Sandman Slim
Ratings68
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings68
Average rating3.9
Supernatural fantasy has a new antihero.Life sucks, and then you die. Or, if you're James Stark, you spend eleven years in Hell as a hitman before finally escaping, only to land back in the hell-on-earth that is Los Angeles.Now Stark's back, and ready for revenge. And absolution, and maybe even love. But when his first stop saddles him with an abusive talking head, Stark discovers that the road to absolution and revenge is much longer than you'd expect, and both Heaven and Hell have their own ideas for his future.Resurrection sucks. Saving the world is worse.Darkly twisted, irreverent, and completely hilarious, Sandman Slim is the breakthrough novel by an acclaimed author.
Series
8 primary books10 released booksSandman Slim is a 10-book series with 8 primary works first released in 2009 with contributions by Richard Kadrey.
Reviews with the most likes.
I was recommended this book by some people over at a Reddit page known as Suggest Me A Book. So, first of all, thanks to those guys and gals for suggesting it to me. I asked for a modern-day urban fantasy story and they sure delivered!
WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE AND SPOILERS
The best thing about this novel, in my humble opinion, is the character. He's well-fleshed out and really entertaining to read. He's a bit of a dick, but somehow likeable. However the author pulled that off, I'm not sure.
The side-characters are also suitably interesting and enjoyable to read. You've got an interesting variety of characters, from an immortal alchemist, to a fallen arch-angel, to something known as a Jade. I've heard of Jade's before, sure, but I always thought they were dragon-type things, not what's described in this book. I won't give to much away, but Candy, the Jade in this book, is pretty bad-ass.
There's a lot of world-building in this book. After all, it's the first book in a series of an alternative reality where things like angels, something called Kissi, Jades, Vampires, Magicians, and much more roam the earth. The author has managed to weave all sorts of bits of information about the world into the story, without any of it seeming info-dumpy or hard to keep up with.
I'm going to stop here, because I've already started the next book in the series. A) I keep getting confused between what was in book 1, and what I've already read in book 2, and don't want to spoil the second book. B) The book is calling me back, and I need to read it!
Nice substitute when you need some new urban fantasy. Recommended for fans of the Dresden Files.
This really is almost an exact copy of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. Or as close as Richard Kadrey could legally make it.
I'm not gonna lie: I loved the hell out of this book. (Pun intended.) I wish I could have given it 6 stars, or go back and adjust my other previous 5 star reviews down to 4's because this one set a new bar for me. It was a ton of fun to read. It grabbed me immediately and did a great job of balancing character history with running plot.
