Rosemary, rue, and a review

[djonn]

Ever since she announced she'd sold the series, I've been waiting for the chance to read Seanan McGuire's first novel, Rosemary and Rue (DAW Books, $7.99, due out Sept. 1st).  As luck would have it, I got my hands on an advance copy Tuesday evening, and it promptly jumped the seventeen other things on my to-be-read list.

Herewith the recommendation: go forth and pre-order.  (Or find Seanan at ComicCon and see if you too can score an ARCface the zombie apcalypse".)

Strictly speaking, I probably lost my "neutral reporter" status with respect to Seanan's work quite awhile back now.  I own all three of her CDs (and have recommended the first two in this space), I've been reading and enjoying her LiveJournal-based fiction for ages, and I've written several sets of filk lyrics inspired in one way or another by various of Seanan's online exploits.  If you hear that I've moved to the Bay Area in the near future, chances are good that I'll have progressed from "fan" to "creepy stalker".  [Luckily for both of us, my sense of self-preservation is strong enough that this is highly unlikely to become an issue.]

That said, I don't make the foregoing recommendation on the basis of blind adoration.  I expected to enjoy Rosemary and Rue, and I did -- but the reason I think it deserves to take off like the proverbial rocket is that it does "urban faerie" right.

First: the world-building is remarkably yet unobtrusively self-consistent.  While the range of supernatural beings appearing in the novel is wide -- kitsune to felines, selkies to goblins -- there's a lightly applied layer of underlying logic in the narrative that supplies structure and distinguishes the book from the sort of kitchen-sink paranormal in which anything can (and does) turn up purely because the author wants it to.  And on the real-world front, the depiction  of San Francisco is vividly specific and carefully imprecise in exactly the right proportions, taking full advantage of key landmarks while leaving room for locations that exist only in the novel's version of the city.

Second: the first-person narration is crisp, clean, and doesn't call too much attention to itself.  Halfblood changeling Toby Daye has a sense of humor, but she doesn't tell jokes at the expense of her story; neither does she wallow in self-pity to the detriment of the pacing.  That's not to say that there's no angst to be had -- far from it -- but the overall tone admirably balances well-grounded common sense with a classical sense of wonder missing from too much modern paranormal fiction.

Third: the book is a solid, self-contained novel rather than a chapter in a movie serial or soap opera.  Specifically, it's a murder mystery, complete with a corpse, a car chase, assorted gun battles and knife fights, and a suitably high-tension climax.  The plot is that of an action yarn as opposed to a fair-play whodunit, but the brisk pace still manages to leave room for colorful characterizations -- Tybalt, King of Cats, strikes an especially memorable note -- and a degree of genuine emotional depth.  Yes, there are a host of hints and foreshadowings of things to come in Toby Daye's future, but her first adventure stands firmly and forthrightly on its own, and this too is relatively rare in the ranks of the modern urban-faerie adventure.

The bottom line is simply this: Rosemary and Rue is an absorbing if decidedly violent story, told skillfully and well by an engaging protagonist.  Readers already enamored of modern paranormal tales should be well satisfied with it -- and more jaded readers should find it a refreshing antidote to the category's clichés.

*You're much more likely to survive a zombie apocalypse with Seanan on your side. Trust me on this one.

Comments

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

"creepy stalker".

..but, you have the hat for it!

[djonn]

No, no, that's a deerstalker hat; and no one would ever mistake a Seanan for a deer.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes. This is to be spoken: it's a /ˈdirˌstɔkɚ/ dearstalker hat!

[djonn]

[splorf] Point to Dr. Whom, at least in principle.

However, I note for the record that I've been wearing the hat in question for years now, and had remarkably little success in flushing dears with it.

Thus, like Bullwinkle, I may need to get another hat....

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

great minds think alike here..

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Or as my high school buddy used to say, "Small minds run in the same gutter."

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

..umhmmm Dearstalker?

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Now, darling, it's not "pre-order or see if you can score an ARC," it's "pre-order now." My numbers will thank you. :)

I, however, thank you for a very sweet review.

[connerybeagle.livejournal.com]

Mymom did a PRE-ORDER thing. She has her greedy reader face on. I would rather have a bike ride and a COOKIE.