Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison
Kim Harrison is different for other series writers in that she has managed to consistently create compelling stories in each of her novels. If you haven’t been following the series, don’t start with this one, but if you’ve been a fan of the other books, I’m happy to tell you that you’ll probably keep being a fan with this one too.
One of the things I like best about Rachel Morgan as a character is the way she uses many different tools to solve problems. Sometimes she just punches or kicks the person who’s attacking her. Sometimes she uses earth magic charms. Sometimes she uses ley line magic. More often than not, she gets what she wants by negotiating, even if the person she’s negotiating with is or has been an enemy before. I especially like the frienemy relationship she has with Trent Kalamack. Harrison brings in other frienemy characters from earlier books in this one, so again, I wouldn’t recommend this to people who haven’t read earlier books in the series.
That said, I had a harder time getting into this book than I have with earlier ones. I don’t know if it’s just where I am as a reader right now, or if there’s something about this book which didn’t shine as well as the other ones. Part of it is that Rachel seems so very, very young. I think I’ve grown more as a person since the first book came out than Rachel has, and I haven’t summoned any demons or had my life threatened. Rachel still careens from one disaster to another, dragging her loyal friends in her wake. She has learned a lot more magic since the first book, and she seems to pick up nearly-impossible skills with ease in this one too, but she isn’t any more mature.
The plot is tight, or I should say, the action is tight. Rachel is either escaping from, or getting herself into danger from page one to the end. She makes a few decisions that had me smacking my face with their stupidity. I understand that she wants to be a good witch, not a bad one, but I’m a pretty good person too, and I wouldn’t risk my life to warn someone who A. knew what they were getting into and B. imprisoned me, beat me up, and threatened me with a lobotomy. A second decision she made (which I won’t delve into as it is a spoiler) ends up getting one of her allies killed. I lost some respect for Rachel after that, though her friends–miraculously enough–forgive her.
I think this novel was a little longer than the other ones. It felt like it, anyway, because the plot kind of lost me once or twice. I hope the next book is a little tighter. The characters are still great, and the action still interesting, so I’d recommend this book. I’m going to keep reading the series.
