T. A. Pratt

Marla Mason is the target of a renegade assassin, a situation that worsens as she and her partner Rondeau deal with a troubled psychic who has escaped from the Blackwing Institute for criminally insane sorcerers.

Poison Sleep

Michael Springer

The second book in the Marla Mason series does exactly what a sequel should do: it builds upon the world, raises the stakes slightly, and maintains all of the elements the first volume had going for it. 

In this volume, Marla Mason, chief sorcerer of Felport, is dealing with several simultaneous threats, all of which are developed into an interesting aspect of the story. She's being hunted by a slow assassin, trained to kill his targets slowly and horribly over a long period of time. The city Marla runs is also being threatened by a sorceress who has escaped from an asylum, and the sorceress's bizarre dreams are beginning to mesh with the reality of Felport. On top of these two problems, Marla has two new hirees, neither of who have much experience with the magical world.

Hilarity ensues. 

There are lots of good things I can say about this series. It's fast-paced, but it's also witty and complex. It's very funny, and Pratt borrows from many different myths and spiritual systems in developing the magic of his world. According to Marla, "Everything works," from voodoo to necromancy to love potions to chaos magic, and everything in between. Poison Sleep is happy pagan fun time. 

I'm very disappointed to learn Pratt's series was dropped by his publisher after the fourth volume. Well, at least Marla and I can have a couple more adventures. In the meantime, perhaps the series will be picked up by another publisher. I can't believe that, with all the crappy looking urban fantasy out there, this series wouldn't have enough of a following to keep it in print.

Poison Sleep

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