Tanya Huff
DAW Books
Copyright: June 2010
978-0756406059
The amazon.com product description:
First in a brand-new urban fantasy series from the author of The Blood BooksOne of the funniest books I've read in a long time! The Enchantment Emporium is right up there with the Blood Books and the Keeper series for leaving me laughing out loud. And both those series have lines that I still laugh at, years after I read them. Examples include that first rainstorm in Summon the Keeper - the line about it being not significantly drier. I've forgotten the exact wording, but still laugh at the image it invokes.
The Gale family can change the world with the charms they cast, and they like to keep this in the family. Alysha Gale is tired of having all her aunts try to run her life, both personally and magically. So when the letter from her Gran arrives willing her a "junk" shop in Calgary, Alysha jumps at the chance. It isn't until she gets there that she realizes her customers are fey. And no one told her there's trouble brewing in Calgary-trouble so big that even calling in the family may not save the day...
I'm wishing I'd read the book back when it first came out, now. Oh well, better late than never as they always say. I have to say thanks to the customer who told me how good it was, as that was the incentive I needed to read The Enchantment Emporium.
The whole book is set around a very different style of magic, one I still, even after finishing, don't really understand much about. On the other hand, that doesn't make a difference as to how enjoyable the read was.
I really think it was the characters that made the book for me: Alysha and her family are an absolute hoot - especially the various Aunties, but you can't forget her cousin Charlotte (who stars in the sequel: The Wild Ways) and her antics.
Tanya Huff sets her books in Canada, which is a refreshing change when it comes to urban fantasy novels. This one's set in Calgary, but her other series have included Toronto and Vancouver among other places.
As I said at the beginning, this is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time, and it holds marker as being my favourite book for the month of July. Definitely recommended.
2 comments:
This is a fantastic book! I love that combination of humor, mystery, wonder and adventure. You'll have to read the sequel - it's very good, too.
I did give it a try, to be honest, but I didn't find myself getting into The Wild Ways. Maybe I'll give it another try one of these days. Thanks for commenting, Darla.
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