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The Everything Review
May. 3rd, 2016 05:21 pmHey,
So as I'm working through May's Ad Hock Book Club selection (Sex and Shakespeare by Jillian Keenan -- read it sometime this month and we'll chat about it at the end!) I realize I forgot to write up the last book I read.
The Everything Box by Richard Kadrey (of Sandman Slim fame) is a comedy fantasy story involving a thief named Coop who makes a living stealing magical doo-dads. Coop is no wizard, but he is immune to direct magic so spells and curses fizzle off of him -- he is not immune to the dragon summoned by a spell or a gun wished into existence, so there are limits.
After a short stint in jail for a job gone wrong, Coop is back out on the streets and receiving a mysterious offer to break into a heavily warded building and steal a small, innocuous box. Meanwhile, two cults, a chaos-spreading stranger, and the Angel of Office Supplies are also trying to get ahold of this box to bring about their particular End of the World.
I don't recall ever laughing out loud at any point, which is usually a bad sign in a comedy story, but it's not badly written. It suffers a bit from the "oh, no one knows magic exists, except there's a whole world of magical creatures who somehow get by without being discovered and the government has a task force devoted to them and if you pay attention you can find out about it" deal that always irks me a bit.
But as a crime caper, the book really fires on all cylinders. Coop makes logical use of the magical tools at his disposal and tracks down magical specialists to handle things that he can't (much like a normal crook might be a safecracker or driver or second-story man, there are various magical specialties like Marilyn's who can cloud people's minds). The magic follows its own internal logic and there's never a point where it paints itself into a corner and has to break the rules to get out.
The plot moves briskly along and you're always interested to see new complications get piled on. Although maybe not a masterpiece of comedy, it would certainly make for some good beach/travel reading this summer.
later
Tom
So as I'm working through May's Ad Hock Book Club selection (Sex and Shakespeare by Jillian Keenan -- read it sometime this month and we'll chat about it at the end!) I realize I forgot to write up the last book I read.
The Everything Box by Richard Kadrey (of Sandman Slim fame) is a comedy fantasy story involving a thief named Coop who makes a living stealing magical doo-dads. Coop is no wizard, but he is immune to direct magic so spells and curses fizzle off of him -- he is not immune to the dragon summoned by a spell or a gun wished into existence, so there are limits.
After a short stint in jail for a job gone wrong, Coop is back out on the streets and receiving a mysterious offer to break into a heavily warded building and steal a small, innocuous box. Meanwhile, two cults, a chaos-spreading stranger, and the Angel of Office Supplies are also trying to get ahold of this box to bring about their particular End of the World.
I don't recall ever laughing out loud at any point, which is usually a bad sign in a comedy story, but it's not badly written. It suffers a bit from the "oh, no one knows magic exists, except there's a whole world of magical creatures who somehow get by without being discovered and the government has a task force devoted to them and if you pay attention you can find out about it" deal that always irks me a bit.
But as a crime caper, the book really fires on all cylinders. Coop makes logical use of the magical tools at his disposal and tracks down magical specialists to handle things that he can't (much like a normal crook might be a safecracker or driver or second-story man, there are various magical specialties like Marilyn's who can cloud people's minds). The magic follows its own internal logic and there's never a point where it paints itself into a corner and has to break the rules to get out.
The plot moves briskly along and you're always interested to see new complications get piled on. Although maybe not a masterpiece of comedy, it would certainly make for some good beach/travel reading this summer.
later
Tom
