Thunderbird Falls, by C.E. Murphy

[annathepiper]

mizkit's Thunderbird Falls is the second full-length novel in her Walker Papers series--though it's actually the third installment, since "Banshee Cries" in the anthology Winter Moon is sort of book 1.5.

Picoreview: a mostly solid followup to both Urban Shaman and "Banshee Cries". Seattle-area residents, especially anyone who's lived in or around the U-district, will find some good local color detail here, though there are also a few liberties taken with local geography, so come in with the awareness that this is a Fantasy Novel Version of Seattle. No real surprises in the plot--this time around you do pretty much know what's coming long, long before it actually arrives, and Jo's stepping up to the plate to finally accept her shamanic powers provides almost more interest than the actual conflict at hand.


Okay, first, let's get this out of the way--Kit, babe, are you trying to make us all wish Gary was forty years younger, or what? Cause that dangling of much-younger-garden-version of Gary in front of us all made him way, way more charismatic and interesting than Morrison, and made me almost wish you've got something up your sleeve to rejuvenate the sly old dog somehow. Or, ahem, sorry, 'tortoise'. ;)

Which, I think, leads me into being able to make the remark that the supporting characters of this cast continue to be almost more colorful and entertaining than the leads. Gary by far is the most vibrant of the supporting cast, though Billy and his wife and children are bright spots in the plot as well. They are necessary foils to Jo and her piles of angst.

Though I must also say that I did like that Jo herself was getting tired of her "waaaaaah but Ben I don't WAAAAANNA go to Alderaaaaan!"--ahem, er, "waaaaaah but Coyote I don't WAAAAANNA be a shamaaaaaaaan!" angst. ;) And yeah, given that she had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the whole notion of possessing such power in the first place, I'm good with the whole idea that it took a city-sized cluehammer to really drive the point home that she needs to Get Over It. I'll be looking forward to seeing how she progresses now that she's shaking this out of her system.

And all of that really was actually more interesting to me through most of the book than the central conflict--pretty much from the first moment we hear about Virissong, I was thinking, "Okay, when is this going to go horribly, horribly wrong?" Especially the part about the coven spouting their line about how they want to bring Virissong into the world to correct everything that's wrong with it, which Jo rightly questions. There's just enough uncertainty here about the coven's intentions as well as Virissong's to keep things interesting--we, the readers, all know things are going to go splody, so the interest becomes more exactly when Jo will find out. And I genuinely didn't see the attempt to use pregnant Mel as a sacrifice coming, nor Colin's becoming Virissong's host. So good job there! I also didn't see coming that Jo's new teacher was a fraud for quite a while there, so good job there as well!

(One side note re: Virissong--heh. I have to admit the name was a touch too Elfquestian for me, but this is a direct result of spending thirteen years on an Elfquest game where you couldn't swing a stick without hitting a character whose name ended in -song. Especially since I also knew a character named Viresse on that game for the longest time as well! But I digress.)

I loved the bits with the thunderbird, both in its initial appearance on one of Jo's spirit quests and later on in the final conflict with the serpent. Lots of gripping description there.

Local-color-wise, I found myself quite pleased with the description of Seattle's weather patterns--both how they're normally supposed to be and how the exercise of Jo's power has screwed them up. I also really liked seeing the Ave appear in the story, since I lived in the U-district for the longest time and the Ave was a frequent hangout spot for me and mine. The only local-color detail I'm less comfy with is the creation of what gets dubbed Thunderbird Falls--oh sure, having Jo cause a 6.2 earthquake right there by Lake Washington? Pretty cool. But I'm having a hard time trying to figure out exactly how the geography of this could work, given that the lake is pretty low-lying in comparison with surrounding terrain. I need to re-read that scene, doublecheck where Jo is when it happens, and see if it still feels weird to me. But this is what I mean when I say that one has to keep in mind that this is a Fantasy Novel Version of Seattle, and since this new waterfall is a pretty nifty way to have magic leave a lasting impact on the city that people can't help but notice, I'm cool with that.

But I think my favorite bits in the whole book were all the scenes with Jo and Morrison, and I say this with clear cognizance that I did say above that Gary Forty Years Younger would be way more charismatic and entertaining than Jo's captain. Which isn't fair to poor Morrison, because he's a much quieter kind of guy than Gary, and I do like him a lot! I really, really like how Jo and Morrison begin to dance around the changes in their relationship that they both know are going on but which neither wants to acknowledge. I especially liked Jo's waffling about what to call him--since "Captain" and "sir" start feeling wrong, and she cannot bring herself to call him Michael. AND! The scene where she confesses her entire real name to him is equally excellent. And there are lots more small but nifty details: Jo realizing that why yes, Morrison is handsome. Morrison taking her to the funeral. Morrison looking at her like she's grown a second head when she doesn't yell at him. Morrison charging up to her after the earthquake in frantic worry to make sure she's all right, and then commencing to yell at her full throttle.

*sighs happily* For those bits alone, this book was well worth the price of admission as a light, somewhat fluffy urban fantasy entree. Not quite as heavy on the death and destruction as Urban Shaman, but I was okay with that; it was oddly fitting with the summery cover and the time of the year, and how the overall real progression was Jo accepting her powers.

Plus, there's the mystery of What Happened to Coyote--for which I'll be looking forward to the third novel. Good job, Kit! Keep 'em coming!