I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Three Kinds of Lucky by Kim Harrison Series: The Shadow Age #1
Published by Ace Books on March 5 2024
Genres: Adult, Urban fantasy
Pages: 464
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A fast-paced series opener with a great hook, Three Kinds of Lucky excels with fascinating world-building and a lovable heroine.
Have I ever read a Kim Harrison book before? I’m not sure, but I’m so glad I read Three Kinds of Lucky, which is such a fun opening book in her new series. This is an urban fantasy tale about a group of people who are able to use magic, but instead of focusing on the magic itself, Harrison’s story deals with the waste that is created from using magic. I thought it was a really cool idea, and bonus, I loved the characters as well.
We follow Petra Grady, who is a sweeper at St. Unoc University, someone who picks up and disposes of dross, the waste left behind after magic is performed. Sweepers are looked down upon in general, because they don’t have the ability to do magic themselves, but Petra just happens to be one of the best sweepers in Tucson, Arizona, where the story takes place, and although she’d prefer to be a mage, she’s content with her life in general.
Dr. Benedict Strom is a mage with an idea, and he’s also a friend from Petra’s childhood. He’s come up with an idea to make dross inert, basically rendering sweepers irrelevant. When Petra hears his idea, she’s horrified, since she doesn’t believe it will work. And then, the unthinkable happens: a terrible accident destroys parts of the university and kills dozens of people, when Benny’s ill-fated idea proves to be dangerous. Petra and Benny find themselves on the run after Petra receives a strange message from her benefactor, a disgraced mage named Herm Ivaros who has something important to tell Petra. With a group of separatist mages on their trail, Petra and Benny are about to learn the truth about the dangerous magical element called shadow.
Harrison’s ideas are a lot of fun, and you can tell she had fun herself figuring out this world, which is intricately developed and explained. I loved the idea of dross as a bit of “bad luck” floating around until a sweeper is able to pick it up. It’s usually only sweepers who can even see dross, which I picture as strands of light that resemble cotton candy, so people can step on dross and it “breaks,” which causes something bad to happen to that person, like tripping or spilling coffee on themselves. I also got the feeling that Harrison was trying to make a point about environmental waste, as there are so many mages making dross every time they do magic, but no good system in place to eliminate it completely.
I was a little surprised that the author didn’t go into much explanation about the magic itself. The story is mostly about the aftermath of magic and dealing with dross, and we only see mages do smaller things like use magic to heat up their coffee. This is a complex magic system, with mages, sweepers, spinners and weavers all part of the magical world, and I’m excited to learn more about it in future books.
I thought all of the characters were really well done. Petra is a hard worker and does her job well, even though she’d rather not be a sweeper. Her father died ten years before the story begins, in an accident caused by Herm Ivaros, at least that’s what Petra believes. Unbeknownst to her friends and colleagues, Herm has been sending Petra money each month, perhaps out of guilt at what he did. Herm is sort of a mystery in the story, and we eventually get to meet him, but I’m hoping we learn more about him in the next book, since I think his character has a lot of potential. Petra ends up finding all sorts of interesting things out about herself as the story progresses, and I liked her story arc a lot, although there is a bit of “special snowflake” to her character since she seems poised to save everyone at the end of the story.
Benedict is the potential love interest for Petra, but to be honest I wasn’t that impressed with him as a character. He’s convinced that his theories about dross are correct and he refuses to listen to anything that Petra says (Petra is clearly smarter than him, even though he is a mage). Time will tell whether I grow to like Benny more, but right now I’m sort of on the fence.
I did love most of the side characters, like Darrell, a Spinner with the talent to weave dross, and of course Petra’s dog Pluck, her loyal companion. And because I always disclose the dog’s fate in my reviews, I must tell dog lovers that something bad happens to Pluck, although there is a glimmer of hope later in the story that Pluck isn’t perhaps completely gone? In any case, do be aware if you’re a dog person and you plan on reading this book.
Harrison’s pacing is fast and furious, as Petra and Benny find themselves trying to stay one step ahead of the bad guys while trying to track down Herm to help them. Not all of the characters are telling the truth about who they are, which added lots of intrigue to the story. My only complaint is that I thought the story went on a little too long, especially the last hundred pages where the action seemed a bit drawn out.
But by the end, I was fully invested in the story, and Harrison wraps things up nicely but also sets the characters up for the sequel. Urban fantasy fans will have a blast with Three Kinds of Lucky, and I can’t wait for the next book.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
Thanks for the head up about Pluck! I think I may try this one out. I read 8 books from The Hollow Series but then I dropped that series because it wasn’t working for me anymore, but this seems interesting enough! (Even if I am not happy with what you said about Pluck!!)
Sometimes it’s nice to start a fresh new series:-)
The concept of dross is an intriguing one, as it the author’s choice of dealing more with the aftermath of magic rather than the conjuring itself. I will have to keep this series on my radar… Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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I loved the idea of dross and what it can do. And I know she still has a lot more to reveal about it:-)
This sounds like a unique idea.
I love that you include a warning about the fate of the dog. I don’t like bad things happening to animal characters so being forewarned does make a difference,. 😀
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I hate being surprised by dog deaths so I always mention them:-(
This was such a fun series opener! Glad to see you enjoyed it and great review!
It really was! Thanks:-)
This sounds like so much fun! I haven’t read anything by this author before, but this sounds like something I’d enjoy. Thanks for sharing!
It was my first Kim Harrison, hard to believe I’ve never read any of her other books!
YAY! I’m so excited that you enjoyed this book. I haven’t gotten around to it just yet myself but it’s on my immediate TBR. I love Kim Harrison so much and maybe it’ll also push me into finally continuing The Hollows series 😛
I hope you enjoy it if you read it!
I recall reading my first book from her about 30 years ago when I found a second hand paperback on London’s embankments ! I totally should get back to her books!
I’d love to read some of her older books now:-)
I enjoyed this one also. Great review! I also am not sure about Benny. Petra almost seems stupid about him.
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Thanks Anne! Ha ha I agree, I’m not exactly sure what Petra sees in Benny!
I’m so tempted to check this one out, I love that the focus is on the aftermath of magic, rather than following someone who possess magic themselves, but I’ll probably start the Hollows series first as I own several of those already. Thanks for the warning regarding the dog too, animal scenes always make me flinch. I hope you get the answers you want and that the love interest improves for you in the sequel.
I would love to start the Hollow series after reading this:-)
I have to agree! I thought the book was a little info dumpy when it came to the magic, but after all was said, it’s like – what do I actually know about it in terms of big picture? I hope she develops it more in the next book!
Yes me too! It seems like she could do a lot with the ideas she brought up in this book.
Glad to hear you had fun with this one. It reminds me of an anime series I’m watching only in that that series is about trash collectors in orbit, sweeping up all the orbital debris that could pose a risk to satellites and space stations. It’s nice to see roles in fiction that aren’t always the most glamorous take center stage.
I do love stories about characters who don’t have the talent to do the “big” jobs (at least that’s the way this story starts out!)
The dross idea is very interesting and I tend to enjoy heroines who can’t (yet?) do big magic. I’ve read a couple of Harrison’s books and she’s a good storyteller.
She really is! Obviously she’s written so many books, her writing skills are awesome.
Happy that this worked so well as a series opener.
Lynn 😀
Me too, now I can look forward to the next book.
I read and loved Kim Harrison’s writing – so this one has gone onto my Wish List:). Thank you for a lovely review that has reminded me all over again just how much I enjoy her writing style!
I want to try her other series now, since I had fun with this one.
Great review. I read her Hallows series and I’m looking forward to this one too.