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kathydavie's review
3.0
First in the SERRAted Edge urban fantasy series revolving around elves, magic, and racing cars. The focus is on Tannim.
My Take
It's an enjoyable story — using the sportscar racing as the story's setting is a unique twist — and must be some of Lackey's early writing as it is rather juvenile and could use some work. That said, it is clever with a clever substitution, replacing the iron in cars with fiberglass and other nonferrous materials to make it easier for elves to be around all that Cold Iron. I love the ease of using an elvensteed to test out prototypes in a wind tunnel too!
I like how "Tannim" describes magic as a discipline: "a way of describing an inborn talent that's been trained. It has rules, and it obeys the laws of physics. It uses the energy produced by all living things; it also uses the energy of magnetic fields, of sunlight, and a lot of other sources. It's a tool, a way of manipulating energies;…".
A nice bit on how SERRA was formed. Lackey/Dixon almost make it believable that humans were using magic before the elves arrived on scene.
Tannim has a very different approach to teen hookers. Expensive, but a good way to begin to earn their trust. One he'll use to help Tania who has run from a different, but still crippling kind of abuse. I'll say it again, some people should not have children. The Catholic Church is so big on counseling before you get married; I wish they (and others) had a similar policy on counseling parents. Although, considering the Church's reputation for what they do with children, maybe that's a good thing.
Who knew elves would need money? I much prefer the Seleighe Court's reasons and methods to that of their rivals.
It is funny how Aurilia is the smart one but also the lowest in status; watching her manipulate her partners is interesting. The evil triad is shocked to learn that Fairgrove's elves are training humans to battle other elves, revealing their secrets, and I can see why it would be seen as a bad thing. Even if I can't get behind their plans.
It's a crunch of desires: the triad wants to take out Keighvin and doesn't care who they hurt to destroy him. It's only by luck, good planning, and good living that some of them escape. Although, there certainly were a number of incidents that could have been avoided if the Seleighe had been thinking. It's that first battle that steps things up between them, for it brings Niall over to Aurilia's way of thinking. Not so good for our side.
We sure get a tonnage of useless description. I'm not usually one to reject a "painting" of the setting, but I do like to have a purpose behind it. Especially when the authors are so keen to give information that makes you wonder what event they're prepping you for. It's such a letdown when nothing results. Now, when it comes to Tannim's bed…that makes sense.
That Foxtrot Xray is too funny when he morphs from Oberon to an aircraft-carrier parking director!
The Story
Fairgrove Industries has done well in designing cars and creating innovative engines, but now they need a front man. Someone who can be convincing enough to outmaneuver Fairgrove's enemies.
It's Tannim's job to convince the retired Sam Kelly to come out of retirement and put his reputation on the line.
For the Unseleighe are determined to take down the Seleighe and wreck their foray into human life. Even as they crank up their own entry into the human world with their snuff films and pornography.
The Characters
Tannim is a human mage employed at Fairgrove Industries, a racing firm that's creating some innovative engines. He drives a much-loved, almost sentient dark red Mustang. Chinthliss is a dragon shifter and Tannim's mentor.
Sam Kelly was a starving and abused little boy. As an adult, today, Dr. Sam (he has an electrical engineering degree) has retired from his job as a metallurgist at Gulfstream. His father, John, was brokenhearted over the death of his wife, Moira. It's Keighvin who gives John a second chance to do right by his son. What happened to his great-uncle Patrick makes it easier for Sam to believe in the Fair Folk.
Fairgrove Industries
Keighvin Silverhair is Tannim's boss and an elf who was raised by humans. Rosaleen Dhu is his elvensteed. Tannim reckons a fourth of the SERRA members are either elves or human mages. Donal is one of three elven mechanics who can be around a lot of Cold Iron. Conal is Donal's twin with the scorched head and a fellow prankster. Rob, a.k.a., Skippy, van Alman is Donal's human shadow. Dottie, Jim, Cuil, Kieru, and Janie are in that first battle as well. Tannim finds out that Padraig, Sean, and Siobhan's interest in polo comes in handy.
Ross Canfield is getting a second chance to make things right. Marty is the guy his wife married. The Old Man is a good mentor, and Foxtrot Xray is another good friend, though Ross knows Foxtrot is a part of the spirit world but not a ghost. Vanessa is another ghost, a child hooker before she died.
Derek Ray Kestrel is a friend of Tannim's with a knack for magic and spends his time with cars and guitars.
Kevin Barry is a pub Tannim frequents. Terra Nova is a Celtic band that Trish, the pubowner, sings for sometimes. Julie is a waitress at the pub. Marianne is the barkeep.
Tania Jane Delaney is the underage hooker who catches Tannim's eye. Jamie, an addicted lad who gets his money by hooking, and his girlfriend, Laura, another hooker, are Tania's roommates and friends. Meg had been her only friend as a child. And only because they had the same time for tennis lessons. Joe, Tonio, and Honi are other roommates. Unwelcome ones.
The Unseleighe Court
Bane-Sidhe, a.k.a., banshee, get their energy from your fear and from your dying. Aurilia nic Morrigan is in partnership with Vidal Dhu and both are with the local Unselieighe Court; Niall, a Bane-Sidhe, is a third partner in Adder's Fork Studios (they don't bother keeping records; its actors are either volunteers or don't survive the experience), a pornographic film studio.
Both sides fear King Oberon.
George Beecher is a private investigator with Bruning, Inc. who finds out the truth behind the job too late. Terry is a cop who works in Vice; he is friends with George and with Tannim.
Sidhe, the Kindly Ones, the Lords of Underhill, the Old People, the Fairies, and the Fair Folk are all names for elves.
The Cover and Title
The cover is black and gold with a touch of red in Aurilia's brief red dress as she prepares to lash out with her fire magic at a young couple. It's a black racing car behind her with a city skyline behind that. The title combines font styles to look as though "run" is on the run with the wind whistling through it, making ripples in the letters. The whole title and the data on the series information both look like decals from a racing car: the title is black against a golden brown background while the series info is golden brown against a black background and both are outlined in red.
I think the title is about Tannim, as he is Born to Run with that Mustang of his!
My Take
It's an enjoyable story — using the sportscar racing as the story's setting is a unique twist — and must be some of Lackey's early writing as it is rather juvenile and could use some work. That said, it is clever with a clever substitution, replacing the iron in cars with fiberglass and other nonferrous materials to make it easier for elves to be around all that Cold Iron. I love the ease of using an elvensteed to test out prototypes in a wind tunnel too!
I like how "Tannim" describes magic as a discipline: "a way of describing an inborn talent that's been trained. It has rules, and it obeys the laws of physics. It uses the energy produced by all living things; it also uses the energy of magnetic fields, of sunlight, and a lot of other sources. It's a tool, a way of manipulating energies;…".
Things are only impossible because they haven't been done yet.
A nice bit on how SERRA was formed. Lackey/Dixon almost make it believable that humans were using magic before the elves arrived on scene.
Tannim has a very different approach to teen hookers. Expensive, but a good way to begin to earn their trust. One he'll use to help Tania who has run from a different, but still crippling kind of abuse. I'll say it again, some people should not have children. The Catholic Church is so big on counseling before you get married; I wish they (and others) had a similar policy on counseling parents. Although, considering the Church's reputation for what they do with children, maybe that's a good thing.
Who knew elves would need money? I much prefer the Seleighe Court's reasons and methods to that of their rivals.
It is funny how Aurilia is the smart one but also the lowest in status; watching her manipulate her partners is interesting. The evil triad is shocked to learn that Fairgrove's elves are training humans to battle other elves, revealing their secrets, and I can see why it would be seen as a bad thing. Even if I can't get behind their plans.
It's a crunch of desires: the triad wants to take out Keighvin and doesn't care who they hurt to destroy him. It's only by luck, good planning, and good living that some of them escape. Although, there certainly were a number of incidents that could have been avoided if the Seleighe had been thinking. It's that first battle that steps things up between them, for it brings Niall over to Aurilia's way of thinking. Not so good for our side.
We sure get a tonnage of useless description. I'm not usually one to reject a "painting" of the setting, but I do like to have a purpose behind it. Especially when the authors are so keen to give information that makes you wonder what event they're prepping you for. It's such a letdown when nothing results. Now, when it comes to Tannim's bed…that makes sense.
That Foxtrot Xray is too funny when he morphs from Oberon to an aircraft-carrier parking director!
The Story
Fairgrove Industries has done well in designing cars and creating innovative engines, but now they need a front man. Someone who can be convincing enough to outmaneuver Fairgrove's enemies.
It's Tannim's job to convince the retired Sam Kelly to come out of retirement and put his reputation on the line.
For the Unseleighe are determined to take down the Seleighe and wreck their foray into human life. Even as they crank up their own entry into the human world with their snuff films and pornography.
The Characters
Tannim is a human mage employed at Fairgrove Industries, a racing firm that's creating some innovative engines. He drives a much-loved, almost sentient dark red Mustang. Chinthliss is a dragon shifter and Tannim's mentor.
Sam Kelly was a starving and abused little boy. As an adult, today, Dr. Sam (he has an electrical engineering degree) has retired from his job as a metallurgist at Gulfstream. His father, John, was brokenhearted over the death of his wife, Moira. It's Keighvin who gives John a second chance to do right by his son. What happened to his great-uncle Patrick makes it easier for Sam to believe in the Fair Folk.
Fairgrove Industries
Keighvin Silverhair is Tannim's boss and an elf who was raised by humans. Rosaleen Dhu is his elvensteed. Tannim reckons a fourth of the SERRA members are either elves or human mages. Donal is one of three elven mechanics who can be around a lot of Cold Iron. Conal is Donal's twin with the scorched head and a fellow prankster. Rob, a.k.a., Skippy, van Alman is Donal's human shadow. Dottie, Jim, Cuil, Kieru, and Janie are in that first battle as well. Tannim finds out that Padraig, Sean, and Siobhan's interest in polo comes in handy.
Ross Canfield is getting a second chance to make things right. Marty is the guy his wife married. The Old Man is a good mentor, and Foxtrot Xray is another good friend, though Ross knows Foxtrot is a part of the spirit world but not a ghost. Vanessa is another ghost, a child hooker before she died.
Derek Ray Kestrel is a friend of Tannim's with a knack for magic and spends his time with cars and guitars.
Kevin Barry is a pub Tannim frequents. Terra Nova is a Celtic band that Trish, the pubowner, sings for sometimes. Julie is a waitress at the pub. Marianne is the barkeep.
Tania Jane Delaney is the underage hooker who catches Tannim's eye. Jamie, an addicted lad who gets his money by hooking, and his girlfriend, Laura, another hooker, are Tania's roommates and friends. Meg had been her only friend as a child. And only because they had the same time for tennis lessons. Joe, Tonio, and Honi are other roommates. Unwelcome ones.
The Unseleighe Court
Bane-Sidhe, a.k.a., banshee, get their energy from your fear and from your dying. Aurilia nic Morrigan is in partnership with Vidal Dhu and both are with the local Unselieighe Court; Niall, a Bane-Sidhe, is a third partner in Adder's Fork Studios (they don't bother keeping records; its actors are either volunteers or don't survive the experience), a pornographic film studio.
Both sides fear King Oberon.
George Beecher is a private investigator with Bruning, Inc. who finds out the truth behind the job too late. Terry is a cop who works in Vice; he is friends with George and with Tannim.
Sidhe, the Kindly Ones, the Lords of Underhill, the Old People, the Fairies, and the Fair Folk are all names for elves.
The Cover and Title
The cover is black and gold with a touch of red in Aurilia's brief red dress as she prepares to lash out with her fire magic at a young couple. It's a black racing car behind her with a city skyline behind that. The title combines font styles to look as though "run" is on the run with the wind whistling through it, making ripples in the letters. The whole title and the data on the series information both look like decals from a racing car: the title is black against a golden brown background while the series info is golden brown against a black background and both are outlined in red.
I think the title is about Tannim, as he is Born to Run with that Mustang of his!
pickleballlibrarian's review
4.0
This book is pure unadulterated escapist fantasy. It may not be Pulizer Prize material, but Lackey's detailed descriptions take you to a different place. The human mage was a pretty cool character with a heart of gold. If you like fantasy especially urban fantasy, you'll love this one.
saunteringvaguelydownward's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
azagee's review
3.0
CW: ABUSE, RAPE, VIOLENCE, WAR
Mercedes Lackey is the Queen of expansive fantasy worlds told through several interconnected series. Each book is only a small slice of the universe, and each narrative only uses the last for its foundation to build new and relevant lore. For example, a multitude of books set in her Valdemar series have necessary and entertaining crossovers, but there is never an ounce of irrelevant rehash. Lackey and (often) Dixon never show signs of being too in love with their own world building when said world contains literal centuries of on-page lore.
The world of Born to Run was the couple's second attempt to create such a world, and the work suffers for it. The plot is stretched too thin over several characters and factions, with something like seven or eight POVs, circulating with no discernible pattern. Some lasted for chapters, while some lasted for only a paragraph or two, never really letting the reader get to know any of the characters. At one point, two minor characters are killed, something treated as a huge, war inspiring event. I... what? This may not be the first book in the universe, but if you're trying to launch a new series, give your readers more than one chapter to get attached to doomed characters.
Then again, the lack of character development is the least of the book's failings, the first being the plot itself. SERRAted Edge is a series about elves who race cars and are basically the Sidhe. But Born to Run is a book about, uh, fighting evil elves for the lives of child prostitutes? At least half of it is. The other half is recruiting an old scientist as a PR move. Two plots that have very, very little do with each other. The plot turns over from a corporation political drama to an examination on the proliferation of pedophilia in 1980's sex work with NO WARNING.
It's not even a plot that the book does well. Don't get me wrong, I don't think they book is wrong politically-- Fifteen year old girls should not be sex workers. However, there are better ways to go about this than showing us Tania, a girl whose trauma is so whitewashed that she is on the streets and turning tricks because.... her parents don't let her read fantasy novels. Now, parental abuse can come in the form of overly strict rules, yes, but this simple, trauma-free backstory seems ridiculous when compared to the fact that her two best friends are here because they were abused and raped.
I would almost accept that they simply didn't want to go that dark, but, while not being explicitly graphic, this book does include a POV that spends nearly a chapter describing all the scenarios in the snuff porn she makes, sometimes including real human deaths. The book shies from literally no other aspect of darkness, even choosing to discuss AIDs, an epidemic of the 80s that plagued both the LGBT community and sex workers.
Actually, I have a problem with the way they talked about AIDs, too. They have the audacity to bring it up, but then? Treat the people who actually have it like shit? Jamie, the male prostitute they think might have AIDs but doesn't, is actually straight-- The only ones who are implied to have it are the three prostitutes that Tania, Jamie, and Lauren share an apartment with. Two of them are gay men, who are in a romantic relationship and are physically abusive to each other. The other is a trans woman, described in really disgusting ways. All three of them are described as lazy, greedy, drug addicts. These three aren't characters: They're obstacles.
Fucking hell.
So why three stars? Honestly, because I don't know if my problems with the book have anything to do with what Lackey and Dixon were trying to achieve here. When reading, it's easy to forget the issues and take it for what it is: a 90's deconstructi9n of 80's fantasy tropes. It's a very Good deconstruction, one that is perhaps even more relevant now than it was when it was written. After all, nostalgia is running rampant.
Looking at you, Ready Player One.
It's not a very good book. So I stopped looking at it like a book, and started looking at it like a detailed plan for a handful of episodes in the middle of a tv show.
And you know what? Not a bad tv show, honestly.
Mercedes Lackey is the Queen of expansive fantasy worlds told through several interconnected series. Each book is only a small slice of the universe, and each narrative only uses the last for its foundation to build new and relevant lore. For example, a multitude of books set in her Valdemar series have necessary and entertaining crossovers, but there is never an ounce of irrelevant rehash. Lackey and (often) Dixon never show signs of being too in love with their own world building when said world contains literal centuries of on-page lore.
The world of Born to Run was the couple's second attempt to create such a world, and the work suffers for it. The plot is stretched too thin over several characters and factions, with something like seven or eight POVs, circulating with no discernible pattern. Some lasted for chapters, while some lasted for only a paragraph or two, never really letting the reader get to know any of the characters. At one point, two minor characters are killed, something treated as a huge, war inspiring event. I... what? This may not be the first book in the universe, but if you're trying to launch a new series, give your readers more than one chapter to get attached to doomed characters.
Then again, the lack of character development is the least of the book's failings, the first being the plot itself. SERRAted Edge is a series about elves who race cars and are basically the Sidhe. But Born to Run is a book about, uh, fighting evil elves for the lives of child prostitutes? At least half of it is. The other half is recruiting an old scientist as a PR move. Two plots that have very, very little do with each other. The plot turns over from a corporation political drama to an examination on the proliferation of pedophilia in 1980's sex work with NO WARNING.
It's not even a plot that the book does well. Don't get me wrong, I don't think they book is wrong politically-- Fifteen year old girls should not be sex workers. However, there are better ways to go about this than showing us Tania, a girl whose trauma is so whitewashed that she is on the streets and turning tricks because.... her parents don't let her read fantasy novels. Now, parental abuse can come in the form of overly strict rules, yes, but this simple, trauma-free backstory seems ridiculous when compared to the fact that her two best friends are here because they were abused and raped.
I would almost accept that they simply didn't want to go that dark, but, while not being explicitly graphic, this book does include a POV that spends nearly a chapter describing all the scenarios in the snuff porn she makes, sometimes including real human deaths. The book shies from literally no other aspect of darkness, even choosing to discuss AIDs, an epidemic of the 80s that plagued both the LGBT community and sex workers.
Actually, I have a problem with the way they talked about AIDs, too. They have the audacity to bring it up, but then? Treat the people who actually have it like shit? Jamie, the male prostitute they think might have AIDs but doesn't, is actually straight-- The only ones who are implied to have it are the three prostitutes that Tania, Jamie, and Lauren share an apartment with. Two of them are gay men, who are in a romantic relationship and are physically abusive to each other. The other is a trans woman, described in really disgusting ways. All three of them are described as lazy, greedy, drug addicts. These three aren't characters: They're obstacles.
Fucking hell.
So why three stars? Honestly, because I don't know if my problems with the book have anything to do with what Lackey and Dixon were trying to achieve here. When reading, it's easy to forget the issues and take it for what it is: a 90's deconstructi9n of 80's fantasy tropes. It's a very Good deconstruction, one that is perhaps even more relevant now than it was when it was written. After all, nostalgia is running rampant.
Looking at you, Ready Player One.
It's not a very good book. So I stopped looking at it like a book, and started looking at it like a detailed plan for a handful of episodes in the middle of a tv show.
And you know what? Not a bad tv show, honestly.
mallorn's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Violence
urchin's review against another edition
4.0
This book was rather difficult for me to get through as the subject matter is so heavy. I don't recommend the series to anyone who doesn't want to read about child abuse, neglect, or rape. Though the series approaches the subjects with the intent to inform and shock, the graphic nature may be too difficult for some.
All in all, the fantasy aspect helps the story get told. I was also rather impressed with the information in the final pages of the book, after the tale was told, about where people could call or go to get help should they be experiencing like situations.
All in all, the fantasy aspect helps the story get told. I was also rather impressed with the information in the final pages of the book, after the tale was told, about where people could call or go to get help should they be experiencing like situations.
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