The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl

Genius Loci is a coffeeshop in Santa Cruz, California, a favorite hangout for oddball art students. It also happens to be the secret entrance to a prison that holds a powerful destructive entity, a god of earthquakes and mudslides and wildfires. Marzi, an employee at the coffeeshop, is the designated warden for this prison and its inhabitant, a job that's made a little more problematic by the fact that she thinks he's a fictional character she made up as part of the fantasy/western comic book she's writing... at least until people start showing up trying to set him free.

This isn't the best-written of Tim Pratt's works -- although that's a pretty high standard, as some of his short fiction is amazing -- and it feels to me as if it could show more and probably should have been a much more epic story than it was. But it was still fun, and wonderfully imaginative, and I do love the premise. I can't help thinking that it's got an oddly cinematic feel to it; I kept imagining it as a movie as I was reading. And I think it could make a surprisingly good one, too, if produced with a quirky indie film sensibility, a decent special effects budget, and some really strong art direction. show less

This review and others posted over at my blog.

What if characters from a comic you wrote suddenly began creeping their way into your life and were less than friendly? Would you take a stand against them or call a shrink? Marzi finds herself facing The Outlaw, a nemesis she created for her gun-toting, badass alter ego, Rangergirl, in her wild west themed comics. As The Outlaw and his minions force their way into her life and threaten to destroy her town she must face them and defend her home.

If you enjoy urban fantasy mixed with a healthy dose of western adventure, this is the book for you. I was reminded of Charles de Lint’s world building – where artwork and legends come to life in our modern time and try to integrate into or show more destroy our society. I was heading on vacation when I picked this up and I wanted something that would be light and fun and Pratt delivered. Engrossed, I read most of this book in a day. Marzi is a great lead character, and even more spectacular are the characters she created for her Rangergirl comic. I loved the mutable character of The Outlaw – everyone viewed him a bit differently and his personality began to change because of Marzi. He had a lot of wit and made a great villain.

I found it easy to imagine the world Marzi created in her comics as it came to life before her own eyes. In fact, I would love to see some actual Rangergirl comics. In fact, I think Pratt should team up with Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples and make an awesome comic series! They don’t even have to credit me for the idea!

This book has been on my shelf for years and years and my only regret is not picking it up sooner! show less

“The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl” lives up to its title in being, without a doubt, strange. A blend of contemporary fantasy, western, and obscure mythology, it isn’t like anything you’ve likely read before. However, at its core it is an unashamedly adventurous tale, and it succeeds on that level admirably.
Marzi is an artist living in Santa Cruz, California. She works at a coffee shop and draws comics. She’s had some success with her Rangergirl comic book, a punk western. Her friends are also mostly artists studying at UC Santa Cruz. She used to attend, but a couple years ago she had a mental breakdown, and since recovering and finishing therapy she hasn’t returned to school.

The coffee shop she works at turns out to be show more the center point of a long stuggle to keep a local force of nature at bay. To Marzi this destructive force manifests itself as the Outlaw, the superhuman nemesis of the Western heroine Rangergirl. To others this (earthquake god? Avatar of entropy? Local animistic force?) appears as a traditional god or sometimes an Earth Goddess. It is struggling to get out and unleash destruction (the last time he escaped he caused the 1989 Loma Prieta quake), while Marzi and her sidekicks Lindsay, her longtime best friend and Jonathan, a visiting artist and Marzi’s love interest try to stop it. The story eventually becomes a traditional good vs. evil heroic adventure, just in a unique setting.

This is Tim Pratt’s debut novel. He has written lots of short stories and also reviews for Locus magazine. His style of writing is smooth and easy to read. The book has a generally good pace and reads quickly. My main criticism would be that sometimes there isn’t enough narrative tension or sense of genuine peril. Sometimes Marzi and her friends solve things a little too easily. Still, the eccentric cast of characters is so very true to the Californian art scene, and even the bad guy’s henchmen are interesting characters in their own right. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this if you’re looking for something fun and different and not too taxing. show less

This book is everything that you want a book like this - kick-ass heroine who is multi-dimensional, friends that have her back... A coffee shop, a crazy villain, strange, totally evil villains... The writing is solid. Pacing is good and the story is quite wonderful.

Highly recommended if you like odd fantasy books.

Rangergirl is the name of the protagonist in a comic created by Marzi. She combats evil in an old western setting while her creator works as night manager of Genius Loci, a coffeehouse in Santa Cruz, after having dropped out of Art School due to a mental breakdown. When unspeakable evil escapes its confines in Genius Loci, Marzi has to step in. In her capacity of guardian her perception and imagination influences the manifestations of Evil, and forces it to conform to the structure of the Rangergirl universe. The Santa Cruz setting is welldrawn, and the otherworld of the Evil is inventively random and threatening, with that special western feel mixed with an Indiana Jones Egypt.

Lots of fun, well written. Sadly, the final showdown doesn't quite hold up, and that's the scene the entire book builds toward. But a good read anyway.

I have been reading Tim Pratts short stories for a while this is his first novel.
The Coffee shop Genius Loci is a gateway to the spirit world. Our Heroine author of the Comic Book The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl finds herself fighting the spirit of desolation that wants to break through It isis already affecting those she knows. Can Art triumph over desolation?