Keith R. A. DeCandido

A Furnace Sealed caught me from the first sentence, which is its own enticing paragraph. De Candido writes his story with a witty first-person narration by the main character, who is a self-effacing, hilarious, and unapologetic New Yorker of distinct and endearing Jewish flavor. This book was a joy to read, making me laugh and pulling my heartstrings and carrying me on a wonderfully imaginative adventure. De Candido presents a fresh twist on the interface between the mundane and the show more supernatural, and I reached the end of the book perfectly primed for the next chapter of Bram Gold’s journey.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily submitting a review. show less

I'll start with, send me the second installment - I love this new series!
Now, I'll qualify that remark. I am always in awe of an author who can create an entire fantastical, magical world from their head. I also enjoy learning about new magical creatures or how the rules of the universe might be different from other books I've read. I learned a TON about some magical creatures in this world based in the real world Bronx. This brings me to another aspect I love and that is a story set in a show more real place. I had so much fun looking up locations in the story on google maps. It made feel even more a part of the story.
Our main character, Bram Gold, is not magical himself but does wrangle some magical creatures gone awry in his job as a Courser in addition to being an ER doctor part time. I feel like the first installment gives us a really good look into the characters we will see in upcoming volumes and I'm excited to know them better. show less

I'm really vibing with the SCE novellas. This is a nice tight 20,000 word story that successfully tells an alternative kind of story about a world-controlling supercomputer (haha) and also characterizes the Bynars, a race which I really wish we'd seen more of. Satisfying! One thing I will note is that Gomez isn't as central as the cover suggests - I mean, she's there for sure, but it's not about her journey or anything.

I can't praise this book highly enough, I absolutely loved it. A combination supernatural hardboiled detective story told at it's best. Excellent characters, with a great deal of humor that hits the mark. The book is peopled by an array of well developed characters. While the humor and setting appealed to me as a New Yorker with Bronx centric friends, I imagine that any reader would greatly enjoy this book. I'm looking forward to reading more work by Keith DeCandido.