Advice From Pigeons eBook Patricia S Bowne
Download As PDF : Advice From Pigeons eBook Patricia S Bowne 
Some jobs are more trouble than they’re worth ...
Hiram Rho, newest member of the Demonology department at the Royal Academy at Osyth, tries to gain his footing among colleagues with specialties like vampirology, classical lechery, and postmodern feminist demonology. Before Rho has been on campus a month he has acquired an affectionate demon with a plan to take over the department, the two senior demonologists have lost their souls and their health insurance, and Rho’s problems have embroiled everyone from the mysterious Alchemy faculty to the pigeons on his window ledge.
If you like this book surf over to the Royal Academy website, www.raosyth.com, and join in conversation on the world’s only blog for the discussion of Academic Magic.
Advice From Pigeons eBook Patricia S Bowne
Having been a graduate student and post doc at 2 major US medical schools, I am *deeply* enjoying this work. It's by turns comical (particularly the faculty politics) and profound. I enjoyed Want's Master and Other Stories of Osyth so much that I bought this and the next 2 novels set in that world right away.Product details
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Advice From Pigeons eBook Patricia S Bowne Reviews
I was delighted to come across this wry, inventive fantasy set in an Academy of Magic. The newest faculty member, Hiram Rho, observes how members of the Academy control demons using charms of discourse basically, defeating the creatures through argument. But when Rho picks up his own demon at a conference, he brings an evil force into this community of scholars, and has to decide whether community means anything to him, and whether he is meant to be a scholar himself.
The fantasy wouldn't work nearly so well if the Academy wasn't so real. Anyone who's spent time at a university will recognize the place, with its ponderous administration (just consider health insurance if a student of vampirism gets turned into a vampire, the Academy is stuck paying dental bills for eternity) and snooty profs ("Saying a demon is evil is both a tautology and an excuse for not investigating its behavior"). There are plenty of interesting characters, such as my favorite, the no-nonsense Teddy Whin, who snaps "If I wanted to figure things out for myself, I would hardly own this many books." And a touch of humor softens even the bleakest moments mauled in the night by a demon, Rho protests "I can't call in sick. I don't have tenure!"
I'd recommend this to anyone who appreciates academic life, spells, counter-spells, supernatural battles, and the charms of discourse.
Overall - 3
Plot/Storyline - 3
Unfortunately, I could review this book in one word - fine. There was nothing truly wrong with it, but it never really got me interested. The plot had potential I didn't feel it quite lived up to. I read the ending twice, hoping against hope that maybe I had missed something that would make me care, but no such luck. I felt it had a few small unanswered questions (part of why I read it twice), but probably nothing that would frustrate anyone who enjoyed it. I was just bored enough to nitpick by that point. Honestly, I'm sad at this book because I really thought I'd enjoy it based on the description, and there were a few good moments that gave me a glimpse of what it could have been - but wasn't. I hope the author finds that special something in their next book because I'd like to see that potential fulfilled.
Character development - 3
The characters were developed, but I never really cared much about them. They were basically likable and believable but I felt about them the way I might about co-workers in a large company - I'm sure they
are all nice, but I don't feel I really got to know them, nor did I want to make the effort. The only relationship I had any hope for felt like a sneeze that never happened - it built until it fizzled and simply left my nose itching.
Writing Style - 3 3/4
Again, everything was fine. The book was easy to read, just not exciting. Dialogue worked and descriptions were well done. There were even some lines I truly enjoyed and laughed at but somehow that made the rest of it even more frustrating because it left me wanting something and not finding it.
Formatting - 1 ½
This was the only thing that I found completely irritating and I hope they fix in future editions. A sentence would be going along just fine then it would look like someone hit the enter key and
it would continue, indented, on the next line. It really brought me out of the book and drove me a bit crazy.
Overall 3.25 stars
Plot/Storyline 3 stars
I felt there was potential to this book, although once I realized it wasn't a funny story, I lost most of my interest in what it could have been. The tedious start fed the reader long descriptions of characters she had no reason to care about yet, a common but annoying misstep. The character-focused story itself was definitely on the dark side, with self-absorbed college faculty obsessed with tenure and their own subjects, vicious and deadly conflicts between magicians, and a general unpleasant feeling. There were elements that could have interjected humor, such as the business with the faculty's health insurance, but they were not incorporated in an amusing manner. I never understood the distinction between magician/wizard/sorcerer/etc., although Bowne had her characters using the terms as though they were radically different. I found the "resolution" confusing and unsatisfying, and I was bothered more by several unanswered questions, such as why a magician who took hostile action that killed another magician wasn't charged with murder.
Characters 4.25 stars
I never really wanted to get to know the characters, but they are the stars of this book and I found them technically quite well done. Bowne provides a large array and they feel real, although mostly unlikable. Rho suffers from emotional scars and prefers his birds to people, and I found his interactions with the demon all too believable. The magical faculty are as bizarre as anyone could expect. Warren is the most likable of the bunch, pursuing a noble ideal for questionable reasons.
Writing style 2.5 stars
I had the feeling that Bowne had a clearer picture of her created world than she conveyed to the reader; for example, the various tales of "walking the ley-line" offered insights into the characters as well as the use of magic in general. But as published, her world feels artificial and somewhat inconsistent. She used dialogue pretty well. But her frequent lack of focus lost the story in technicalities such as spell construction or tediously excessive digressions into characters' thoughts.
Editing
One of the problems in purchasing any book (paper or electronic) is that we readers have to rely on the book description to decide if we are interested. The product description sounds like a light-hearted tale with lots of comic moments, leading the reader to expect an amusing story that this book did not deliver. The author may not be responsible for the book description, but it still affects the reader's perception of the book. There are readers eager for dark stories with unlikable characters, but they won't find this one from the product description. The formatting of the review copy was awkward, with frequent paragraph breaks in the middle of sentences, but from the sample it looks like this was fixed before commercial release.
It moved slowly, but had good story line. Multiple characters sometimes difficult to keep sorted requiring some rereading (I did take days between readings.) Ending a bit unexpected.
Having been a graduate student and post doc at 2 major US medical schools, I am *deeply* enjoying this work. It's by turns comical (particularly the faculty politics) and profound. I enjoyed Want's Master and Other Stories of Osyth so much that I bought this and the next 2 novels set in that world right away.
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