Right Hand Magic by Nancy A. Collins – review

Right Hand Magic is one of the most enjoyable books that I have read all year.  As a fan of Urban Fantasy, I’d been growing more and more disillusioned with the subgenre as it became almost overrun with more stories about attractive vampires and lecherous werewolves than you could shake a sharpened stick at. 

Nancy A. Collins has reminded me why I loved the subgenre in the first place.  She has created interesting characters and a world that, while it has very familiar landmarks to ours, is shifted to the side of “what if?” by the idea of supernatural creatures coexisting with humans.  She doesn’t sugarcoat the uneasy truce between humans and their supernatural counterparts; there is some open animosity between them, which definitely gives the flavor of realism to the whole story.

Golgotham is part of New York City.  It’s a very old part which has been preserved by its supernatural denizens to keep it intact and very much the way it was when it was originally built.  Rather than an oblivious human population, Collins has created a New York where the supernatural creatures have fought in a war for their rights and live openly amongst humans.  People, in fact, see Golgotham as a tourist attraction and visit that section of the city to buy trinkets and show how brave they are by going to an exotic locale full of the unknown.  It’s most certainly a plausible set-up, given human nature, especially in regards to something that seems alien but is undeniable as part of our lives.

Tate is an artist trying to make it on her own and distance herself from her family.  She moves into Golgotham because she wants to live somewhere different and exciting, especially since a particularly noxious ex of hers has decided to move into the building she used to live in.  She finds a spacious room for a relatively low price in an old house being run by a Kymeran named Hexe.  Hexe has some family complications of his own, especially since he has chosen to practice only Right Hand Magic, which is magic that helps people.  The Left Hand Path or Left Hand Magic is used to curse or harm people.  Most Kymerans practice at least some Left Hand Magic, so Hexe is somewhat of a pariah.  On her first night in the house, Tate encounters a young were-cougar who has been injured.  The were-cougar, Lukas, ends up embroiling Hexe and Tate in the magical underworld, and things become very interesting for everyone involved.

This book is quick to read, but it’s a lot of fun, too.  Golgotham is populated by all kinds of creatures, some of them familiar and some not.  There are various neighborhoods in Golgotham where various types of supernatural beings live.  Naturally,  there are specific rules of conduct and etiquette that must be followed according to which group you find yourself talking to.  It’s easy to make missteps.  Tate, though, is a character who is fully aware of the assumptions that she makes and is making a real effort to get along with the beings she meets.  She not only apologizes for her mistakes but also learns from them.

Hexe is an interesting character, as well.  The system of magic by which he lives dictates that those who use only either Left Hand or Right Hand Magic become very, very strong in the use of whichever magic they choose.  Using the other hand, however, will result in weaker magic.  He has made a very difficult choice, for his own reasons, and he gets persecuted for it, often publicly.  He feels strongly about his convictions, and he gets tested, rather brutally, over the course of the book.

Collins has created a world that makes readers want to explore it and characters that the reader can not just care about but definitely like.  They aren’t perfect, and they aren’t caricatures.  However, they are interesting.  The plot moves quickly, but it doesn’t feel rushed at all.  Things unfold at a good pace, and the resolution of the plot is nice and satisfying.

By allowing for regular human foibles like prejuidice and defensiveness, Collins makes the characters relatable.  I’d recommend this book to adult fans of urban fantasy, since there is at least one racy part that might be objectionable for teen readers, but overall, there’s very little gore, a minimum of violence, and very little that could be considered really offensive.  I’m most certainly looking forward to more books in the series and to finding out what else happens to Tate and Hexe.