An exciting debut novel

[tahnan]

I admit I don't go to Pandemonium often, but I've only found them to be out of a new release once or twice--maybe a Brust; maybe a Guy Gavriel Kay.

I went in today to pick up a book which I was pretty sure should be there, and didn't see it on the new releases shelf. "Darn it," I thought, "was it so bad they took it out of new releases already?" And then I noticed there was something of a gap where it would fall alphabetically.

So I went to the counter and asked, "Do you have Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy?"

"Hold on," the nice young lady said. "I think we just got a shipment, let me look. We can't keep it on the shelves--" (not as in "it isn't safe there" but as in "it sells so well we're constantly out of it") "--Yes, over here."

"Ah, good," I said, and handed her my credit card to pay with. Swiping it (twice), getting my signature, and so forth gave her plenty of time to comment on it. "Make sure you sit down to read it when you have plenty of time."

"Like..." I thought about my dissertation. "January?"

"Ah," she said. "Then stay up tonight and read it." And she went on to tell me that she thought it was the best urban fantasy of the last two years.

So, for people looking for something to read: I have it on good authority that C.E. Murphy's Urban Shaman is (a) liked by those at Pandemonium and (b) selling well there. I can also assure you that the first hundred pages are very good.

(Though understand that I'm not a very good reader. The narrator mentions on page 10 that she's a mechanic; on page 13 she tells someone that she works for the police department, which I assumed was a bluff to sound authoritative. I didn't figure out until page 68 that she was a mechanic who works for the police department. But I did pick up on a couple of things before the narrator did, which is always a nice feeling.)

Comments

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

*falls over, grinning like an idiot* Who is the delightful young woman at Pandemonium. Perhaps I'll send her a book. ;)

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

There ought to be a question mark in there somewhere. :)

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

I'm quite sure I have no idea what her name was, but I suspect if you sent something to "Pandemonium, Harvard Square, Rest of the Address, 02138, attn: the brown pony-tailed young woman who works the Thursday afternoon shift," they'd figure it out. :-)

Page 200, and racing against the dawn so I can finish before I go to bed. I should have read this in January after all; more time before the dawn.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

I think I might just do that. *cackles gleefully*

*laughs out loud and hugs you* I hope it's worth staying up so late for. :)

[sionainn.livejournal.com]

Though I'm not entirely certain she'd take well to be called a brown pony.

*blink blink*

:-D

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

*giggles a lot* I thought I might re-arrange the "brown pony tailed girl" bit a little, yes. :)

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

Hey, there was a hyphen there! She wasn't a brown-pony tailed woman, after all.

Also, I posted that at like 4 am and I was distracted by this cursèd book.

[sionainn.livejournal.com]

And I read your comment before I'd had my first caffeine. I could swear I didn't see the "tailed" and only saw "brown pony."

*giggle*

[bryant]

Oh, I know her. She's nice.

[ojouchan.livejournal.com]

An all night read?

Hmm... if it is that good I might have to check it out.

[(Anonymous)]

It really is that good. Fast-paced, funny, with an interesting mythology (parts of which I'm waiting impatiently to hear more about in the November novella). I'm glad to hear Pandemonium has joined the bandwagon!

[cramerica.livejournal.com]

*Roots around for library card number, searches online for title*

Oh well, it's not in the LA library system yet. But wait, there's a 1990 book with the same title: something about... Hawaiian mysticism and the benefits of... taping crystals to one's forehead. Oops, I lost my library card number again. Too bad, so sad.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

It only came out this month. Not sure when it'll be in the libraries, but mine isn't the 1990 one about taping crystals to your forehead. :)

[luckylefty.livejournal.com]

"Hold on," the nice young lady said. "I think we just got a shipment, let me look. We can't keep it on the shelves--" (not as in "it isn't safe there" but as in "it sells so well we're constantly out of it") "--Yes, over here."


In speaking this sentence, I notice that to mean "It isn't safe there", I put equal strong emphasis on "keep" and "shelves", while to mean "it sells to well we're constantly out of it", I put the emphasis only on "shelves", but I can't explain why those emphasis patterns correspond to those meanings.

[cananian.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I emphasize the "can't" and "shelves" to mean "it isn't safe there", and use equal/no emphasis to mean "it sells very well".

I'd guess this is mostly a matter of pre-existing context. I find the idea of theft from a book store rather surprising -- it seems you find it rather more likely?

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

I have sent the brown-haired pony-tail woman a copy of the book. I hope she gets it safely and all. :)