Coffee and my BFF are all the magic I need.
Things have gone wonky around me most of my life. I find an odd amount of dead or dying people, and if something freakish happens, I’m usually in the middle or nearby. My luck dumps me into the weirdest situations. Which means finding a body on the way to work isn’t exciting, just frustrating because I can’t afford to lose my job. College, when you … College, when you aren’t a mage, is expensive.
My best friend Jo, is the only person I can depend on, and I fear I might lose her to magic too. But when the latest dead body has my name in his pocket, I find out I have more friends than I thought. I’m going to need them to graduate. But I will earn my certification no matter what I have to overcome.
Nothing is going to stop me. I will have a good life, I will be a great EMT, and I will keep looking for why my twin died. Life is a series of steps; this is step one. But with my luck, anything and everything might happen.
My Luck – the first book in the Twisted Luck series, an Urban Fantasy you didn’t know you needed.
A found family, non-romantic urban fantasy with a smattering of magical beasties.
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For a while now, I’ve been reviewing Mel Todd’s SF series, the Kaylid Chronicles. Before I wrapped up that series, Mel asked if I would be interested in reading her next series, an Urban Fantasy (no romance) called “Twisted Luck” — book one of which is My Luck.
I enjoyed her space opera, so of course I was going to want a free book from an author who I already enjoyed.
Let’s start with something simple. This has the best opening routine since “The building was on fire and it wasn’t my fault.” I hope I don’t have to explain that reference. But the opening is a dark comedy routine that I read to anyone who would listen to me.
Once more, Mel Todd excels at world building. As is her style, she opens each chapter with a bit of history and culture around the world. This time, magic has emerged in the world in the late 1800s– a few years after the Civil War (which, of course, leads to in-world alternate histories of what the Civil War would have looked like if magic had existed a few years earlier). Mel doesn’t use it excessively–we hear about the partnership of Rasputin and Lenin, but not a lot about World Wars (okay, FDR is still an a-hole)–and it works just enough to give a flavor of the world.
The real world building comes throughout the story. Our heroine, Cori, is getting her degrees in the most practical certifications she can–EMT, Medical Assistant, and Criminal Law–which also happen to be the best points of view from which to present slices of the world. Within the narration, some of the sections that are obviously data dumps are worthy of David Weber. Then again, one section did start with “most of the bodies I found were rarely stupid or boring.” So anything after that will grab your attention.
Again, like in Mel’s last series, her world building is either brilliant, or borders on brilliant. In her world, every mage of a certain strength must be trained, and every mage is full-on drafted. She prevents this from having shades of Babylon 5’s Psi-Corps by having over half the population be magical–there isn’t discrimination against non-mages, but the upper brackets are surprisingly heavy in the magic set.
I especially like the impact on culture. Facial tattoos for mages are part of fashion. The magic system recommends long hair (magic is powered by cellular matter-to-energy conversion of the mage’s DNA– eg: Okay, Winston Churchill was a Time Wizard who kept checking future timelines to win the war, which is why he was bald all the time). There are aspects of law (pay attention to the “Good Samaritan” laws). Diamonds are basis of currency, because freaking alchemists. And I even like that she hints at an origin of magic coming through rips in dimensional planes that make me want to call Doctor Strange.
Though the “Office of Magical Oversight” being established by Lenin? A little creepy.
The execution of Cori and the “bad luck” around her is … entertaining. The luck that is inflicted upon her and people around her is very Rube Goldberg in nature
I only have one question. Are the students of George MageTech still considered rambling wrecks?
And I am so, so happy that her description only covers the first third of the book, you have no idea. Though by that point, the reader should be clued in to one of the major aspects of the book that is only hinted at throughout–making the rest of the book interesting to watch, and the reader feels slightly superior to our narrator along the way. Part of what Mel does with this is a trick I’ve only seen used with Nero Wolfe novels of Rex Stout — she gives us the answer to a major question of the book … only the answer comes before the question. The answer is “Ronin.”
Also, in Chapter 21, Mel Todd hints at a serial killer, and never capitalizes on it. She did that with a possible shifter serial killer in Kaylid, and does so here too (here, it was a reference to a killer who had happened, and was magical. I’m starting to wonder if these are discarded plot threads at this point.)
Once again, Mel does cops so well, I’m surprised she doesn’t do any research for them. They feel very much like cops I’ve known. Also, some of the situations are analogous.
The comedy is right up my alley. Then again, I laughed out loud when someone asked, “We have a serial killer?” and the immediate reply was “Please. That’s an Atlanta Thing. Probably.”
Much to my surprise, this entire book is carried by character and world building. And when I say I was surprised, I mean I was 80% of the way through the novel (chapter 34) when I realized that this wasn’t what you would call plot heavy. Normally, I’m very dismissive of media that is clearly more of a setup for a series than a standalone … but this was so well executed, and so self contained, I can’t really say anything against it.
And I mean I have nothing against it. Nothing at all. Even the Kaylid Chronicles had errors sprinkled throughout–many were minor, but some just drop-kicked me out of the story. Here? Not a thing. Trust me, I was looking. My serial killer comment above is as close as we get to a complaint.
But this felt more like the good old days, when Laurell K. Hamilton was good, and could tell a story without turning it into a hundred page orgy. Looking back, this is probably even better than early Anita Blake.
Anyway, five stars, out of five stars. Go buy it.
https://amzn.to/3ezxlgq
“My Luck” by Mel Todd marks the start to her “Twisted Luck” urban fantasy series evolving around Cori, a magicless young woman dealing with her lack of magic in a world of mages. Cori has a plan, finish her degree, and get a job, preferably out of town, even if it means letting her best (and only) friend behind. Cori has a rare affinity to short-cut electronics, let things got broken on her path and find weird things, the last one being that dead body. Did you remember Calamity Jane? Well, this is Cori Catastrophe but do not despair, she is resilient and trying to succeed against all odds, which is part of the fun in reading the story. This is a story more about Cori’s struggles and her relationship, than about a particular urban fantasy verse, in fact Cori being ‘magicless’ could be exchanged by any everyday shortcoming and the story could remain the same. It’s a character driven story that will appeal to readers relating to Cori and her struggles, regardless of their interest or lack of in an urban fantasy setting.
This is a must-read for anyone who loves Urban Fantasy with a kickass magical system. Can’t wait to see where these characters go!
What a great story. It starts out with Cori finding a dead body while trying to go to work. Cori attracts bad luck & strange occurances. She works hard because she has to. No support from her parents. She has dreams of getting her degree and finding a job. She wants to leave her small town & her parents behind. But weird things always seem to happen & she wonders if she will succeed. A story full of friendship, trust and hard work. Full of great characters some you will dislike & others you will love. The narrator for this book did a great job. An excellent read.
This audiobook sounded very interesting and fun. However, I was slightly underwhelmed. The characters seemed under developed and the world building was lacking.
Please keep in mind that is just one woman’s opinion. You may find it fantastic. I am also willing to give book 2 a chance to see if there are any improvements. I do not recommend NOR do I not not recommend. I leave it up to you to decide if you want to try or not.
This was a fantastic audiobook it made me laugh and cry and generally cheer for the characters success
Great first book to an interesting new UF series