Fire Season

As mentioned in my review of Hungry Ghosts, the first three installments in Stephen Blackmoore's Eric Carter series mostly read like Jim Butcher's episodic early Dresden Files books. But it looked as though we'd reached the end of the first story arc of this paranormal and gritty noir murder mystery series. There was potential for bigger and better things to come, and the ending of Hungry Ghosts certainly left the door open for much more.

As I said before, it remains to be seen whether or not Blackmoore can up his game and elevate this series to another level. Fire Season is definitely a step in the right direction, yet this series is not growing in scope quite as rapidly as the Dresden Files did. Though this fourth volume takes Eric beyond what was meant to be the first act in this story, I can't say that the plot is progressing at a good clip. Every novel thus far has been quite short, which limits the amount of progress the author can come up with with each new title. Still, Fire Season has been the best one yet.

Here's the blurb:

The fourth book of this dark urban fantasy series follows necromancer Eric Carter through a world of vengeful gods and goddesses, mysterious murders, and restless ghosts.

Los Angeles is burning.

During one of the hottest summers the city has ever seen, someone is murdering mages with fires that burn when they shouldn't, that don't stop when they should. Necromancer Eric Carter is being framed for the killings and hunted by his own people.

To Carter, everything points to the god Quetzalcoatl coming after him, after he defied the mad wind god in the Aztec land of the dead. But too many things aren't adding up, and Carter knows there's more going on.

If he doesn't figure out what it is and put a stop to it fast, Quetzalcoatl won't just kill him, he'll burn the whole damn city down with him.

My main gripe with urban fantasy works is that the market demands that they be short and relatively fast-paced works. Exactly why, I've never been able to say. But until an author achieves a certain level of commercial success, it feels as though editors won't allow them a larger page count. Hence the 300 pages or so that Stephen Blackmoore gets to work with. Understandably, the first few books were parsimonious on the worldbuilding front. However, in Hungry Ghosts the author finally unveiled many secrets pertaining to magic in general and Aztec/Mexican mythology. Having such Mayan and Mexican cultural influences gives the Eric Carter books a somewhat unique flavor and that's what I like the most about them. Fire Season mostly deals with the aftermath of what took place in Mictlan, the Aztec land of the dead. It now looks like Eric has a vengeful Aztec god coming after him for not upholding his part of their bargain and he's burning down Los Angeles in retribution. Trouble is, four volumes into this series and I still have no idea where the story is going. Whether he likes it or not, Eric has become the King of the Dead, and it's now evident that Darius and how he's planning to escape from his prison have become an integral part of the tale. And yet, even though each new installment adds layers to the plot, we still don't have a clear idea as to what this series really is about. It would be a major problem if the books were not entertaining, no doubt about it. But I feel that by now readers should have a better understanding of the overall plot and what Blackmoore is actually planning.

Basically everything Eric Carter touches turns to shit, which makes him an easy protagonist to root for. As always, he's a foul-mouthed smartass who gets beaten to a pulp way too many times in the span of such a short novel, but there is still something about him that makes you care for the poor fool. Again, he acts like an idiot for the most part because he's trying to protect those he loves without realizing that he's alienating them in the process. He has been running from his past for a long time and now it's finally caught up with him. As mentioned in my review of Hungry Ghosts, as entertaining as he is, I was hoping for some character growth to help him become a more balanced individual. Well, with LA burning down around him and mages trying to kill him for murders he hasn't committed, there is very little room for growth. I was glad to see Gabriella return in this fourth volume. Vivian and Letitia, a mage who went to school with Eric and who's now a police officer and a secret member of the Cleanup Crew, made for a nice addition to the supporting cast. Although there is only one POV, it's nice to have other people sharing the spotlight with Eric.

With Fire Season being such a short work, there are no pacing issues from start to finish. With a vindictive god and a ruthless sicaria wielding a god-created weapon coming after him, this latest Eric Carter book reads more like a thriller than an urban fantasy novel. And since I'm almost done with the fifth volume, Ghost Money, it's also obvious that Fire Season sets the stage for yet more troubling times for the necromancer. Given that his plate is already quite full, it will be interesting to see what Blackmoore has in store for him. Especially since Santa Muerte, his wife and patron saint of death, who is and isn't who she used to be since the events that occurred in Mictlan, is also seeking attention.

If you are looking for a gritty urban fantasy series featuring a deeply flawed male lead, the Eric Carter books are definitely for you. How this series has flown under the radar for all these years, I'll never know. But fans of Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, and Richard Kadrey will definitely find a lot to like about these novels.

The final verdict: 7.75/10

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