James A. HunterBesprekingen

DNF at 52%! This year's first DNF. I just couldn't get into the story or like the main character (or any character when I think about it). It's just me, not every book can suit everyone.

A fitting continuation of the series.

Great plot, character development and conflict with believable and entertaining tists and turns. This entire series has been highly enjoyable.

Yancy Lazarus is a drifter, roaming here and there fixing problems for clients. In fact, he's known as The Fixer. He uses his wits and Vis, magic that uses the energy of the universe, to solve problems for his clients. But this time, someone doesn't want him solving anything. He has been told about a situation in California, but he's attacked twice before even making it out to LA. The case turns out to be quite a doozy -- Rival gangs. a massacre. Body snatchers. Monsters. Demons. This story has a little bit of everything. Think Dresden with a bit more grit, driving a souped-up El Camino rather than a VW bug.

Overall, I enjoyed this story. There were some spots where I felt it could have used a bit more editing. But, the rough patches here and there didn't really dampen my enjoyment of the tale. There was plenty of magic-slinging action, sprinkled with a bit of cheesy humor.

I have to admit that I didn't find myself really connecting with the characters in this book. The story was ok. The characters were ok. The humor was good. But.....it was all just....ok. I think the main characters just lacked depth. I was never drawn in and made to care about them in any way. The story was just a bit on the superficial side.....not really delving into the whys and motivations of the characters. Sort of like an action movie that is all shooting and special effects but no background or foundation as to why the shooting is necessary. There is very little world-building and not much in-depth characterization to draw readers into the meat of the story. It just lacked....substance.

There are four books in the Yancy Lazarus series. My guess is that the author gained momentum with world-building and characterization in the subsequent books. Yancy has great potential as a magic slinging badass....it just didn't really come out in this first book. '

Those who like urban fantasy would enjoy this series. For me, the first book seemed a bit lackluster. In the end that's just my opinion and others might really enjoy Yancy's debut adventure. I would definitely love to have his car! :) Nothing like a badass El Camino!

Never connected with the main character.

3.5 Stars

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I quite liked this one!

I need to further explain myself. It was a great no-nonsense, no-thinking required kind of read, which is perfect for relaxing after a long day's work. Do not expect deep thoughts or a very interesting magic system though.

I can really understand it when people are put off by the main character's voice, for it is written in a way that won't please everyone. The story is really fast but forgettable. However, I would like to read more of it in the future. I don't think this really is a binge read series for me though.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Strange Magic by James A Hunter

An urban fantasy noir mage story. First in a series.
Yancy is a mage that cant say no when someone’s in trouble.

The best part of this story were the one liners. It reminded me of noir style detective stories but with magic and demons. The audio version flowed to the rhythm and style.

Some of the lines that cracked me up.
You have to be grateful for the little things in life - like getting thrown into a clean dumpster.

I wasn’t unfamiliar with a woman hitting me.

No one puts baby in a corner.

Rogue Dungeon:A litRPG Adventure by James Hunter and eden Hudson and narrated by Nick Moreno has a different approach to the story. I like that it's not the same thing over and over! I had just about given up on litRPGs. I love the story's approach, the characters, the plot, the way they story explains things for non-gamers too.
The narration is excellent! I really think it added to the story!

Entertaining urban fantasy with a mage with a past happening upon a town under siege by its own children. An author to read more of.

Viridian Gate Online is probably my very favorite series in the litRPG genre so I leapt at the chance to read it ASAP. This installment of VGO begins right in the middle of all the action. I devoured this fast paced novel in just days. The characters are realistic, they have their flaws and their strengths and begin to feel like old friends that you could easily go out to grab a cup of Western Brew and chat with. You even begin to develop some fondness for characters you may have previously despised as the novel delves deeper into their stories. I really enjoyed seeing the characters evolve themselves and in their relationships in this book.

Continuing to delve into the appearance of the troubling malware blades threatening the safety of what was supposed to be a refuge for humans escaping the end of the real world and the corruption spreading across the land we are also made aware that even the gods and goddesses of VGO are not immune to the danger. Jack and his group are forced to work together with former rivals while exploring a new realm and face a powerful evil threatening the safety of his patron goddess Sophia and her realm.

The familiar is mixed with new scenery and storyline to keep things interesting as the team overcomes incredible odds, fighting for their right to survive in the VGO world. The only thing I was sad about was finishing it so quickly! James Hunter has done it again and I cannot wait for the next book!

testosterone-fest, action-adventure, fantasy, hard-boiled, snarky, situational-humor, verbal-humor

Hunter hits another one out of the park with this one!
I've liked Yancy from the beginning, but the whole thing keeps getting better and better. It's a great testosterone fest but the snarks and other humor really make it!
And Charlie Kevin has the delivery of the narration down to a science!

This book was hard to put down, but left me disappointed by the end.

As always, I enjoyed the action. The MC is mostly okay, though he does stupid things and we see a lot of repeat "revelations".

My main complaint is that the book was too short both substantively and in terms of page count. We advance the story by one and a half battles, and the twist is entirely predictable. Yawn.

The second complaint is that the story is internally inconsistent with itself. We established in book 1 that the system is supposed to be balanced in some way by the Overminds. The book 1 dungeon was made to be abused, but still required a super boss, etc. Yet this book appears to show an antagonist who entirely broke that rule (you know who).

I had a lot of fun with this story despite its few faults. Yancy is a rough and tumble character with a good heart. He’s somewhere in his 70s but because of his magic he looks like he’s in his 40s. His lingo made me think of biker movies and James Dean and gritty stories of Vietnam. Also, Yancy is a smoker which I like in characters even though I don’t care for it in real life.

Hunter gives us small glimpses into Yancy’s past which includes his family that he left behind and his time spent working closely with other magic users. It hooked me. I wanted to know more even as I wanted Yancy to get to the bottom of these demonic murders. Yancy has depth and while I wanted some of the side characters to be a bit deeper, Yancy was enough to keep me entertained.

The pacing was good with plenty of action and small moments of reflection tossed in. This story made a good companion was I played Titan Quest. While Yancy was the star, I enjoyed Greg as well. He’s got some snark and he’s tough on Yancy but he’s also intriguing. The building of the magic-side of the world is also well done. There were clear rules for the bits of magic presented and those stayed consistent throughout the story. All together, 4/5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Charlie Kevin was a lot of fun to listen to. He is the perfect match for Yancy Lazarus. He’s got a little gravel to his voice, always seems on the cusp of being a smart ass (just like Yancy), and also handles Yancy’s emotions well. All his character voices were distinct and his female characters sounded feminine. There were no technical issues with this recording. 5/5 stars.

Note: This is Book 2 in the series and can work as a stand alone.

Book 1 was good but this book is much better. It’s a bit darker, more gritty, some great secondary characters, awesome fight scenes, and some twisted fae. Yancy still fascinates me. He has his dated lingo and smokes like a chimney but his ideas of women aren’t dated (which is nice since it would have been embarrassing yet entertaining to see FBI agent Nicole Ferraro kick his butt).

Some of those background questions I had in Book 1 get answered here. We learn more about Yancy’s family and the reasons he left them. We also get to know more about the magic Guild Yancy was once part of through the Guild member James. There’s still plenty to learn about Yancy’s past but I like that we get a little bit more each book.

There’s plenty to do with the winter Fae and Old Man Winter in this story. It borders on epic fantasy because of the big sweeping implications of some of it but I liked that it stayed urban fantasy. That’s Yancy’s strength right now. There were some great messy scenes fighting ice dwarves and such. I also like Yancy’s take on using compulsion, even on evil fae.

Nicole is a great addition to the story. She’s got her own agenda and doesn’t take crap from Yancy. Yet she can play a role, keeping it cool, in order to blend in as well. She’s not all bite; she’s also a lot of brains. I really hope we see more of her in future books.

This is a fun, dark urban fantasy that wraps up the immediate mystery while leaving a few bigger questions for the series arc. Once again, it was the perfect companion to playing Titan Quest. 5/5 stars.



The Narration: Charlie Kevin was great once again. He’s the perfect fit for the gravely, snarky voice of Yancy. He also made an excellent Nicole, his voice being feminine without being ridiculous. I loved his voices for the various fae. He made them sound dangerous and deadly. All his character voices were distinct. There were no technical issues with this recording. 5/5 stars.

Not for me. It started out so promising that i anticipated a good read. The inner dialgue wore me down and when he bifurcated into 2 boring characters, I called it quits.

A gamer's delight! This was a very fun read. I've played MMO's since the first days of EverQuest and found the narrative ran true. Well, as true as one would imagine moving to life in an online game would be. Entertaining and likable protagonist. Richly imagined virtual world. Thumbs up! My high rating is based on giving it high marks for achieving what it sets out to do. If you have no interest in gaming or virtual worlds, you might not enjoy it as much as I did. I knocked off half a point for a couple of minor details.½

This book was very hard to put down once I started reading it. A perfect mixture of crime drama and supernatural happenings make this book a real page-turner. This book follows Yancy while he tries to determine what is going on in the city and how he can stop it before it gets out of hand. He has to keep the city as safe as possible while at the same time trying to figure out who is behind all of the strange happenings in the city. He has to use his special magic to stop the monsters before they completely take over.

: hard-boiled, urban-fantasy, fantasy, paranormal, action-adventure, snarky, exmilitary, audiobook

Always a good read, Hunter keeps the pace and the interest while the snarkiness just keeps getting better. The guild has lost its mind, and now Yancy is saddled with a desk jockey as his parole supervisor. There is lots of scary stuff, but the publisher's blurb gives hints and there is no need for spoilers here. I loved it!
Charlie Kevin continues to be terrific as Yancy's narrator!

mage, Bigfoot, snark-fest, action-adventure, exmarine, twisty, urban-fantasy, audiobook

I can't believe that I lost this in my TBR pile! Yancy Lazarus is a mage, ex Marine, a fixer, nobody to mess with, and the king of snark. This time he is called upon by the chief Bigfoot to contain a major problem. Lots of twists, action, amazing knowledge of multicultural lore, and the best kind of thrill ride! The publisher's blurb gives hints and clues, and there is no need for spoilers here. The characters certainly are and the plot is fast moving. I love it!
Charlie Kevin is more than well suited to the role of narrator for Yancy. He's got the attitude, cadence, and super snark down to a science.

Viridian Gate Online: Cataclysm (The Viridian Gate Archives #1) by J.A. Hunter is an exciting online litRPG book. The end of the world is coming and a company has made a way for your brain to live on in a game online as the asteroid comes to destroy the world. But in the game, you will feel everything. The game can be deadly. Very exciting book, I got totally wrapped up in it and was yelling at the tablet. I am not even a gamer and was wondering if he needs to check for loot in each room! LOL. I really thought this book was outstanding. I look forward to book 2.

This book finds me in an awkward position of trying to write a review which is functionally different from my review of Siren’s Song. Because I’m in much the same position

I like the story. I think it’s well written, I think it has a lot of action, a lot of excellent epic fight scenes and the whole awesome description of Vis and the Tuatha de Danaan. It was epic, it was action packed, it has some nice twists.

But it’s a story we know. It’s a story we know very well. It’s a story that pretty much underpins a lot of Yancy’s character. In fact it may be the defining moment of Yancy’s character

Before this book Yancy was a cynical, brutal but loyal member of the Guild of the Staff. He was their wetwork specialist, their fixer. This was the man who was called in for one reason – to break things and break people. This was the man who was hardbitten, cynical – but still very much a believer in what the Guild of the Staff represents

And then Ailia, the woman he loves, was abandoned by the Guild of the Staff after they faced the Morrigan and Yancy decided to turn his back on all of them. This in turn laid down the path which led to the main books

This isn’t the plot of this book I’m describing here. This is the plot that has been fundamentally clear since the beginning of the series. There’s no way it couldn’t be because this was who Yancy is. The whole reason why Yancy is where he is right now, the whole reason why Yancy began the series as the solo blues man he is is because of the events in this book

There was no way we couldn’t not know this story

There is no way we couldn’t know how this book ends.

We even know most of the details of this, who is involved and why.

So despite all the action and the power and the roaring fighting, I have almost the same level of frustration I have with Sirens - I know this story.

Read More½

This is a flashback for Yancey, back to the days when he first learned he was a wizard: in the rainforests of Vietnam, surrounded by enemies, fighting for their lives and facing the sirens. And an ancient force far more deadly than even the modern battlefield.

For a time in this book I was vaguely frustrated

Not because I wasn’t enjoying this book – because I was. Not because it wasn’t well written – because it certainly was. It has a great sense of grimness, that classic Vietnam war-film feel all grim and gritty and normal people completely out of their element, fighting a nasty, terrible war far beyond their experience and what their training prepared them for.

Yancey’s extremely well portrayed, I can feel him, his anger, his sadness, his loss, his struggle. I can feel the camaraderie of his team and why that makes what the Siren’s music is doing to them extra painful and soul destroying.

The quality of the work, the writing, the style and the whole theme and feeling of the story is excellent

But I’ve read it before. I mean, one of the major elements of one of the books is Yancey confronting the sirens, arguing over what happened, demanding revenge and dramatically announcing exactly why he was so angry with the sirens

So I knew this story, especially since the parts that were added were classic Nam movie fiction that while it was all very thematic and atmospheric it wasn’t really adding anything. It was a fun read but then I asked why I was reading it, what it added to Yancey’s story

Especially since this was Yancey’s opening to magic but contained very little magic or wonder. And that makes sense, they’re in a war zone under constant threat. There’s a level of “just roll with it and keep moving” that simply has to apply here, no arguing that. But it’s another storyline that this book could have explored that would have added so much to Yancey’s past that wasn’t. I understand why it wasn’t, it wasn’t the time – but why this book

Then we got the answer with a big epic story about a Leshy and his plot to cause untold suffering and the noble and brave Gregg and Rat and Yancey willing to sacrifice everything to stop him because ultimately they may not be skilled or magical or powerful and they definitely have not the slightest clue what is really going on – but they know it’s wrong, they know people will die and they know they have to stop that

And it’s big and noble and epic. And, on the face of it, a good story – I want to say that again and again about this – it’s a good story, it’s well written, it’s atmospheric with some great characters being portrayed. And it’s a Vietnam war story without demonising the Vietnamese.

Read More

Yancy carries the Seal if the Horseman of War. His mind is being colonised by the demon Azazel and it’s a battle he’s losing

It would help if he could stop drawing on the dark power the demon offers. But with the world in the balance and another seal possibly falling into the hands of their enemies, he seems to have no choice. As he drags himself through horrendous, torturous experience after another, faces agony and horror and watches the Guild of the Staff completely collapse around him – can he really say no to the demon’s magic?

But if he accepts the demon’s help, does he risk being a greater threat than the very thing he’s fighting against?

The ongoing meta plot of this series now goes into high gear as the seals of the apocalypse and the archdemons who guard them are now front and centre to the storyline. We don’t just have Yancy stumbling across a situation that happens to be related to the epic ongoing battle on which the world rests.

This feels much more directed because of this, the grand fate of the end of the world and the consequences there are much more central. Even though that has been on the cards for a while, the last book felt more local, focusing on the Big Foot (big feet?) rather than the very world being in the balance. We definitely have the broader focus here. Along with all the epic conflict and fight scenes I expect from a Yancy Lazerous novel.

Perhaps because it is so focused, I don’t feel like this book is jammed with unnecessary fight scenes – not because there are less of them, but more because each fight as actually relevant to the overall plot line. In previous books if Yancy went to a bar, asked someone for information, pretty much anything, there would be a battle. I think one of the problems I have in taking Fast Hands Steve seriously as an epic enemy (beyond the awful name) is that he was introduced in a completely random unnecessary fight. Building a whole vendetta enemy out of a fight in a bar because Yancy can’t even play music without there being conflict going on really fails as a back story. Sometimes I feel Yancy eats BBQ in restaurants all the time because he can’t go to the shops to buy groceries without fighting ninjas, demons, and vampiric girl scouts.

Here all the action was on point

There’s also some devastatingly dramatic tension with Yancy confronting Fotuna after the horrendous things he suffers in this book. It doesn’t downplay or minimise the trauma nor expect Yancy to just breeze past it – it’s devastating and presented as such.

I also like Darlene

When we first met Darlene and Yancy dismisses her as an office worker way out of her depth, I waited for him to be proven gloriously wrong. I waited for this to be proven wrong. I waited for her to pull out some ninja magical nuclear powers and leave Yancy gasping at her violent awesomeness.

And I was wrong. She was out of her depth. She absolutely fell apart in a combat situation and generally Yancy’s first impressed was confirmed in spades

This isn’t a bad thing. Why wouldn’t a fully experienced combat veteran like Yancy NOT recognise someone with combat training. Plus waif-fu – or awesome fighting power houses who don’t remotely look the part – is an annoying trope that is kind of elated to the super-hot-thin-people-eating-fried-chicken-covered-pizzas-and-not-exercising trope. Actually being an active, experienced combat fighter generally comes with a level of physical fitness and muscle tone. And that’s aside from demeanour, grim bitterness etc – there’s every reason why Yancy should have been able to accurately peg Darlene

Read More

Yancy continues to want very little from life. Ribs, whiskey, gambling and a drifter’s life. But he’s been dragged into an epic secret conflict no man with a conscience could walk away from

He also cannot walk away from angry Big Feet who need his help. Mainly because they’re super fast and willing to wreck his car and his skull to make him co-operate

Despite a less than auspicious introduction, Yancy finds that the same insidious evil he has been hunting has its tentacles here as well – and the future of more than the Big Feet rest in the balance.

We know the pattern of a series like this. With every book, the current plot will feed into the greater meta plot, we will have epic confrontations each feeding into more epic confrontations to come. Great powers will be raised, will be fought and our heroes will emerge bloodied and not entirely victorious – but they will have pushed back the dark for now and emerged a little stronger, a little more powerful, and, yes a little more epic than they were before

It’s a pattern I’ve seen repeated numerous times – and gods do I love it. I really really do – so long as you can walk that shining line between the epic and the Gary Stu/Mary Sue. So long as the plot is more than just a slug fest (which this series doesn’t do that well with) and so long as the world is one epic playground in which all the awesome can be displayed – which this book certainly does do.

We have an epic world, an ever more epic conflict, lots of blood-fizzing fight scenes all with a decidedly noir bent that it actually pulls off at least 80% of the time (hey, a well maintained Noir is a wonderful and rare thing to find – but usually they try too hard). Yancy manages to be just a bit too unlikeable (there’s the gruff rogue antihero and the outright arsehole and he flirts along that line just a bit too much), but in all, all the ingredients I love are right there and this series has gone from one I was relatively indifferent about to one I will be following to the bitter end.

It also has sufficient quirks to make it special as well – I kind of love Lady Luck, the entire concept of her, her influence that always helps so very much – but not nearly as much as you’d like. Because of course, she’s bound by rules. And equally of course, she breaks them. She is Lady Luck after all. Or maybe not break, but there’s a lady who likes her loopholes

On the third book in the series I find myself with the same old problem. I like the action. The action is good. The action is interesting. That action is well paced and well written and exciting and you can see all these epic fights raging across the book. They’re really really really well done and these action scenes dropped in any other book would be so very awesome in any other book

But not in this one because, again, there are just too many. Over and over and over we have fight scenes. We have struggles. And sometimes just wonder why is everything so hard? I mean the whole opening scene where Yancy meets the Chiye-tanke we have a battle. We have a long, unnecessary fight scene between Yancy and his upcoming allies and… why? Whyyyyy? And even if there was an initial misunderstanding why did we have to go full on war zone? Why is Chief Chankoowashtay the leader of his people and this incapable of communicating coherently and sensibly with people? And why in the name of all that is sensible does Yancy have to smart mouth his way through every encounter trying to provoke a fight ALL the times. We’ve said it before in relations to a lot of oh-so-strong female protagonists and it equally applies here: your character is not tougher or stronger because they can’t stop wise cracking and disrespecting everyone around them. It’s tiresome, it’s annoying, it slows down the plot and it makes me kind of dislike Yancy.

The only redeeming element of all this is Ferraro, who is awesome in so many ways. And one of the things she does so well is constantly call out Yancy for his bullshit. When he is wallowing in angst and moping, Ferraldo is there to say he is pouting and acting like an utter manchild. She is there to slap him down for abandoning her, for centring his emotion, for constantly snarling and snapping at other people, for moping. Ferraldo is repeatedly there not to coddle his precious sadness or anger or issues, she is there to drag him out and make sure he gets through it. That’s not to say she’s unfeeling, she can and often is highly sympathetic

This is a perfect counter to so much of Manpain trope we see. Yancy gets to have pain and suffer – but his pain is no more special or important than anyone else’s. When he begins to centre his pain or allow his angst or issues consume everything else, Ferraldo is there to call him out on this. And not just Ferraldo, often the world setting, the plot and Yancy’s own musings can equally step in to say that Yancy is wrong here. Even with things like epic moments in his history are made more nuanced and complex with the Sirens’ own history and explanation of their actions and position and exposing that Yancy’s complete condemnation is too simplistic

In so many ways this is excellently necessary because Yancy runs the risk of becoming a common form of Gary Stu. He has big awesome powers, he is so super important and he’s picking up more powers in this book as well. His is a trap that Harry Dresden often dips in, Atticus Sullivan just avoids and Deacon Chalk absolutely wallows in: male leader characters who are so utterly awesome at what they do that they badly need to counter their view points/power. While Yancy approaches this whole issue, the fact that Ferraldo and the world are constantly correcting him, contradicting him, setting him back is an excellent counterpoint.

Read More

Yancy Lazarus is a drifter, a gambler, a drinker and a blues man and he’d really like to be left alone. He did his bit for the Guild of the Staff, the wizards’ ruling body, and now he’s past done with them.

But when an old friend asks for help to rescue his grandson from some winter fae, Yancy can hardly say no. He can’t leave a child in their hands.

Unfortunately, the kidnapping of a child is only the beginning of the problems he uncovers – and not only does he find a conspiracy that could cause immense damage, but he also places himself smack in the middle of it. Accused of murder (and then relying on the arresting FBI agent to be an ally), weakened and depowered and targeted by a pissed off mage and some ancient elemental force, Yancy’s own survival depends on him getting back in the fight.

It’s been a while since I read the first book in this series Strange Magic, but despite the wide and rich world it quickly came back to me because it has an excellent voice and tone that’s pretty unique

In the world we have a flawed wizarding organisation

In many ways it reminds me heavily of The Dresden Files but, perhaps due to length of the series so far, not quite on the same scale. But I think that’s also very much due to Yancey – because Yancey generally doesn’t want to get involved. Yancy is getting by and is quite resentful at the Guild of the Staff dragging him any further in.

Yancey is quite happy to slope around the world, preferably warm parts of the world, smoking and drinking and gambling and eating excellent BBQ whenever he can. He’s not into saving the world and he has little faith with the Guild of the Staff, with its far greater emphasis on politics and excessive caution than in actually looking out for the members it’s supposed to be helping.

Yancey isn’t involved in the wider aspects of the world setting here – which is also reflected in the world building: we have lots of hints of various monsters and creatures more than the larger organisations. This draws more from Yancey’s long and varied experiences – so we have some excellent world building about the monsters and creatures Yancey runs up against (which are varied, different and original creations which are excellently depicted for a very action packed book) than the sweeping organisations (though I love the world building around Old Man Winter and the summer and winter fae)

That doesn’t mean there isn’t epic here – but it’s epic that Yancey is beginning to uncover (and reluctantly at that) and become part of. The wider world that they are being dragged into has been excellently hinted at and I’m sure is going to develop much much further in later books.

The whole book has a very noir tone, while not set in that era. It has that cynical, jaded, world-weary sense that really does such a lot to explain Yancey’s character than any amount of overt explanation. You don’t need to have it expressly explained to picture Yancey sat in a dark, smokey bar, looking perhaps 10 or 20 years older than he should be, playing the blues on the piano with a large glass of whiskey to hand; occasionally pausing to share some painful old war stories with people he respects and tells people. The tone is excellent for world building.

Read More½

Savage Prophet (Yancy Lazarus #4) by James A. Hunter is by far the most suspense filled, dangerous mission Yancy has been on! I was on edge the whole book, except for the humorous snarky parts, LOL. I absolutely love these books! The are full of magic, action, adventure, danger, strange creatures, wizardry, and this time voodoo, zombies, and demons. He finds the most interesting characters to mess with. He messed with the wrong crowd this time or they messed with him. Either way, his world is in for a hurt. Love the fun ride in these reads.