Novella Review: Pride’s Spell by Matt Wallace
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Book 3 of Sin du Jour
Publisher: Tor.com (June 21, 2016)
Length: 240 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Pride’s Spell is the third installment of Matt Wallace’s Sin du Jour series of novellas starring the ragtag crew of New York’s most exclusive kitchen and catering company. While these books can work perfectly fine as stand-alones, I was delighted to read this one and discover multiple overarching story threads and character paths finally coming together to form a larger picture.
Most of NYC’s in-crowd have heard of Byron “Bronko” Luck, a celebrity chef who used to have his own upscale restaurant and even a TV show. Now he is the head of Sin du Jour and the boss of the Lena and Darren, two ordinary junior chefs who have suddenly found themselves thrust into a world of the paranormal and bizarre. For one thing, Sin du Jour’s clientele is anything but ordinary. Lena and Darren’s first gig with the catering company saw them cooking and serving up a banquet for demons. Their second major job involved providing the food at a goblin wedding. But just when they thought they’ve had it with the weirdness factor, Bronko happily surprises the two of them with an assignment that actually sounds halfway normal: preparing a grand feast for a Hollywood movie premiere.
The team is split up. Understanding on some level that this is a test, Lena and Darren accompany Chef Bronko to California with only a few other staff in tow, while the rest of the crew stay behind to take care of the paranormal convention circuit, and Sin du Jour’s Stocking and Receiving department finally gets some well-deserved time off. Still, even as Ritter, Hara, Cindy and Moon are settling back to enjoy some much needed rest and relaxation, their enemies are not so accommodating. One night, all hell breaks loose as the New York team gets ambushed by the strangest group of assassins you could ever imagine. Meanwhile out west, Lena, Darren and Bronko are also dealing with troubles of their own, as they learn the hard way just how cutthroat the world of Hollywood can be.
No doubt about it, this was probably my favorite Sin du Jour tale so far. I was initially wary when came upon the book’s premise, expecting another celebrity-laden story related to the entertaining industry like in the last book, Lustlocked. Instead, Pride’s Spell had other ideas in mind. Matt Wallace deftly launches a two-pronged attack, hitting us with a storm of outrageous action and humor as both groups of characters scramble to deal with their respective crises. In New York, a wacky scenario unfolds as Ritter and his team are attacked by homicidal holiday icons, with the whole fracas finally ending in an epic showdown at Sin du Jour HQ where Dorsky and his kitchen crew have been holding down the fort while the big boss is out of town. In Hollywood, Lena and Darren struggle to come up with a suitable menu to suit the fastidious dietary demands of pampered celebs, while Jett and Nikki have sequestered themselves away to prepare the greatest, most transcendent dessert experience the world has ever seen. They say that sometimes, the after party is even better than the main event, but as we soon see, this is most certainly not the case for the Hollywood team.
In spite of its absurd plot, I thought there was a lot more substance to this sequel relative to the previous one. Looking back at my review for Lustlocked, my chief complaint was that it felt very much like a “throwaway” installment, a fun side-story that doled out plenty of action and laughs but ultimately added little to the overall series narrative or how I felt about the characters. On the other hand, while Pride’s Spell was every bit as zany and twisted, I thought it offered a lot more when it came to emotional weight. Finally, we can see how Lena and Darren have been integrating into the Sin du Jour family, making friends and forming attachments. In between all the cooking and fighting, we’re also seeing glimpses of who all these characters are on a deeper level, like how they’re starting to connect with each other, what kind of backgrounds they come from, or what makes them tick.
This was especially true for the Stocking and Receiving team. So far, Ritter et al. have featured prominently in their own mini-adventures in each book, and this one was no exception. Like a company of mercenaries, they’ve always stood a bit apart from the kitchen crew in my eyes, providing some extra thrills and comic relief on their rare ingredient-hunting escapades. This however was probably the first time I thought of them as more than a sideshow to the series, gaining a little more insight into the kinds of lives they lead when they’re not off doing jobs for Bronko.
Pride’s Spell ended up being everything I wanted and expected out of a Sin du Jour novella. It’s ridiculous but fun. Humor, action, insanity and violence are still key ingredients in this madcap urban fantasy series, but I’m also glad that we’re starting to see more development in the characters and their relationships. There’s a sense of everything coming together here, even tying in some elements introduced from the first book in the series, making me hunger for the next course. I have a feeling it’s all going to culminate into something great.
More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of Envy of Angels (Book 1)
Review of Lustlocked (Book 2)
What a fun cover there and it looks like you had a good time again so it’s making me quite curious!
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These books are a ton of fun! Short bite-sized humorous tales that I can’t recommend enough!
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So glad you enjoyed this one! I was glad to see more tension between Darren and Lena, which really made the story interesting. Plus he didn’t resolve their issues so you know there’s more to come.
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Yeah, the relationship dynamics are getting interesting. That’s what I like to see! This one might be a series of novellas, but I still certainly appreciate the character development.
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Oh, I need to start this series! Every time I see it mentioned I start grinning because I know it’s going to be FUN 🙂
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Oh it is! You won’t be disappointed on that front 🙂
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I forgot what to say…eh whatevers…ohh are you reading Age of Myth?! omg I can not concentrate today *looks at other things*
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Haha, yeah. I just finished AoM today, and it is AMAZING.
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ohhh waaaaaaaaaaaaant
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I love this series so much. I really liked “Lustlocked” but I think mainly because of The Goblin King and it was coinciding with Bowie’s death when I read it so it hit home more. I really love how Wallace’s mind works and look forward to the remaining 4 books. Gotta love the Killer Easter Bunny!
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Yeah I read Lustlocked around that time too, and even though I know the book was written before his death, it just felt to me like a fitting tribute somehow. And are there 4 remaining? I heard somewhere else (don’t remember where now) that there will be 4 together. I hope we get the higher number, the more the better!
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I had heard since they are following the 7 deadly sins, there will be 7 total. I certainly hope that is the case.
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OMG I didn’t even notice the deadly sin references in the title until you told me just now. I. Am. An. Idiot. LOL! Now it all makes sense! Yes, in that case 7 would likely be the case! Thanks for letting me know! 😀
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I really need to start this series! I’ve loved the sound of all the books so far. Plus I’m super excited to get around to reading Lustlocked because goblin king! Glad to hear that you enjoyed this one as well in the series.
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The series is great, I hope you get a chance to give the first book a try! Bite-sized UF installments, just perfect! 🙂
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