Book Review: Charming by Elliot James

Due to a lack of customers and an odd plethora of employees (nearly unheard of where I work), I was able to come home early from the bank today. I plan on actually being productive at home and finishing up some coursework and what not but you know me, plans are made to be put off until midnight.

Instead of listening to my three hour lecture on the wonders of metadata, I find myself taking care of other unfinished business, such as a book review of Charming by Elliot James.

Meet the protagonist: John Charming. He is but one Charming from the family line of Charmings whose fantastical feats were long translated into fairytale. The Charmings have fought dragons, witches, vampires, werewolves, and other things that go bump in the night since before the fall of Rome. Like many of the descendants of his fabled line, John was a Knight Templar, only he fought with kevlar and shotguns rather than chain mail and crossbows.  He swore a sacred oath to the brotherhood to protect and uphold the Pax Arcana, a spell cast by the Elves before they journeyed to the West for good. John was very good at his job too until the brotherhood turned on him because of something that happened while he was but a babe in his mother's womb.

As the time went by, John learned to survive in the mundane world while still upholding his duty as a Knight in a manner that almost never draws the attention of the Templars' themselves. All that changed the night a blonde and a vampire walked into his bar...

Meet my opinion: I liked the story and its main character right from the beginning. My affection waned a little towards the end and there are a few glitches that need to be worked out in stories that will follow but overall, I still really liked the book.

The storyline was interesting. The character was a good mixture of tragic hero meets smart ass. And the lore! Oh gosh golly, the lore! This world James crafted is filled to the gills with mythology, legend, and lore. Furthermore, James gives the mythology a good spin and fits pieces of legend together with such skill it seems only logical they always fit together in that fashion. If the book slows a bit in the middle it is due only to the weight of the mythology laden world being so craftily explained to the reader. There are a lot of info dumps but this is a very lore rich world so there is a lot of information to impart in order to give the reader a fair view of the landscape. I think Elliot James does a grand job of world building in this debut novel.

The other characters were very interesting also and will easily win their spots in the reader's heart. I like the ensemble cast of quirky monster hunters James introduces to us in this book. My only real caveat with the story lies with the romantic aspect of the plot (I am not a fan of the cover either but this has no bearing on the story's quality so I will just mention it here, in passing...just this once). Quite simply it was too soon, almost so fast as to appear superficial and forced. The sexual tension in the storyline was not tangible for me as a reader. I only knew it existed because of the words written to indicate that the two people involved and all those around them felt it. I did not bond with the intended main couple as a romantic pair but rather as individuals (who are well developed characters in their own right) and visualizing them together as a full fledged couple still seems awkward and ill timed. Luckily this is an action packed urban fantasy and not a paranormal romance.

Charming is Elliot James's debut novel and if I remember correctly, there will be some short stories that lead up to the release of the main novel. I look forward to reading them all and any future novels Mr. James writes. I think it is entirely possible the Pax Arcana will become one of my favorite series soon.

*I normally include a cover of the book but I really am not fond of it so I won't share it here. I know I said I would only mention this dislike of mine once but I find the cover to be really cheesy, and in this genre that is saying much. Worse than its Kraft worthy status, it does not match my own visual image of what John Charming looks like and that throws me whenever I look at it. Silly and superficial. yes, I agree. Thankfully I know to not judge a book by its cover or I would have missed out on a good story.