Customer Reviews

Dog Days (A Dog Days Novel)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

_Dog Days_ by John Levitt follows the adventures of Mason and Louie in present-day San Francisco. Mason is a magic-user, although one who likes to play jazz guitar more than he likes to practice his magic. Fortunately, one of his specialties is improvising, so he's fairly good at thinking (and casting) on his feet. Louie is his familiar, an Ifrit who takes the shape of a pint-sized Doberman.

Mason used to be part of San Francisco's self-appointed "enforcer" group, who keep other magic-users from running scams on the general public. However, most of the group were a bit too proper and strait-laced for Mason, so he struck out on his own a couple years before the story takes place and makes a meager but satisfying living as a very good jazz guitarist who can fill in with almost any group that's down a member.

Unfortunately, someone starts trying to kill Mason and he has to contact his old enforcer pals to find out what is going on. As he gets drug more and more into another magic-user's attempt to become omnipotent, both Mason and Louie find themselves in a fight for their lives.

Here are the things I liked about _Dog Days_:
- The characters are believable and well-written. Sometimes annoying in their petty rivalries and constant bickering, but very human and very believable.
- The foreshadowing was well-done. There are a number of hints (a brief oracular hint "the black man is not your friend" and Mason wondering where he had seen a certain something before) that tie the whole book together very well, but at the same time don't give away the ending.
- Levitt clearly put a lot of effort into this storyline. There was a very good plot, but it also had a lot of unexpected twists and turns.
- Levitt has built up a coherent magical world for his books, with a lot of knowns and unknowns. No one really knows where Ifrits come from, why they choose who they choose, or why they leave when they leave. Much like music, or painting, or any other type of creative endeavor, many magic users have different mediums they use or ways of understanding their art. There are people who understand the technicalities quite well but have little actual talent (Eli) and people who have lots of talent but really aren't that interested in technicalities or even in anything that's not their area of specialization (Mason). There are people who improvise a lot (Mason), people who rely on pre-set routines (Victor), and people who do a little of both (Campbell and Sherwood).
- Levitt's clearly done his homework regarding the setting of San Francisco, and describes in detail landmarks, neighborhoods, climate, and other things.
- The characters use good strategy and tactics. Magic isn't treated as being all-powerful, but as a tool which is generally pretty useful but only as good as the person wielding it.
- The villain is a really good villain. Evil, despicable, unlikeable, petty, arrogant, the whole works.

Here are the things I didn't like that much about _Dog Days_:
- Some story elements get repeated a bit too often. Yes, we get it that Mason treats his music and his magic the same way, improvisation is everything for him and staying interested over the long term is the hardest thing for him. And yes, we get it that Mason has a lot of undeveloped natural potential that many of his friends and enemies are envious of. Both of those themes get overplayed.
- The story starts out fairly slow.
- Towards the end of the book, many of the main characters seem to get a collective brain-freeze when a certain character disappears, and some of those same characters ignore some pretty obvious danger signs later on because "time is short and we can't think of anything better". I'm not sure if these character flaws were originally intended to be part of those characters, and just didn't show up much in the beginning -- or if they were introduced and overplayed to get the story moving in a specific direction.
- It also doesn't make much sense for the characters involved to NOT do some more digging regarding the villain's methods. There are numerous dropped hints that the villain "had to make some pretty unpleasant deals" to get the power he got in the way he got it -- yet at the end of the book, everyone seems to decide the villain was working on his own. This is really out of character for Eli and Victor, and I'm surprised they weren't trying to figure out who gave the villain his (very nasty) idea, and who supplied the initial magical expertise and energy to get the project rolling.
- Mason occasionally whines too much or has to show how unimpressed he is with people he meets.

I almost gave _Dog Days_ three stars, but I have to admit I was pretty captivated during the second half of the book, so I'm giving it four stars. I don't know if I'll read future books in the series, as I like my fantasy novels with more of a happy ending; _Dog Days_ is much like Butcher's Harry Dresden series in that no victory comes without its price and no good deed goes unpunished.

Overall, I give it four stars and consider it an entertaining read.

I liked this book. I found it to be very imaginative. The hero is likeable as well as believable. Yes he's magical, but also very human and not all powerful, which makes for good drama. The author does a better then good job of creating both mood and setting, and his style of writing is easy to digest - the story moves at a nice pace without getting bogged down. The secondary characters are interesting and act reasonably within the plot and setting. It's hard to not like a story about a man and his dog, or in this case a man and his Ifrit, but what really makes the story work, what drew me in, is the very clever idea behind the villain's diabolical scheme for gaining infinite power. That plot point rang true and terrible enough to allow me to easily identify with the characters' actions and motivations. In my view, that makes for good reading. You should give it a try.

I liked this first novel by Jonathon Levitt. I bought it largely due to seeing a plug by Rob Thurman, author of Nightlife (Cal Leandros, Book 1), and although I can't say I loved the world and characters Levitt has created in San Francisco QUITE as much as Thurman's New York, Dog Days was intriguing, well-written, and suspenseful, and I am looking forward to the next book in the series. I predict you'll love the "dog" that isn't really a dog right off the bat, and grow to really like Mason by the end.

Oh, and if like me you're tired of picking up an urban fantasy/paranormal book only to find a thinly disguised bodice-ripper romance novel with magic and/or fangs, don't worry, this book has none of that.

Dog Days (Ace Fantasy Book)

John Levitt's first urban fantasy, Dog Days, will speak to music-loving animal fanatics everywhere. Mason's a struggling musician. Or is that a struggling magician? He once was a part of a magical task-force, protecting non-magical folk from overzealous practitioners. Now, he lives from gig to gig in a rented garage with his dog, Lou.

But Lou is not just a dog. He's an ifrit, what used to be considered a witch's familiar. Not much is known about ifrits. They choose a practitioner, and they may leave at any time, never to be seen again.

Lou can't protect Mason from every magical attack, but Mason is no longer part of the task force: he's safe, right? Two attacks in one week prove that something big is going down in San Francisco, Mason's city. Strange contests, attacks on practitioners, and missing ifrits. Mason must patch his relationship with the task force to solve the mystery before it costs him his faithful companion, Lou.

Levitt's background as a mystery writer shines through in Dog Days. The novel is plot-driven, exploring the characters' feelings and emotions only enough to ask more questions, and leaving the reader guessing what will happen in the sequel, New Tricks, available November 25, 2008 from Ace Books.

"Dog Days" is an alternate modern-day fantasy. The main character, M--, is a creative, right-brained mage who changes jobs frequently and is bored by formulae spell-casting. When M-- is magically attacked, he turns to old friends (magical police officers) and discovers that he isn't the only mage targeted by an unknown assailant. The plot develops into a neat little "who did it" mystery.

The characters are interesting and nicely portrayed -- enough depth of character, and a few unexpected responses. M--'s "dog" companion is lots of fun. Overall, this book kept me happily entertained and reading throughout. While it lacked that extra little "wow" of a 5-star book, it is better than 90% of new releases. I will keep an eye out for more books by Levitt.

This book may appeal to readers who enjoyed Urban Shaman (The Walker Papers, Book 1). Try "Dog Days"; you'll like it!

Mason is a magic Practitioner who used to be one of the Enforcers, making sure there were no rogue magic users who might abuse their power and also reveal too much to the general public. He's content to work as a jazz guitarist until he's attacked magically on the way home from a gig and discovers that something odd is happening on the streets of San Francisco. He becomes involved again with the local Enforcers, worried about the attacks on Practitioners--and himself--and more importantly, on his dog, who really isn't quite a dog, but a sort of magical familiar.

I liked the characters of Mason and his "dog,", Lou. At times it doesn't seem as if Lou can be all that helpful, being basically a small dog who acts mostly like a small dog... but at crucial points Lou pulls through. He's no deus ex machina, thank goodness. And Mason's talents, which he has largely ignored (he's just not that into being a Practitioner!), are just enough to be interesting, and not make him boring and invulnerable. The mystery elements aren't strong, it's more of a series of attacks and battles that the characters, rather oddly, seem to just react to and not do much to anticipate. They do need to figure out what is going on and how to combat it, however. And the forms of magic used are also thought-out and interesting.

There is a sequel in the works, I think, and although this isn't quite a Must-Read, it was enjoyable and I would be curious to see what is next in line for Mason and Lou.

John Levitt proves himself as an author on the rise with Dog Days. It is difficult not to see a little of Jim Butcher in this story of the improvisational Mason and his Ifrit/dog Louie. While comparisons to Mr. Butcher might garner well-earned press, Levitt should feel proud of the way Dog Days reveals his talent as a writer and a rising star in the genre of urban fantasy.
Levitt's characters are as memorable as they are familiar, and even the most jaded reader will find a little common ground in many of the denizens of this excellent story. As for Mason, Levitt provides us with a protagonist whose most endearing trait is his ability to improvise when the stuff hits the fan. There are no easy outs, and the story finds Mason saving himself with common sense as much as magical talent. As for Louie, well...Mason's sidekick is at home in this story as any reader's pooch is at home by their fireside.
Dog Days is a story you will want to read in one sitting, and one that will nag at you to finish if you cannot. A highly recommended read for any fan of the genre.

I liked this book because the main character is a refreshing twist on the archetypical powerful/withdrawn/brooding hero/heroine. Is he powerful? Probably. Brooding? Maybe Withdrawn? Well, yes. Rather endow his character with outright power and skill, the author has instead createrd a character that relies on improvisation -- both in his life, and in his magic. And all the hero would rather do is play in a band and hang out with his dog until circumstances beyond his control force him back into action as a sort of agent of the magical world.

Beside a good story and interesting main character, the gruesome revelation about 2/3 of the way into the story kept me reading. I'm looking forard to the sequel!

Stay with this book! It begins a little slowly, but builds to a great end. I bought the book as something to read while waiting . . . and was very pleasantly surprised. It is a quick read - about two days, but I'm looking forward to the sequel. If you like Butcher and Green, you'll like this one.

I picked this up on a whim and was pleasantly surprised at how well-written the story was. It has a slower pacing to it that I'm used to, but as I read through it, the book worked.

However, as intriguing as Mason, Louie and this world are, I have to confess I came away not really knowing anything concrete about Mason other than he's lazy and isn't really interested about learning anything more (about magic) than he already as (perhaps it's because it's the first novel so much has to be ignored in favor of quickly establishing a world?). Which, maybe it will lead to something more in the next book, but I'll wait to see how the reviews for that pan out first.

My other issue with this is that it seems to set up a revolving door of female characters in Mason's story. Campbell, for instance, intrigued me enough to want to know more about her and how Mason will deal with her, but she was quite throughly dismissed by the end. I guess the jazz player magician moving from female to female etc is a trope that's familiar to people and works, but I have no desire to get invested in a series where Mason doesn't seem to want to grow (unless a case comes his way and he's forced to do something) or the male characters are treated with care, while the females ones are shoved off at the end. Rob Thurman does this to an extent with Promise, who barely has a presence it seems in her book beyond being furniture for a scene. Again, maybe this will change in the next book, who knows.

All in all, for me it's probably best to think of this as a stand-alone book. If the reviews for the next one are good, I'll probably pick it up, but this isn't something I'll go looking for.