Book Review: "Desdaemona" by Ben Macallan

Desdaemona is the debut novel (here in the US) for Ben Macallan. It's an urban fantasy, and most of you know that I generally don't read urban fantasy. I just don't get caught up in it. I received this book as an eARC before it was published and read at least half of it then. I bought the book when it came out and finished it up just now. Out of the urban fantasies I've read, I'd say that this one has a few qualities that will make it stick out in the urban fantasy field.

Here's the idea behind the book: Jordan is on the run from him parents who intend, when he comes of age, to kill him and make him immortal. They are immortals, and as you've probably guessed, all of the immortals (and nearly all of the legends and folklore characters and myths) are alive and well and living among us, as with most urban fantasies. Jordan has managed to elude them for years, time for him suspended by an amulet he wears around his neck so that he will not come of age (and thus be easier to find). Most of the immortal world is on the hunt for him, since his parents have offered an award for his capture. While on the run, Jordan finds himself helping other runaways, mostly helping them out of trouble (usually the paranormal kind) and getting them back home where they belong. That's how the book starts--with Jordan helping a young girl escape from some werewolves--and then Jordan meets Desdaemona, a woman who's made a deal with daemons and so possesses some exceptional powers and who also needs Jordan's help finding her lost sister, Fay.

The rest of the novel is filled with Jordan and Desi searching for Fay, following the trail, all while attempting to escape all of the people looking for Jordan . . . and it turns out, for Desi as well. They're both mixed up with some pretty bad people in the immortal world, and everyone is out to get the reward for both their heads. So what makes this novel stick out in the urban fantasy field?

First and foremost is the voice of the main character. This is, of course, written in first person and so you get a strong sense of the main character, Jordan. For the US readers out there, this is set in England, and the characters are all, thus, English, which means that the text is (rightfully) written with all of the English idioms and such. This certainly gives it a unique tone in the US market. For the most part, it's easily read and I didn't have any issues with this style, except in one or two places where the phrasing was just enough off that I had to pause briefly while reading to parse out the sentence. But overall it's not intrusive to the experience and it does keep you firmly in the appropriate setting.

We also get a slew of bad creatures in this novel that you don't find in many other urban fantasies out there. And when I say a slew, I mean a slew. We start off with werewolves and vampires, but I think the author mostly put these in to get them out of the way, and to provide an easy entrance into the novel for the typical urban fantasy reader out there. After that, we get a mix of other creatures--harpies, undine, Morrismen, etc. And the final Big Bad that I can't reveal without spoiling things. These creatures were interesting because they were different and because the author puts his own slant on them, but i will say that in the end there were so many, none of them really tied to the others, that I felt somewhat scattered. I also wonder what the author intends to use in the NEXT novel, since it seems so much was used in this one. But I suppose I'll find out.

Overall, it's a solid venture into the urban fantasy field, definitely a good debut novel. The voice is distinct, and after an initial rockiness at the beginning of the book, it settles into a strong story. It really is about Desdaemona, so the title is appropriate, and yet it is more about Jordan and his own plight as the runaway. And the best thing about the book is the ending. Initially I thought it would end as most urban fantasies end--it heads in that direction--but then there's a twist that sets this urban fantasy above most of the others I've read. The twist kicks it to a higher level, one where the main character is forced to change. I hope that Ben Macallan continues this is his future novels, since one of the things I don't like about urban fantasies is that the main character never seems to change from book to book, only meeting bigger and badder bad guys.

Movie Review: "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"

So, Patricia Bray (pbray) and I went to see Transformers: Dark of the Moon this past weekend. I grew up on Transformers (still have a ton of the toys, old and *ahem* new), and Optimus Prime is Patricia's boyfriend. So of course we had to go, even though the second movie was so hideously bad (and the first was fun but also not that great). After seeing a single preview of this movie, I had hopes that this one was better. In fact, it appeared that perhaps not only was it better, but that they'd actually taken a risk and done something significant with the Transformer universe.

Well, half of that was right.

The first half of the movie was actually pretty damn good, giving me hope. The set-up, with the conspiracy about the 1960s and Sam unraveling what had happened and what was currently happening was great. Even the idea behind what was really going on was great. There was certainly a spectacular idea behind it all. Sure, the humor with Sam and his family was over the top and not really at an adult level (more for the younger generation), and as Patricia pointed out, it makes no sense for the government not to give Sam a job, if for no other reason than to keep track of him since he knows so much. But that plot hole (hey, KC buddies) aside, it was actually a good set-up.

But then the movie hits Chicago and everything went to hell, not in a good way. Oh, the plot point where Chicago becomes involved is great. I love the initial scenes, love the fact that they took the risk and had the assault on such a scale and that the Transformers are actually impacting and affecting our world to a huge extent now. They need to continue this (and I hope they do, since another movie is almost certainly guaranteed). I love the fact that the Decepticons actually become evil here, are not just stated evil, but are actively evil regarding the human population. All of that was great.

But the plot died here. There are some spectacular scenes, visually and dramatically. I love the entire sequence with the glass building and the escalating tension there. But then the plot holes become so huge and so prevalent that you can't find any solid ground. I think part of the problem is Michael Bay's love of the fight sequences. There were too many here and each one was too long. It was like he needed to have an individual fight sequence for each robot, as well as each human. People ended up by themselves for no apparent reason, when the groups should all have been converging toward the central goal. Instead, that central goal (which I'll leave out for spoilerage reasons) was lost for a good portion of the later half of the movie. They set it up and then everyone just seemed to forget it. Various other plot threads were also lost: What happened to the distraction Optimus sent a few of them off to set up? How the hell did Bumblebee get caught along with Q? How did Megatron end up sitting on the street during the height of the battle? What happened to the whole "the element of surprise is our only strategy"? Why the hell didn't the Autobots attack at the Nest, why did they stand back and do nothing? I could go on. The number of abandoned plot threads in the second half of the movie was . . . astounding.

But shit did blow up. And as I said, they certainly pushed the envelope (in a good way) and seriously dealt with a Transformer war brought to Earth. Chicago got ripped to shreds. And it was definitely a significant game changer for future movies. I'm not sure what happened to Cybertron (they never really explained all of that). It's up in the air as to what will happen next. They've left the field wide open for the fourth movie.

I just hope they get someone to write a consistent, coherent plot. You CAN have that, and still blow shit up and have fight scenes and such. If you need help, Michael Bay, I'll be more than willing to help out. I do have some writing credentials after all. And I'm sure Patricia Bray will help as well. All you have to do is introduce her to Optimus.