Blood Engines
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4.3 • 6 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Meet Marla Mason—smart, saucy, slightly wicked witch of the East Coast. . . .
Sorcerer Marla Mason, small-time guardian of the city of Felport, has a big problem. A rival is preparing a powerful spell that could end Marla’s life—and, even worse, wreck her city. Marla’s only chance of survival is to boost her powers with the Cornerstone, a magical artifact hidden somewhere in San Francisco. But when she arrives there, Marla finds that the quest isn’t going to be quite as cut-and-dried as she expected . . . and that some of the people she needs to talk to are dead. It seems that San Francisco’s top sorcerers are having troubles of their own—a mysterious assailant has the city’s magical community in a panic, and the local talent is being (gruesomely) picked off one by one.
With her partner-in-crime, Rondeau, Marla is soon racing against time through San Francisco’s alien streets, dodging poisonous frogs, murderous hummingbirds, cannibals, and a nasty vibe from the local witchery, who suspect that Marla herself may be behind the recent murders. And if Marla doesn’t figure out who is killing the city’s finest in time, she’ll be in danger of becoming a magical statistic herself. . . .
Customer Reviews
The start of a grand journey.
Blood Engines is the gritty, unpolished start of a gritty, unpolished character. It's billed as urban fantasy, but that usually means ‘strong female character engages in violence while being conflicted with a sexytime b-story’. There's none of that here. This is Contemporary Fantasy in an Urban Setting. There is very little romance here.
The story follows Marla Mason, professional Angry Magic (Young) Woman. She is a post-punk, industrial city girl, willfully arrogant and unkind. And it's brilliant. Her passion blinds as much as drives her, and she is deeply flawed. The story follows her, as she fights desperately for herself and the only true virtue she can claim, her city.
The book itself is… well, it's rough. Both in terms of content and style. While having several short stories published previously, I believe this is T.A. Pratt's first full-length novel to be picked up and published as part of a deal, and it shows. That said, it's a good start to a great series. Recommended, but mostly as a lead-in to the later books.
Crossposted from Goodreads.