I haven’t finished reading Montaigne’s Essays yet, but it’s summer, and sometimes a guy just needs a break from 16th-century France.
Note: Links in this post may be affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission, at no extra charge to you, if you make a purchase through such a link. Learn more here.
So I picked up a book I’ve had on my shelf for awhile: Death’s Daughter, by Amber Benson. I think it qualifies as urban fantasy, though it might more accurately be described by the more general term contemporary fantasy. Genres and sub-genres are slippery.
It’s the story of Calliope Reaper-Jones, who has to take over her father’s responsibilities as Death because he’s disappeared. I’m a little less than halfway through; at this point in the story, she’s working on collecting some objects of power to prove herself worthy of the position. As might be expected, she has some competition for the position.
It’s a fun book. If Goodreads had half stars, I’d give it 3 1/2 so far (a little better than “liked it,” not quite “really liked it”). It’s still early, though.
I’ve read another book by her—a later book, The Witches of Echo Park. I really liked that one a lot; it mixed an interesting-enough contemporary/urban fantasy story with a wonderful set of women characters whose most important quality is their solidarity. Urban fantasy often focuses on a woman lead character—Anita Blake (Laurell K. Hamilton), Mercy Thompson (Patricia Briggs), Rachel Morgan (Kim Harrison), Kate Daniels (Ilona Andrews), Jayné Heller (my favorite, by M.L.N. Hanover)—and they’re often loners, or surrounded by a supporting cast of men. Benson’s Witches featured a diverse group of women supporting each other (and, it turns out, the world).
I’ve seen Benson a couple different times. It wasn’t on Buffy, since I never saw the show (I know, I know)— though I’ve heard Tara and Willow were an important thing.
I first came across her well after Buffy, when she appeared (several times) on The Once and Future Podcast, interviewed by (and once, I think, interviewing) the host, Anton Strout. One of those interviews was on video (though I can’t find it anywhere now…). It was obvious from how they interacted that they were good friends having a fun conversation about writing and careers.
[Update: That interview was a livestream, which I finally found while researching the post I wrote after Anton Strout’s unexpected and sad death at the end of 2020.]
But there was a wonderfully vulnerable moment when she addressed peoples’ assumptions about her success, since she’d been on the obviously important and successful Buffy; it was clear that, as is true of most actors or creators, she was really hustling to build a creative life. It may not sound much like me (“oh ick,” and all), but I found the conversation inspiring. Indeed, that podcast—and especially that conversation—led to my decision to roll up my sleeves and start writing myself. (Still rolling up my sleeves, however….)
The other time I saw her was on a short-lived video podcast that Patrick Rothfuss (Name of the Wind) used to host for the Geek and Sundry network. (It was called “The Storyboard,” and it seems to be gone now; the videos are all marked “Private” in my YouTube playlist. I’m sad. The conversations were interesting.) Benson was one of three guests (plus host Rothfuss), and I found her to be the most interesting among the bunch (and that’s saying something, too: Rothfuss is pretty damn interesting).
Those impression left by those two appearances made me want to read Witches, and reading that made me want to read Death’s Daughter. I’m not sure if I’ll read more in the Reaper-Jones series—fun, but maybe a little too cute?—but I just learned that there are a couple more Witches books. I’ve added them to my list.