#57 Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy

Date Started: Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Date Finished: Sunday, August 28, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 stars
Comments:
I liked this book okay, though there were a number of things I didn't like about it as well.

The author doesn't appear to believe in the subject matter she's writing about, in this case Shaminism. All the "you're going to think I'm crazy" and "I can't believe that I'm doing this" got old for me after awhile. I'm not sure why others didn't perceive this too. Or perhaps they did and simply felt the same as the author, as if the subject of Shaminism is a fantasy or myth. I don't know exactly, except to say that I prefer writing where such paranormal events are accepted as the norm, aka Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, instead of the author constantly trying to convince her audience that the practice of Shamanism is real.

Despite this, the subject matter itself kept me reading on. I was hoping that Joanne, the main character, would finally begin to embrace her shamanistic background and stop doubting and criticizing her abilities, which she did eventually. But the author's hesitancy in the belief of her subject matter still showed through despite this.

Oftentimes, the words or actions of the characters seemed contrary to previous events, making some parts of the story seem somewhat disjointed, though this seemed to even out a bit about half way through the book.

I liked the story line itself though and think the author has a lot of potential going forward as it appers this is going to be an ongoing series. This is after all a first novel for her.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.