Good Morning, Starshine!

Hello! Greetings and Salutations! The Earth says "Hello!" How are you?

Welcome to Flights of Urban Fantasy. What is this all about, you may ask? Why, the title says it all! Urban Fantasy. The plan is to pick a novel that I read and enjoyed. One I want to discuss for a month. I hope to pick up some followers (wink, wink) who will want to read the books I suggest and hop on the bandwagon, chiming in on the comments.

I plan to post at least once a week. The first post will be the publisher's blurb, and/or link to Amazon and the discussion will focus on the beginning of the book. Did it have a catchy hook? Did it draw me in with mystery and intrigue or voice and strong character? Also, how I came across the book and why I wanted to read it.

Next post will be about the characters. Who are these people and why should we give a crap about them? Expect many catchy anecdotes about characters I've loved before.

After Next: criticism. How do I feel about the book and what happened? I’m going to try and stick to the info the blurb gives us, not to be a spoiler-ator. Things like: were there any “writing rules” broken? You know, did deus ex machina rear it's ugly head? Did this impress me? Make me think? How eager am I for a sequel?

So: First, Next, After Next and then Last. This will probably be a free for all about the book. Did it remind me of something I want to blog about, or if I'm not sure what to read next, I'll mention books for the following month. I may also mention or recommend books that are forthcoming that I'm interested in, or throw out my opinion on books that don't get a full month's work up.

Now, why am I only going to discuss books I enjoyed? Will that somehow limit the value of the discussion? The reasons are many and varied. The biggest reason: I am not a hater. There is enough hateration out there on the internet, and I don’t want to spend a month gripped in hateriety. Besides, that doesn't mean there won't be things to criticize. No book is perfect, and if I find things to bitch about, bitch I will.

I hope this sounds fun. I hope I get a few read-alongers who will add their voice to the chorus. Our first book will be The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, and the first blog post will be on April 1st. Just in time for April Fool's.