By Marcus X. Figuerola
I wish I was the wizard that arrives precisely when he means to. My clients deserve punctuality, since I allow them to speak to the dead one last time. But Miami is a death sentence for timeliness.
In the opening paragraph, Figuerola has given the reader three things that capture the essence of this novel; geeky protagonist of a certain age, necromancy and Miami, a place that is as vibrant and significant to be its own character.
Pablo Diaz is head of the Necromancy department at the College of Practical Arts in Miami. Founded by a lich just 20 years prior, the mandate of the school, as far as Pablo is concerned, is to allow talented magic practitioners the ability to learn and hone their art to make the world a better place. Even if some of his colleagues are happy to exploit their magic to make scads of money in one way or another, Diaz is a teacher first. He is also up to his eyeballs in medical debt for his father’s poor health. It’s taking a toll and he takes on extra jobs to make ends meet, hence our first introduction to Pablo is rushing to a job to help people speak to their deceased loved ones for one last time.
Pablo is kind of a mess of a human being. He is really good at what he does, loves teaching and he believes in the work, even though he is constantly berated for his choices, by his father to his colleagues, who think his talents are wasted in necromancy, to the general public who have a general disdain for the dark arts. The chancellor of the school, the aforementioned lich founder, thinks he is wasting his greatness. Pablo is full of self doubts and past mistakes. He is stuck in a cycle, always running behind, always a bit short. His friends have moved on. His relationships have failed. His father would prefer he had a real job. He takes on a new client that he knows is a bad idea, but does it anyway, and trying to clean up that mess just leads to a bigger mess. For anyone having an existential crisis when hitting their 30s, Pablo is scarily relatable.
All this story takes place in Miami, among the Cuban American culture Figuerola describes the food, family,history, language and community with such love and humour that gives the novel a real heart. While the plot line is not unusual for a paranormal fantasy – lots of magic gets unleashed on a unsuspecting populace, with our protoganist the only person with the key to stopping it – the city lore and colour elevates the story to a new level. The city is magical, beyond the magic as used by its practioners, as if the city was chosen because of what it is, not just a location.
To those readers who appreciate a deep world building on the use of magic you will not be disappointed either. The author descriptions of how the magic works, as well as the different schools of magic is detailed and consistent. I suspect the author has spent many hours studying the magic in D20 rulebooks which will delight the gronyard geeks, while also dropping in fun folklore and magic Easter eggs – references to Gygaz and Arneson, and an appearance of my favourite witch, Baba Yaga.
If there was one thing that kept this from reaching a full 5 stars was the feeling that everything was stuffed into one book. There was so much story and deep lore going on here that could have been spread out into different adventures. There is so much potential here for a Harry Dresden type of a series, with a far more likeable protagonist and a city and culture that is rich with ideas. The ending puts Pablo in an interesting position, which I am sure could be worked into many more episodes. I hope that Figuerola is looking in that direction because I would love to read more!
