The Nimble Man

Well here we are, first book of the new blog. I finished it about 2 hours ago, and I'm already a good 50 pages into another book before I decided this blog was a good thing to start. Part of my 'contract' with my friend Chris is merely that in exchange for his books, I tell him what I like and don't like, about how the plot goes or how the author had the story flow. More often then not, I'll return a bag of books on a Saturday and have to peek open each cover so that I remember which main characters go with each title. Titles are my weak point, and don't even ask me to remember authors. Anyways, to the book!

The Nimble Man is written by Christopher Golden and Thomas E. Sniegoski, the first book in "The Menagerie" series. Currently there seems to be 4 books in total, so I'll have to ninja those at some point or another to read.

The beginning starts out well... some authors let the beginning dry up and just blow away because there is no substance, like leaves on a tree heralding the start of winter. Each character is introduced with a specific reason, not just for the reason of "This character needs to come in somewhere." No, each one has its purpose. Each character's entrance foreshadows something to come.

You get drawn in by the mystery surrounding the characters. The main character, known as Mr. Doyle, is the first one you meet. He sounds almost out of the Victorian era, but his accomplice, Eve, is every bit of "Female, perhaps slightly evil, dressed to kill and since you got her 4 inch stilettos dirty, you're a dead man". Next enters Squire, a very adorable hobgoblin. Each character is totally different from the rest, not just in personality like all good books have, but in race as well. Think of it as a more fantasy/horror version of the Avengers (Just watched Iron Man... go watch it if you haven't already), a healthy dose of magic and hexes, a pinch of vampire, a touch of Odo from DS9, demons, zombies, and a couple of Faerie royalty to add to the mix.

The books that I've read over the last 2 weeks or so have spent alot of time in or with the Fey. They touch upon the Faerie realm a bit in here, maybe might have mentioned the Seelie court once or twice, but its definitely a book based in the modern realm of our time. Considering some of the characters that come out later in the book are from the realm of the Faerie, I'm hoping the next books delve more into the other realms that are just barely attached to our own.

I like the way these authors write. Theres no extremely slow spots, but they're not sacrificing the detail for the speed of the story. I can see Eve kicking ass and taking names, with Mr. Doyle standing there waiting for the proper time to go and do what is necessary of him while a hobgolin is in control of an automobile. *Shudder*