Book Review: Magic Brew: Edge Chronicles by T. Rae Mitchell

Magic Brew: Edge Chronicles
by T. Rae Mitchell

July 20th 2015
298 pages
Genre: New Adult Urban Fantasy
They call me Edge, and I’m the only supernatural in New York City with Djinn powers. My gang is known as the Forsaken. We’re the throwaways of our kind, despised by purebloods for being mixed breeds. Banishment, rejection and abandonment bind us. Yet our differences are what make us powerful, and close to unstoppable. Until today.

We’ve been double-crossed. The one person we trusted above all others, lured us into a trap set by a gang of warlocks. They've crippled my powers and tried to enslave me for the rare magic pumping in my veins. I gave them the slip, but now there’s a price on my head and the road home is blocked by gangs of shifters, witches, vampires, demons and deadly fae. Odds are good we won’t all make it back alive. But you can be damn sure, me and my crew won’t go down without a fight.

Enter a dystopian underworld of supernatural gangs and prepare for an action-packed, paranormal adventure filled with sorcery, treachery and forbidden romance.

Book one of a series always has some kinks (not that kind!). And Magic Brew's were in information overload. The world the author created has lot of potential for magical action and interesting characters. But it seems we meet every single one of them in the first book. The plot is pretty much one long car chase, except instead of cars, they are on motorcycles and on foot. Edge and his group of friends are trying to get from one end of Manhattan's supernatural-gang infested city to the other without getting killed. The city is divided into territories run by different gangs:

Forsaken - melting pot of the unwanted (Edge's gang with 11 memebers)

The Badhats - witchborn, warlocks, males only

Dreads - witchborn, females only

Harlem Carnies - ghouls

Hellhounds - werehyenas

Bonegrinders - redcaps, males only

Pink Ladies - unseelie pixies, female only

Black Widows - vampires, female only

Gray Boys - Japanese Shadow Elves - males only,

Mechs  - ghost sorcerers, corpses animated with magically imbued mechanics

Nekros - waif wights

Mayhems - demon goblins, male only

That is twelve gangs...each with their own colors, dress and powers. If our protags had dealt with only a handful of these instead of all of them and the others were left shadowed in mystery till the next books, I think it would have been easier to follow.

Not only are there lots of gangs, but Edge belongs to the Forsaken gang...there are eleven members! And we meet them all.

It is well written and has all the required urban fantasy elements and falls into the type of urban fantasy guys like (not that women don't, but there is a difference). You just need a score card to keep up. The author does include gang stats at the end of the book. 

3 "Stay out of NYC" Sheep

SharonS

About the Author:

website-FB-twitter
Goodreads-Pin-Tumblr
Google +
T. Rae Mitchell is an incurable fantasy junkie who spent much of her youth mesmerizing her younger sisters with stories sprung from her crazy imagination. Over the years, her craving for the rush of being transported to fantastical realms became more acute. So it was only a matter of time before her habit got the best of her. Grief stricken one day upon discovering her supply had dried up (her favorite bookstore had closed), she decided she’d had enough. Abandoning her career as an award-winning graphic designer, she entered a fantasy world of her own making called, FATE’S FABLES, her debut novel. She lives in British Columbia with her husband and son, and has since released an urban fantasy titled, MAGIC BREW as she continues to work on FATE’S KEEP.

Character Confessions: Nyx from Magic Brew by T. Rae Mitchell + giveaway

The character Nyx from T. Rae Mitchell's urban fantasy Magic Brew has a few things to say to her author...

T. Rae: Hi Sharon, I'm really excited to be here on I Smell Sheep! I had it all lined up to have the gang prez, Edge, here with us. But Nyx played the girlfriend card and told him he wouldn't be getting any for the next month if he didn't let her have the spotlight on this one. Apparently, she's had a bone to pick with me for quite some time. Gotta say, I'm a little nervous about it. She might be a petite pixie, but she's scary strong and could easily kick my ass into next year if she wanted to.

Nyx: Don't think I still wouldn't love to. You're just lucky Edge talked me into using my words instead of my fists. The only reason I agreed is because I’m the one who finally ended up with him.

T. Rae: Is that what this is about? You're mad because I hooked him up with Sienna first? And here I thought you could handle the competition.

Nyx: That human's got nothing over me. Unless you count the fact that her legs stopped at my nose. Why'd you have to make her the leggy chick with super-model looks? Why was I the short troll with the eye patch? You know how guys are. They lose their heads around gorgeous girls. Doesn't take a genius to know which one of us Edge was going to want.

T. Rae: Oh now you're just exaggerating. Troll? I hardly think so. I gave you a piercing gray gaze and–

Nyx: One eye does not make for a piercing gaze.

T. Rae: On you it does. Ask Edge. He quaked under your withering glare more than a few times.

Nyx: Great, I can give Medusa a run for her money. Guess I'm in good company. She was a real looker too.

T. Rae: You're hardly a gorgon. I gave you a more unusual beauty, like a cat–sleek, strong and wild. Plus, who has the coolest power next to Edge's? You get to surf through shadow portals and shift solid objects into mist. All that, combined with your loyalty and selfless sacrifice to Edge and the gang, is what made him choose you in the end.

Nyx: Yah, but I had to die to get him to want me more than her.

T. Rae: Does it help that I fixed that little detail?

Nyx: Did you really have to take it to that extreme?

T. Rae: Well…yeah. I had to cause Edge some serious pain. It was the only way to make him pull his head out of his ass and wake him up to a relationship built on trust and the unconditional love you showed him, despite his lingering crush on Sienna.

Nyx: Men.

T. Rae: Yeah, they can be a little dense sometimes.

Nyx: Well, I suppose I can let you off the hook now that you've explained yourself. But when you write the sequel, don't be throwing another girl in the mix. All's good with me and Edge.

T. Rae: –––

Nyx: Really? You're actually going to mess with us?

T. Rae: What can I say? Conflict sells.

Magic Brew: Edge Chronicles 
by T. Rae Mitchell
Published: September 15, 2015
Genre: New Adult Urban Fantasy
Print Length: 300 pages
Publisher: Original Mix Media
ISBN: 0991798767
ASIN: B0101GHLT0
They call me Edge, and I'm the only supernatural in New York City with Djinn powers. My gang is known as the Forsaken. We're the throwaways of our kind, despised by purebloods for being mixed breeds. Banishment, rejection and abandonment bind us. Yet our differences are what make us powerful, and close to unstoppable. Until today.

We've been double-crossed. The one person we trusted above all others, lured us into a trap set by a gang of warlocks. They've crippled my powers and tried to enslave me for the rare magic pumping in my veins. I gave them the slip, but now there's a price on my head and the road home is blocked by gangs of shifters, witches, vampires, demons and deadly fae. Odds are good we won't all make it back alive. But you can be damn sure, me and my crew won't go down without a fight.

Enter a dystopian underworld of supernatural gangs and prepare for an action-packed, paranormal adventure filled with sorcery, treachery and forbidden romance.

Perfect for fans of Iron Druid Chronicles and Dresden Files.

amazon

About the Author:

website-FB-twitter
Goodreads-Pin-Tumblr
Google +
T. Rae Mitchell is an incurable fantasy junkie who spent much of her youth mesmerizing her younger sisters with stories sprung from her crazy imagination. Over the years, her craving for the rush of being transported to fantastical realms became more acute. So it was only a matter of time before her habit got the best of her. Grief stricken one day upon discovering her supply had dried up (her favorite bookstore had closed), she decided she’d had enough. Abandoning her career as an award-winning graphic designer, she entered a fantasy world of her own making called, FATE’S FABLES, her debut novel. She lives in British Columbia with her husband and son, and has since released an urban fantasy titled, MAGIC BREW as she continues to work on FATE’S KEEP.