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Hallow Point by Ari Marmell (view source)
Revision as of 16:24, 24 September 2015
, 16:24, 24 September 2015no edit summary
The first person perspective is not an easy one to pull off in fiction. Despite this, it has been a favourite of the gumshoe genre as getting behind the eyes of a grizzled Private Investigator as they solve crimes and fall for femme fatales is incredibly satisfying if done well. All this is achievable, but what if you throw urban fantasy in too? Now you have a book that has to explain crime in the first person, but also magic and in the case of ''Hallow Point'', 1930s Chicago slang.
Mick Oberon is you your typical 30s Chicago PI, investigating those crime that fall between the cracks. It just so happens that Mick is also a centuries old elf who can use magic to solve crimes and is usually hired to investigate the mystical, rather than the mundane. When an ancient spear turns up in the city it appears that every magical being in all the realms wants to get their hands/claws on it. Mick wants to be left alone, but somehow he always seems to be dragged into the action.
When done well urban fantasy is an excellent genre; taking the normal and adding a magical twist. [[:Category:Jim Butcher|Jim Butcher]] is a master in his Harry Dresden novels and Ari Marmell is mining a similar seam with Mick Oberon – another magic user who solves crimes. The unique selling point of this series is that it is set in a version of the real 1930s Chicago, well known gangsters and all. This is a ripe period of criminality, backhanders and murder; Marmell should easily be able to set some dark fantasy here and put a twist on real history, but he fails.