Moon Called Author: Patricia Briggs | Language: English | ISBN:
B000OCXHTK | Format: EPUB
Moon Called Description
Mercy Thompson's life is not exactly normal. Her next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a VW bus for a vampire. But then, Mercy isn't exactly normal herself.
- File Size: 478 KB
- Print Length: 304 pages
- Publisher: Ace (January 31, 2006)
- Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B000OCXHTK
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #948 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #3
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction > Fantasy - #16
in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Contemporary - #31
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Paranormal & Urban
- #3
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction > Fantasy - #16
in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Contemporary - #31
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Paranormal & Urban
Authors the likes of Tanya Huff, Laurell K. Hamilton and Charlaine Harris have successfully peopled our modern world with vampires, lycanthropes and other supernatural beings who, to some extent, coexist politely among us mere mortals, living within complex hierarchies, bureaucracies and clan protocols.
Add Patricia Briggs to the list. In Moon Called, she gives us a world where lesser fae beings such as brownies have "come out" to an incredulous public -- were forced out, more accurately, because of increasing advances in technology and forensic investigations -- while the greater fae and supernatural buildings -- werewolves, vampires and such -- remain hidden from popular view. Briggs, best known for high fantasy, makes a smooth transition to its dark, contemporary counterpart with this novel.
Based in the Pacific Northwest, Moon Called focuses on an apparent clan war among werewolves, and Briggs outlines a creative, highly detailed society in which they live. The focal point, however, is Mercy Thompson, auto mechanic and shifter.
Most of the fae population originated in Europe, emigrating to North America along with colonial settlers. Shifters, however, have their roots in Native American traditions, and their powers don't always work by the same rules. Mercy shifts at will to and from coyote form, and even in human form she has enhanced senses and speed.
Mercy becomes involved in the story when a teenager walks into her garage looking for work. She gives him one -- warily, because her senses tell he's a werewolf, and he's not from the local clan. But all too soon, men and werewolves come looking for him, the local Alpha has been attacked in his own home, and a dead body has been left as a warning on Mercy's front porch.
This is the least-crappy light/pop werewolf-based novel I have ever read. That is to say, it's GOOD.
I've long been a fan of werewolf mythology -- they always seemed cleaner (morally if not physically; predators instead of sociopaths), wilder, more "natural," and less... well ... pretentious than their vampire counterparts. (Plus, there are far fewer writers doing werewolves, so they're fresher. Even though vamps will always have their Goth-y charm, for me.) But all too often, unless we're talking "literary," Samuel Delaney-esque sci-fi (or something by Dennis Danvers, try "Wilderness," it's BEAUTIFUL), what I've actually seen most often is thinly disguised, substandard romance, Harlequin-book-of-the-month style.
I was expecting what the genre all too often presents, which is a scant excuse for forced, clunky, fanfiction-y erotica. This book was different -- it was engaging and charming, with just enough "sexy" thrown in to be a seasoning to the tale, instead of "trying too hard." What we have here is essentially a murder mystery -- a detective story. (It's what I love about fantasy/sci-fi/spec fic in general -- you can take any genre and hang it upon the supernatural framework: two for one.) Twists and turns and people who you think are going to live...
I bought the book for the most flighty of reasons -- because of the cover. The woman depicted on the front struck me as extremely atypical. Not your normal hot, big-eyed, busty, bookcover material. She's rangy, and tough, and it takes you a long while to decide if she's pretty or not. But she looks like there might be some depth to her, something unexpected. She's obviously thinking, but you're not sure what. Funnily enough, this has wound up being the pretty much the same opinion I have of the book itself.
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