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385 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 2, 2016
"Give him a test to study for and he freezes up. But if he can solve a problem by punching it in the face…"I also wasn't thrilled with Kaiana, his love interest, since for much of the story, her most active role is to use her sexuality/"feminine wiles" to enable Veranix to actually take action. However, I liked the rest of his sidekicks, particularly the studious Delmin. Two more nerds get added to Veranix's support squad in this book, and both are quite fun. This book also adds a Javert-style constable, and I love Javert characters. Plus, there are quite a few callouts to the Constabulary series, including a cameo with Minox's siblings. At times, the hyperbolic superhero thing verged on too much for me; for example, in this book, the semi-cockney dialect has suddenly starts referring to all women as "birds," all so that a group called the Assassin Birds-- the aforementioned scantily-clad women, each with a bird species moniker and a distinctive and potentially ridiculous fighting method that may or may not involve hula hoops-- can show up to try to take out Veranix. The enjoyment is aided by the book's inability to take itself too seriously, even when things get drastic:
"Define drastic."Or take the discussion of what Veranix would do at a crucial life-and-death moment:
"People will get punched in the face."
"That is my favourite definition of that word."
"You have numerous faults, Mister Calbert, but that sort of callous disregard is not one of them."So, if you're willing to not only suspend your disbelief but defenestrate it entirely, and you're in the mood for rooftop chases, flashy magical battles, occasional flashes reminiscent of DARE-to-keep-a-kid-off-drugs, suspenseful captures, gang wars, magical potions of mass destruction, and a lot of parkour, this series may be for you. As it turns, out superheroes and high fantasy can make for a pretty magical concoction.
"I am quite capable of callous disregard, sir," Veranix said. "Just the other day--"
"The other day he used my towel and left it on the floor," Delmin offered.
More fun in Maradaine. Same vibe as the previous book in this series; Veranix is still basically fantasy Batman (although maybe Robin is a better comparison), and there are lots of fights salted with lots of interesting world stuff. Maradaine is one of the few fantasy cities that I can actually imagine living in, along with Camorr in the Locke Lamora books (I wonder if Scott Lynch, with upcoming The Thorn of Emberlain, was annoyed at the naming of The Thorn of Dentonhill?) Also, there is clearly a whole bunch of stuff about the world that people don't know, to do with interactions between science and magic; ignoring all the big picture stuff that Phadre and Jiarna are clearly going to work on, there's a bit where a wound is completely healed by putting yellow powder and copper in it. This seems like an alarmingly important invention; I assume quite a lot more will be made of this alchemical science-plus-magic mix in future books.