Ink & Sigil

I had so much more fun with this than I expected to from an urban fantasy. I've been subtly steering away from that sub-genre for a while now because I've recently read a few duds that didn't work out for me, but Hearne's humour and writing style just made it work.

Al MacBharrais is a Glaswegian sigil agent in his 60s just wanting to train a good apprentice up to mastership level so that he can retire and enjoy his life. His latest apprentice unfortunately dies in yet another freak accident (choking on a raisin scone), making him the latest of seven apprentices to have met premature ends. Add to that the fact that this latest apprentice seems to have been using sigil magic for nefarious purposes, Al knows that he needs to undo this mess threatening the precarious barrier between humanity and the Faeries. He is joined by a smart-talking, Shakespeare-watching, salsa-guzzling hobgoblin and an Indian goth lesbian Battleseer who doubles up as his manager and accountant (to falsify taxes, of course). There is also that inconvenient curse on Al's head that prevents him from speaking directly to people if he doesn't want them to hate his guts immediately.

If all that sounds up your alley, then you'll probably have a fun time with this one. It's got that chaotic energy a la Douglas Adams, and with an extremely healthy dose of modern technology (Al has to use text-to-speech app to communicate with almost everyone in the book just so they don't start hating him for no reason). The plot in itself isn't super convoluted or complex really, this is a book where you need to be in for the ride, the world, and the characters. That's not to say that the plot isn't good - it does leave enough of a hook for me to want to read the next instalment in the series and find out more about what's going on. But in comparison to the crazy world that we're dealing in, the plot does take a bit of a backseat.

There is also something endearing about our hero, Al. It's rare that we get a fantasy hero who is way past his physical prime, and isn't oversexed. There isn't any romance in this book at all, and it doesn't need any, IMO. Al's devotion to his late wife, who passed in an auto accident more than a decade prior, is honestly pretty sweet and a dynamic that I wish we saw more often in mainstream books these days. The hobgoblin that tags along with him, Buck Foi (yeah, make of that what you will), also had me rooting for him by the end by being wicked silly but also not in the least malicious. Rounding out the trio is Nadia, Al's manager, who won me over from the very beginning because, I mean, she's just badass AF.

The magic system in this world isn't all too complex. Sigil agents pass down the knowledge of sigil magic, which is when you draw certain patterns with specific types of ink in order to assert a magical effect. You don't need to be a magical being to perform that kind of magic, you just need to know things. I like that the five sigil agents in the world were spread out across it, with Al taking care of the European continent from Glasgow, and also a Taiwanese lady, Mei-ling, taking care of North Asia, and her erstwhile apprentice, Shu-hua, taking care of Australia. I also really liked that at some point in the book, Al explains that sigils were derived and adapted from Taoist talismans, which are an actual thing and still extremely commonly used in Chinese fantasy and wuxia novels/dramas, while also being used in Taoist rites and temples sometimes. It's a fairly unique system of magic which I enjoyed.

If there might be a flaw that I could find in this book, it might be that readers might find the world and threads of plot and magic system a bit too overwhelming. There always seems to be twenty things happening at one time, and fifty pieces of information that you need to know. I found that it wasn't a huge problem if you just didn't take the whole thing too seriously and just went along for the ride. Hearne does a good job recapping certain pieces of info if it was immediately necessary to understand a plot situation happening at that time.

Overall, a great book that I'd definitely recommend to urban fantasy fans, or those who enjoy Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. I'm certainly looking forward to reading the next instalment in the series, and will also be checking out the author's other established series, the Iron Druid Chronicles, which came first in setting up the world that this one takes place in.

Starting this audiobook was a bit hard. I was never very good at accents and this really tested it but as soon as I got used to it I was thankful for it. I absolutely loved all the characters in this whole book. They were all separately very interesting and the story was also great.

Being totally thrown into the story worked really well in this case and it didn't make me very confused. It was also very funny and some comments in between the story about the world made me feel really safe with this author. I hope his other books are similar to this because this was great. 

Ink & Sigil is Kevin Hearne's first book in an exciting new series called aptly Ink & Sigil. if you aren't familiar with Hearne's novels, he has a couple of interesting series, the most famous being the Iron Druid Chronicles. “Atticus O'Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound.”

“A toast! Tae inks and sigils and straight razors, tae good bosses and wizards on lizards, tae outsmarting evil when ye can and kicking its arse when ye cannae do that, and tae distillers of fine spirits everywhere. Sláinte!”

In my opinion, the Iron Druid Chronicles is some of the best urban fantasy out there and has the most loyal companion dog in all of fantasy. Although, Mouse from Dresden Files is a very close second. The banter and characterization of Atticus's Wolfhound make many of his books both movers and funny. The Iron Druid series set me on a quest to find an Irish Wolfhound for myself. That is, until I found out the actual size of a said wolfhound—basically, the size of a VW Bug. And much like Mouse from the Dresden Files, a Fu dog and also the size of a VW Bug, he will have to be a dream for someday.

With all that being said, this new series has a lot of the flavor of the Iron Druid series, a wicked sense of humor, banter, and action. But, we have an entirely new type of magic to learn about and a new champion protagonist to cheer for in Al MacBharrais. Al, aside from being a slightly cantankerous sigil agent, has also been cursed. As soon as he speaks, his once melodious voice now causes the hearer to hate his guts. Instead, he is forced to talk to folks using a text-to-speech program on his phone. Problems with his various text-to-speech devices do provide a bit of comedic fun. I believe that who cursed him will be the overarching mystery of the series.

Specifically, the great mystery to this book is what is happening to his apprentices. They keep up and dying on him. Geordie, his newest apprentice, although not a nice guy in any way, did not deserve to die the way he did. Much to Al's dismay, Geordie had been living a double life and dabbling in an underground trafficking ring. Fae had been captured and sold to the highest bidder for often nefarious purposes. This ring is where we meet our sidekick of a sort in Buck Foi, a rogue and mischievous hobgoblin set to steal all he can and drink all of the whiskey. Geordie had him trapped.

This underground trafficking ring and the untimely deaths of his apprentices set Al on a quest to find out who is doing the stealing and killing.

Ink & Sigil is such a fun book. Generally, all of Hearne's books are irreverent and do not take themselves too seriously. His books have a light-heartedness peppered with action that keeps the pace rolling along but still makes you laugh out loud as a reader. However, I think that Ink & Sigil steps up the quality and intelligence of the comedy. It is a smarter comedy, although Buck Foi does throw in plenty of dick and fart level jokes to spice things up.

Also, technically Al is much, much younger than Atticus. However, Al has wisdom that Atticus does not. Maybe it is because of Al's profession; Al is a sigil master. He crafts words and symbols with special inks and seals them for different effects. Al, himself, is not magical. But he has the intelligence to do great magic. Conversely, Atticus does Earth magic and communes with Gaia. His magic is more inward, and dealing with the spirit requires less mind and more soul.

Maybe it is the type of magic he practices or because Al looks the part of a cantankerous older man. Unlike Atticus, who looks 22 but is over 2000 years old. But Al feels like he is one inch from yelling at you to get off his lawn.

These beautiful characters come together to make a fun story that is relatable and with a moving plot. Al is full of all sorts of surprises as well as his staff. Nothing is really as it seems. And like The Iron Druid, it is undoubtedly going to be a bit of a keeper. I can't wait to read more.

Trust me on this - listen to the audiobook rather than reading the print version! I started to read the book and even after the long intro about the spelling, meaning and pronunciation of the ample Scottish in the text - I found it too hard to track and I gave up after a few chapters. Not long after, I picked up the audiobook and it was amazingly well read and fully engaging. Not only did I get the meanings of words, but the first-person narrator came alive for me. It's a clever premise which readers of the Iron Druid (who makes a clever cameo) will recognize and appreciate. It moves quickly with a good sense of humor. The characters are endearing and who knew that hobgoblins get loopy from ordinary salsa. I'm looking forward to listening to (not reading) the next titles in this series.