Making a living is hard. In a lawless city where gods are real, dragons are traffic hazards, and buildings move around on their own, it can feel downright impossible.Good thing freelance mage Opal Yong-ae has never let little things like impossibility stop her. She’s found a way to put her overpriced magical art history degree to use as a Cleaner: a contract municipal employee who empties out … empties out abandoned apartments and resells the unusual treasures she finds inside for a profit. It’s not a pretty job, or a safe one–there’s a reason she wears bite-proof gloves–but when you’re neck-deep in debt to a very magical, very nasty individual, you can’t be picky about where the money comes from.
But even Opal’s low standards are put to the test when the only thing of value in her latest apartment is the body of the previous tenant. Dealing with the dead isn’t technically part of her job, but this mage died hiding a secret that could be worth a lot of money, and Opal’s the only one who knows. With debts she can’t pay due at the end of the week, this could be the big break she’s been waiting for, but in a city of runaway magic where getting in over your head generally means losing it, the cost of chasing this opportunity might be more than Opal can survive.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
This is the first in a new series set in the same universe as my Heartstrikers books, but you don’t need to have read those stories to enjoy this one. MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC was written to stand by itself, so if you haven’t read the others, don’t worry! I wrote this book with you in mind. Thank you so much for reading!
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A nonstop fun ride from ride from start to finish. Very original. Emily Woo Zeller was an amazing narrator as well, perfectly capturing Opal. Looking forward to the next one.
I love the spunky main character, Opal, and the surprise after surprise as we find out more about her and her new cohort. I won’t give away spoilers. But if you like futuristic urban fantasy with a strong female MC and layers of story – check it out. I finished it last night and it was fab! Great ending to a very fun book! Looking forward to the next one in the series!
Enjoyed this first in the series. Great characters and intriguing world.
Fun start for a new series. Opal was a great character with serious dad issues, and Nik made an interesting companion. There was a lot of action, magical and mundane, as the pair tried to find the site of a magical ritual that just might bring them a lot of money. Needless to say, it wasn’t as easy as that. I’ll definitely read the next book too.
I loved this book. The writing was exceptional, the characters were interesting and fun, and the world was amazing. There were twists I didn’t expect. The author kept me guessing but gave me enough to fall in love with the world and the characters.
Minimum Wage Magic
DFZ #1
Rachel Aaron
Narrator Emily Woo Zeller
Audible only
9 hours, 45 minutes/286 pages
Urban fantasy/dystopian
Audible
The cover is about perfect, but I only realized that after I listened to the book. Initially, when I looked at the cover I really wasn’t sure what I was getting into. I kept wondering who this cute little girl was. Well, this cute little girl needs a second and much closer look.
Opal Yong-ae is a young woman, a mage who is working as a cleaner to pay off a huge debt which is coming due very soon. She cannot default on the debt or she will lose her freedom. She’s taking risks, going for big scores to acquire enough money to pay off the debt in time, but fortune seems to be against her. She pairs up with another cleaner that she knows is rather dangerous but much more experienced and connected than she is to try for a really big score when her latest cleaning job turns up a dead wizard, a mystery, and a threat. This leads her on the adventure of her life and to places she couldn’t even imagine! In the end, her partner wonders who is more dangerous and who is more connected. This cute little girl is so much more than she appears. Yes, I recommend this adventure and I’m looking forward to her next one. I will probably do the next one in Audible as well since I really enjoyed Ms. Zeller’s efforts in this rendition. The voices were done very well. No confusion about when speakers changed or who was speaking. Good choices for voices and good pacing for Ms. Aaron’s little gem. Nicely done, Ms. Zeller.
I listened to the audio version of this story, and it’s now been played three times.
At its base, this is a city life story. But what a city.
It all started when the gods got back in. Algonquin, Queen of the Great Lakes, had a grudge on for Detroit and its polluting ways. So she wiped it off the map, Old-Testament style.
What rose in its place was a wild city of blended power and precision, greed and gerry-mandering: the DFZ. A city with a literal soul.
Aaron has built an amazing world: 40% of humanity is born magical, and that means 60% of the population suddenly, really felt the need to compete. The rise of bio-ware, gene edits for humans, implants and tech for the muggles was astronomical in this timeline. What you end up with is a city where mech, tech and thaumaturgy rub shoulders, and genetically modified people like Opal depend on their AI assistants to spell-check their spellwork. It’s wild, it’s wooly, and it is wonderful. I adore this off-the-wall take on the far-fetched future of Detroit. It’s at once completely alien and completely familiar to city-dwellers: there may be magic, but somebody still has to take out the trash and scrub off the graffiti. At least, the ugly bits. Rent bills still need paying. And there’s a hustle around every corner.
The Crowd
Characterization
For all the lavish background, it’s the characters that had me listening to this work three times. (By the way, the reader did a gorgeous job bringing them all to life). Opal’s scrappy self-respect in spite of an upbringing that should have destroyed her spirit is an inspiration. The hidden depths of a character we write off as a mercenary unfold like the petals of a steel orchid. Even Opal’s annoyingly chipper AI Sybil is sweet and frustrating in her characterization, by turns endearing and utterly frustrating. Think a kid sister who’s smarter than you.
The drives and motives of each character are well introduced, rounding them out as believable and interesting personalities trying to hold their heads up in spite of their circumstances. Even the antagonist is understandable. An ass, mind you. But understandable. These are characters with spirit, and I loved their interactions. The personalities of each character turn what is basically a McGuffin hunt into a parable of personal worth, trust, and compassion that crosses the boundaries of circumstance, species, and even death.
This one went into my personal collection. Like Opal, it’s a gem!