{"id":14488,"date":"2009-04-08T19:10:57","date_gmt":"2009-04-09T01:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=14488"},"modified":"2009-04-08T19:23:21","modified_gmt":"2009-04-09T01:23:21","slug":"book-review-mean-streets-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/04\/08\/book-review-mean-streets-2009.html","title":{"rendered":"Book Review:  <i>Mean Streets<\/i> (2009)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"img-shadow-right\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0451462491\/ref=ase_davedoesthebl-20\/\" target=\"_blank\" alt=\"Click here to go to Amazon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.amazon.com\/images\/P\/0451462491.01._MCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>I hate it when I&#8217;m successfully manipulated by Big Business. Or Big Publishing.<\/p>\n<p>And, of course, that&#8217;s what&#8217;s happened with &lt;i&gt;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0451462491\/ref=ase_davedoesthebl-20\/\" target=\"_blank\" alt=\"Click here to go to Amazon\">Mean Streets<\/a>&lt;\/i&gt;, a collection of four novellas by different fantasy writers about their urban fantasy noir detectives. All of whom, coincidentally, happen to have book series that Roc (Penguin) would just love me to buy.<\/p>\n<p>Which, of course, I now need to.<\/p>\n<p>*sigh*<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> <strong>&#8220;The Warrior&#8221; by Jim Butcher <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Good (4 stars out of 5)\" height=\"18\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars4.jpg\" width=\"78\" \/><\/strong><br \/> Butcher&#8217;s highly successful Harry Dresden, seedy PI wizard of Chicago, is a natural to lead off the collection.&nbsp;&nbsp;The tale&nbsp;fits quite neatly into current continuity, but it&#8217;s still a bit odd to see Harry only facing a couple of Dire Menaces, rather than the usual dozen or so. Still, there&#8217;s the usual humor, pathos, philosophy, angst, and, of course, magic. Harry&#8217;s dealing with guilt over his friend Michael&#8217;s injuries &#8212; even as it looks like someone is gunning for Good stuff, if not quite as good as a full-length novel. It&#8217;s no surprise that it&#8217;s the headliner of the book. <\/li>\n<li> <strong>&#8220;The Difference a Day Makes&#8221; by Simon R. Green <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Fair (3 stars of 5)\" height=\"19\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars3.jpg\" width=\"57\" \/><\/strong><br \/> This stars John Taylor, a PI in London&#8217;s Nightside, a dark magical realm&nbsp;of sin and excess. It&#8217;s Gaiman by way of Warren Ellis, with perhaps a bit of Moorcock and a very grumpy (and half-drunk) Zelazny. In this tale, Taylor decides to help a woman who&#8217;s found her way into the Nightside find the missing day from her memory, even though every indication is that it will Not End Well. Not quite my unremittingly-dark cuppa, but I don&#8217;t regret having read it, and it might be something I come back to. <\/li>\n<li> <strong>&#8220;The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog&#8221; by Kat Richardson <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Good (4 stars out of 5)\" height=\"18\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars4.jpg\" width=\"78\" \/><\/strong><br \/> Part of Richardson&#8217;s &#8220;Graywalker&#8221; series, the best analog I can think of is Mercedes Lackey&#8217;s old Diana Tregarde novels, only with a bit lower magic level and focusing more on ghosts than witchcraft. Good, entertaining stuff, and some nice use (in this issue) of Mexican folk magic and holidays. I&#8217;ve ordered the first of the series (which is going to be reissued soon). <\/li>\n<li> <strong>&#8220;Noah&#8217;s Orphans&#8221; by Thomas E. Sniegoski <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Good (4 stars out of 5)\" height=\"18\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars4.jpg\" width=\"78\" \/><\/strong><br \/> Remy Chandler is one of the Seraphim, who quit his job after the Great War in Heaven and has decided that being a Boston-based private detective is the best way to learn about (and join) humanity. Here Chandler combats (im)mortal grief while trying to find out who&#8217;s murdered&nbsp;Noah &#8212; and why. And, yes, I&#8217;ve ordered the first of this series, too.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I hate being manipulated &#8212; but I guess I&#8217;m being manipulated in a pleasant way (so to speak). Good stuff. All recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I hate it when I&#8217;m successfully manipulated by Big Business. Or Big Publishing. And, of course, that&#8217;s what&#8217;s happened with &lt;i&gt;Mean Streets&lt;\/i&gt;, a collection of four novellas by different fantasy writers about their urban fantasy noir detectives. All of whom, coincidentally, happen to have book series that Roc (Penguin) would just love me to buy. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/04\/08\/book-review-mean-streets-2009.html\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Book Review:  <i>Mean Streets<\/i> (2009)&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-books"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":133198,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/04\/02\/its-a-wakka-wakka-wakka-day-in-the-neighborhood.html","url_meta":{"origin":14488,"position":0},"title":"It&#039;s a wakka-wakka-wakka day in the neighborhood","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 2-Apr-17 2:18pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, you can turn your current Google Maps view into a Ms Pac-Man game. Even on Windows. Yes, that's awesome. You Can Play Ms. Pac-Man In Google Maps Right Now If you\u2019ve ever had the very specific fantasy of playing Ms. Pacman on your neighborhood streets, there\u2019s good news. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9221,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/01\/20\/serendipity_4.html","url_meta":{"origin":14488,"position":1},"title":"Serendipity","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 20-Jan-06 10:15am","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm working from home today. It's a half-day for me (the \"4\" of the \"(4x9)+4\" schedule), and there's enough snow on the streets to make me just as soon not...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Job Jollies&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Job Jollies","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/job-jollies"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131090,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/07\/15\/clear-the-streets-clear-the-streets.html","url_meta":{"origin":14488,"position":2},"title":"Clear the streets! Clear the streets!","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 15-Jul-16 10:35am","format":false,"excerpt":"+Kay Hill now has her learner's permit!No, I'm not telling you to clear the streets because she's an unsafe teen driver. I'm telling you to clear the streets so that she remains safe. Yeesh, she's my daughter, after all.And while the process took about an hour and a half at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/zootopia%2BSloth%2BStapling%2BSlowly.gifimgmax%3D660.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/zootopia%2BSloth%2BStapling%2BSlowly.gifimgmax%3D660.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/zootopia%2BSloth%2BStapling%2BSlowly.gifimgmax%3D660.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24248,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/05\/what-makes-fantasy-fantasy.html","url_meta":{"origin":14488,"position":3},"title":"What Makes Fantasy Fantasy?","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 5-Dec-11 3:16pm","format":false,"excerpt":"As opposed to, say, SF? Does the presence of psionics \/ ESP make something Fantasy (or SF)? How about things that are claimed to be tech, but meld up with Clarke's Law (\"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic\"?), including things that we'd currently consider impossible by our understanding\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5954,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/06\/23\/fantasy.html","url_meta":{"origin":14488,"position":4},"title":"Fantasy","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 23-Jun-04 9:19pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Ursula K. Le Guin's BookExpo America Speech on the state of genre fantasy. Good stuff. Some assumptions are commonly made about fantasy that bother me. These assumptions may be made...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-books"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6144,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/05\/10\/gender_fender_b.html","url_meta":{"origin":14488,"position":5},"title":"Gender-fender-bender","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 10-May-04 10:53am","format":false,"excerpt":"Even though women can't drive in Saudi Arabia, that doesn't mean traffic problems there aren't their fault. I wonder if those responsible for organizing traffic awareness campaigns and programs aimed...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ZT &amp; PC&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ZT &amp; PC","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/zt-pc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14488\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}