Books

_How To Ditch Your Fairy_, Justine Larbalestier
_The Unnatural Inquirer_, Simon Green

I've now caught up with Green's Nightside series; _The Unnatural Inquirer_ is book 8. Standalone, fairly complex, but somehow not as well written as Harry Dresden. Dresden is written to be knocked around by powers bigger than him, but to overcome through cleverness; Taylor is written to be knocked around by powers annoying to him, and then to overcome through force majeur.

The Fairy book is odd; YA, first person, in an alternate universe where most, but not all, people have an unseen fairy who will hang around and provide extremely minor superpowers: the clean-clothes fairy ensures that you never spill ketchup on a white sweater; the parking fairy guarantees a parking space is open for you everywhere you go; the sex-appeal fairy causes members of the appropriate sex to pay attention to you; the grip fairy means you'll never drop anything accidentally. The book concerns a high school girl is who unhappy with her fairy, and how she tries to get rid of it. The universe is even weirder than that: she lives in New Avalon City, which seems to approximate Sydney in climate -- maybe a little warmer -- and goes to an all-sports high school. It's unnerving how little she appears to have learned about the world she lives in...

Books

_How To Ditch Your Fairy_, Justine Larbalestier
_The Unnatural Inquirer_, Simon Green

I've now caught up with Green's Nightside series; _The Unnatural Inquirer_ is book 8. Standalone, fairly complex, but somehow not as well written as Harry Dresden. Dresden is written to be knocked around by powers bigger than him, but to overcome through cleverness; Taylor is written to be knocked around by powers annoying to him, and then to overcome through force majeur.

The Fairy book is odd; YA, first person, in an alternate universe where most, but not all, people have an unseen fairy who will hang around and provide extremely minor superpowers: the clean-clothes fairy ensures that you never spill ketchup on a white sweater; the parking fairy guarantees a parking space is open for you everywhere you go; the sex-appeal fairy causes members of the appropriate sex to pay attention to you; the grip fairy means you'll never drop anything accidentally. The book concerns a high school girl is who unhappy with her fairy, and how she tries to get rid of it. The universe is even weirder than that: she lives in New Avalon City, which seems to approximate Sydney in climate -- maybe a little warmer -- and goes to an all-sports high school. It's unnerving how little she appears to have learned about the world she lives in...