Rating: 4.75 ⭐️🌈
Demon Dance and Other Disasters, the first in an urban fantasy series, A Spirit Mage’s Journey written by BR Kingsolver, is such an amazing story.
We immediately meet the main character on a vicious hunt for a dangerous vampire. She’s a bounty hunter, 16 year old orphaned Katy Brown ,tough street mage. Thrown out on the streets with nothing by her grandparents after the murder of her parents, she’s done what it takes to live for 5 years, learning how to use her magic, hunt, and barely get by on bringing in the bounties posted.
Kingsolver’s story is dark, gritty, and grounded in details of rawest realities of homelessness, especially as a child, meshed with a fantastical urban fantasy world building. Using the sort of spare fast paced narrative that I’ve come to associate with Kingsolver, it’s that detailed concise scenes, the street children relating their current experiences or circumstances calmly without any real emotion, that lends this it’s own despair and reality of their lives. Or the homeless tent cities that Katy visits for information. It’s believable and heartbreaking.
That it’s fantasy too. Because we’d expect it not to have changed that this aspect of life would have disappeared.
Katy’s recent kill brings her to the notice of the head of the Guild Mages, an offer of a job and perhaps even more.
Such an incredibly well woven tale, horrifying, full of mystery and complexity as well as the realities of life as a teenager with no real support or trust only trauma in her background. Katy is fantastic, so convincing as a street worn teen, tough, yet still vulnerable underneath all those walls she’s erected. Just a fabulous connectable character.
And when I read this, I was unaware there was a second book in the series and. Kingsolver ties up all the plot points, bringing to a satisfying resolution all the storylines of the book and for Katy Brown. When it comes to the finish, she’s ready for a new stage of her life.
Even if I hadn’t seen the second one, I would have been so happy with this novel.
That’s saying something about how completely well written and beautifully crafted it is.
Grab it up if you love urban fantasy fiction. There’s no love or romance. The characters identify themselves in multiple ways, bi, gay heterosexual, nonbinary
Honestly, she’s a teenager. And as many of the street kids here see sex as transactional, a form of survival. FYI
Highly Recommended.
Cover art by Lou Harper
A Spirit Mage’s Journey:
Demon Dance and Other Disasters #1
A City of Swords and Fangs #2
Buy link
Demon Dance and Other Disasters: (An Urban Fantasy Book) (A Spirit Mage’s Journey Book 1)
Blurb
I hunt the lost, the dangerous, and the damned. It’s how I survive. This time? It’s how I might die.
Since my parents were murdered, I’ve survived by hunting down whatever—or whoever—needs finding. Rogue vampires, runaway dogs, missing kids, even deadbeat spouses. If it comes with a paycheck, I take the job.
This hunt is different. A master mage offered me a reward I couldn’t refuse—track down a rogue summoner, stop the demon, and get out. Simple.
But as the bodies pile up and the vulnerable start vanishing, I realize this job is darker, deadlier, and more twisted than anything I’ve faced before. It isn’t just about stopping a summoner—it’s about stopping what comes next.
The hunt is on. Dare to join me in the shadows?
Publication date
August 18, 2024
Language
English
Print length
264 pages
Book 1 of 2
Welcome to Queen City—Where Magic Hunts in the Shadows
for readers who crave dark, gritty Urban Fantasy
If you love high-stakes magic, relentless action, and heroines who refuse to back down, Demon Dance and Other Disasters will pull you in and never let go.
Set in the same world as BR Kingsolver’s bestselling Rosie O’Grady’s Paranormal Bar and Grill—twelve years after Erin’s journey—the story introduces a new kind of fighter.
Katy Brown isn’t a warrior trained in secret or a chosen one destined for greatness. She’s a survivor. When the Mage Guild hires her to stop a rogue summoner, she takes the job for the payout—until the hunt turns into something far deadlier.
This is urban fantasy at its most intense, packed with magic, mystery, and danger lurking in every shadow. Fans of BR Kingsolver’s work will recognize the sharp storytelling, immersive worldbuilding, and unforgettable characters that make every page pulse with energy.
Join the Hunt: What Lies Ahead
- A world where power is rutheless and the vulnerable pay the price.
- A fierce, street-smart heroine who never wanted to be a hero.
- Dark, high-stakes magic—raw, unpredictable, and deadly.
- Mystery, action, and da
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 