The Sword and Laser discussion

Title ripped blatantly of TVTropes. While I like Magdalena, the old adage of "Oh No, I got superpowers" is getting on my nerves. I do kind of get her internal Problems - if under any stress situation the first thing going through your mind is "How to kill that Person", even if it is just a bitchy waitress, could feel problematic.
But the rest of the world? Please, thisis Mad Max Country, actual Gods are running loose and Mags has the superpower to kill Monsters. Why would anyone be annoyed by that? She even seems to be the only Person that believes the "Evil is a disease" line.
It is even worse with her sidekick. He is not only a pacifistic medicine man, his clan power (the revealed on to this point, though I can kinda guess his "secret" one) is healing people. Why would you keep that a secret or be an outcast with that?
There is enough angst about her asshole Mentor, I could have really gone without the constant oh woes, I am awesome in a fight.

It’s pretty clearly inspired by the X-Men. Teenage angst pretty much comes with the territory in those comics, and I have no doubt Roanhorse has read them all. The sequel has too many parallels with Gambit’s story in the Ultimate X-Men storyline to be a coincidence.

Plus Maggie is either 19 or 20, and it’s a truism that Kids Are Dumb. Especially kids who have supernatural PTSD.

Maggie and her over the top emo lament of her powers was so heavy handed, it almost came off as parody to me. Her internal thoughts were almost on the drama level of Nicholas Cage's Spiderman Noir...except I don't think they were intended to be funny in this case. I can safely say it has ruined the book for me, which is such a bummer because it is awesome story concept, but then again, I tend to gravitate toward character writing over plot so I may be a bit biased.

Yeah, it’s pretty lightweight stuff overall. I didn’t ding it too hard for that stuff because it was basically what I expected from the story. It’s just stab-stab-argh adventure Fantasy covering the exact same territory as Mercy Thompson (Moon Called) by Patricia Briggs and Jane Yellowrock (Skinwalker) by Faith Hunter.

True, the X-Men are the absolute poster child for this. Maybe it is really the Repetition of this tropes which abound in a lot of urban fantasy that was the straw on the camels back for me. Or me just coming off another fantasy book Odinskind that had the trope, but felt much better and believable (the Protagonist there actually has to fear for her life if she is found out AND her powers don't do anything for her alone).
But the book was ok, it's a first installment so tropes happen.

I don't think this really took away from the book - it just helped me put the book in the right 'box.' Really, it kind of helped me settle in and make it easier to enjoy. I felt like I knew a lot about the main character, so I could concentrate on the parts that were novel to me. The setting was interesting and the monsters were cool, for example.

Reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer..

I hope the series grows like Jim Butcher’s Dresden files (the early books are pretty basic) as Roanhorse writes more.

Iain wrote: "Reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer..

I hope the series grows like Jim Butcher’s Dresden files (the early books are pretty basic) as Roanhorse writes more."

Same. There are obviously good bones here, but the execution is middling. I hope the sequels will only get better.

I have recently come to the conclusion that I don’t really like Urban Fantasy that much. I enjoy the Rivers of London series, but Harry Dresden, Mercy Thompson, October Daye... they all leave me cold. I had high hopes for this book because it’s coming from a different perspective to what I’m used to, but... for me, it didn’t manage to break away from the usual tropes (‘stab stab aargh’ thanks for that Trike!) enough to make it interesting. As others have said, hopefully as the series continues Roanhorse’s execution will improve, as there are definitely some good ideas here.

Ruth wrote: "I have recently come to the conclusion that I don’t really like Urban Fantasy that much. I enjoy the Rivers of London series, but Harry Dresden, Mercy Thompson, October Daye... they all leave me cold..."

Yeah, I think you're right that if one likes Urban Fantasy, they'll possibly like this book more than others. For example I LOVE all the series you mentioned that leave you cold lol and enjoyed TOL.

The power hating didn't bother me. Given the way her powers were triggered, it makes sense for Mags to hate them, and herself. That is quite the trauma maker of a situation. As for the reactions of others, we only have her word for it that she only kills monsters - there are hints that suggest innocent, or seemingly innocent, people are among her victims. She is also outwardly rather cold and aggressive. It makes sense that folk would be wary of her.