares, a Seeker (effectively a private detective) who, through a series of mishaps, ends up bonded to a very powerful and very evil magical stone called the Saghred. While the Saghred significantly improves her magical abilities, its power comes at a price: it eats souls, and it's hungry. Meanwhile, a couple of very powerful and very evil goblins are also hunting down the Saghred, people who would use the stone to level cities and destr...more Magic Lost, Trouble Found follows the adventures of Raine Benares, a Seeker (effectively a private detective) who, through a series of mishaps, ends up bonded to a very powerful and very evil magical stone called the Saghred. While the Saghred significantly improves her magical abilities, its power comes at a price: it eats souls, and it's hungry. Meanwhile, a couple of very powerful and very evil goblins are also hunting down the Saghred, people who would use the stone to level cities and destroy governments. So now it's Raine's job to keep the stone away from the bad goblins, keep it from stealing her own soul, and, yeah, save the world.

I got pretty hung-up on the world building. It's basically a modern urban environment, only with medieval clothes and magic. Raine is a female who wears pants every day, her friend Tam runs a nightclub, there is an organized police force that the author refers to as "Mermeia's finest," foreign dignitaries get "diplomatic immunity"...the society was organized along such familiar lines that the trappings of a sword-and-sorcery fantasy world felt out of place - whenever Raine puts on her "doublet" I'd roll my eyes and wonder why the charade; might as well just dress her in a t-shirt and leather jacket and be done with it.

I wanted to understand how the social organization was so advanced while technology was so primitive. Magic is possible here, but not plentiful - and I never got the explanation I craved.

I had some issues with characterization too. I liked Raine, and I thought she was well-developed with a good voice, pragmatic and witty and smart. But a lot of the other characters seem don't seem fully fleshed to me. Piaras, for example, is a powerful young spellsinger. He's a good guy, so he's always noble and moral, but he's young, so he's sometimes nervous and scared, and he's a perfectionist. That's pretty much his personality. Bad boy Tam is more complex, but then again his mix of strong personal ethics, devotion to the protagonist, and dark dark past are as cliched as could be.

This is one of those books that really has me on the fence. It's not bad, but not good enough that I'm eager to read more. I bought the sequel before finishing the first one, and I read that too, and I enjoyed it. But they both left me feeling pretty tepid. (less)

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Jul 20, 2011 Candace rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was really not as interesting as it professed itself to be. I was looking for something along the lines of Resenting the Hero — smart, interesting female first-person narrator who comments on all situations with a refreshing voice and sense of self, faces adventures with snarky sidekicks, and generally entertains the reader. What I got was a story with fewer strong characters and amusing situations than I had hoped for. Although the story did get better as it progressed, I felt like I...more

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Jun 18, 2011 Sheyla rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In the city of Mermeia, in the Kingdom of Brenir we found a royal family, the Mal'Salin with a new goblin King, Sathrik Mal'Salin and his exile brother, Chigaru Mal'Salin who is trying to steal the crown from the King.
In the middle of this power struggle we find Raine Benares, a seeker, who can find objects or people. She is an elf, a sorceress of moderate powers.From her mother's side the Benares family are known as smugglers or thieves, but her father's side remain a mystery for a while.
In one...more

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Jun 15, 2011 Paradoxical rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reading-list, books-otherwise

A very solid book, Magic Lost, Trouble Found has a great cast of characters, and the main character, Raine, is especially a good heroine. Through a series of unfortunate events, Raine finds herself as the bearer of an amulet of untold power. Too bad for her that two different sides of a goblin conflict want it, not to mention the Guardians (magic warriors), and she literally can't take the amulet off. Not without possibly killing herself. She's not alone though, there's her family (a bunch of lo...more

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May 29, 2011 lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I started reading this book and at first had a hard time getting into it. Perhaps this is because this is a first book in a series, and so the author had to do some work in establishing the cast of characters and their relationship to and with each other. The author also had to establish a fantasy world that is not like our own, meaning, this series doesn't take place in an alternate London or in Chicago, a place on the map we are familiar with. Rather, this series will take place in a fantasy l...more I started reading this book and at first had a hard time getting into it. Perhaps this is because this is a first book in a series, and so the author had to do some work in establishing the cast of characters and their relationship to and with each other. The author also had to establish a fantasy world that is not like our own, meaning, this series doesn't take place in an alternate London or in Chicago, a place on the map we are familiar with. Rather, this series will take place in a fantasy locale, and so we have to get introduced to its landscape, its rules and customs, as well as the people who inhabit it. So that takes a while, and maybe that's why this book gets off to a slow start. But, it does pick up, and though I may have felt that the climax of the story is a bit rushed, the book does come to a satisfying conclusion while still setting up the next installment.

There's one thing that I really appreciate about this book, that I feel like so many writers discard because they can and, maybe, aren't entirely capable of pulling off first-person narration. Because this book started off slowly, I put it down and picked up something else--something else that also has first-person narration. But that book committed what I often consider a cardinal sin: after the first chapter and introducing me to the heroine and a handful of other main characters, the story shifts to third person and a completely different person. If you've read my book reviews before you know how much I hate that! I couldn't literally throw the book across the room--it's on my Kindle of Mac--but I really wanted to. Magic Lost, Trouble Found does not commit this cardinal sin and I really appreciated that. Instead, it did exactly what first-person narration is always supposed to do--it follows the first-person narrator throughout the story and doesn't abandon her and switch to third-person in order to give me information that the heroine isn't privy to. This is Raine's story, and we are intended to see the people of this world (and this world) through Raine's eyes. We are always with Raine, and we know what Raine knows, discovering it when she discovers it. When necessary, the other characters fill us in on other details of the story by the device of filling Raine in. Honestly, I have no idea why I always have to commend writers who know the rules of first-person narration or why I oftentimes find it so refreshing when they do. Anyway, Shearin's writing style allows us to see the world through Raine's eyes and become invested in Raine as a character by never pulling us away from her. I may have been inclined to give this book 3 1/2 stars because it starts slowly, but the effective use of the narrative style easily raises it to 4 stars.

The supporting cast of characters are still somewhat fuzzy at the end of the book, but again, I think that is because it is the first installment in a series. Hence, the author does her job--she gives us a reason to want to read the next book. The characters are intriguing enough for us to want to come back for more, to learn more about all of the characters and in particular to find out what will happen to Raine next. This world that Shearin has created has lots of possibilities and for the time being, I'm willing to ride along.

I suppose that the more science fiction/fantasy I read, the more particularly I get about what I like and what I don't like. While I was shopping for this book on Amazon, I saw that one of the reviewers said that if you like the Dresden Files by Jim K. Butcher, you would probably like this series, too. I tend to agree, however, having read the first three installments of that series, I think that the Dresden Files are superior, even the first book is superior to this one. BUT, what I would also say is that so far, Shearin's series falls into the category of "being worth my reading time" and that's a category that is becoming increasingly difficult for series to occupy. Wow, that makes me sound like a snob, but well, so be it. At least I know what I like (and don't like) in a series, and I'll take that over wasted time reading books that ultimately fail to satisfy me.(less)

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Apr 04, 2011 Tracy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Fascinating World and Characters
For Raine Benares, standing around in a stinking alley isn't the least she would do to watch the back of her friend Quentin Rand as he gets himself into yet another scrape. As well intentioned as her Samaritan act is, by the end of the night, she's going to wish it had been less than the least. A sorceress elf with average Seeker abilities, Raine makes a living finding things. Doesn't matter if the 'thing' is animal, vegetable, or mineral, she can generally find i...more Fascinating World and Characters
For Raine Benares, standing around in a stinking alley isn't the least she would do to watch the back of her friend Quentin Rand as he gets himself into yet another scrape. As well intentioned as her Samaritan act is, by the end of the night, she's going to wish it had been less than the least. A sorceress elf with average Seeker abilities, Raine makes a living finding things. Doesn't matter if the 'thing' is animal, vegetable, or mineral, she can generally find it. It, along with one or two other skills, are modest talents for her modest power level. Thanks to Quentin's thieving, however, Raine's power is about to get a serious upgrade.

Soon several big, evil bad guys in Mermeia are hunting for Raine and the necklace she's wearing, and they're wielding the sort of power that doesn't leave anything alive in its wake. That necklace sure isn't a style she'd pick for herself, but as much as she'd love to get rid of the damned thing, she can't. Quite literally. Now she's got to keep herself alive, but more important to Raine, keep her friends and family out of the path of a legendary evil intent on world domination. All in a day's work for Raine. She hopes.

Raine's predicament thrusts her and her friends into sticky situation after sticky situation, forcing her to deal with everything from bloodthirsty fire fairies to goblin politics. I enjoyed it. Lisa Shearin has created a rich, textured world of varying beauty and danger well populated with what I'd consider true characters - individuals who practically leap off the page with their vibrancy. Even the erstwhile thief Quentin, more of an ancillary character than anything, is imbued with a very three dimensional presence, so the heavy hitters in the character pool feel very much like living, breathing - and sometimes terrifying - people.

Shearin presents Magic Lost, Trouble Found in first person POV with Raine as the narrator. For two thirds of the book, I appreciated the subtle world building and development of mythos, introduction of characters, and definition of conflict that Raine's dry, sardonic, and occasionally self deprecating wit offered me as a reader. The first third of the book, however, wasn't included in that. I spent that third feeling at turns overwhelmed and confused by what felt quite a lot like exposition overload. I could tell that Shearin tried to temper that admittedly necessary information dump with the action of Quentin's theft and the danger of the goblin forces and more, and it's entirely possible that a reader who is more familiar with fantasy novels might be used to the necessary world building and set up, but I don't read a lot of fantasy and it seemed overwhelming to me.

That sense of being squished under the weight of a world being born lessened, though, and by forty percent in, I was so invested in the story and the characters that the rest of the book passed quite quickly (too quickly...though, that may be my new addiction talking) and as pleasantly as possible, considering the happenings. I admit, it took a little longer for me to come to terms with what felt like a nearly unemotional Raine Benares. Because the book is told from Raine's POV, her thoughts and impressions dominate the direction and plot of the book. Whether it's writing style or character trait or author's choice, those thoughts and impressions were quite devoid of any and all emotional expression, no matter how dire the straights or how intense the situation. A descriptive narrative painted pictures, defined characters, outlined - then fleshed out - the world, but not once did I get a sense of how Raine felt about what she was 'explaining' for the reader. Don't get me wrong...I appreciated her wit, I was impressed with her devotion to her family and friends - even the friends she doesn't totally trust...or only trusts so far. I was more than impressed by the fact that Raine is intelligent and intensely likable for that very fact alone, but she's also no one's victim, even when in peril, and I just love that about her. Get a sense of how she felt about things, though? Not so much.

That's an important distinction, actually, because knowing what a lead character thinks is absolutely vital to understanding that character and the world they're in, and it's vital to the story they're telling. It's imperative, period. But it's finding out how they feel that allows me as a reader to really connect emotionally to a character and their story. I can appreciate a story with my mind. I can like and admire authors who tell comprehensive, imaginative, original stories. I'm often quite dedicated to stories that I think are well told on a technical level. But all of that is strictly mental.

Make me feel as a reader and you own me. That's when characters do more than come alive, they grab me by the throat - ignoring my kicking and screaming - and drag me into their world, forcing me to feel with them, experience with them, all the joys, sorrows, triumphs and losses. That's when my enjoyment of a book transcends such academic terminology as 'appreciate' and 'admire' and becomes more like 'maniacal and devotional worship to characters and story and series.' Magic Lost, Trouble Found didn't quite get there. Maybe the series won't ever get there, but I mention it because towards the end of the book, I started to feel tuggings in that direction. Something about the last twenty to twenty-five percent of the book gave me a better understanding of Raine's emotional state and feelings about what was going on. It was still a bit dry emotionally, but less arid than it had been for the majority. I'm looking forward to seeing if that's a trend that continues into the next book, Armed & Magical. Not to mention, I can't wait to spend more time with characters that I really came to enjoy, even with their propensity to fall into trouble.

~*~*~*~
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.(less)

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Jan 08, 2011 Sueij rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the author's first novel, and I need to check out later ones to see if there's improvement, because I think she has a *lot* of potential.

But about this novel: Small, spunky blond girl-elf turns out to be much tougher than anyone expects. Oh, please.

This is an excellent draft. Now where's an editor?

The spunky girl elf is the first person narrator, and it occurred to me early on that if I met this chick at a party and she babbled on about family and history and such like she does in this b...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Karissa rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am going to be honest, I am not sure I should even be writing a review for this since I only got 70 pages into the book...but I guess that says something about the book, right? I was excited to read this book; it was supposed to be a fantasy with an urban fantasy flavor to it and sounded right up my alley...well it wasn't.

The book drops you right into the middle of the action, but I just couldn't get into it. The action scenes weren't all that well done. The characters did not interest me in t...more

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Aug 26, 2010 Mark rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I liked this book.

I didn't think I would, and that was because I did indeed fall into the trap of judging a book by its cover - which I seriously dislike, and the font makes me think it's a comedy a la Discworld, from which I run screaming (not Discworld so much but comedic fantasy in general).

In any case I was pleasantly surprised.

The worldbuilding is really good - anyone who can paint a picture so vividly and with so many layers in the readers head in such short a time earns my admiration (giv...more I liked this book.

I didn't think I would, and that was because I did indeed fall into the trap of judging a book by its cover - which I seriously dislike, and the font makes me think it's a comedy a la Discworld, from which I run screaming (not Discworld so much but comedic fantasy in general).

In any case I was pleasantly surprised.

The worldbuilding is really good - anyone who can paint a picture so vividly and with so many layers in the readers head in such short a time earns my admiration (given I write pages in my own work to get the same effect ). The voice of the main character was strong and nonirritating (the book is in first person and while I don't love that I am getting more use to it) and the pace was fast. So fast in fact it became one of those books I couldn't stop reading.

Up until the last third of the novel.

I am not entirely sure what happened. it feels to me that Shearin may have revised the first two thirds of the book more than the last. I can't explain it any other way.

The characterisation changed. I no-longer recognised the character of Raine, she had become a stranger to me. And the 'romance' in the story, for me, lacked chemistry or romantic tension. It just missed the mark.

It was also in this section that I had issues with the dialogue. It felt to me that the characters started taking in circles; that Shearin was sounding out the plot through the dialogue - and yes, you do use dialog to do this... to a degree; but you never want your readers to notice it ('Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! I am the great and powerful Oz!').

Maybe I wasn't following the detail as closely as I ought but I also felt that there were some big leaps in plot logic between points A and B.

I was gutted. I really liked this book, the way it started, how the world was built up in the readers mind, the pace and the fluidity of the prose...

What happened? I don't know.

I will read the book two. Lots of authors improve as they go on so and I liked what did work in this novel enough to see where it goes.(less)

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May 25, 2012 Raine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Raine Benares is an elf of limited powers. Her best talent is being a seeker. When Quentin, her sometimes employee and former thief, is hired to steal something from a powerful necromancer Raine knows she must keep him out of trouble. Unfortunately in the process of keeping Quentin out of trouble, Raine finds more then she bargained for. While helping Quentin escape, Raine takes the amulet that he has just taken and finds herself bonded to it. Turns out there are many people looking for this amu...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Deb rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-paranormal-steampunk

I picked up this book, despite its super-cheesy cover, because Felicia Day loves this author. I actually tried starting this book three times and it didn’t take until I got stuck on a plane last week for four hours with nothing better to do (this was my “read when they make me turn off the Kindle” book).

It’s about an elf named Raine Benares who comes from a no-good family in the city of Mermeia. Raine is a seeker, someone who finds people or things that generally should be left unfound. She’s go...more

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Apr 24, 2012 Caitlen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

I liked this book. I liked the world, the characters, etc. and I am very eager to pick up the second book. However, there are numerous reasons why it only merited three stars. First off - just the fact that it took me 150 pages to actually get into the book (aside from the initial hook battle scenes). I do not fault the author for this - that 150 pages contained a lot of information about the politics of the world, and background information that was necessary to understanding the story. I can't...more I liked this book. I liked the world, the characters, etc. and I am very eager to pick up the second book. However, there are numerous reasons why it only merited three stars. First off - just the fact that it took me 150 pages to actually get into the book (aside from the initial hook battle scenes). I do not fault the author for this - that 150 pages contained a lot of information about the politics of the world, and background information that was necessary to understanding the story. I can't think of any other way she could have done this - but it did keep it from being a 5-star book. I'm just chalking it up to being the first book of the series.
Another star got knocked off just because of inconsistencies. There were times where the author just seemed to gloss over explanations. For example - at one point in the book, the protagonist receives a letter. The author vaguely describes what was in the letter, but doesn't actually show the letter itself. I wanted to READ the letter - I wanted to SEE all the details of it. But instead, it was just summed up in a sentence or two. I could see no reasons why the detail of this letter needed to be left out, and it just made me feel a bit cheated. Like, how come the main character is allowed to know what was in the letter, but I just get the bare bones brief of it?? There were many other places throughout where this happened - where instead of going into detail to describe something, or take us through a conversation, it is just summed up in one or two sentences. I found this very annoying and somewhat elementary. Ironically, though, there were other places where things got OVER-described. The narrator would tell us something and I would think, "sweetheart, you just said that to us two chapters back. My memory is a LITTLE better than that."
Despite my somewhat lower review of this book, it still has promise and I am still excited about the world. I am very excited about the setup for future books, and I hope that some of these issues have been fixed in those.(less)

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Feb 18, 2012 Maggie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: purrfection, reviewed

I really liked this book because it got everything I want from fantasy stories right. How often do I get that, huh? Once in a blue moon, if you check my list...I should get to reading math textbooks, that would get me what I expect every time. Ok, back on track here...This book rocks because it has the following...
Strong female lead: check. I mean, holy shit, she can actually fight and does not turn into a blubbering blob screaming *save meeeee* at the nearest guy. She's also pretty funny to lis...more

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Jul 29, 2009 Vickie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It apparently has been a little while since I've read fantasy of such intricate world-building. It took me a little while to get into the story as I first had to get used to the world of Mermeia where Raine and her cohorts and family live. The names of the characters gave me the most difficulty...once I got used to how they sounded out in my cranium, I was fine and the story moved along like gang-busters.
Raine is my type of lead character. She has some flaws, but ultimately she has common sense...more

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Vaginal Fantasy H...: Raine Benares Series by Lisa Shearin - Flog suggestion	24	156	Aug 17, 2012 10:16am
BTS Book Club: Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin	8	7	Mar 08, 2012 09:24pm

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Magic Lost, Trouble Found (Raine Benares #1)

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