Magical Plot Glue - a Lazy Author's Best Friend

This week we have to look at a collection of some of the laziest story tropes we’ve come across in this genre of magic and mystery

Magic appears a lot in out books - it’s Urban Fantasy, magic is almost required. Some of those systems are intricate and detailed and fascinating. Some are powerful and dramatic. Some have deep backstories, some draw upon real world traditions.

And some involve an author chanting the powerful worlds’ “Fuck it, Magic did it” and lo, the knotty problems of the plot are solved…. By magic! Alas, despite it’s vast power, magical plot hole sealant does not have the ability to make a book or show be coherent or enjoyable. It may be convenient to use magic to hastily glue together the shattered remnants of the plot, but like your grandma’s ugly vase you’ve dragged to the Antique Road Show, we can see the cracks

One form of this Magical Plot Glue is Swiss Army Magic. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of magic is specifically designed to be flexible and I’m certainly not going to say that a wizard or witch can’t do something - but if you’ve established your character is an Earth Elemental with the vast powers of big heavy rocks, I’m going to call shenanigans if they start swooping through the air in the name of Granite.

Or if your character starts tying people up, moving them around and bobbing them on the head with fire - somehow without burning them - I’m going to be less intrigued by the plot and more confused by the author who doesn’t know what fire does. Or your have several gods running around but with infinite unrelated skill sets - your god of war and god of love are pretty much indistinguishable. Though, having read a lot of Paranormal Romance, this doesn’t surprise me.

Of course, while Swiss Army Magic is useful, it lacks the power of the greatest Magical Plot Glue:

Legends speak of many artefacts of incredible power. Of tomes that contain the secrets of the ancients. Of swords that radiate power. Of staves that can move mountains and rings that require epic treks across the wilderness to remove (despite those damn birds who would have been really helpful). But truly, there is one source of power that outshines them all:

The Arse of an Urban Fantasy Protagonist with a Lazy Author

Pure Blooded (Jessica McClain #5) by Amanda Carlson

Jessica has survived the Underworld and now that she is back, it's off to save her father who has been battling Made wolves.  From the moment Jessica's plane takes to the air, she quickly realises that while she might be back on an earthly plane, she is in no less danger.  Having pissed off a Hag, by killing her sister, Jessica's fate is in great flux.  Thankfully, Jessica has a strong team around her but is Jessica strong enough to fight off the creator of the werewolves now that he Hags have set them up on a collision course.

It's book five and at this point, it very much feels like Carlson is sick of her own story.  Nothing happened in Pure Blooded, absolutely nothing.  If that were not enough, it ended on such an odd note that I had to flip backward through the book to ensure that I hadn't missed anything.  Character development seems to about having Jessica pull a fancy new magical power out of her ass whenever she feels threatened and having her entourage swear loyalty to her.

At this point It would be fair to say that Jessica is a typical Mary Sue.  Everyone around her loves her without question and is absolutely devoted to her.  We are told repeatedly how special Jessica is and that if she dies, the supernatural world will simply fall to pieces. At this point I would rather see Carlson's world fall apart than to read anymore of this story. Pure Blooded made me want to scream, "I get it, Jessica's the super special werewolf." Beyond her ability to pull magical abilities out of her ass, I'm not even sure why everyone is so damn devoted to her.

For the first part of Pure Blooded Jessica had to do battle with a bokor who was being ridden by loa. As it turns out, the creator of the werewolves wanted the power that she invested into Jessica's wolf. After some running and dodging along with advise from a wise person of colour, Jessica emerged victorious.  Jessica's next challenge was a necromancer who she defeated by simply following her heart.  Apparently, brains and logic can't keep one safe but the mystical gut is all knowing.  Yes, I'm snarking.  To me it just sounds like an excuse for the fact that Jessica does not read as intelligent. Jessica is impatient and rushes in headlong with her team barely holding on.  In Pure Blooded, she is even spoon fed information and then gripes about it not being detailed enough. Sure, Jessica is a young immortal and that works as an excuse for awhile but I'm simply tired of her ignorance and the fact that she never sits down long enough to learn about the world she is supposed to change so drastically.  In fact, when Jessica is informed about counsel protocol is supposed to work, she casually brushes it aside.

Red Blooded (Jessica McClain #4) by Amanda Carlson

Jessica is forced to make the journey to hell after her brother is kidnapped by the Prince of Hell.  With a little help from the witches and her very unusual pack, this is set to be the biggest challenge of her young lycan life.  Can Jessica manage to get in and out of hell undetected and save her brother, without being forced to answer for the trumped charges which have been placed against her by the Prince?

Red Blooded is the fourth novel in the Jessica McClain series and by now, Carlson has clearly fallen into a very recognizable pattern. Trouble appears on the horizon and Jessica rushes in head first without much a plan, backed up by the unusual pack she has gathered around her.  Tension ensues and Jessica pulls some woo woo out of her ass, masters it and defeats the big bad.  The rest of the book is then used to set up the next story.  It's as though Carlson is writing by rote at this this point.  There is so little variation that at times, it's hard to get excited about the story.  Yes, the protagonist is not going to die because she has plot immunity but the story should not play out the same way each time regardless of who the antagonist is.

Shortly after arriving in hell, Jessica meats a demon named Lilly, who is the former mistress of the Prince of Hell.  Stop and think about that for a moment.; the demon's name is Lilly.  We get this long drawn out drama before it is finally revealed that the demon in question is the daughter of Lilith.  How this could have come as a big surprise to Jessica is absolutely beyond me and yet I am supposed to believe that she is an intelligent young woman.  Lilly practically had a neon sign on her head which said don't trust me, yet Jessica kept coming up with reasons to justify doing so. Lilly is of course defeated in what has become the typical fashion in this series - Jessica gains new powers.  Jessica is after all the chosen one right?

Red Blooded could very well have been called the gangs all here.  Carlson brought back Selene, a character which should have stayed dead, briefly re-introduced Juanita the sole character of colour to date and of course included all of the characters in her weird pack once again.  Red Blooded isn't a reboot of the series but really but more than any book thus far, it really felt repetitive because Carlson relies on the same bag of tricks that she has been employing since the first book in this series. I get it, Jessica is super duper special but the character needs to grow and evolve.  For that matter, since Jessica is supposed to be a werewolf, how about we have her shift every once and awhile instead of having internal conversations with her wolf?

Cold Blooded (Jessica McClain #3) by Amanda Carlson

Jessica arrives back in town after rescuing her mate Rourke only to discover that her best friend Marcy has been kidnapped.  Marcy's powerful witch aunt Tally wants answers.  It's not long before they are all attacked by sorcerers and are forced to flee.  After Jessica learns of a vision from a seer that she must head to New Orleans to save her father and find Marcy, she on the road again.  It's not long before Jessica finds herself fighting against the forces of the underworld and trying to strike a bargain with the wily vampire queen.

This is book three in the Jessica McClain series and we still have yet to have any meaning plot or character development.  Cold Blooded shifted back and forth between battle scenes and Jessica and Rourke either having sex, or angsting about their desire to have sex.  If you are into action scenes, this might be your thing but at this point in a series, I expect to know more about the characters involved.

We are told that Marcy is her best friend ad nausem but because Marcy had been kidnapped we don't really get to see her interact with Jessica very much.  The rest of the people Jessica is close to she spends issuing orders throughout the novel.  Despite being a newborn Lycan, she never doubts herself, no matter the situation and you guessed it - everything always works out in her favor.  I suppose it has to because it's the chosen one but it makes the book read as though Jessica is just working through a series of tasks. 

This series is predicated on Jessica being the only female werewolf and therefore is either feared, desired or hated.  These motivations most of her interactions.  Unfortunately, Jessica continues to deal with this by developing some new Lycan ability on cue.  She is literally the chosen one and these meme is simply played out in this genre.  I have yet to see Jessica use reason in any confrontation that she is in; however, she is more than willing to suddenly decide to challenge a demon lord.  I suppose that was meant to come off has daring but it read as stupidity to me.

Hot Blooded (Jessica McClain #2) by Amanda Carlson

 

One shall walk again, above all others she is born;
Within her the beast shall lie, well hidden in True Form;
And from this day forth, the Children of the Night shall pay;
By her supreme rule, her righteous hand will slay,
Justice to all, as none are her equal;
The True Lycan will vanquish all evil.

Not only is Jessica the only female werewolf, it has been prophesied that she will dispense justice amongst the supernaturals.  First however, Jessica must find her mate who has been kidnapped.  The journey will test her new skills more than she could ever imagine. 

There really isn't much character development in this second installment of the Jessica McClain series.  We do however get introduced to two new vampires, as well as learn some of the abilities and limitations of vampirism.  The world is also enlarged by whole slew of new supes.

That being said, I don't feel like the story really progressed at all.  Hot Blooded is essentially one large fight scene which if you like that sort of thing, will be right up your ally.  Jessica and her small pack challenge various supernatural creatures; however, this lacked any kind of real suspense from the beginning because it was clear that while the situations themselves were dangerous, no one was really in any kind of mortal danger.  It quickly became rote that whenever Jessica faced a new monster, she would pull out some super special Lycan power to defeat it.

As part of her role as protagonist of this series, Jessica also served as the moral center.  Because her supernatural ability is extremely new, Jessica very much affirmed the importance of life, making her unwilling to kill because of convenience.  It will be interesting to see if she can hold onto that as the challenges she faces get tougher and tougher.

Full Blooded (Jessica McClain #1) by Amanda Carlson

Jessica McClain is unique in that she is the only female born to a full blooded werewolf family.  This makes her pack extremely uncomfortable, as there have long been rumors that a female werewolf would destroy the pack.  When Jessica manages to go through puberty without changing, the fear subsides and after battling with her alpha father, Jessica manages to live a life incognito as a human.  Unfortunately for Jessica her non werewolf status does not last and she shifts one day without warning. 

Jessica goes from leading an almost anonymous life under a fake identity, to quickly being hunted as the prize she is.  Though she tries to deny that she can change, when she manifests into a Lycan, the first in thousands of years, this greatly elevates the threat level.  Jessica quickly finds herself on the run, unaware if she can trust the mercenary who owes her father a blood debt to keep her safe.

Full Blooded is the first in the Jessica McClain series and as first books go, Carlson did a good job introducing us to her world, though there were some problems with pacing.  From the very beginning, Carlson hinted that there are all manner of super natural creatures but she gave no direct warning of vampires and the balance of power they negotiate with the wolves.  This made the revelation of the threat the Queen posed feel like it came out of nowhere.  

In many ways, Full Blooded was very formulaic and felt like a book put together by the numbers.  One female werewolf - check.  Said female werewolf is sensitive yet full of snark - check.  Said singular werewolf develops mystical powers - check.  Female werewolf a threat because of her gender and considered a prize - check. Love interest uses proprietary language like "mine" - check. Dead mother - check.  I assume you get the picture.  If Full Blooded were a test on how to write a female werewolf utilizing all of the appropriate tropes which have become normalized, Carlson would have aced it.