Ink & Sigil by Kevin Hearne, narrated by Luke Daniels
#1 Ink & Sigil
Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Random
House Audio
Published: 8.25.20
Time: 10 hours 11
minutes
Rating: 4
Format: Audio
Source: library
Sellers: Amazon
ADD TO: GoodReads
GoodReads Blurb:
Author Kevin Hearne returns to the
world of the Iron Druid Chronicles in a spin-off series about an eccentric
master of rare magic solving an uncanny mystery in Scotland.
Al MacBharrais is both blessed and cursed. He is blessed
with an extraordinary white moustache, an appreciation for craft cocktails--and
a most unique magical talent. He can cast spells with magically enchanted ink
and he uses his gifts to protect our world from rogue minions of various
pantheons, especially the Fae.
But he is also cursed. Anyone who hears his voice will
begin to feel an inexplicable hatred for Al, so he can only communicate through
the written word or speech apps. And his apprentices keep dying in peculiar
freak accidents. As his personal life crumbles around him, he devotes his life
to his work, all the while trying to crack the secret of his curse.
But when his latest apprentice, Gordie, turns up dead in
his Glasgow flat, Al discovers evidence that Gordie was living a secret life of
crime. Now Al is forced to play detective--while avoiding actual detectives who
are wondering why death seems to always follow Al. Investigating his
apprentice's death will take him through Scotland's magical underworld, and
he'll need the help of a mischievous hobgoblin if he's to survive.
Sophia Rose's review:
After the turbulent and smashing
finish to The Iron Druid Chronicles, here comes a follow-up series sharing that
world, but introducing a new protagonist, characters, and situation. Oh course I was going to read them.
Ink
and Sigil introduces Al MacBhairass, sigil agent working to keep the
passage of fae and otherworldly types to earth all legal and above board. But, the book opens with Al learning his
apprentice, who, in a series of unfortunate lethal deaths of his apprentices,
is the latest to die. Gordie’s death
reveals his criminal trafficking in fae and the bigger issue of who he was
working with and how he got sigil magic recipes that were not what Al had
taught him yet.
Ink
and Sigil progressed with this mystery of Al’s while introducing him and
the others he works with. Al is under a
curse that forces him to use text speak because prolonged exposure to his voice
sets people against him. Whether action
scenes or investigation time, intros and reflections, Kevin Hearne’s brand of
humor and wit are strong throughout.
I confess that I nearly DNF’d because
the raunchy humor and the plot stalling out in the earlier half had me less
than impressed with the new start. I liked Al and Nadia, his security and
office manager but Buck the hobgoblin got on my nerves as did Al and Buck
together. However, I kept at it and eventually settled in and got engaged so
that in the end I was eager to see what came next. There were some good series threads begun in
this one like the mystery behind Al’s curse and a tight knot of found family
and friends around poor widower Al whose curse estranged him from his son.
Luke Daniels was lights out fantastic
narrating with all the accents and characters peopling this book. His narration style is entertaining, but
doesn’t distract from the story itself.
All in all, I was glad I kept going
and ended up being well-satisfied. Al is
a very different style main character from Atticus, but has his own strengths
and struggles. I think the series will
grow stronger and I look forward to being along for that.
Author Bio:
Kevin is the NYT bestselling author of the Iron Druid
Chronicles, as well as The Seven Kennings, an epic fantasy trilogy, and the
Tales of Pell, a humorous fantasy series co-authored with Delilah S. Dawson.
INK & SIGIL, a new urban fantasy series set in the Iron Druid universe,
will be out in 2020.
Website: https://kevinhearne.com/
Sophia’s Bio:
Sophia
is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing,
piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments,
restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible
man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes
Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and
Chocolate.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that
Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a
prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many
wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading
tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and
romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose
I'm glad it ended up being a good book for you.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was touch and go at first, Mary, but it pulled out and was a good finish.
DeleteYup I read these but was not interested in Buck much at all. I loved Al and Nadia and there were interesting scenes with characters from IDC throughout the series.
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart
Good that you did not dnf in the end then
ReplyDeleteI can see what you mean. Buck is a lot and it continues throughout the short series. But overall, it's a good one and I enjoyed the conclusion.
ReplyDelete