Paper & Blood: Book Two of the Ink & Sigil series (Ink & Sigil, #2)

by Kevin Hearne

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles comes book two of an “action-packed, enchantingly fun” (Booklist) spin-off series, as an eccentric master of rare magic solves a supernatural mystery Down Under!

There’s only one Al MacBharrais: Though other Scotsmen may have dramatic mustaches and a taste for fancy cocktails, Al also has a unique talent. He’s a master of ink and sigil magic. In his gifted hands, paper and pen can work wondrous spells. 

But Al isn’t quite alone: He is part of a global network of sigil agents who use their powers to protect the world from mischievous gods and strange monsters. So when a fellow agent disappears under sinister circumstances in Australia, Al leaves behind the cozy pubs and cafes of Glasgow and travels to the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria to solve the mystery.

The trail to his colleague begins to pile up with bodies at alarming speed, so Al is grateful his friends have come to help—especially Nadia, his accountant who moonlights as a pit fighter. Together with a whisky-loving hobgoblin known as Buck Foi and the ancient Druid Atticus O’Sullivan, along with his dogs, Oberon and Starbuck, Al and Nadia will face down the wildest wonders Australia—and the supernatural world—can throw at them, and confront a legendary monster not seen in centuries.

• ISBN10: 1984821288
• ISBN13: 9781984821287
• Publish Date: 10 August 2021
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Del Rey Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781984821287

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Paper & Blood is the second book in the UF Ink & Sigil series by Kevin Hearne. Released 10th Aug 2021 by Penguin Random House on their Del Rey imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a really fun series with an ensemble cast and an intricate and well built world (the same settings and tangential political/magic governmental bodies as his Iron Druid chronicles). I enjoyed the iron druid books, and love Atticus and his canine cohorts. They make an appearance in this installment of the series as well, along with Al's other compatriots, Buck Foi (a drunken cursed hobgoblin), Nadia (pit fighter and office manager extraordinaire), and their tricked out Scooby-Doo-esque wizard van.

This time, they're road-tripping to Australia and everything really -does- want to kill them. Many of the characters in this book are Scottish and the author has made a herculean attempt to translate the language and accent. It's mostly successful and I didn't have any trouble following (and got more than one chuckle out of the vernacular), but readers unfamiliar with spoken Scottish might find parts of the book slow going. The language is rough, but not egregiously so. There is violence and destruction aplenty (again, used in context). For readers familiar with the author's other work, it's on a similar level (or roughly equivalent) to Jim Butcher, Charles Stross, and the like. I couldn't help but hear the dialogue in my head in the Glaswegian accent as written.

I loved the vernacular. Readers who hate transliterated accented dialogue will probably be somewhat annoyed, but it's worth the effort. Some of the dialogue surprised an actual guffaw out of me, and that's a pretty big deal. I found it genuinely funny and I really am looking forward to more in this world setting.

Four and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.