California Bones

April 7, 2014
Van Eekhout (Norse Code) introduces a magical alternate Los Angeles undergoing a familiar struggle to control limited resources. Trained at a young age to be an osteomancer—one who consumes fantastical creatures’ bones to gain their power—Daniel Blackland hides for 10 years after his parents are killed, surviving on petty theft of trace magic. Then crime lord Otis assigns Daniel a dangerous heist that he can’t refuse: breaking into the Ossuary of the Hierarch, the osteomancer who rules Los Angeles, to reclaim a weapon crafted by Daniel’s father. To execute the heist, Daniel recruits a too-capable but very argumentative team to bypass spells, riddles, and monsters. While the action and magic are thrilling, the various heists aren’t suspenseful. The team defeats difficult obstacles with ease before readers can even appreciate them. A late reveal also undermines everything the reader believes about Daniel and his loyal friends. Nonetheless, the story will excite readers who love magical showdowns, and will tease them with an ending that sets up a sequel.

Starred review from May 15, 2014

In the Southern Kingdom of California, Daniel Blackland is a thief and an osteomancer, able to use the magic imbued in certain bones to give himself power. As a child he witnessed the killing of his father by the mysterious ruler known as the Hierarch and then went underground. The local crime lord wants to hire him for a job, but Daniel isn't interested until he hears that it might finally be a chance for him to steal back a weapon made by his father that contains Daniel's own bones. He puts together a crew to break into the Hierarch's compound, but even the best thieves in Los Angeles are going to have a hard time stealing from the most powerful man in California. VERDICT In van Eekhout's (Norse Code) first hardcover for adult readers, a combination of caper novel and urban fantasy packs a wallop. Daniel and his team banter even while up to their necks in danger, and the magic system in which eating the bones and flesh of creatures can grant you their power is unique and fascinating (if a little icky). Highly recommended.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 15, 2014
Daniel Blackland, a professional (if fairly small-time) thief, is hired by his uncle, a crime lord, to break into a supposedly impenetrable stronghold and steal something so rare, so important, that others will kill to get it back. Sound like a typical caper novel? Let's add in some details. Daniel is the son of a powerful magician who was killed many years ago by the Hierarch, the ruler of the Kingdom of Southern California, and the object he's trying to steal is a sword, made by Daniel's father, that possesses the magical essence of Daniel himself. This wonderfully imaginative story is set in an alternate-reality Los Angeles that will seem both familiar (the author mentions Topanga Canyon and Rhino Records) and weirdly unusual (the city has an elaborate canal system, like that in Venice, for example). In this world, the bones of magical creatures contain remnants of their powers; if you consume these ancient bones, or the bones of magical people living today, you acquire their magical properties (when the Hierarch killed Daniel's father, he, um, ate him). The story is structured like a caper novel, and fans of stories about heists will enjoy it, but its fantastical elements make it an absolute must for urban-fantasy readers, too.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)