MAGIC, MENSA & MAYHEM
By Karina Fabian
Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
Genre: Fantasy
ISBN: 978-1-934041-78-9
Price: Paper: $13.99
eBook: $3.99
Can an agent for The Church be both a PI and a Dragon? Certainly, if the writer is Ms. Fabian.
On the other side of The Gap, in Los Lagos, Colorado, is the Faerie world. Yes, the Faerie world. No, not the fashion store, but the border crossing between our Mundane world and the Faerie world. The world, Vern, agent of the Faerie Catholic Church and the only dragon PI, I have ever met, comes from.
Yes, dragon. Okay, I see you’re a little confused. Catholic Church? Faerie Catholic Church? The Gap? Private Investigating Dragon? Let me start from the beginning, at least the beginning I know.
Vern is a dragon. He was created by God and did live in the Faerie World. St. George, of the Faerie world, trapped Vern in a holy spell and now Vern works for the Faerie Catholic Church and is a PI living in our world. In “Magic, Mensa and Mayhem” we also meet his partner, Sister Grace of Our Lady of the Miracles, a high mage in the Faerie Catholic Church.
Bishop Aiden, their superior, has directed them to attend the Mensa World Gathering in Florida. This year a number of the Faerie have been invited and Bishop Aiden wants Vern and Grace there “to help keep order, supernaturally speaking.”
What could possibly go wrong at a convention of highly intelligent human and faerie citizens?
Right, I’m really going to tell you and ruin the surprises. Be prepared to meet pixies, dwarves, brownies, High Elves, Brunhilde the Valkyrie (yes the very same) and naiads (do not call them mermaids). And the Native American Spirit Trickster, Coyote.
“Magic, Mensa and Mayhem” is a different read due to the levels of fantasy and faith Ms. Fabian incorporates. They are then mixed together with Vern’s unique voice.
Consider Ms. Fabian’s writing to the fantasy genre as you would Peter Tremayne is to the historical mystery genre. Or Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series each contain elements of The Church but never is the story secondary. Vern goes so far as to call the Faerie St. George “the magically overpowered pain in the tail.”
When I am offered a Karina Fabian book I know the voice and quality I will be reading. When writing fantasy and science fiction, the two genres I have read, Ms. Fabian fulfills the demands of each genre and adds a piece of herself. She is a storyteller…something I treasure in those I read.
Vern…what’s next?