(First off, I am so sorry I haven't posted here in forever!! I was waiting before finishing this series, and then I just forgot as I read other books. XD I changed the theme though lol!)
Title(s): A Madness of Angels, The Midnight Mayor, The Neon Court
Author: Kate Griffin (pen name of Catherine Webb)
Main Characters: Matthew Swift, Oda, Robert Bakker, Penny
Warnings: profanity (a hefty amount), violence
As far as NOW, there are three books. I am not sure if Griffin will be writing more to this series, but I seriously hope so. I really enjoyed these books. At first I was like "Hmmmm..." but then they really picked up speed and piqued my interest. I even think that my mom would enjoy them; she doesn't read fantasy, but I think she would read these. The thing about the Matthew Swift series is that they aren't the traditional fantasy books. They aren't light and fluffy, knights, kings, dragons, and mages in the usual sense. However, they ARE filled with magic and fantasy creatures...they just happen to take place in present-time London.
Matthew Swift is a dead man. Well, he was. In the first book, we follow the story of a man by that name that is resurrected from the dead. He was killed by someone, and somehow he is brought back to life, except he's sharing his life with what are called the "electric blue angels." They are the angels in the wires, the sounds in the phone lines, full of magic. So yes, he gains extra powers to what he had before (he was always a mage)...and his eyes are now blue. Again, these books take place in modern-day London--mentions of Sarah Palin, iPhones, and other technologies abound. In fact, the most important part in these novels is technology...that's how Matthew and the other mages etc. gain their power from. Trains, phones, electrical wires, buses--they all provide some kind of power and spell. One of the most interesting parts in the first novel is when Matthew creates a spell to battle the shadow with a train travel card...all he does is read the directions/rules on the back of it, and BAM. Magic. Yeah, pretty awesome.
The first book mostly revolves around Matthew's search for revenge on the man that both raised him and killed him, Robert Bakker. The second book was my favorite of the group. In this one, Matthew is involved in an underground group who's leader was killed...and guess what? He becomes the new leader. The main bad guy in this one is so well detailed...so INTERESTING (poor choice of word lol). You can picture him perfectly, and the author really creates awesome powers for him. So creative. Like I couldn't think of these things...taking modern technology and everyday items and turning them into powerful magic. The third book was also good, but not as much as the other two. This one is more of a murder mystery in a way...but still with tons of magic and all the grimy, dark environments as the others. The main enemy is a surprising one because you get to know this character well in the first two books.
Yes, this was a bit short for summaries...but I didn't want to give too much away. They were all very good books, with the second one being my favorite. The first one had problems with Griffin's writing style. She had trouble with GIANT paragraphs, nothing but lists. Comma after comma, item after item, for a whole page! I couldn't believe it. But thank goodness, she stopped that habit in the last two books. My problem with the third book was that it just wasn't as exciting. Not as many fight sequences as the second one. Nothing that made me go "Wow." But overall, I would LOVE to see these books be made into movies. They have everything that would make great, intriguing movies. So yes, I recommend them! Even if you aren't a fan of reading, or even if you don't care much for fantasy, these books break the rules. They aren't the standard fantasy. <3
My ratings:
Book 1: A-
Book 2: A+
Book 3: B+
