A Weegie, a Hobgoblin, and a Fairy Walk Into a Pub... (Ink & Sigil urban fantasy REVIEW)

Maybe it’s a worldwide “Boomerization”, or maybe it’s simply that as seasoned writers age, they lean more toward writing characters who reflect their own well-earned years, rather than attempting to vicariously recapture fleeting youth through much younger ones. Whatever, it’s fascinating how many books have crossed my path, recently, that feature older protagonists. (Perhaps I should view this as a positive, like getting older won’t automatically be so bad..??)

Anyway, that brings us to what has to be one of the most delightfully fun “oldsters” I’ve read about in a long time… the very Scottish (and rather proper) Al MacBharrais, in Kevin Hearne’s new spin-off from his popular fantasy series, Ink & Sigil (From the World of the Iron Druid Chronicles). 

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Al MacBharrais is one of only a handful of people in the entire world who can cast spells via sigils (think of them as handwritten words and symbols on paper, penned with enchanted inks [the creation of which is a whole ‘nother hunt-gather-create sort of thing]). Fortunately for the world, Al generally uses those spells for good… often, for keeping the blissfully-unaware, regular-human dwellers safe from the devilries, naughtiness, and—on occasion—evil intentions of the Fae (the broad term for the myriad fairy folk who can gain admittance to our world from theirs). There are plenty of other tricksy little things those sigils are good for, too, but that’s best left for you to find out. 

So, yeah… turns out that oldster Al—this mustachioed, dapper-suit/overcoat/hat-wearing, cane-carrying Glaswegian gent—is actually something of a badass. (Seriously, that’s kinda cool; he reminds me a bit of Mr. Steed from the old ‘60s TV show, The Avengers.) (Erm, please note that I said “cool”, not “hot”.)

Back to the story, though. Things kick off when Al learns that his current apprentice—a chap named Gordie—has just been found dead. (I’m not gonna tell you how he died; it’s too funny to spoil… but I will say that this isn’t even close to being the first of Al’s apprentices to meet an unexpectedly early demise.) 

A little deeper digging on Al’s part soon unearths some unsavory surprises about the recently-departed Gordie, though—namely, that he was involved in something very, very bad… in both the human AND fae realms. And, as fate (and fae) would have it, it falls to Al—rather than the police—to put things right, because it’s infinitely better for humans if most of us don’t know that the fae are actually, really REAL.

So, armed only with a hodgepodge of associates—the manager at his legitimate (i.e., not-super-secret-sigil-producing) business, who’s a former female brawler; an ace hacker (whose quirky pastimes veer sharply into kink); and a hobgoblin rescued from Gordie’s flat (now being hunted by whoever Gordie had been engaging with in those über-shady deals)—plus a little advice from a couple of friendly fae bigwigs (who visit earth now and then when something goes fifty shades of wrong), Al sets out to play detective… all while trying to keep the actual detectives firmly out of the picture.

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Ink & Sigil is some of the most pure, unadulterated fun I’ve had in some time… from the first page, when Hearne dives right into a helpful dictionary-slash-pronunciation guide for popular Weegie (Glaswegian) words and terms that are peppered throughout the story. (You know when people say that someone could read the phone book to them, and they’d be happy to listen? Well, I wanna hear someone read these pages, because many of them are seriously belly-laugh hilarious.)

There aren’t any throwaway characters here; everyone is given a voice, a perspective, and a real role to play, whether “good” guy or “bad”, whether human or… not human. Same goes for the world-building: each place Hearne takes the reader is full of detail so rich, you feel you’re right there with Al and company.

As for the mystery—since that’s really what the story revolves around—it’s a gloriously crazypants one. Honestly, though, the sheer delight of it all is what I think you’ll remember from Ink & Sigil… because that’s definitely my big takeaway. 

~GlamKitty