Oracle of Philadelphia by Elizabeth Corrigan

This book was such a lovely surprise!  I've only read a few other urban fantasy novels.  Guess what?  I think I can say now that I am most certainly an urban fantasy fan!  I couldn't put Oracle of Philadelphia down!   

Some things I loved about the book:

1. The characters and their depth.  I want to be friends with Carrie and Bedlam!  Mostly Carrie, because I think Bedlam could feel like a bit much after hanging out for awhile, but I think he'd be a ton of fun in small doses.  See what I mean about character depth?  Just one book into the series and I can tell that Bedlam could possibly be tiring, but I'm still drawn to his magnetic "lets everyone have fun together always" personality.  And Carrie:  so, so, so caring!  She even cares for/looks after Bedlam.  For millenia.  Carrie feels very "real" to me.  She's not perfect.  Even though she's lives thousands (millions?) of years, she still makes the occasional mistake.  She still thinks with her heart and not with her head sometimes.


2. The writing.  It was most excellent.  Rich.  Does that make sense to ya'll?  The writing in Oracle was like a fantastic lavender creme brulee.  (For comparison, I'd say my own writing on this blog is about on par with Cheez Doodles.)  Ms. Corrigan used the word phonemes for pete's sake!  I love vocab-building books.  I'm totally trying to work "phoneme" into ordinary conversation right now.  It's also got this fantastic balance going between hilarity with Bedlam and seriousness in trying to save Sebastian.  Just as the book starts to feel really heavy, Bedlam swoops in to top his waffles with chopped jalapenos.


3. The humanity of Gabriel, Michael, and Bedlam.  I'm a Christian, so I'm sorta familiar with the angels and demons and all that, but not too familiar.  I too always imagined angels to be these vaguely human beings with wings who glowed.  Much loftier than you or I.  In Oracle the angels stop by the diner to say hi and help do some dishes.  Mind. Blown.


4. The Biblical backstories.  I loved these!  Every time Ms. Corrigan introduced a new character, she let Carrie reminisce on how they met.  Some of these were downright hilarious; some touched the heart.  Remember: it's all fiction and it's all for fun, so you're definitely not going to find these narratives in Biblical texts.  Did anyone else read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore?  Bedlam and Biff could have been best friends.


5. The character list at the beginning of the book.  Ms. Corrigan lists all the angels & demons & their main attributes & where they are in social standing.  Most helpful.  I looked at Raising Chaos (the sequel), and the chart is there too.  Excellent.

Some things I didn't particularly care for about the book, but which will not at all impede me continuing to read and enjoy the series:

1. The demons' demonosity (just made that word up) is really downplayed a lot.  I'm struggling with how to word this; how to say this.  I just expected them to be a lot more evil.  Like, I actually liked Bedlam for the most part.  And that made me feel just a little squeevy inside.


2. The bit in the second half of the book where Carrie goes a-questing.  I don't want to give anything away in the book because I really do think ya'll should go read it.  It's really good.  But there's a point where Carrie goes on a quest to help someone and it just gets a little bit predictable/repetitious.   Just a tiny bit.  I dealt with it by just continuing to read because it's a good book and I was hooked.  So you see, not really terribly bad, but still.  I could have done with just a little bit less quest.

So that's my take on Oracle of Philadelphia by Elizabeth Corrigan.  I devoured the book in just two days (impressive, considering I work full time)!

Read More

Posted by Tynga at 02:00

 angels, demons, Earthbound Angels, Elizabeth Corrigan, Paranormal, Publisher, Red Adept, Review, urban fantasty, Urban Fantasy  1 Person left their mark

"When I'm not writing" with Elizabeth Corrigan

This week's guest is Elizabeth Corrigan, author of the fantastic Oracle of Philadelphia and Raising Chaos books.  After reading Oracle of Philadelphia, I learned that she had a Pinterest board of potential movie stars to play her characters, and I just knew that we were "kindred spirits" (as Anne Shirley would say), as I often "cast" characters as I read books too!  In today's post we'll see what Elizabeth is up to when she's not writing or Pinning.

 

I have always loved stories in whatever form they take, be they books, television, movies, or cobbled bits of dreamstuff in my head. So one day as I was pondering my other hobby of video and tabletop games, I realized that the reason I loved them so much was that they were also stories, with the added incentive of being interactive stories. Not only did I get to experience the triumphs and tribulations of fictional beings, but I got to make the decisions and take out the bad guys myself. These days when I’m not writing—or, you know, at my day job, which is sadly necessary for things like paying rent and feeding my cats—I’m generally involved in something to do with a tabletop role playing game (RPGs). I participate in games several times a month, and if I’m not at a session, I’m doing something game-related—creating a character, familiarizing myself with a scenario so that I can run it for other people, reading sourcebooks so I can learn about the world, or scheduling games like the overachiever I am (because I can’t participate in an organization with other people for more than a few months without volunteering for some role.) One of the best things about all this gaming is that there is so much writing and story creation involved. Companies that put out RPGs have many writers on staff to create the stories and worlds that players interact with. In my interactions with fellow gamers, I have met several people who are as desirous of writing professionally for a licensed game company as any author I know is of landing that dream New York agent and Big 6 contract. All of the things that are important in writing a book—detailed descriptions, complex characters, well thought-out plots, good editing—are just as crucial for game writing. I confess that I have not branched too much into game writing as of yet, but I do use my writing and storytelling skills in my gaming. I need to come up with characters to play, and it helps to have a plethora of characters hanging out in my book closet to make. Usually I like to play moral characters who uphold justice and truth, and I’ve turned Kadin Stone from Catching a Man and Siren from Raising Chaos into holy warriors to fight the good fight. But I’ve recently played with creating an evil character who exists only for the game, and Adrienne, my assassin with serrated swords, will soon be press ganged onto a pirate ship. I do some other things when I am not writing as well—reading, hanging out with friends, faffing around on the internet. I’ve found that tabletop RPGs create plenty of opportunities for creativity, leadership, and the chance to spend time with like-minded people. So I foresee doing this for a good while longer.

———————————

Thanks so much for visiting us, Elizabeth! For more about Elizabeth and her books, check out the following links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

———————————

Here's the scoop on Catching a Man:

There's more than one way to catch a man. 

Kadin Stone's life is finally going according to plan. She's starting her new job as a homicide detective's aide at one of the premier criminal investigation companies in Valeriel City, the capital of a 1950’s-style kingdom. Kadin is certain her new position will introduce her to any number of eligible men, so she'll finally be able to get married and stop burdening the brother who insists on supporting her. 

On Kadin’s first day, the royal family calls in her team to investigate the murder of gossip-rag cover girl Queen Callista. Kadin’s superiors think it’s an open and shut case. The queen’s jilted lover Duke Baurus DeValeriel had motive, means, and opportunity, but Kadin can’t help but spot holes in their theory. 


After checking into a few leads of her own, Kadin inadvertently ends up in the confidence of Duke Baurus. When she tries to share what she knows with the rest of the team, she finds them unwilling to listen to the opinion of a girl who they know is only after a ring on her finger. In order to see justice served, Kadin finds herself doing the last thing she expected when she started working for a homicide detective—solve a murder!

Purchase her latest book, Catching a Man: Amazon

———————————

Do you guys have suggestions for who you’d like to see featured on the blog? If so, you can make your suggestions on this page. No guarantees that your favourite authors will be able to participate but we’ll try!

Authors, would you like to visit  us? Please email me at marieharris725 (at) gmail (dot) com and we’ll set it up!

Read More

Posted by Tynga at 01:00

 Elizabeth Corrigan, Guest Post, Valerial Investigations, When I'm not writing  Leave your mark