Ink & Sigil

Ink & Sigil, Book 1

By: Kevin Hearne

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

From New York Times best-selling author Kevin Hearne comes the start of a hugely entertaining new series set in the world of the Iron Druid Chronicles - about an eccentric master of magic solving an uncanny mystery in Scotland....

Al MacBharrais is both blessed and cursed. He is blessed with an extraordinary white moustache, an appreciation for craft cocktails - and a most unique magical talent. He can cast spells with magically enchanted ink, and he uses his gifts to protect our world from rogue minions of various pantheons, especially the Fae.

But he is also cursed. Anyone who hears his voice will begin to feel an inexplicable hatred for Al, so he can only communicate through the written word or speech apps. And his apprentices keep dying in peculiar freak accidents. As his personal life crumbles around him, he devotes his life to his work, all the while trying to crack the secret of his curse.

But when his latest apprentice, Gordie, turns up dead in his Glasgow flat, Al discovers evidence that Gordie was living a secret life of crime. Now Al is forced to play detective - while avoiding actual detectives who are wondering why death seems to always follow Al. Investigating his apprentice's death will take him through Scotland's magical underworld and he'll need the help of a mischievous hobgoblin if he's to survive.

Packed to the brim with mystery, magic and mayhem, Ink & Sigil is perfect for fans of Rivers of London and Rotherweird.

©2020 Kevin Hearne (P)2020 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"Will transport you right in the Scottish realm of fey and fairies.... The magic is both familiar and new, believable and extraordinary." (Charlie Holmberg, author of The Paper Magician)

"Vividly blends Kevin Hearne's unique take on urban fantasy with the grit of Scottish magic." (Adam Christopher, author of Empire State)

"Ink & Sigil is filled to the brim with the Hearne-anigans we've all grown to love. Fans of ribald humor, literary puns and the odd hobgoblin will be enchanted by this paranormal mystery." (Jaye Wells, author of the Prospero's War series)

Absolutely Fantastic

Let me first say, I missed these two. Kevin has produced another fantastical masterpiece that I will now be stuck on and have to constantly hound his fan page for him to write faster. Luke has a mythical ability to bring so many characters to life. If Marko Kloos had been more dedicated maybe he could have kept him on.
This new story that takes place a year after Loki’s defeat in Iron Druid gives a better perspective on what’s going on in the rest of the world. There are a few moments in the story that can feel like a stretch, but for the most part you get the same feelings about Al that you get for Sir Richard Attenborough in Jurassic Park and Miracle on 34th St. The rest of the characters are truly enjoyable and as an American I cracked up hard at the jokes made at my expense. I did find this to be a bit more light hearted than Kevin’s previous works in the world, but it’s the first one so I can’t blame him. Having also lived in the UK and traveled to Scotland (the most magical place on earth) on multiple occasions I thoroughly enjoyed the colorful use of the language.
Luke makes the single greatest effort (since Oberon) to bring these characters to life, and while perhaps slightly inaccurate it is very enjoyable. I found that I enjoyed the accents and “special guests” to be both enjoyable and nostalgic. I would rather listen to Luke’s accent in this book than have to watch one more episode of Outlander. Anyone who thinks differently probably is enthused at having a King, owns a second flat in the Lake District, and listened to Harry’s “Spare” twice.

Overall this is another enjoyable start to a series if not a little bit brighter than what we may be accustomed to. Kevin gives us some of the dark times we’ve seen before, it will continue to be enjoyable.

Incredibly bad Scottish accents, but I persevered.

I am really not sure how they decided to use this narrator. Considering how much of the book is set in Scotland and has Scottish characters, it would seem an obvious choice to choose a narrator who can do a Scottish accent. Unfortunately, Luke Daniels really cannot. While Irish, I have lived in Scotland for the last 30 years and have no idea what his attempts were meant to sound like.

Honestly, considering the main character makes so much use of a text to speech app, you could possibly have produced a more listenable book with a good selection of computer generated voices.

I did persist with the book however, as the actual story is entertaining, well paced, and makes generally good use of Scottish words. (Though I did have to go and check what an ascot was, that seems to be an American word for what we call a cravat in Britain.) I did enjoyed the novel itself a great deal.

I often get added enjoyment from a well narrated book, but situations like this make me sad I can no longer read paper books for health reasons.

I am dismayed to see the same narrator has been chosen for the second book in the series.