Moon Called
Patricia Briggs, narrated by Lorelei King
I'd forgotten how good this is
I first read Patricia Briggs's Moon Called around 2011, I think. Since then I have read every available Mercy Thompson novel, as well as all the novels in the spin-off Alpha and Omega series. It was the first urban fantasy I ever read1, and it is still my favorite.
Thus, when I was looking for audiobooks to listen to while I walk and drive, I naturally thought of Mercy. This re-read of Moon Called surprised me in two ways. First, because Briggs has slowed down in recent years (and also, to be completely honest, because the later Mercy novels are not quite as gripping as the earlier ones), I had forgotten how GOOD Moon Called is, and how skillfully written.
The other thing that came as a surprise, although it shouldn't have, was seeing Mercy at the beginning of her journey. Mercy is an auto mechanic and also a shape-shifter -- she can take the form of a coyote. In a world that contains werewolves, vampires, and fay, a 30-pound coyote is not very impressive. In Moon Called Mercy appears small and weak.
As the series proceeds, however, she becomes more powerful. In the latest currently published installments of the series, she is one of the most powerful magical people in America. She becomes powerful in an interesting way, not so much by gaining magical powers (although there is some of that) as by making powerful friends. That is, she becomes powerful in the way that real people in the real world become powerful. Mercy has friends because when Mercy is your friend, she has your back. You can depend on her.
Although I knew this, it had been a long time since I had seen early Mercy, and she was a revelation to me all over again. The audiobook is narrated by Lorelei King, who does a good job with it.
Mercy was my first urban fantasy unless you count Charles Stross‘s Laundry Files series which does, I think, meet the strict definition of urban fantasy, but has always felt more to me like science fiction.