Book Review: The Turn by Kim Harrison

The Turn

by Kim Harrison

I loved The Hollows series by Kim Harrison, an urban fantasy set in a future where the population of humans was damaged by a plague and the Inderlanders (pixies, fae, witches, vampires, werewolves, etc.) have come out of the closet in order to keep society running. However, it’s not always an easy mixing of groups.

This is a fantastic prequel to The Hollows series, pulling in fast-paced action with patriarchal office politics of the sixties, paranormal characters, and genetic engineering.

Felecia Eloytrisk, Trisk for short, is an elf. We are introduced to her as she is graduating from college as a geneticist and hoping to get a job with an Elven run facility. Unfortunately, this is the sixties and the good old boys network is alive and well, even in Elven society.

Trisk’s chief nemesis, Trenton Kalamack, has bullied her all through school because she is a dark elf instead of one of the fair-haired elven elite. Then he picks a fight at the college job fair. Of course, Trisk is blamed and runs out of time to execute a contract for employment.

A lot of favorite characters show up here, like a teen musician, Takata, with his crazy drummer driving a beat up van as they try to get away from the plague restrictions.

Trisk goes to work for a human lab where they’ve been working on a virus to use in biological warfare that will make humans sick enough for U.S. forces to take over a building or area without having to actually kill people. Trisk is under a directive from the Elven enclave to make sure the virus won’t affect Inderlanders.

Meanwhile, she is also developing a tomato that will revolutionize crops worldwide, and also a virus to help introduce needed modifications to elves that will allow them to procreate again reliably.

Trenton is working on the same problem from a different angle and he is a self-righteous, entitled sob. He's sent to double check Trisk’s work and ends up causing serious problems.

There’s intrigue and male/female politics at play here but I think the author keeps characters from becoming too one dimensional.

Plus, there’s a pixie, and she’s fantastic! A great ride!