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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Prepare to be entertained!, March 20, 2009
I knew from the first page that I was going to love this book. Well...to be honest, I knew it before that, from all I'd been hearing about it all over the place, but let's not split hairs, all right? One of the main characters having the same name as me is pretty darn cool, too. Doesn't happen as often as you might think. And while fantasy's not usually my thing, this is definitely not your usual fantasy.
Okay, so we have the dragon and the nun, working together as private investigators. The bishop sends them to accompany a bunch of faeries to a convention, a prospect that doesn't exactly thrill Vern - though Grace is unruffled. But not long after their flying circus leaves the ground, mischievous magicals are already causing trouble. Minor incidents escalate until one of the head elves decides to conquer the state of Florida while his sense of proper oratory etiquette is impaired by a chemical high.
In true intellectual style, many topics are sideswiped, considered, and passed by on the helter-skelter ride to the climax - issues such as temporal philosophy, interspecies morality, the Inner Child, and even semi-professional counselling as Vern comforts a failed wannabe actor. Other gems include quips from TV and movies, a talking purse, respectful nods to Doctor Who and Star Trek (among others), enchanted dancing, dodging the paparazzi, naiads eliminating a case of littering, obsessively tidy brownies, artificial sweeteners, and multifaceted cultural misunderstandings.
Vern the dragon detective is a magnetic character despite his demonstrative cynicism. He made me laugh just about every time he opened his mouth. His partner the nun is almost as funny again, and the two of them make sport of bouncing puns off each other and anyone who happens to be in earshot. Not just any puns, mind you - not the painful kind, but puns that are woven into the story and thus are a force of hilarity to be reckoned with - in any of the numerous languages you'll find in the book.
All in all - a tall tale destined to become a part of modern legend if the reading public has any sense, and a real-world fantasy with a kick that's as funny as it is preposterous.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Read this Book in a LIbrary, April 29, 2009
Magic, Mensa and Mayhem by Karina Fabian is not a good book to read in a library. Last week I read through the book in my library, receiving disapproving looks from the librarian with every snicker. I rarely laugh out loud when I am reading, but the antics of the characters in this book did it for me.
Magic, Mensa and Mayhem is part of a series of stories written by Fabian, featuring Vern, an immortal dragon cursed by St. George to do good works. Most recently, he has been doing those good works in New Mexico as a private detective specializing in crimes related to magic. A portal between our world and the world of Faerie opened up creating a commerce between the two worlds. Vern, along with Sister Grace of the Faerie Catholic Church, fights evil on both sides of the portal usually resulting in saving one of the two worlds.
Vern's most recent (nonpaying) job is to babysit a bunch of "magicals" on a trip to a Mensa convention. Riding herd on pixies, brownies, fairies, an Indian trickster named Coyote and a Valkyrie named Brunhilde, may be in Sis. Grace's words: " the toughest job we've not gotten paid for."
From there the romp includes averting a dozen crises from invisible brownies to averting an interdimensional war sparked a rivalry between two fairies.
The strength of Fabian's writing lies in creating memorable characters populating improbable plots that seem perfectly credible as you read them. She has the unique ability to wrap a parody around a strong believable plot.
The stories are written in such a way that they can be read and understood easily without having read any of the other books in the series. However, in some ways, this leads to the only flaw in the story. Fabian frequently interrupts the flow of a scene by a long aside about something which took place in a previous story. Sometimes this works, but many times it is not necessary to know that bit of the backstory to understand the current plot. This is a hard balance for the writer of a series to strike. I suspect that as more books and stories about Vern emerge, Fabian will find that balance.
I can recommend this book heartily, but be warned: Don't read it in a library!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Book I'll Be Rereading...and Enjoying Just as Much!, April 26, 2009
When my copy of Magic, Mensa & Mayhem arrived, I was excited. I've read Karina's work before, and I hoped to be delighted. I figured this would be the kind of book that would have me laughing and thinking and enjoying myself.
Oh, the satisfaction of being SO right!
MM&M gives us our first full-length novel featuring Vern, the private eye dragon from the world of Faerie. Did I mention that Vern's Catholic? Well, he is now. You'll have to read for yourself to find out how he, uh, converted. Did I mention parallel universes? Did I mention Vern works with a nun? Did I mention laughing out loud at a rate that had my husband asking me to consider reading in another room? (OK, I'm exaggerating. He never actually said anything.)
That all seems unlikely to me too. But MM&M is unlikely, just the way that all your favorite novels are. You can't guess what's going to happen next, even if you excel at that and regularly throw books over your shoulder in disgust. Is it Fabian's wit? Is it her storytelling? Is it the world she's created that has you looking around your house a little closer, hoping for a chink in the plaster that makes it all real?
I don't know. I'm a busy mom who doesn't read as much as I'd like. I've already passed one of my copies on to a friend, and I think I'll keep it in circulation -- I can think of a few people who can use a good novel. The other copy...well, I think I'll be rereading it sometime in the future, perhaps to a budding reader in my house, perhaps on an evening when I just need something, well, good.
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