Summon the Keeper
Registered by harperbruce of West Blocton, Alabama USA on 1/27/2004
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
Huff, writer of other more "serious" fantasy books, takes a turn toward the decidedly comic with a series of three books called the Keeper Chronicles; this is the first.
Claire Hansen is a Keeper -- what we'd call a magician normally, but not in this universe. Keepers are supposed to maintain the metaphysical balance between the good and evil "possibilities." Cousins are the next step down, able to touch the possibilities themselves, but less powerful than Keepers. They serve as helpers and monitors of "accident sites," literally holes in the metaphysical fabric that allow the dark possibilities to leak through and cause grief, chaos, pain and disco. The Keepers do the dirty work; they are Summoned to close the holes or monitoring the worst accident sites.
Claire, along with Austin, her talking cat, is Summoned to a particularly nasty hole -- so nasty that the last Keeper called to seal it turned evil and tried to co-opt the hole's dark possibilities for her own ends. She's now sleeping in a room in the "guest house" hotel under a containment shield, with fifty years of dust and waxy yellow buildup covering her. You see, this ain't no ordinary hole; it's literally a hole to Hell. Complicating Claire's job are inadequate notes left by the Cousin who bugged out when she arrived; an incredibly libidinous ghost; a "Bystander" hotel handyman who is both incredibly grounded in himself, incredibly innocent and incredibly handsome; assorted visitors such as vampires and retired Greek gods; and a kid sister who's actually more powerful than Claire, but has the finesse of a 500-kilo trip hammer coupled with a teenager's massive overconfidence.
There are laughs aplenty throughout the book, but the best are reserved for the hole to Hell. You see, Hell can talk; not only that, but it talks to itself. Even better, it argues with itself...and it loses! An example:
=====
TROUBLE IS GOOD.
BUT WE DIDN'T CAUSE IT.
SO?
Hell sounded sulky. IT'S THE PRINCIPLE OF THE THING.
WE DON'T HAVE PRINCIPLES!
OH, YEAH.
=====
There's even better, including a riff on the werewolves pun from Gene Wilder's "Young Frankenstein." If you find this book, read it!!
Claire Hansen is a Keeper -- what we'd call a magician normally, but not in this universe. Keepers are supposed to maintain the metaphysical balance between the good and evil "possibilities." Cousins are the next step down, able to touch the possibilities themselves, but less powerful than Keepers. They serve as helpers and monitors of "accident sites," literally holes in the metaphysical fabric that allow the dark possibilities to leak through and cause grief, chaos, pain and disco. The Keepers do the dirty work; they are Summoned to close the holes or monitoring the worst accident sites.
Claire, along with Austin, her talking cat, is Summoned to a particularly nasty hole -- so nasty that the last Keeper called to seal it turned evil and tried to co-opt the hole's dark possibilities for her own ends. She's now sleeping in a room in the "guest house" hotel under a containment shield, with fifty years of dust and waxy yellow buildup covering her. You see, this ain't no ordinary hole; it's literally a hole to Hell. Complicating Claire's job are inadequate notes left by the Cousin who bugged out when she arrived; an incredibly libidinous ghost; a "Bystander" hotel handyman who is both incredibly grounded in himself, incredibly innocent and incredibly handsome; assorted visitors such as vampires and retired Greek gods; and a kid sister who's actually more powerful than Claire, but has the finesse of a 500-kilo trip hammer coupled with a teenager's massive overconfidence.
There are laughs aplenty throughout the book, but the best are reserved for the hole to Hell. You see, Hell can talk; not only that, but it talks to itself. Even better, it argues with itself...and it loses! An example:
=====
TROUBLE IS GOOD.
BUT WE DIDN'T CAUSE IT.
SO?
Hell sounded sulky. IT'S THE PRINCIPLE OF THE THING.
WE DON'T HAVE PRINCIPLES!
OH, YEAH.
=====
There's even better, including a riff on the werewolves pun from Gene Wilder's "Young Frankenstein." If you find this book, read it!!
Journal Entry 2 by harperbruce at UA, Ferguson Center, lounge near TicketLink info in Tuscaloosa, Alabama USA on Thursday, January 29, 2004
Released on Thursday, January 29, 2004 at UA, Ferguson Center, lounge near TicketLink info in Tuscaloosa, Alabama USA.
