Monday, August 11, 2008

Staff Recommendation - Moon Called

Moon Called
by Patricia Briggs

This is the first volume in a relatively new "urban fantasy" series focusing on Mercedes Thompson. Mercedes, or "Mercy" for short, is a "walker," or skinwalker -- a shapeshifter from Native American folklore. She was raised by a clan of werewolves, and despite a desire to live a normal life as a VW mechanic in the Tri-Cities in Washington State, she can't quite escape the paranormal world. Her next-door neighbor is the local Alpha (leader of the werewolve pack), she does repair work on a vampire friend's van, and she bought her garage from a member of the fae (a gremlin). This first volume is action-packed, but its greatest strength is the well-drawn characters. Mercy and her associates all feel "real", in spite of the fantastical nature of her world. The dialog also shines in this series -- very snappy. The only drawback for me, and it is for Mercy's character too, is the strong emphasis on the werewolves' dominance/submissiveness relationships, that place females in a very submissive role. However, despite laboring under this weakness, Mercy manages to be an extremely strong character. I recommend this series as a good example of contemporary urban fantasy, and for fans of paranormal novels who are tired of the vampires getting all the glory. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Patricia Briggs web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?
Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

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