Hanover, M.L.N.: Unclean Spirits
Unclean Spirits: Book One of the Black Sun's Daughter (2008)
Written by: M.L.N. Hanover
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 357 (Trade Paperback)
So in case you don't know, M.L.N. Hanover is the pen name for Daniel Abraham, author of The Long Price Quartet. And that, my friends, is the ONLY reason I bought this book when it came out last year. I really enjoyed A Shadow in Summer, and while I haven't caught up on the rest of The Long Price Quartet (hey, at least I have books two and three!), I was really curious to see what kind of urban fantasy Abrahams would produce and see if I could figure out why he wrote under a more ambiguously-gendered pen name. I decided to read it now because the second book in this series/trilogy/whatever it's going to be will be released the end of this month, and I needed to know if it was worth snatching up. In case you're wondering, yes it is.
The premise: When Jayne Heller's uncle is murdered, she's shocked to learn that not only did he leave her EVERYTHING, but there was more to him than the millions upon millions he bestowed upon his niece. Eric was locked in a battle with the wizards of the Invisible College, and that battle got him killed. Jayne thinks it's all crap, and that her uncle's friends and colleagues are insane, but when the Invisible College targets her, she's got to do whatever it takes to survive.
Review style: stream-of-conscious style, because there isn't a tangible divide between what I liked and what I didn't. I liked it a lot, and it's easy to explain why. Spoilers? Yes, because the spoilers help distinguish what makes this urban fantasy stand out from the rest.
First: this book is dedicated to John Constantine, which is made of WIN.
And I'll go ahead and start off with my two nitpicks for this book, both which occur in the prologue. The first had to do with the fact that Eric was carrying a gun in a bar. Now, I don't know Colorado gun laws, but I do know in Tennessee that guns in bars is a big no-no (well, it used to be--now you can carry a gun into a place that serves alcohol provided you're not the one drinking it, and most bars have posted notices that forbid guns on the premise, and that trumps law). Sure, Colorado isn't Tennessee, but it had me running to the internet to see what I could learn about Colorado gun law. Not much. And I'll admit the only reason it caught my eye is because I'm so familiar with TN gun laws. If I weren't, I wouldn't have batted an eyelash.
The other nitpick was the description of the gang that comes into the bar. There's no real DESCRIPTION of their appearance, which forces me to imagine a stereotype, especially once the dialogue kicks in. Bad form, IMHO. I don't want to imagine the stereotype, even if the stereotype is intended, and really, it shouldn't be.
That is the end of my nitpicks.
Because I really, really, SURPRISINGLY enjoyed this book.
And I don't know why I'm surprised. Probably because I know the author is male and that the heroine is female. It's easy to say this is another installment in the Buffy-lit subgenre of urban fantasy, but it's a very GOOD installment.
Does the heroine have a tattoo? You bet, but there's a story behind that, and I suspect it's going to become important later on, though she doesn't remember getting it.
Does the heroine have some kind of freakish ability to fight hand-to-hand combat even though there's no reason for it? You bet, but even SHE doesn't know where the hell the ability came from, and her comrades think there's a reason. We don't learn the reason in the book, but the book is very aware of it, and that shows promise.
Is there a romantic subplot? Oh, YOU BET, but GET THIS: the love interest? IS FREAKING MARRIED!!! My jaw nearly DROPPED when I read that part, and I loved learned the truth and outright reality of the situation, and I especially loved Jayne's reaction. She's worked so hard to separate herself from her uber-conservative, close-minded family, but then she realizes, when confronted with the fact that she slept with a man who's separated from his wife but technically married, that she's still got a long ways to go with her views. She wants it to be okay, but she's still figuring it out, and I absolutely LOVE THAT. More so, I love how she contacted Aubrey's wife for help when Aubrey got cursed and stuck in the hospital, and I love even more that the two women kind of connected in a weird way.
I love how the romantic storyline was handled so much I can't begin to express it.
And one more question: is there more than one man in the book attracted to the heroine? Absolutely, but the other guy, Ex, is an ex-priest (I think a Jesuit), and he won't admit his feelings for all the world, so Jayne's oblivious and the reader is knowing. And the tension works without having two heroes throw themselves at the heroines feet.
And it works because the characters are human to their core. They aren't perfect and they screw up. And even though the book itself is a little slow on butt-kicking action, this cast works together in such a way that you don't mind. I loved everyone, and let me tell you, every time the vampire Midian cooked something, it made me hungry. Yes, a vampire who cooks real food for others. The thing is, the vampire is cursed. He can't eat. So the fact he feeds everyone else is awesome and a fantastic parallel to, say, an anorectic's obsession with food. Generally speaking, anorectics don't eat, but are obsessed with making sure everyone else around them does. To apply this to a vampire? Priceless.
Plot-wise, I was really impressed. Halfway through the book and the characters are executing their big plan, and I'm sitting here thinking that a typical UF author might be wrapping up the storyline with this climax and there'd be no more book left, but not Hanover. No, there's plenty of pages left, so I was thrilled when the plan FAILED and the characters were left with no answers, no plan, no nothing. I loved that Jayne had to rely on herself and people she knew to figure out a way to avenge her uncle's death and take down Coin, the guy in charge of the Invisible College. And she does, in a way that has the cast working together. Sure, Jayne gets saved at the climax, but at the same time, she's saved so she can be the one to deliver the death blow to the bad guy. Well played.
And the description was really solid in this book. Between the use of setting (this is how you do it, btw, it just WORKED) and the sensory details, I just really loved the execution of this book. The sensory details of magic? REALLY AWESOME.
I'm just happy with this sucker. :)
Oh, and why there's a pen name? I guess considering that Abraham's current audience is more of the epic fantasy venue, I don't guess he wanted to confuse them with an urban fantasy offering, which is fine. But I'd love to learn the reasons and meaning behind the pen name he chose: after all, it's not D. Abraham or whatever, but M.L.N. Hanover. That's three initials PLUS a last name, folks! If anyone knows the story behind this, I'd love to hear it.
My Rating
Must Have: I must admit, after reading the disappointment that was Hunting Ground, I was worried that my reading tastes were changing to the point that urban fantasy just wasn't going to do it for me anymore. NOT SO. This is a solid book that takes the familiar conventions of urban fantasy and just does a great job with them. There's so much of this book that's made of win, but the heroine and her supporting cast just really shine. I can see these characters as real people, because they act as real people do, flaws and all. Most important, they're able to fail and get back up again, and I loved reading an urban fantasy plot that evolved out of the cast's actions rather than the cast reacting to actions completely outside of their control. This book is such a must have that I want to buy it again, and I'm not kidding: for whatever reason, book two, Darker Angels, will be released in mass-market instead of trade, and I want the mass-market copy of Unclean Spirits so my books look the same on the shelf. That's how much this book is worth it: I'm willing to buy it TWICE. So ignore the stereotypical cover, and don't fret over the prologue and seemingly more traditional UF elements in the book, because I promise, by time you're done, you're going to enjoy almost every second of the ride.
Cover Commentary: Honestly? I hate it. I want to feed the model ten million freaking sandwiches to make her gain weight. Everything about this cover is stereotypical, but I'll give it credit: the tattoo is really important, and it is commented upon frequently enough in the book that I think it'll play an even more important role in later books. So while I hate the cover, I'm glad I had other reasons to get the book, because otherwise I wouldn't have given it the time of day.