characters Uncanny Collateral

characters Uncanny Collateral read & download ☆ eBook or Kindle ePUB Û Brian McClellan Brian McClellan Û 3 review Has few leads and the clock is ticking Only with the help of his friend Maggie an ancient djinn with a complex past can he hope to recover the stolen property save the world and just maybe wring a favor out of the Great Constant himself It’s a hell of a job but somebody’s got to do. Valkyrie Collections We Deal with Mortals So You Don t Have ToI had to open up this review with the main motto of the plot lineMen in Black meets Fables Wolf Among Us seriously could not read this without picturing the twoThis was one heck of an enjoyable read but not without some minor flaws Will be talking about this on my YouTube channelhttpswwwyoutubecomhollyheartsbooks

characters Uncanny Collateral read & download ☆ eBook or Kindle ePUB Û Brian McClellan Brian McClellan Û 3 review Alek Fitz is a reaper a collection agent who works for the supernatural elements of the world tracking down debtors and solving problems for clients as diverse as the Lords of Hell vampires Haitian loa and goblins He’s even worked for the Tooth Fairy on occasion Based out of Cleveland. I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest reviewUncanny Collateral is an entertaining fast paced urban fantasy novella that packed a surprising amount of character development for its sizeMcClellan was best known for his Powder Mage trilogy which I ve thoroughly enjoyed His ongoing Gods of Blood and Powder trilogy which is based off the same world is reputedly even better than his debut efforts but I ve yet to read them something which I intend to rectify sometime in the future If this novella was anything to go by his writing now has an even natural and practised ease that flows and ebbs with the story In Powder Mage the writing was slightly clunkier in the first book but improvements were noticeable as we progressed to the third oneIn Uncanny Collateral I didn t notice the writing at all which to me is a good thing Prose should either stand out for being beautiful or impactful or disappear into the storytelling altogether Usually when I say a book is easy to read I don t mean that it is simple in the sense of low intelligence but in that it is not embellished or overly complicated until it detracts from the story Of course urban fantasy tended to be easier to read and I liked how McClellan managed to fit his writing to the urban setting and faster paced narrativeThere had been a lot of great novellas in recent years Straddling between a short story and a novel the length of a novella provides a nice not so little diversion from bigger fantasy reads I don t doubt for a moment though that novellas can be tricky to write to achieve balance between worldbuilding plot and character development with significantly fewer words Which means numerous subplots and a large cast of characters are a no no In this respect I will say that McClellan s first novella effort was a commendable one with superb pacing lively action and excellent character development My name is Alek Fitz I m a reaper for Valkyrie Collections and I ve come to collect your debt In this case the debt is a human soul owed to one of the many Lords of Hell souls traded in return for human desires such as power wealth or success And hence why our main protagonist s job is called reaping This does not mean that the human will die once his or her soul has been collected it merely leaves the person rather empty inside yeah well that is a bit of an understatement The plot is pretty straightforward as the chief reaper himself sought out the help of Valkyrie Collections to help investigate a recent slew of missing souls which is causing a lot of problems in hell Alek was put on the case together with his secret sidekick Maggie an ancient djinn who lived in a ringIn spite of having fewer words to work with we do get enough of Alek s backstory to empathise with him and how he became a reaper His characterisation was crafted seamlessly into the flow of events and his interactions with Maggie and other individuals without breaking the momentum in the story The dialogue and banter were enjoyable and felt uncontrived I especially loved the scenes between Alek and DeathThe worldbuilding itself was fascinating We are talking about an earth where humans and the supernatural termed the Others co exist under specific Rules and contracts We get imps goblins vampires djinns and even Death himself Even Alek is a half troll half human which certainly made him interesting There also seemed to be a not so subtle jab at capitalism with the notion that the various Lords of Hell run most of the big corporationsUncanny Collateral is an excellent urban fantasy debut by an author who has already proven adept at epic fantasy I will read the second book in a heartbeat I also found out the audiobook is narrated by the incredibly talented Luke Daniels there is no one better suited for fast paced UF filled with banter and actionYou can order a copy of the ebook and audiobook via US UK You can also find this and my other reviews at Novel Notions

Brian McClellan Û 3 review

characters Uncanny Collateral read & download ☆ eBook or Kindle ePUB Û Brian McClellan Brian McClellan Û 3 review Ohio Alek is the best in the game As a literal slave to his job he doesn’t have a choice When Death comes looking for someone to track down a thief Alek is flung into a mess of vengeful undead supernatural bureaucracy and a fledgling imp war As the conseuences of failure become dire he. Brian McClellan is primarily known for his Powder Mage series I haven t read it yet but if Uncanny Collateral is indicative of McClellan s writing style I have some catching up to do Alek Fitz works as a Reaper he tracks down debtors and solves various supernatural problems He s well euipped for the task as a tall strong guy covered in magical tattoos giving him cool and lethal powers he commands respect When a fight starts Alek turns into an animal Well mostly His ancestors mixed with Trolls and such genetic heritage gives Alek cool upgrades like strong retractable tusks and preternatural strength He also wears a ring in which lives a powerful djinni Maggie All things considered Alek has a lot of raw power and magical tricks up his sleevesIt makes him fit for the most challenging jobs and when Death himself approaches his boss Ada she flings him into a case unlike any other He has to recover stolen souls survive a fledgling imp war and save the world EasyIn just 150 pages Uncanny Collateral throws the reader into a relentless straightforward action Thanks to an excellent pacing and fun twists it ll keep you glued to the pages It doesn t treat itself too seriously and that makes it even fun I mean imagine a half blood Troll covered in magical tattoos including Mjolnir that when activated allows him to punch through stuff bodies included riding a truck and smoking cigars His best friend is a female Djinni trapped in a ring on his finger They exchange uality telepathic banter all the time and their relationship is the highlight of the book I liked Alek as a protagonist he s dangerous but he s not an assassin or a thug Troll blood flows in his veins and makes him prone to the outbursts of a berserk rage in times of danger but it doesn t define him He remains likeable and caring Both he and Maggie have secrets hinted here and there I can t wait to explore them in the seuels We learn enough to understand what s going on but not enough to feel overhelmed with the details Secondary characters and the world entertain as well McClellan has a knack for characterisation he introduces a retired and greedy angel Death who looks almost like Keith Richardss and pissed undeadI loved it I feel tired of oversized epics with billions of POV characters and convoluted plots I crave good entertainment and McClellan delivers precisely this Uncanny Collateral is short entertaining and fast paced It ends with no cliffhanger but with enough hooks to make me impatiently await the seuel ARC through Fantasy Book Critic Uncanny Collateral is scheduled for release on April 2nd

• Kindle Edition
• 151
• Uncanny Collateral
• Brian McClellan
• English
• 28 May 2019
• null