Jonathan Arnold reviewed Good guys by Steven Brust
Review of 'Good guys' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
A trio tries to figure out who is going around killing people using magic in this light thriller. This trio, lead by Donovan, the detective type, with Marci, the magic one and Susan, the strong one, is employed by a consortium of magicians to track down "rogues" who use magic in "bad" ways. But are they really working for the good guys? They must be, because they are getting paid minimum wage!
An interesting, humorous book, with lots of funny asides. I was able to cover my dislike for magic for the most part, until towards the end when Marci was able to get some information in a most magic-y unexplained way, which perfectly illustrates my disdain for most magic in books. It just becomes a deus ex machina to just magically (see what I did there?) solve a plot problem. Magic in this book isn't really explained much, besides …
A trio tries to figure out who is going around killing people using magic in this light thriller. This trio, lead by Donovan, the detective type, with Marci, the magic one and Susan, the strong one, is employed by a consortium of magicians to track down "rogues" who use magic in "bad" ways. But are they really working for the good guys? They must be, because they are getting paid minimum wage!
An interesting, humorous book, with lots of funny asides. I was able to cover my dislike for magic for the most part, until towards the end when Marci was able to get some information in a most magic-y unexplained way, which perfectly illustrates my disdain for most magic in books. It just becomes a deus ex machina to just magically (see what I did there?) solve a plot problem. Magic in this book isn't really explained much, besides grids and lines, so Brust can pull off pretty much anything he wants.
But it was saved by a likable trio and some pretty funny lines. Like when Donovan went to Foundation HQ in Spain and was confused when someone said something that began with an upside down question mark. So the story flowed along pretty well and the team was fun to watch in action, save for the occasional "poof" of magic to get them out of a sticky situation - sigh.
So a fun and easy enough read but I won't be hanging on tenterhooks waiting for the next book to come out.
