Review: Advice from Pigeons by Patricia S. Bowne

Advice from Pigeons by Patricia S. Bowne

Copy Courtesy of Patricia S. Bowne
Already Published

Summary
Rho is a natural philosopher and the newest hire for the demonology department at the Royal Academy at Osyth. For some reason, his arrival has set off warning bells in the insurance company which covers the demonology department, and while he tries to fit into this new academy, it may be more trouble than it is worth.

Commentary
I have to admire the world that is depicted in Advice from Pigeons; it's hilarious. In a world where magic is real: insurance companies hire clairvoyants to set the rates, spells can be looked up on the internet, demonologists hold conferences, and incubi possessing ducks can be a thesis topic. The world is just hilarious, and the details are thought out very well.

There were an almost overwhelming number of character POV's though. While Rho is the main character, there is a lot of bouncing around of POV between other faculty members and various people that are related to incidents which occured. This made it very hard to remember who was who. I also wasn't much of a fan of Rho because he struck me as a whiny, dithering, petty little man, and I like main characters to have more strength of character.

As a side effect of my inability to keep all the POV's straight and perhaps also due to insufficient explanation, I got lost somewhat often while reading. I think the world itself is excellent, and I would love to explore more of it. The characters and POV's though need to be refined more and perhaps the story itself needs to be streamlined to cut down on POV's.

Star Rating: 2.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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