I met Randy Henderson at a Denver Comic Con a long time ago (pre-pandemic, like 2017!) and was very inspired to buy his first book, Finn Fancy Necromancy. However, then that book got packed away when I moved, that box got lost (it got buried in storage behind Christmas decorations), then I found it when I moved again a couple years later, tossed it back into storage, and finally unpacked it sometime during 2022. Then it got attached to the bottom of my TBR list and I finally read it last month. Let me say, it was worth the wait!

Review:

This book was quite enjoyable for an urban fantasy. Definitely not the angsty teen type of urban fantasy, but a smart, goofy, and also sweet story about a 40-year-old necromancer who is still mentally stuck as a 15-year old in the 80s.

I really appreciated the voice in this book, which didn’t sound too ridiculously teenager-y, but rather more reflective of somebody who lived 25 years as a disembodied spirit…neither young nor fully mature. I also appreciated the familial relations between the siblings and the sympathetic way the main character saw his family, even his stuffy older brother. It really hit my “good feels” center.

Also, the sarcastic humor and 80s references gave the book a singular feel and while I didn’t recognize all of the references, I enjoyed the theme.

The mystery was a bit painfully obvious at times, and watching the main character stray from the obvious solution to the more complicated and difficult one was slightly frustrating… But I enjoyed the characters and set up enough that it wasn’t too big of a deal.

Overall, and enjoyable read in a cool world, with interesting magical properties, and fey characters.

Also, I was super stoked to find the message from the author on the title page. What a great memory!