Geekomancy

This book was mentioned in passing by someone on a MobileReads forum. The title was just too intriguing. How could I not look up a book called Geekomancy? I had never heard of the author, but it and Celebromancy, the sequel, had very good reviews on Amazon, so why not?

I'm glad I took a chance on Underwood's work. Ree's tale is highly entertaining, and absolutely hilarious at times. I didn't catch every reference, as I don't do video games or CCGs, but that didn't lessen my enjoyment at all. I look forward to reading more in the series.

A good mix of comedy and action as the heroine discovers she is one of a select group of people able to obtain temporary superpowers by immersing herself in geek culture. There's a good deal more to the urban fantasy universe this is set in than that - there are supernatural beings, and there are people who gain magical abilities in other ways - but that's the angle the book approaches things from. The result is a comedic tour of geekdom, with lots of sly references in among the more obvious ones.

And I do like the way that many of the characters are introduced with a two-line D&D stat block...

But the main reason this works is that there's a reasonable plot behind it all, giving the comedy something to bounce off. It concerns a spate of teen suicides, at least to begin with, giving some depth and darkness to what could otherwise simply be an exercise in thinking of fun ways to use geeky references.

This is a fun urban fantasy, with great potential, and I'm glad to see that there are more books following in the series. One might argue that, even without her superpowers, Ree is surprisingly competent for somebody who is essentially a barista at a comic shop and coffee house - having learned taekwondo is fair enough, because some people do, but having learned to pick locks as well is perhaps a little too plot-useful. Still, that's a minor point in what's otherwise a very well written character that should be recognisable to most of the intended audience.

On the whole, great stuff, and the plot isn't entirely wrapped up at the end, promising a worthy story arc as the series continues.