Thurman, Rob: Moonshine
Moonshine
Writer: Rob Thurman
Genre: Urban/Dark Fantasy
Pages: 338
After reading Nightlife I went straight to the bookstore and bought the rest of the books in the series. Which is only two more at the present, but still. Thurman made that much of an impression on me, so after last week's worth of uninspiring reading, I decided to read something I was sure to like. Continuing on with Thurman's work seemed like the right idea.
The premise: Free from the Auphe, Cal and Niko decide to stay in NYC and open up their own business: bodyguarding and detective work, all focused, of course, on the supernatural. Their first gig isn't all that great, despite the fact it's a success, and their second gig is getting more complicated by the minute. What started out as spying for werewolves has turned into something far more sinister, and everyone Cal knows and loves could suffer by time it's over.
Spoilers ahead.
I didn't fly through this book like I did Nightlife, and I think it's because the voice and characters aren't new to me anymore. There's also the fact that because I wasn't flying, I was paying more attention to the structure of the prose and the way the plot flowed.
Cal is quite the chatty narrator. Now I'm used to chatty. But this time I noticed how the chatty-ness got in the way of the forward motion of the prose. Sometimes Cal will open a chapter talking about SOMETHING without anything to ground us in the here and now. The equivalent of just thinking aloud, but we're thinking aloud in a big white room or something.
There's also Thurman's habit of using flashbacks. Something will happen in the book, something Cal was present for. But instead of getting that scene in real time, we get the afterward and Cal is either TELLING Niko (or someone) what happened or he's simply thinking about it. Or, Thurman will open up to the middle of a scene (I guess so she has a hook for the beginning of the chapter--something I don't feel is necessary in the middle of a book, but that's me) and just when we're getting comfortable, we're whipped back to how that scene came about that whipped RIGHT BACK to where we were dropped off, or somewhere similar. The scene I'm remembering is when Cerberus catches Cal stealing the crown. I got REALLY lost, REALLY fast in that chapter because of all the flash-forwarding and flash-backing going on.
So, I ended up taking time reading this. And something I noticed this time around (I don't know if it applies to all of Thurman's work or not) is how the plot doesn't feel organic so much as it feels like one of those "one damn thing after another" types of plots. Oh, by the end, Thurman explains EVERYTHING and you know how it fits together, but while it's happening, too much comes out of left field. George gets suddenly gets kidnapped, the Auphe suddenly return--that sort of thing. That too slowed by reading, because I felt like I was getting hammered with shocks and surprises rather than really living through the experience of the story.
And I'll say one more thing for the record: I hate Thurman's use of the word "jaundiced." I'm still not entirely convinced she's using it properly, but even if she IS, you can only get away with a description like that MAYBE once per book. Maybe once every TWO books. I'd forgotten how much Thurman loves "jaundiced" expressions until I started reading this book, and then I got jaundiced expression AND a jaundiced eye-roll, which just about had me banging my head against the wall. It's bad enough she's overly fond of the misusing the word "grimace" (this according to the great Timons Esaias, who maintains that in truth, a grimace is merely a facial expression, but not any kind of specific facial expression, and the word is only properly used when describing gargoyles) but at least that's a COMMON misuse among writers. But jaundiced? Jesus.
Anyway, let's talk some specifics.
We see more of Cal as a monster. Kind of. It still seems his only talent is to open gateways to other realities and other parts of the world, but at least he's learning how to do it himself, and that's nice. It gives him a weapon, something to use so he's not always the damsel in distress that Niko must save. I really liked Cal completely flipping out and freezing up when the Auphe came out of nowhere. And as far as urban fantasies go, I like how the romantic focus isn't on Cal at all, but on Niko and Promise, whose dynamic I really, really like.
And let me praise Thurman for where I think she shines: truly, her creatures are original in this genre. I've not seen her take on vampires before (though that doesn't mean it's not out there, but I just haven't come across it yet), and I definitely haven't seen her take on werewolves. I appreciate how Thurman makes a point to make all of her supernatural creations MONSTERS, and those that aren't are exceptions rather than the rule. Even Cal has moments of pure violence and it takes Niko to pull him back from the brink. Promise also seems to be an exception, but I also feel there's more to her than meets the eye. I don't believe she would EVER hurt or betray Niko intentionally, but again, there's a lot we need to learn about her.
Oh, I know Goodfellow seems harmless, but he's not, even though he's a good guy. I still enjoy his antics, and getting to compare him with another puck was fun. George seems to truly be the most innocent and GOOD of the whole cast, but I fear for her: I know Cal has feelings for her, but I don't trust where that might be going. She's almost TOO GOOD to be able to balance out Cal's darkness, if that makes sense. We'll see.
I really do love the cast on the whole. And the additions of Flay (aka Snowball, and let me tell you, Thurman interchanging those names, even in the same paragraph, gave me ANOTHER case of whiplash) was fun, but even better was Flay's son Slay, who IS THE BEST BABY WEREWOLF EVER. I loved that kid, and hope to see the characters again in a future installment.
It was also good to see Cal take control of the story and be the one who really saves the day. Though I realized while reading this book that one of these days, Cal will lose Niko. In my mind, he HAS to. And I don't mean lose as in the brothers have a fight and Niko turns his back on Cal forever, but I mean dead. That's the ONE weakness Cal truly has, and if Thurman doesn't exploit that weakness to its fullest in one of these books, I'll be very disappointed. Not that I want Niko to die anytime soon, I quite enjoy his character, but it's one of those things that I don't think Cal will fully develop as a character without the tragic loss of his older brother.
We'll see.
My Rating
Worth the Cash: despite my issues, I did enjoy this book quite a lot and plan on reading the rest of the series as the books are released. I have the next installment waiting on my shelf, but I need a break from Cal's smart-ass narration. I'm telling you: if John Scalzi ever wrote urban fantasy, I think it'd look similar to this. Thurman definitely has a handle on the snarky, cynical narration, and where she really shines is how she handles the usual cliches of fangs, fur, and fey, and that I really enjoy. Moonshine is an enjoyable sequel to Nightlife, and I look forward to seeing where the series goes from here. Well, I look forward to and dread it. With a character like Cal, you never know WHAT'S going to happen.
Next up:
Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
and
Horizons by Mary Rosenblum