Geekomancy Book Review

I have a list of books, TV shows and movies on my iPod that I add to whenever I find something that sounds interesting that I don't want to forget. For instance today my daughter and I were at the bookstore and I took about 7 pictures of book covers to check into later to see if they should be added to the list. I tend to find things by checking websites like Pat's Fantasy Hotlist or listening to the Empire Podcast or Adventures in Scifi Publishing. It is the latter that clued me in to Geekomancy by Michael R Underwood (see episodes 204 and 205).

Geekomancy is an urban fantasy book from Pocket Books starring Rhiannon "Ree" Reyes, a barrista in a game store/bakery/coffee house trying to make ends meet while trying to write and sell a screenplay to Hollywood. As the story starts, Ree is quickly drawn into an underground world of magic and mayhem where objects of geek culture are embued with power that some Geekomancers can tap into to fantastic effect. Out of her normal life, Ree is soon learning to cast spells and channel geek energies all while slinging pop culture references fast and furious.

This book is a fun and rampant ride through the college town of Pearson, Oregon. Ree knows her geek culture and uses it to great effect. Similar to the outstanding Ready Player One, Geekomancy has so many geek references in any given paragraph at times it is impossible to catch them all. What I really liked about the book was the breadth of magic hiding in plain sight (behind the plot device of The Doubt that keeps normal people from believing/remembering weird stuff they see). Particularly amusing was the reference to Bromancy, which we see in action at one point - I dare you to think of preppy fraternity guys the same way again.

In Geekomancy, Michael R Underwood gives us a contemporary urban fantasy with a strong, though a bit relationship-focused, lead character in Ree. I don't want to ruin the plot, but suffice it to say there are lightsabers and steam-punky elements all mixed in this story. I am looking forward to the sequel Celebromancy (and the soon to be released novella - side-quest - Attack the Geek). There is even another novel optioned in the series, Hexomancy, coming probably in 2015. Geekomancy gets 4 Mick Happies and can be found on most ebook platforms (not available in paper form). Go grab a copy and enjoy.