I can imagine that for those who read the Borderlands books growing up, this might've been a vivid exploration of a beloved terrain, but as a newcomer, I found it mostly boring. The worldbuilding is more quirky-small-town-with-elves than richly textured urban fantasy. The protagonist reads like a middle-aged woman instead of a man in his early twenties. And once I realized Sunny Rico looked rather strikingly like the author, it was impossible to ignore the potential self-insertion.

But while all that would've earned a two- or three-star rating, I bumped this one down even further because I am really, really, really tired of reading books where the author kills off the most interesting character so the protagonist has a reason to grow/fight/act crazy/get revenge/whatever else the plot might require. That this book's protagonist, himself, is almost excruciatingly uninteresting in spite of his ability and hard-luck past just adds insult to injury. ( )

Here's an odd thing about this book. We picked it up somewhere, and it's languished on our shelves for a bit. I didn't realize it was part of a series until I was well into the story (though I suspected, because there were references to past happenings that I was clueless about.) So, I went online to read more about the book. Yes indeed, it is book 6 in the Borderland series (which made me think of Borderland Books in San Francisco, and I now wonder if it's in any way related. But what surprised me the most, was that book 7.2 in the series (at least according to Goodreads) was written by John M Ford, who I knew as Mike Ford. He was an amazing writer, wandering between genres, and nailing it every time, which was great, but made it hard to market him. Fans often want same/same. I met Mike through Jim Rigney, aka Robert Jordan, who was also a friend (breaks my heart that both these larger than life, astonishing men are gone, each far too soon.) Mike's contribution to the series is The Last Hot Time, which was published in 2000. He told us that it was originally a video game script he'd written, but it wasn't accepted, so he turned it into a book. But, it's based in Borderland, and predated the game, so I guess eventually whomever was wanting a script found one they liked. So I've spent the day reading a book and remembering a friend, all of which is pretty cool. Yay! ( )

Ah, Bordertown, how I've missed you. I love the tales of this strange place on the border between Faerie and The World, and this was no exception. This one is about Orient, a man with a gift for finding things who gets tangled up in the search for the creators of a drug that turns humans into elves - then kills them. I really liked the characters, even if I didn't entirely buy the chemistry between the two leads, and I did cry a bit at the end. This book takes place after the events of Elsewhere and Nevernever by Will Shetterly but I don't think you need to have read them to follow this story. Rereading my reviews of those two books is interesting, as I wasn't actually all that impressed by them. I definitely enjoyed this one, though. ( )

This is a classic of the genre, for sure, but I love this for so many more reasons than its place in the fantasy world. This has some of the best plotting, characterization and relationships I've ever read. Definitely one of my favorite books of all time.
My full review is here, on Hot Stuff for Cool People. ( )

Reminds me a bit of Keeping It Real by Justina Robson in the clash between elf/human culture, and the mix of tech/realism and magic.

I like the story and the char development in Finder. In Sunny Rico's manner I couldn't help being reminded of Law and Order SVU's Olivia Benson. Tough, all-business, hot-chick in-charge, while the male narrator Orient - who's likable enough - is more the touchy feely emo love-prone char. Nice switch up of what would otherwise be standard stereotypical fare if the genders were reversed. I did feel wanting for a bit more exploration of the Bordertown world and back-story, I have a lot of gaps in my mind's eye of who inhabits Bordertown (like more backstory on Wolf Boy), and "where" it is relative to the World (what they call the real world) and the Elflands. So much was left undeveloped or just assumed, and I wanted more!

Emma Bull lays out an engaging story thread - I liked where the story went - including both the unexpected turns and the bread crumbs. ( )