Friday, April 10, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Shambling Guide to New York City by Mur Lafferty




The Shambling Guide to New York City is the first in a two book (so far, and likely for good) light urban fantasy series by Mur Lafferty.  I actually came to this series backwards - I read the second book in this series, Ghost Train to New Orleans, first since my library had it in audiobook (Reviewed by me HERE).  So I was a little bit spoiled as to what would happen in this book, but I enjoyed the later book quite a bit - it was fun and witty, featuring a strong human character surrounded by monsters and deities and a version of New Orleans that felt very real.  So even spoiled as I was, I was really interested to see how the series began, especially given that it started in my own home city of New York.

And well, I guess the second book was a big improvement over the first, as The Shambling Guide to New York City doesn't quite live up to its sequel.  Oh the main character is still fun and strong, as a human determined she's strong enough to survive amongst literal monsters and the story still has a decent amount of wit.   Still, the monsters around her are less interesting, and while the book is also about the idea in part of creating a tour guide for monsters - or, coterie as they're called here - its depiction of New York feels entirely generic unlike Lafferty's New Orleans.  So I'm in the rare situation of maybe recommending checking out the sequel instead of the original here, because this is merely fine or solid, whereas that book is a lot more fun and well rounded.


---------------------------------------------------Plot Summary------------------------------------------------------
Zoë Norris is back in New York City, a real city, something she has badly missed.  Alas, she's also unemployed, having moved back to the City from Raleigh after her last job putting together travel guides got destroyed due to having an affair with her - unbeknownst to her - married boss.  So when she sees a job posting in a strange bookstore for an editing position for "Underground Publishing", she's determined to apply and get the job, even when told by multiple people it's not a position for people like "her."  Zoe wants, no needs, the job, and she's determined to prove she can manage it.  

Of course, those people weren't wrong about the job not being the type for people like her - and by "her", they mean "human beings".  For Underground Publishing is a company of Coterie - the monsters/undead/deities/etc. who live hidden in the world around us - and it plans on publishing not just any travel guide, but one for Coterie.  To pull off the job, Zoë will have to learn all about the Coterie world: what they eat, where they live, and what they enjoy, all without falling prey to the various dangers they present to her.....whether that be of being seduced by an incubus, eaten by a vampire, or mauled by a golem, or something else.  

And if Zoë thought surviving her coworkers was hard enough, an unknown individual causing havoc in the City will only make her life even harder....although it certainly won't make it boring.
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The Shambling Guide to New York City is Zoë's story, as she enters the world of Coterie (monsters) and tries to make sense of it all, nevertheless to stay alive.  Technically she's supposed to be writing a travel guide for Coterie, and snippets of the completed guide (which are pretty amusing) do show up at the start of each chapter, often referring to places/events that just occurred in the storyline (although a few times they reveal events that haven't happened yet).  But for the most part this is a story of Zoë discovering this world, trying to survive it despite her best efforts and dealing with a supernatural threat having it out for her.  

And not only is Zoe a solid character, one whose determination to show she belongs despite her....obviously....not belonging makes her easy to cheer for, but she provides an excellent viewpoint for the reader into this strange world, as she's learning about it at the very time we are.  And it's a fun world in general, in which coterie live amongst us but, unlike in some other books with similar setups, are NOT harmless.  So Incubi will try to take advantage of people even if they have sex clubs to normally feed and Vampires who can survive off blood from blood banks still do try to hunt live humans, etc.  Much of the plot until the end is just Zoe running from one encounter with these coterie to the other, and this works because Lafferty makes each type of coterie interesting, especially as things go wrong due to the unseen antagonist.  

Alas, this book isn't nearly as fun or witty as its sequel, and features one plot arc - Zoë attempting desperately to stave off her incubus concubine's pheromones and failing - which is kind of repulsive and not what I like to read.....and that plot thread goes on for way too long.  Meanwhile, while the sequel, which featured New Orleans, felt like it took place in the city, with the guide and storyline taking the reader to re-imagined versions of that city.  Here the only such places we get are basically the Statue of Liberty (referenced briefly) and LaGuardia Airport - New York City as described here is basically completely generic, which is annoying because well, it's my home city.  

None of which is to say this book is bad, per se, but just that it never really moves beyond a solid but not great burst of fun in any way.  The sequel, as I mentioned above, isn't something special either, but it contains a wit and charm that this book lacks, which might make it worth skipping straight to the second book.  Just a thought.   


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