Infinity (Valkyries: Soaring Raven #1) by Sedona Venez

Infinity is a singer, a super star, rich and influential – and burned out. After getting hooked badly on the cure-all-pills Rejuvenators and a very public break down, she’s pulling herself back into the limelight with  grand concert – a concert that is aimed at bringing down the predatory Collective Corporation that exploits people with its pills

A collective run by vampires, who are not happy. But that is the tip of the iceberg. Unknown to Infinity, she is the keystone in the master plans of many supernatural factions and she’s suddenly very much on their radar;

This book comes with a lot of potential.

We have a world with vampires controlling a vast pharmaceutical empire with deeply nefarious goals. We have complicated issues of class and exploitation. We have a hyper-rich, powerful singer both enjoying vast wealth but also being discounted for her attempts of philanthrophy. We have not just numerous supernatural beings, but each of these groups is split into factions with a myriad of goals – all of which with crafty cover stories for the greater human society. Underneath it all we have strong hints of dark powers and a central protagonist pulling herself out of addiction and with great big powers and secrets to be revealed

It has immense potential. Immortals and gods and vampires and wereanimals and Valkyries and ravens and big corporations and magic and so much more. Immense potential indeed

People who have read a lot of my reviews will realise that when I start a review talking about potential, I’m going to now say how it completely failed to deliver that potential

And oh, yes did this book fail to reach that

First of all, there’s our introduction to the supernatural elements of the show. Or lack thereof, because the main character we follow, Infinity, is rather indifferent about the whole thing. She has scary prophetic dreams with being that call themselves various wonderful things and she doesn’t do anything about them. Her mother tells her that werewolves and vampires exist…. And she has no follow up questions. Really, it’s like “VAMPIRES ARE REAL!” “Really?! Hey, it’s really cold, let’s go inside.”

I am less than impressed with her reaction to the supernatural – and the fact we’re following a protagonist who shows little interest in and has little involvement with the supernatural factions driving this world we never really delve into much of anything. Worse, her indifference doesn’t man everyone is indifferent to her – she is involved in all of this plotting as an object to be obtained

Because we do get some viewpoints from the various supernatural elements in the world – wereanimals, vampires et al and it’s clear they’re involved in some very heavy politics and competition with multiple factions on every side plotting to do various nefarious things – all of which tends to involve one element. Infinity

The Ghost Train to New Orleans (The Shambling Guides #2) by Mur Lafferty

When Zoe Norris took a job editing a travel guide for the coterie, a world that she had no idea even existed opened up to her.  During editing the travel guide to New York City,  Zoe learned that she is a city tallker, an actually a member of the coterie herself.  Now that she has been tasked to write a travel guide to New Orleans - the most coterie friendly city in the world, things should be easier because at least now she has some idea of the hidden world.  As with everything in Zoe's life, despite her best intentions, things get complicated quickly and she finds herself searching for an antidote to stall the zombie bite of her boyfriend Arthur and fighting off a dark zoetist who has discovered the true power of the citytalkers.

One of the most irritating things about The Shambling Guide to New York was the fact that Lafferty constantly pulled the reader away from the plot to give information on the travel guide Zoe was putting together.  I am happy to report that while we did have occasional asides including passages from the New Orleans guide, they seemed far more related to the story, even if they didn't help at all to really move the plot along.  I still could have done without them altogether but assume that Lafferty continues to include them to remind the reader that while Zoe is on a really wild adventure, she is still in the process of putting together a book.  I am still however certain that as a device, the travel book is a distraction and a hindrance over all. 

The Ghost Train to New Orleans is 352 pages long and it felt like it went on forever.  Part of the problem is that the focus of the story itself was really rather weak.  Zoe didn't reall have a direction, she just moved from one disaster to another.  At times, I felt my eyes wandering off the page and it became a struggle to read.  The jokes that Lafferty included fell short for the most part, thus not adding any really distraction from the meandering plot.

I really did appreciate how strongly Lafferty evoked New Orleans in her writing.  We got a sense of its wonderful culture through the discussion of things like the cemeteries, jazz and of course the food.  I liked that when Lafferty invoked Voodoo (something that normally in this genre is a hot mess) it didn't suddenly become reductive or symbolic of Black people's woo per say.  We got the sense that Voodoo is strong and is to be respected along with all other belief systems.  I must say that it surprise me.