Kirsten Reviews: Roadside Magic by Lilith Saintcrow
Roadside Magic by Lilith Saintcrow
Gallow and Ragges #2
New York Times bestselling author Lilith Saintcrow returns to dark fantasy with a new series where the fairy world inhabits diners, dive bars and trailer parks.
The Seelie and unSeelie Courts are both in plague-ravaged tatters. The Wild Hunt roams unchecked, taking who and what it will, and the walls between the human world and the world of the sidhe are thinning rapidly. Gallow is the only hope of human and sidhe both.
But all Jeremy wants to do is find Robin Ragged . . . and survive. Unfortunately, everyone who meets him has other plans. Including the Ragged, who is fleeing for her life—and the King of Unwinter, whose poisoned blade has cut deep into Jeremy's flesh...
As the second book in the Gallow and Ragged series by Lilith Saintcrow, Roadside Magic is definitely not a book that stands on its own. One must have read the previous book to be caught up on the various plots set in motion by both the Seelie and unSeelie courts and the many characters caught tangled in them on both sides.
The Wild Hunt is loose and swallows up anyone it chooses while the Seelie courts suffer from the effects of a plague. This puts Jeremy Gallow in a position to be of great importance, but he is only interested in finding Robin Ragged. The Ragged is running for her life, and meanwhile Gallow is suffering from a wound inflicted by the King of Unwinter.
There are others on the Ragged’s trail, including one of Gallow’s old friends, Crenn, and Gallow is in turn being pursued by the Wild Hunt on the behalf Unwinter.
The action is somewhat slow to pick up steam as it takes almost half of the book for Gallow and the Ragged to be reunited, and it would have been nice for them to share more of the story. There are plenty of action scenes that highlight the expertise of both Gallow and Crenn, and more of the world of the Seelie is revealed, but at times the book feels like an extended chase. This may be appropriate with the Wild Hunt being involved, but for anyone expecting a more straightforward plot that can stand on its own, this book is very much about the journey as much as it is resolution of the problems facing its protagonists.
(Received a copy from the publisher)
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Previous Books:
1. Trailer Park Fae
