Margaret Dunlap

I really really liked this. I admit to have been a bit skeptical of the serial format of this novel, particularly since each part was written by a different author. I was concerned that the plot would be too episodic, or that it would feel disjointed. Fortunately, this was not the case. In fact, this flowed extremely well, and it is a testament to the hard work of the writers that I only got thrown out of the story once -- and well-into the book -- because the writing style changed enough show more for me to notice.

The story is really cool. The Vatican has a super secret series of task forces that protect the world from supernatural things, and those things usually end up being demonic books. I loved everybody on Team Three (aka the Bookburners). Even though Sal is ostensibly the main character, everybody is fully fleshed out with a backstory and agency. Even better, it's a diverse cast. There's the Latin American priest, the Indian grandmother archivist, the Chinese woman fighter, and the Irish hacker. All have had encountered the supernatural in their past, leading them to the team.

The book does start off a bit episodically as a way to get Sal (and the reader) up to speed with how things work in this new magical world, but it soon it becomes apparent that things are starting to link together into a much bigger and more apocalyptic plot.

I loved this and think I'll be subscribing to Season Two. When I first came across Serial Box, I had balked because of the price. Now that I see the high quality of the plotting and writing, I am fully 100% on board.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. show less

I have to say that I really enjoyed this HUGE 800-page book, written in serial form, with 16 50-page episodes. 4.5 stars. And I have to say it rates up there with the classic of this genre, Stephen King's The Green Mile.

The basic premise is a team of five people from different backgrounds are part of a Vatican team dedicated to fighting demons and capturing dangerous books to be kept safe in the Vatican library. The main character, Sally (Sal) Brooks is a NYC cop, who meets the team when show more they come to get a book stolen by her brother, and joins them to save him. Each episode has a full story arc dealing with a new demonic or magical threats, with a premise, building tension, and a resolution. The stories also develop the characters, politics at the Vatican, and the seminal question as to whether magic should be restricted or free. Personally, I liked the format, giving readers the chance to binge or step away to read something in between. My favorite episode was the back story of the team's kick-ass enforcer, Grace.

I am looking forward to reading Season 2. show less

I heard rumbling about this Serialbox series, and added it to my list. There was a sale recently where you could pick up all of Season 1 for $3 or something, so I took the plunge.

I was halfway through the season before I was hooked. Before that, I'd rate this maybe 2 stars, but now I gotta give it 4. I'm hooked, and am trying to justify spending $20 on Season 2.

This isn't Dresden Files, this isn't October Daye. This is The Librarians meets Warehouse 13 meets Eureka.

Reading a book designed to be episodic, like television, was an interesting experience. I had a lot of frustration in the early-middle about the enclosed monster-of-the-week nature of the sections, and the interruptions that put in the way of the smooth development of character stuff. But the broader plot arcs started to show themselves before long, and all in all I'm pretty satisfied.

Overall, this is not quiiiiite my thing - urban fantasy heavy on the horror, and in a biblical/demonic show more direction that I'm not particularly fond of. But the Gladstone-esque complexity to it covers a multitude of mehs. I appreciate that there was a lot of ground to cover in here, but I would've liked slightly more exploration of the diverse origins of the crew - Grace's backstory ep was one of my favourites, and I'm dying to know more about Asanti's life. That said, I'm not sure I'm going to read on into season 2, because like I said, not quite my thing. An interesting - and successful! -
exercise in format, though. show less