The Accidental Alchemist

I'm happy to say that, with 'The Accidental Alchemist' I've found a new, light-but-not-fluffy Urban Fantasy series to read.

Gigi Pandian has managed to produce a book that is original, engaging, has a good enough plot to keep me turning the pages, characters well-drawn enough for me to care about, avoids gore and insta-love/rote-romance and still manages to keep a feel-good tone. That's quite an achievement.

Zoe Faust, the Accidental Alchemist of the title, was a breath of fresh air. In her fourth century of life, after decades of travelling America in a trailer, she is moving to a falling-down house in a rural neighbourhood of Portland Oregon so that she can live a quiet, unnoticed life amongst people who will not regard her dabbling in show more herbalism and alchemical antiques as overly eccentric.

She's frustrated in this by two discoveries: a murdered man on her porch and, in one of the packing cases that she has had shipped from storage in Paris, a brought-to-life centuries-old French stone gargoyle who is an excellent chef, even when forced to cook vegan food, and has a passion for Golden Age detective fiction.

What follows is a prayer to vegan food, an explanation of alchemy, and solving a mystery that involves local kids, Portland's Shanghai Tunnels, a local detective who thinks he's seeing monsters and a rich pool of interesting suspects.

It was a lot of fun, never degenerated into a Scooby-Doo episode and left me keen to read the rest of the series.

I recommend the audiobook version, narrated by Julia Motyka. Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear a sample.

https://soundcloud.com/audible/the-accidental-alchemist show less

Zoe Faust has just purchased a dilapidated house in Portland, a place where she figures as a vegan and herbalist, she should fit in comfortably while hiding her secret – she’s an alchemist and a bit older than she looks, like 300 years older. And if that’s not enough to want to stay below the radar, she finds a live gargoyle hidden in her luggage. His name is Dorian, he’s French, was brought to life by another alchemist in the 19th c, has a passion and talent for cooking, and has sought Zoe out because he is slowly turning back to stone. He hopes that she can reverse the process with the help of a book he has brought with him. But that’s just the beginning of Zoe’s problems. First, Dorian’s existence is discovered by a show more 14-year-old neighbour who wants to post clips of him on Youtube – not good if one wants to remain unnoticed. Then the contractor Zoe has hired to repair her house is murdered on her front steps and Dorian’s book is stolen. If Zoe doesn’t figure out who’s behind it fast, Dorian may not survive to cook another tasty treat.

Reviewing this book was difficult for me. When I first started The Accidental Alchemist by author Gigi Pandian, admittedly I wasn’t expecting much – the cover was interesting but lately my interest in urban fantasy has waned as the number of urban fantasies on book shelves have sky-rocketed. The problem I think is that, my taste runs to Jim Butcher and most of these books seem to run to Paranormal Romances – you know, beautiful green-eyed mortal with low self-esteem falls for handsome and preferably extremely wealthy undead creature with a non-beating heart of gold – fine if you like that kind of thing but I don’t.

However, it turned out I liked this novel a lot. So here’s my problem, do I like the book because it’s good or do I like it because it surpassed my fairly low expectations. This isn’t a perfect book – it is at times slow and the mystery and story seem to often play second fiddle to what Dorian is whipping up in the kitchen. On the other hand, I found my mouth watering more than once which doesn’t usually happen when I’m reading - happily, there are recipes at the end of the book so the reader can do more than just drool. There is also a fair bit about herbs, veganism, and teenaged angst which, while interesting seems somewhat overdone while we learn almost nothing about the guy who was murdered, not that anyone in the book seems too overly interested in him either.

So what did I like? Well, the characters are all likeable even the ‘bad’ guy who isn’t really all that bad and Dorian is quite the little charmer. And, if the story seemed to meander off into other directions, these new directions were interesting enough to keep me reading. The history of alchemy in particular piqued my interest. And although there was a slight budding romance, it didn’t take over the story to the detriment of everything else. Best of all, no one sparkled; no one has amazing powers they won’t use to do whatever to save the day because who knows; although there were some unusual names, none sounded like they should only be used by porno queens; and the only person with green eyes was a fairly minor character. I know this doesn’t sound like much but, trust me, by avoiding all these clichés, The Accidental Alchemist feels like something new in a genre that seems to have become little more than fan fiction. And, finally, the one question I now ask if I manage to wade through one these books is ‘would I read another in the series’ and in this case the answer is 'yes' and without hesitation. show less

I was unsure about this one when I bought it. I have a hit-or-miss track record with Midnight Ink, but Gigi Pandian also writes for Henery Press and I've enjoyed her Jaya Jones series. From the first page, I liked this book even better. This is paranormal cozy, but there's a maturity to the writing that is often absent in the sub-genre.

Zoe has just arrived at her new handyman-special house in Portland, Oregon after years of living in a trailer while criss-crossing the country. As she begins unpacking her moving crates she finds a stow-away: a living stone chimera (a gargoyle that isn't a water-spout) named Dorian. He needs her to interpret a rare alchemical book and he's willing to cook for her while she does it. The next day, Zoe show more finds her contractor dead on her porch, murdered and the book, along with other alchemical artefacts, stolen.

For anyone that's read Juliet Blackwell, there are some similarities here, but after the first couple of chapters, the book took on its own voice. I won't call this a "fun" read but it was enjoyable; the story doesn't rely on humour and occasionally gets slowed down by Zoe's angst about her past, but it's never heavy reading by any stretch. I like Zoe and Dorian and Brixton (mostly). I loved the Portland setting and reading more about the tunnels that run underneath the city. The inclusion of historical figures in the book's backstory gave it an anchor to reality and the author's note at the back details any artistic license Ms. Pandian took with these figures lives.

The mystery plotting was...so-so. It felt pretty obvious to me about half-way that it could really only be a couple of people, but then Ms. Pandian keeps things moving enough that I was just not quite sure which one it was. I wasn't left with "wow" but I wasn't disappointed either.

I could nit-pick more, maybe justify 4 stars instead of 4.5, but when I closed the book last night, my first thought was "I really enjoyed that book". I won't hesitate to look for the next book in the series. show less

I'll admit that the writing in this book is generally readable and, even though I had an ARC, the editing wasn't worth comment. The problem was that I was simply bored throughout the whole thing...that and I became increasingly annoyed with the food references.

Because I can't be bothered to give the book any more of my time by counting myself, I'm going to quote another reviewer here. "I did a quick word count and the "cook/ed/ing" was mentioned 79 times. SEVENTY-NINE-BRAIN-NUMBING-TIMES." I'm not exaggerating when I say that at least, AT LEAST, 50% of the book is dedicated to what Dorian is cooking or what type of smoothie Zoe is making. And it gets worse.

I assume I'm not the only person who has that one friend who is a health nut and show more constantly trying to convert his/her (in my case her) friends to 'the lifestyle.' Zoe is this friend and I liked finding her in a book I was reading for fun even less than having soy milk, non-caff, chai lattes with my own real life fad eater friend.

None of Zoe's healthy eating lectures felt natural. What it felt like was the author taking an opportunity to use her book as a soapbox. (There are even recipes in the back! How is that relevant in a fantasy novel?) All of which is annoying, yes, but it was also detrimental to the book. Because when, for example, three kids are missing and it's imperative they be found quickly, all of the tension and buildup evaporates when the main character stops to make herself a quick smoothie, noting of course that she added extra chia seeds for the energy boost.

Further, when half the book is dedicated to food descriptions and another 20 or so percent dedicated to lectures on healthy eating and the benefits of certain herbs and such, there is very little book left for plot, character development and world building. So, let me address this here. There isn't any of the last two.

There is no character development. To call them flat is an understatement. There is also no world-building. Zoe is just a random Alchemist in an otherwise, presumably, average America. What little plot there is is WEAK. The romance comes out of nowhere and has no basis. The mystery might as well have been a series of random events broken up by a series of silly and unbelievable Poirot/Jessica Fletcher/Columbo style 'investigating.' And the little bit of Zoe's past that is revealed is just thrown in willy-nilly for no apparent reason.

Lastly, and as an admittedly pedantic point, a gargoyle is designed as a waterspout, having a trough for water to flow through. I don't believe Dorian is meant to have one. It's never mentioned in his description. Thus, wouldn't he be a chimera or a boss?

So, for a super-food freak who likes to revel in their obsessive eating issues like others roll with religion, this book is a must-read. For the rest of us, you know, normalish people...I wish I hadn't bothered. show less

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A cross between a cozy and paranormal mystery, The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian is a fun light read filled with interesting and colorful characters, good dialogue and a touch of magic. Bridging science and magic, Ms. Pandian uses “Alchemy”, the medieval forerunner of chemistry, to bridge the past and the present, science and magic, and the study of human nature. While there were times I thought the pace was a little slow, I’m happy to say I really enjoyed reading this book and look forward to seeing where Ms. Pandian goes with this series.

Over 300 years old, though she doesn’t look a day over 28, Zoe show more Faust is an “accidental” alchemist. Born during the Salem witch trials, with a “magical” affinity for plants, Zoe escaped to Europe and trained with a master alchemist. Feeling guilty due to outliving the people she loved, and travelling Europe and the US to hide her long life, Zoe settles in Portland determined to build a new life. She wasn’t counting on an uninvited house guest with an unusual problem or on someone killing the contractor she’s hired to fix her house. Forced to re-examine her past, and re-open her alchemy laboratory, Zoe finds herself in a race against time to solve a magical mystery.

Ms. Pandian does a good job developing the two main characters of this story; I easily connected with Zoe, a woman who has never made peace with who and what she is. Running away from her past, Zoe hasn’t allowed herself to have a present or contemplate a future until she decides to take a chance on setting up a home in Portland. I also connected with “Dorian”, the 3 ½ foot living gargoyle, who is Zoe’s unexpected house guest. French by birth, and creation, Dorian has an unusual problem and specifically sought Zoe out, stuffed himself in her “luggage” and followed her to her new home. Either cursed, or blessed, depending on how you look at it, with long lives, their magical existence has burdened them with secrets and a lonely life.

The secondary characters are also well developed and I especially enjoyed getting to know Brixton, a local teen who becomes attached to both Zoe and Dorian, his friends Veronica and Ethan, and detective Max Liu, who harbors secrets of his own. While there is a romance that begins to develop between Max and Zoe in this book, it’s very low key and fraught with some interesting problems. The mystery portion of the book, who killed Zoe’s contractor on her porch and why, was secondary in nature and took several interesting twists and turns, especially since Zoe, Dorian and Brixton employed investigative methods Dorian read about in detective novels.

Will Zoe and Max learn to trust each other in order to solve the murder mystery and save their friends? Will Zoe be able to solve Dorian’s “magical” problem before it’s too late? You’ll have to read The Accidental Alchemist to find out, I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next book in this series. I also wish I could have a “Dorian” of my own. show less

2 stars

"It was a good thing I added extra chia seeds and cocoa powder to my smoothie that day."

If you enjoy being proselytized to about veganism, this is definitely the book for you. The above quote is a representative microcosm of why this book is getting a less-than-stellar review from me. Although the blurb on the author's website says "recipes included" (assuming that's the print version?) there is nothing to explain (or warn us about) the obsession with incorporating plant-based diets into this story. And I have NO ISSUE with a plant-based diet. Had this incorporated omnivorous or carnivorous diets in the same way, it would still be incredibly irritating.

I note the several one-star reviews that decry the same feature. I felt one show more star was a bit harsh because there are some aspects that have/had tremendous potential. Zoe Faust, the protagonist, is not overly interesting as voiced in the audiobook, but her story is. The story is steeped in historical trivia both local and global, with references to magician/illusionist Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin (1805 - 1871), the Shanghai Tunnels in Portland, OR, the Salem (MA) witch trials and the history of alchemy. Sometimes, like the chia seed and non-stop vegan food references, these historical nods seem too forced, as if the author is trying to prove she's done her research. By far the best part of the book is the character of the epicurean Dorian Robert-Houdin, about whom I shall say not much so as not to spoil it. But Dorian is a wonderful character, befitting the genre, and Julia Motyka does a great job bringing the French character to life. It is Dorian who should be the star of the show here and for whom I had the most empathy.

Zoe's backstory could be more interesting, but it is all related through Zoe's voice and largely disconnected from the plot. The character of Max starts as a rather sterile love interest and instantaneously turns into Fabio in one scene, which I found overwritten and out of left field. The "small-town" aspects of Portland are heavily amplified (although I find myself grateful that it is not the clichéd small town in New England, for once), but this serves the Cabot-Cove - cozy-mystery type plot.

I did listen to the free preview of the next book in the series (the Masquerading Magician), and I was relieved that the first chapter seems to be free of vegan food references. That said, I'm not sure there was enough to hold my interest for me to give the series a second chance.

The author is clearly talented and well-steeped in research, which I applaud. That Zoe Faust would be vegan and that it is connected to her health as a former alchemist is fine and makes total sense. But the book would be more aptly called the Intentional Vegan given how frequently the reader is forced to hear/read the ingredients of everything consumed in the protagonist's daily existence. It is actually a really creative idea for a cookbook, to be fair--but then it should be marketed and designed as such. show less

Look at that cover! Is that not striking? I tend to be a fan of block printing, so when I was perusing NetGalley, it caught my eye. I checked out the description and thought alchemy, herbs, a gargoyle and Portland sounded like an interesting combination and worth my time.

Your results may vary, based on how much time is available.

After years of wandering the country in her Airstream trailer, Zoe Faust is looking forward to rehabilitating her new home in Portland, Oregon. Her plan for anonymity take a dramatic turn when she opens her crates and discovers a gargoyle named Dorian who is seeking her help. He’s brought an alchemy text from his father, hoping Zoe can translate the formula used to bring him to life. While Zoe is trying to show more wrap her head around the concept of a live gargoyle, they are interrupted. Dorian grabs the interloper, who turns out to be a local teen, Brixton, dared by friends to enter the neighborhood haunted house. Before Dorian and Zoe can swear him to secrecy, Max Liu, a local detective, stops by to check on Brixton when he fails to return to his friends. After the guests leave, Dorian cooks dinner, and they head to their respective activities. When Zoe wakes, Dorian is gone, and when she returns from a morning walk, she discovers someone lying on her front porch, dead. Detective Liu interviews her and becomes somewhat suspicious. Zoe initially is concerned Dorian might have accidentally killed to protect his secret, but her theories are quickly sidelined when she discovers some of her artifacts have been stolen as well–along with Dorion’s precious alchemy book. Zoe and Dorian begin a race to find the book and decipher the text while navigating Portland and investigating their new neighbors, alternately helped or hindered by Brixton and Liu.

The Accidental Alchemist has a number of intriguing ideas that could benefit from another editorial pass or two. Unfortunately, the writing style suffers from over-explanation at the same time momentum is hamstrung by a lack of steady drive. In narrative terms, it falls solidly into the ‘tell not show’ camp, and Zoe frequently sounded as if she was lecturing the reader instead of musing to herself or thinking through a problem. While it was acceptable in the beginning as we are introduced to Zoe, Dorian, and the world Pandian is building, it quickly becomes intrusive, particularly in the repetition of particular phrases and concepts (‘I have an affinity for plants,’ ‘I’m attuned to the sun,’ ‘I haven’t practiced alchemy in years’ and ‘alchemy is about transformation.’).

Positive aspects include the nicely rounded characters of Dorian and Blue, as well as the spirit of the adolescents hanging around Zoe. However, Liu never really felt fleshed out, nor, oddly, did the murder victim. I had a good sense of setting, with the compact Airstream and the old, rickety house. The atmosphere was built well, giving a good sense of Portland’s greenery, the rain and the underground tunnels. There’s a side theme to the story about healthy cooking which is integrated well. While it is a theme I believe in, it does feel a little didactic. Recipes are included, for those who are tempted by the descriptions. For those that enjoy it, there is a very light romance in the story.

Most significantly, there are a number of logical issues that pulled me out of the story while reading. Most likely, my feeling that these were intrusive is a result of the explanations given; had some of the actions been given without reasoning, I likely would have accepted it as a character trait I would discover more about later. I’ll use the brief summary as a means of showing my issues, but unfortunately, the problems only increase as Zoe faces an actual mystery.

The Accidental Alchemist has the bones of an engaging story with a different take on a genre full of werewolves and vampires. It’s rather a pity it didn’t work out for me, because I was primed to enjoy a light urban fantasy mystery, and the cooking tie-in is a fun merge from the food-mystery genre. Still, while it is palatable enough to distract for an hour or two, it had the promise of something so much better.

Two and a half half-distilled stars.

(Specifics on early confusion while reading are hidden below the spoiler)

One, although Zoe is familiar with alchemical concepts of turning lead into gold, eternal life, and a homunculus, the idea of a living gargoyle stuns her enough that she falls off the couch. And then points out that, actually, she isn’t stunned, because she’s still there talking instead of running away. Two, she’s been afraid to “settle down” due to her lack of aging, which seems less problematic in modern society than she thinks. Move every twenty years and re-invent yourself in a new location. Three, the reader is told a great deal about how she needs a ‘fixer-upper’ house, as way to conceal her alchemy (“I didn’t tell them I was someone who needed a residence where doing substantial construction wouldn’t raise eyebrows”). Except she isn’t practicing alchemy, and what she describes as her alchemy supplies can likely be explained by a profession as an herbalist. Four, she had crates shipped from France from her storage area there that include both personal alchemy supplies as well as one-of-a-kind antiques she sells online. Nothing odd there, right? So why does she say “You’ve gotta love movers… who don’t ask questions about the items they’re delivering…. the crates contained glass jars I didn’t want anyone looking at too closely.” Again, unless they contain eyeballs (which could be theoretically explained by the antique oddities business anyhow), I’m confused as to why the paranoid secrecy and why the reader is getting so many explanations of stuff that really doesn’t matter much. There’s a sort of explanation later about secrecy as a result of her early upbringing, but it’s half-hearted. As a reader, I tend to follow along where the author leads me, and if the author is devoting significant word-count to our narrator’s logic and decision-making, I get hung up in the reasoning if it doesn’t seem character consistent.

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