Tough Guy: Circle of Enemies

Harry J Connolly's Twenty Palaces books are among the most interesting urban fantasy ideas on the market today.  The protagonist, Ray Lilly, is an ex-con forced into a world of magic and danger, working for people who despise him but who try to stop magicians from destroying the world.  Ray has slowly been learning about his employers, becoming more and more uncomfortable with their ruthlessness even as he sees the horrible dangers they battle.

In the third book, Circle of Enemies, Ray goes back to the friends he had before his life changed so drastically, before he met a magician, before he went to prison.  At the same time, he goes farther into the Twenty Palaces organization and directly confronts the policies and people that seem almost as awful as the alternative.  Almost.  Connolly presents it all through the eyes of Ray, who doesn't try to conceal things but also doesn't always like to examine himself too closely, who doesn't seem to respect himself even as he refuses to let himself give up on anything or anyone.  It's a gripping combination of characters and situation, and finishing the last book makes me want to start the series all over again.  Good work, and keep writing.

Rereading Pleasure: Child of Fire

I recently read Harry Connolly's second Twenty Palaces book about Ray Lilly, ex-con and wooden man.  What I like about his urban fantasy books is how the horrible things he sees and does affect Ray, a man already struggling with the things he's done in his past.  So I bought the first book so I could reread it, and I enjoyed it as much the second time around.   Child of Fire: A Twenty Palaces Novel has a lot of scary stuff in it.  Children die.  That's one of the first things Ray sees as his new and terrifying boss makes him drive to the small town in Washington where magic is happening, magic his boss plans to stop.  His uncertainty, fear, and horror drive most of his actions, although he also acknowledges that he is hungry for the power his boss exhibits.  The pacing is fast and the characterization is strong, mainly for Ray but also for the smaller characters in the town.  A good urban fantasy book (and definitely not a romance, for those avoiding girl-cooties in the fantasy). B+

Falling Back in: Game of Cages

It's Fall, and I haven't blogged in over a month. I haven't read much either, which is part of the problem. But both kids have to keep reading logs, and X even needs to do a reading journal, and I'll have much more backbone forcing this upon them if I'm responsible for my own log. So there. I'm back!

I finished Harry Connolly's Game of Cages: A Twenty Palaces Novel, the 2nd book about Ray Lilly, ex-con and wooden man, whose life was ripped apart when his best friend met up with a magic predator. Now Ray is a pawn in the Twenty Palaces, the organization dedicated to keeping those magical beasties away from our earth, but he's very uncomfortable with what he has to do for them.

The characters in Connolly's stories seem very real, especially Lilly. He does a good job of showing Ray's emotions and growth through his actions, especially since the book is told from Ray's viewpoint. This is a very violent book, with a lot of death and fear; I don't recommend it for the squeamish although I do recommend it in general. I'll be looking for Connolly's next book.B+