The Demon's Lexicon - Book Review
Sarah Rees Brennan's Debut YA Urban Fantasy Novel, Reviewed
Sep 4, 2009
Magic is everywhere. The girl in calculus, or the boy serving customers at the local café – look at them closely, because any of them could be a magician, and where the magicians are, the demons are sure to follow. This is the world Sarah Rees Brennan has crafted in her debut novel, The Demon's Lexicon (Simon and Schuster, 2008, ISBN-13: 978-1416963790): a world where magicians and demons trade for power and human sacrifice seems a steadily burgeoning trend.
A Family on the Run
Nick Ryves – dark, mysterious, and utterly lacking in empathy – and his brother, Alan (whose kindness is only matched by his easy manipulation of those around him) have spent the greater part of their lives on the run from the Obsidian Circle, a group of magicians whom their mother betrayed years ago. So far, they've managed.
Then the circle catches up with them, two teenage siblings – named Jamie and Mae, confused and demanding protection from demons – tumble into their lives, and for the first time, Nick and Alan find themselves having to take the offensive.
World Building and a Fast Pace
At first glance, The Demon's Lexicon resembles standard YA urban fantasy fare: it sometimes reads as an amalgam of everything from Supernatural to Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments Trilogy. However, the charms of this book so outweigh its faults that any similarities can be easily forgiven; The Demon's Lexicon proves once again that, in a market absolutely choked by urban fantasy, a good author can take the tropes and twist them to a satisfying result.
From the first line of the book ("The pipe under the sink was leaking again. It wouldn’t have been so bad, except that Nick kept his favorite sword under the sink.") Brennan introduces us to a world where the mundane is met and matched by the supernatural. She builds a universe of magical traditions and sacrifices, meticulously crafted and gorgeously detailed, and thrusts us into it with a pace that sometimes borders on the frenetic. Its main characters are thrown into danger within the first few pages, and with few exceptions, that pace hardly eases.
The fast pace works for this novel, however, paralleling the increasing desperation of its characters. Every hard-earned rest feels well-deserved, and the twist ending is as satisfying as it is unexpected. In addition, though part of a trilogy, The Demon's Lexicon concludes satisfactorily, and can easily be read as a stand-alone.
Family and Friends
It's the characters who turn this book into something almost extraordinary, however. Nick is cruel, angry, and at times terribly unsympathetic. Then he'll speak to his brother, his anger melting into an awkward, confused sort of affection, and the reader will realize why Alan cares so much for him.
Alan is another treasure: gentle and kind, the only thing that matches his goodness of heart is his talent for manipulation. Jamie's fear and anxiety is wrenching and believable, and Olivia is as frightening as she is pathetic.
Mae, the sole female protagonist, is the novel's only weak spot. Brennan takes careful effort to make her human and authentic, but at times overcompensates to the point of irritation. She is sometimes refreshing, just as often frustrating, and the only individual in a novel rife with vivid male and female supporting characters who seems over-edited.
A Conclusion
Despite its few flaws, The Demon's Lexicon stands as one of the best YA fantasy novels of the year. Witty, charming, and devastatingly heartfelt, this book -- and its characters -- is likely to stay in memory for some time to come.
The Demon's Lexicon on Amazon.com
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