The Hum and the Shiver

This book reads like a blend of American tall tales and European faerie talkes along with a style of magic realism that puts me in mind of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Hatfields and McCoys meet Midsummer Night's Dream. It's a haunting story that is not afraid to string the reader along with hints and guesses of what is truly happening and what we might be just imagining. It's a story about homecoming, trauma, and finding out who you are within and outside of your family. It's hard to say more without giving too much away, but if you like any of the above, I encourage you to read this book. I'll definitely be continuing in the series.

For me this was a strange but oddly satisfying story. There is a tribe of fantastic rednecks called the Tufa who live in a remote community in the mountains of East Tennessee. They live their lives in and are part of that country community, but they are also always somehow different. A Tufa daughter, Bronwyn Hyatt, comes home a wounded hero from the Mid-East wars. She has changed and will bring changes.
Patrick Rothfuss said, “Imagine a book somewhere between American Gods and Faulkner.” That sums it up pretty succinctly I think.

Executive Summary: This one wasn't on my radar at all, but I'm glad I ended up reading it, and plan to continue the series at some point.

Full Review
This is another of those books that makes me glad to have found Sword & Laser. They aren't always favorites, but it definitely gets me reading books I likely wouldn't otherwise.

I found the early pacing of this book a bit on the slow side. However, once things finally did get going, it pretty hard to put down and devoured the last hundred pages or so. It bumped this up from a 3 to a 4 star rating.

I generally don't like most present day/urban fantasy, but this book had a very different feel to it. It probably helps that there are no Vampires or Werewolves. Hopefully that will continue to be the case. Both are far too overdone.

I really enjoyed the musical aspect of the book. I listen to music almost constantly throughout the day. It's something I can identify with. I don't play an instrument myself, but I'm not sure what my life would be without music.

The mystery of the Tufa was the main point of interest to me early on, but once we find out more about them, the other subplots had me hooked into finding out what happens next.

Overall an enjoyable book, and I hope to find time to read more of the series at some point.

To me, Alex Bledsoe wrote a perfect book. It's subtle, but not dull in any way. It's got great characters without resorting to cliche. It's got a fresh concept, but still feels familiar. I didn't think I was going to like this book, but I ended up loving it from cover to cover.

Bledsoe's continued work in the Tufa realm shows that he's created a rich, deep world worth mining.