Magic and Loss, by Nancy A. Collins

(pb; 2013: third novel in the Golgotham series)


From the back cover:

"Located on Manhattan's Lower East Side, Golgotham has been the city's supernatural ghetto for centuries.  Populated by countless creatures from myth and legend, its most prominent citizens are the Kymera, a race of witches who maintain an uneasy truce with New York's humans. . .

"It has been several months since Tate Eresby developed her new magical ability to bring whatever she creates to life, but she is still learning to control her power.  With Tate struggling to make a living as an artist, she and Hexe can barely make ends meet, but they are happy.

"Then Golgotham criminal overlord, Boss Marz, is released from prison, bent on revenge against the couple responsible for putting him there.  Hexe's right hand gets destroyed, leaving him unable to conjure his benign magic, and attempts to repair the hand succeed only in plunging him into a darkness that can' be lifted - even by the news that Tate is carrying his child.

"Now, with her pregnancy progressing at an astonishing rate, Tate realizes that carrying a possible heir to the Kymerian throne will attract danger from all corners, even beyond the grave."


Review:


Fun, relatively light* and fast-moving read that might especially appeal to those readers looking for an urban fantasy novel-series that's a shade darker and more mature than a YA novel (this is not meant in a demeaning way - there's hints of sex, but nothing even remotely explicit and the magic and violence of the first two books is PG-13 at worst).

There's a 'mystery' - hidden villains and secret associations - element to the book, but, as in Right Hand Magic and Left Hand Magic, they're easy - intentionally so - to suss out. 

My only nit with Magic is that its ending essentially sports the same finish as Right, making Magic's climactic fight feel formulaic.  (True, it's a minor nit, but one worth noting.)

Magic is worth your money and time, if its series-formulaic finish and lack of mystery aren't an issue of you.  If they are an issue, check this one out from the library.


[*compared to Collins' dark, ultra-violent Sonja Blue series]