Allie Beckstrom is my hero
Paranormal fiction and urban fantasy books are plentiful these days and a large portion of them are vapid. There are exceptions, of course, as with any genre, but on the whole, the works of Laurell K. Hamilton and Stephanie Meyers are representative of “teh stupid” that is paranormal fiction.
Shows such as Buffy, Charmed, and So Weird made common the kick-ass female main character in paranormal or urban fantasy and opened the door for this genre’s expanding popularity. The burgeoning teen fiction/young adult market, born with the huge demographic hump of Gen Y, cemented gothy vampy werewolfy witchy faery stories as a permanent fixture at Barnes and Nobles. So despite the stupidity of paranormal fiction’s lowest common denominator, its frequent strength is an empowerment of females. Well, except for Twilight, which reduces girls to 19th century passive, pining virgins awaiting their one true love. But let’s not belabor that point.
Laurell vs. Anita. Coffee vs. big gun. Mary Sue? You decide.
To confess, I have read everything Hamilton and Meyers have written to date — Meyers because my students are reading her; Hamilton out of a trainwreck sense of loyalty to her Anita Blake series because the early installments were interesting. Initially, the books were a rated R Buffy knock-off with a tough-as-nails lead character, but they have since degenerated to Mary Sue orgies with some miniscule plot development in between. Really miniscule. I have no acceptable explanation for why I read Hamilton’s purely trashy Merry Gentry series. None at all.
Still, within the genre there are some gems and I’m reading one right now that I find wonderfully creative. I cannot praise it enough. Devon Monk’s “Magic in the…whatever” series about Allie Beckstrom continues to charm me even after the fourth book. I’m anxiously waiting for the fifth book, due in November 2010. Aside from the requisite strong female main character, there are three primary reasons why I like this series and one major reason why I like the latest book, Magic on the Storm. Probably the most significant reason is Monk’s exceptional magic system. Plus there’s the adorable Stone, Allie’s pet, who really deserves a point of his own.
A brief summary: Allie Beckstrom is a “hound,” a magic-using freelance detective who literally sniffs out magical crimes. Allie’s father is a corporate sorcerer and inventor who discovered ways to marry magic and technology. Through his inventions, magic has become as commonplace as electricity and society is highly dependent on its functioning. Allie is implicated in her father’s murder, which is connected to a tangle of secrets, alliances, and magical power.
So, on with the spoiler-free list!
Allie Beckstrom
#1 The main character
This is a no brainer. At one glance, Allie is cliché — smart mouthed, acerbic, stubborn, with a little bit of unique magic in her back pocket that makes her different from everyone else in the world.
As you get to know her, you realize that the cliché is surface level only. Unlike the stereotypical heroine in urban/paranormal fantasies these days, Allie is not uberpowerful or uberattractive, she hasn’t figured everything out with her powers of superkeeness, she doesn’t have multiple romantic interests knocking down her door, she’s not especially confident, she’s not surrounded by a Buffy-esque Scooby Gang of steadfast teammates nor is she a complete loner. On the flip side, she’s quite resilient, self-sacrificing in using magic but not to the point of selflessness, and she proves her mettle without excessiveness. Mostly, she’s doing the best she can to protect her friends and loved ones, even if those people have questionable loyalties and uneasy relationships.
#2 Sex and romance
Let’s dispense with this quickly since sex and romance are hallmarks of the paranormal, urban fiction genre. The Allie Beckstrom books have sex and romance, but not without warrant. Instead, it develops out of the characters and the plotline, unfolding nicely with just enough of a presence to enrich
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