Urban Fantasy series' discussion

One of our July Books of the Month is:


THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by Mike Carey

Please read and discuss below!

Have fun =)

This was a decent read, but it really dragged in the middle for me. The mystery itself was interesting, but I don't think I ever was really grabbed by the main character.

I absolutely love this series, but can definitely see how the first might not grab you right way. I actually listened to the audiobooks, which are narrated by Michael Kramer (his voice is just perfect for Felix) and was the main reason I bought the second & third, from the third on, it's golden.

At least I thought so, but it might not be for everyone. I barely got trough the first book of the Dresden Files series, but forged on and it became one of my top 5 favorite series.

Sukhi wrote: "I absolutely love this series, but can definitely see how the first might not grab you right way. I actually listened to the audiobooks, which are narrated by Michael Kramer (his voice is just perf..."
Dresden hasn't grabbed me either. I struggled through the first and tried again with the second the other day. The illogical decisions made by Dresden don't ring true for me and I end up wandering away and picking up something else.

He needs to be a bit more charming for me to love him ( Dresden ie.). actually all these male povs are a bit flat. They all read like old men to me. I think i expect too much . Im going to give this a go on Wednesday :) Im excited!

Lorelle wrote: "He needs to be a bit more charming for me to love him ( Dresden ie.). actually all these male povs are a bit flat. They all read like old men to me. I think i expect too much . Im going to give th..."
I think Dresden kind of walks over the women characters in the stories. When I started book 2, he wasn't endearing himself to me at all by not giving info to the first female character (too dangerous. He apparently thought it wiser to pique her curiosity by just saying it was dangerous rather than giving pertinent details. Then he couldn't stand to let Murphy, the cop, take the lead and keep his name a secret. Nope. He knew best. Didn't bother to tell her they were being followed either. Bah.)

Oh wait. I'm discussing the wrong book. Whoops.

I bought this book a while back and for whatever reason I shelved it. I'm excited for the push to read it again.

I really enjoyed this book and read the second one immediately after it. I liked Fix from the get go, and while I did find the middle a bit slow, the start and the finish more than made up for it. I liked the setting and the mythology of the risen dead in the various forms. The second and third books are even better, and that in itself makes this book a must read in my opinion.

I started reading this yesterday, it really isn't doing much for me so far. I liked Dresden much more. I am not giing up yet. Unless it gets much better I probably wont continue reading the series... I have far too many series to catch up. We shall see.

Jessica wrote: "I started reading this yesterday, it really isn't doing much for me so far. I liked Dresden much more. I am not giing up yet. Unless it gets much better I probably wont continue reading the seri..."

The front and end are the best parts IMO. But I did a lot of heavy skimming in the middle so I might have missed good stuff. :>)

Well im 50 pages in and I found it quite dense and old Felix a bit drab. If the middle is the slowest and im about to head into it, im wondering whether I should continue. I also get a little lost in his writing. Maybe I just dont have the vocab..

Lorelle wrote: "Well im 50 pages in and I found it quite dense and old Felix a bit drab. If the middle is the slowest and im about to head into it, im wondering whether I should continue. I also get a little lost ..."
I didn't have a lot of problem with the writing, although it is...well, the sentence structures are not always straightforward. I can't tell you. I know I started skimming and while I did enjoy some of the scenes especially at the end, I don't feel I missed much skipping the center. :>)

I think you need to really feel immersed into the world. Im just not a patient person at the moment. I think I would appreciate it at a different time. I mean there's noone that's bothering me character wise to want to throw it...and it is dark, which I normally like. I think I'll get to the middle and see what I think. He is probably a great writer, I just know it seems clunky to me, but Im not the most literate of readers if that makes sense :) Might leave it till the end of the month when I tidy up my reads that are left on my bedside table for the second chance culling lol . On a side note and off topic... You didnt miss too much with

Lorelle wrote: "I think you need to really feel immersed into the world. Im just not a patient person at the moment. I think I would appreciate it at a different time. I mean there's noone that's bothering me char..."

I didn't figure I did. By the time I put it aside, I was completely disinterested.

With the Felix book, the ending was kind of neat (if I remember correctly) because it went through this process of elimination with the suspects. I was a little confused because I'd skipped parts so I wasn't all the familiar with the characters, but it was still enjoyable. Other than not quite knowing who everyone was, I didn't feel I'd miss anything. I didn't dislike the character, but I tell you what, the pacing after that first part dragged and I'm not patient with that at all.

I am also struggling along with the writing.... I'm 4 chapters in and just can't seam to focus on the story. Hopefully it gets better soon I really like the idea of this book

Alicia wrote: "I am also struggling along with the writing.... I'm 4 chapters in and just can't seam to focus on the story. Hopefully it gets better soon I really like the idea of this book"

im having another go in the next 2 days. i just feel i have to get to this middle bit to see if it holds me

I have been struggling from the beginning I am about ready to give up

Jessica wrote: "I have been struggling from the beginning I am about ready to give up"

Well, yanno, life is short. Month is over, probably time to just move on to another book that you enjoy more!!!

I'm also having a hard time with this one :( I just can't seem to get into it like I want to·······

My advice is .... stick with it! I moaned about this book earlier, but about half way through it picked up for me. I think my problem was I expected more of a scary story (hence the exorcism stuff) but was met with more of an Agent Pendergast murder mystery. So now I want to read more in this series when a few weeks ago I was complaining that I didn't like it.

I have to wait till half way through for it to get better? ugh.... I've almost stopped reading it like 3 times I just can't get into it.... but I shall persevere till the end if it gets better.

Nikki wrote: "I have to wait till half way through for it to get better? ugh.... I've almost stopped reading it like 3 times I just can't get into it.... but I shall persevere till the end if it gets better."

Skip a few chapters...I did...and then skipped again...and then read the last few chapters. :>)

bahaha. You know I reckon sometimes skimming hurts my head a little. So skipping might be the key. I definitely would have continued, even if the storyline was slow, if I just found the writing more palatable

I don't like skipping...makes me feel like i didn't actually complete the book......lol

Only just joined so have not done a recent reread but having read it before, I remember liking not loving it but I feel the series got better.

Him wrote: "Only just joined so have not done a recent reread but having read it before, I remember liking not loving it but I feel the series got better."

Welcome!

Thanks for the welcome, gives me the warm fuzzes ,although granted that could just be the cat sleeping on my belly

Him wrote: "Thanks for the welcome, gives me the warm fuzzes ,although granted that could just be the cat sleeping on my belly"

Ha! I'm betting on the cat...especially for fuzz!

Him wrote: "Thanks for the welcome, gives me the warm fuzzes ,although granted that could just be the cat sleeping on my belly"

yay cats! they do give warm fuzzies :D

Ok so I finished it last night (I stayed up till after 4am to finish it: a total of 242 pages in one sitting) once I got to a certain part I just wanted to keep going.....just glad I made it through it the beginning was sooooo slow and really eh for me but overall a really good read :D

Happy to see more people are enjoying the book! The series keeps getting better, I am reading now after finishing last week. I have spent the last 2 months binge reading Felix Castor, Alex Verus and Harry Dresden novels and rather dreading being caught up without a new one fairly soon!

Alright I went back and finished this one. I did end up liking it, but it seemed to take me for ever to get through it :). Maybe because I stopped halfway through, not sure.

Stephanee wrote: "Alright I went back and finished this one. I did end up liking it, but it seemed to take me for ever to get through it :). Maybe because I stopped halfway through, not sure."

That's how I felt as well lol it seems like it took me twice as long to read this one versus how long it normally takes me to read one. Eventually will get the second book of this series.

Maybe its the audiobook that made it awesome for me, if its possible to give that a try. the first few books are narrated by Michael Kramer, hes brilliant and I remember thinking to myself when I first started listening that this WAS exactly what Felix's voice would sound like. Maybe the audiobook can make the connection to the character that you arent getting by reading it.

I think a lot of my problem stems from committing to read too many books in a month. So I give up too easily and my too hard basket is always too full!