California Bones
The Daniel Blackland series, Book 1
Greg van Eekhout
Tor
Fiction, Fantasy
Themes: Alchemy, Alternate Earths, Artificial Intelligence, Cryptids, Dystopias, Magic Workers, Prehistoric Animals, Shapeshifters, Thieves, Urban Tales
***
Description
Daniel wasn't yet six years old when his father Sebastian, one of the strongest mages in the kingdom of Southern California, first made him eat a kraken spine, setting him on the path to become an an osteomancer - a wizard who can tap into the power of bones, teeth, and fossils - like Sebastian himself. But already the Hierarch ruler's grip was growing tighter, with no room for potential traitors or threats to his reign. Years later, Daniel himself would witness his father pay the ultimate price for ambition, when the Hierarch's soldiers capture Sebastian and the Hierarch literally devours him to absorb his magic. Ever since, Daniel has been living like a ghost in the city of Los Angeles, making a meager living off petty thefts and cons with a small yet loyal crew. He never wanted to go up against the Hierarch again - until his thief mentor, Otis, tells him they have a shot at cracking the Ossuary, the greatest storehouse of bone magic in the entire kingdom. It's a score no thief can resist, especially when Otis reveals that Sebastian's sword, an osteomantic artifact of untold power, is reportedly kept there... the sword young Daniel failed to save when the Hierarch raided his father's home all those years ago. Despite the dangers, Daniel accepts the job - and finds himself in far more trouble than he could possibly have imagined.
Review
The concept is interesting, with an alternate world where osteomancers and other mages are real and the power dynamics of the world are altered accordingly. The wealth of the La Brea tar pits enabled the Heirarch and his elite council of mages to have the power to break away from both America and Northern California... but, as in our own world, non-renewable resources have been overused and depleted, with osteomancers resorting to literal cannibalism to absorb scraps of power from other mages. Unfortunately, van Eekhout seems a little too in love with his alternate-Los Angeles concept, particularly resurrecting key figures from the city's colorful past and casting them in supporting roles, such as Walt Disney, the aging glorymage, who uses magic to essentially brainwash the populace into artificial happiness and docility so they tolerate the increasingly dystopian conditions of their kingdom, and William Mulholland, the man responsible for the city's original water infrastructure, here recast as a water mage granted unnatural lifespan and powers. I started feeling like the author was standing next to me, nudging me with his shoulder and pointing, to make sure I appreciated just how clever his very, very detailed vision of a canal-riddled, magic-permeated Los Angeles was. It didn't particularly help that I didn't like several of the characters, particularly Daniel Blackland, who seems to think he's clever but has several instances of glaring stupidity and whose wisecracks must've been more humorous or appropriate in his head. The Hierarch himself is more phantom than threat for most of the tale, dancing at the edge of awareness until finally stepping onto stage for the final act, but in a way that makes him less of an omnipresent threat and more of a bogeyman or cardboard prop. The story moves okay, but bogs down now and again (particularly when Daniel blunders, then tries and fails to wisecrack his way out of trouble), and the final bits drag out too long. Women characters, what few there were, also felt strangely marginalized; this is very much a story of fathers and sons and boys and men, where women and mothers tend to be disposable side-pieces, to the point I was distinctly irked. So, while it wasn't what I would call terrible, and while I did enjoy the concept of osteomancy and certain parts of the central heist structure and alternate world, by the end I realized I wasn't really enjoying it like I'd hoped to, and doubt I'll pursue this series further.