Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collections
Publication
Night Shade Books (2007), Edition: Stated First Edition, Paperback, 256 pages
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Spyder Lee is a happy man who lives in San Francisco and owns a tattoo shop. One night an angry demon tries to bite his head off before he's saved by a stranger. The demon infected Spyder with something awful - the truth. He can suddenly see the world as it really is: full of angels and demons and monsters and monster-hunters. A world full of black magic and mysteries. These are the Dominions, parallel worlds full of wonder, beauty and horror. The Black Clerks, infinitely old and infinitely powerful beings whose job it is to keep the Dominions in balance, seem to have new interests and a whole new agenda. Dropped into the middle of a conflict between the Black Clerks and other forces he doesn't fully understand, Spyder finds himself looking for a magic book with the blind swordswoman who saved him. Their journey will take them from deserts to lush palaces, to underground caverns, to the heart of Hell itself.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
I felt like I am part of the target audience for this book. On the other hand, I felt like the book did a bit too much poking about that: “Hey! This is a book just for people like you! Who like tattoos! And bars! And are into mythology and fantasy! You’re badass and cool! Check it out!” Yeah,
Spyder, a tattoo artist, is hanging out in a San Francisco rock & roll bar with his lesbian buddy Lulu when he gets attacked by a demon. He’s rescued by a blind ninja swordswoman, (Shrike, the ‘Butcher Bird’ of the title) but after the attack realizes that he can now see the supernatural reality that most humans are unaware of. The streets of SanFran are filled with grotesque and bizarre beings; and even if this sight could be viewed as a gift, it feels more like going crazy.
For reasons that seem somewhat contrived, Spyder, Lulu and Shrike have to band together for a quest through Hell to retrieve a McGuffin, in return for which a probably-evil witch has promised to help them. Along the way, there are some vivid and memorable scenes - I’d say the visuals are the best part of this book. (Some had a very Gaiman-esque feel). However, the plot itself just didn’t have the tension I felt it ought to have had.
I did enjoy the book – I just didn’t feel like it lived up to its full potential. I believe this was the author’s first novel; I’d definitely be willing to try another by him.
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ok. Unfortunately, I sort of felt like the ‘cool’ stuff was a veneer laid over a fairly typical and not-that-riveting quest fantasy. Who the characters were didn’t really affect or inform what happened to them.Spyder, a tattoo artist, is hanging out in a San Francisco rock & roll bar with his lesbian buddy Lulu when he gets attacked by a demon. He’s rescued by a blind ninja swordswoman, (Shrike, the ‘Butcher Bird’ of the title) but after the attack realizes that he can now see the supernatural reality that most humans are unaware of. The streets of SanFran are filled with grotesque and bizarre beings; and even if this sight could be viewed as a gift, it feels more like going crazy.
For reasons that seem somewhat contrived, Spyder, Lulu and Shrike have to band together for a quest through Hell to retrieve a McGuffin, in return for which a probably-evil witch has promised to help them. Along the way, there are some vivid and memorable scenes - I’d say the visuals are the best part of this book. (Some had a very Gaiman-esque feel). However, the plot itself just didn’t have the tension I felt it ought to have had.
I did enjoy the book – I just didn’t feel like it lived up to its full potential. I believe this was the author’s first novel; I’d definitely be willing to try another by him.
Show Less
LibraryThing member scroeser
One of my favourite things about this was how genuinely likeable the hero was. I enjoyed this, but I felt a bit unsatisfied by it. Not sure why...possibly something to do with story, possibly just because I read it onscreen (I got the creative common download).
LibraryThing member extrajoker
first line: "'They say that when your head gets chopped off, it can still see and hear for a few seconds, so I'll have to go with beheading,' said Spyder Lee to Lulu Garou."
Really fun -- irreverent and imaginative, like what you'd get if Christopher Moore were to write a cross between Neverwhere
Really fun -- irreverent and imaginative, like what you'd get if Christopher Moore were to write a cross between Neverwhere
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and To Reign in Hell. I believe Kadrey intends this to be the first book in an urban fantasy series populated by angels and demons, creatures of myth and magic, and the pierced-and-inked (sub)culture of San Francisco. I plan to keep an eye out for any future Dominion novels. Show Less
LibraryThing member tcgardner
Spyder Lee is an ink monkey just getting by. Put tats on people during the day and drink in oblivion at night. Until, a demon notices his mark on Spyder. Then all hell turns loose. Literally. Spider finds himself on a quest with a beautiful blind assassin, his junkie lesbian friend, and a friendly
I really enjoyed this book. It is not for everyone. Spyder lives a rough life and it comes through in the language and imagery of the book. If you are not into the Hellraiser movies, then this may not be for you.
The book was well paced through most of the book but moved a bit too quickly after the main climax of the book. The book could have been fleshed out in several places, I like looong books, but that is really not a complaint more than a wish.
The characters were believable, but maybe a little bit too "smartass" at times.
Give it a try.
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"monster" that can go "Hulk" when needed. There is a fifth in the quest, but I won't spoil it for you.I really enjoyed this book. It is not for everyone. Spyder lives a rough life and it comes through in the language and imagery of the book. If you are not into the Hellraiser movies, then this may not be for you.
The book was well paced through most of the book but moved a bit too quickly after the main climax of the book. The book could have been fleshed out in several places, I like looong books, but that is really not a complaint more than a wish.
The characters were believable, but maybe a little bit too "smartass" at times.
Give it a try.
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LibraryThing member francescadefreitas
Almost every line of dialogue in this book is a one-liner, the characters never suffered from thinking of the perfect line 15 minutes later! It was fun to read as a once-off, and the world building was interesting - there are spheres of existence that overlap slightly, but most people can't see the
I'd give this to Spider Robinson fans.
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other worlds. I especially liked the various fallen angels. But I don't think I could read more than one book in a row, the frantic repartee.I'd give this to Spider Robinson fans.
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LibraryThing member Neilsantos
This was one of the cutest books I'd read in a while. Part Constantine, part something else that escapes me, and all ultra hip and pop culture.
LibraryThing member jlparent
Spyder Lee is a tattoo artist who gets his eyes opened to the fact that there are other Spheres of existence when a demon tries to eat him. He is saved by Shrike, a small blind warrior woman who is deadly with a sword. Circumstances throw them together (with some intriguing B cast characters) to a
There is plenty of myth and theology weaving here, some great one-liners and dakly humorous moments, and plenty of action and monsters and the like. I enjoyed this surprise find!
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journey into Hell for a mysterious book. There is plenty of myth and theology weaving here, some great one-liners and dakly humorous moments, and plenty of action and monsters and the like. I enjoyed this surprise find!
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LibraryThing member JohnnyPanic13
I went through, and maybe still am in, a cyberpunk phase. One title that keeps coming up over and over again is Metrophage by Richard Kadrey (1988)
"one of the quintessential 1980s cyberpunk novels," going on to describe "a gritty acid-trip through an ultraviolent L.A. where nothing is what it
I still haven't gotten my hands on a copy, but I did grab his latest book, "Butcher Bird". And it has dampened my enthusiasm. I didn't like this book. It had demons, hidden realities, hell, tattoos, hot deadly chics, and a secret cadre of evil men in suits. And somehow... I still didn't like it.
You've got Spyder Lee, the tattoo artist who accidentally picks a fight with a demon in a bar one night.
You've Lulu, Spyder's best friend who he has known for years. But after surviving said fight with said demon, he sees her with new eyes. And he's drawn into her mysterious, hidden reality.
You've got Shrike. She's a hot chic who is a mysterious deadly assasin as well. ...well of course she is.
Only once have I seen an author make his "warrior chic" a big socially awkward troll of a woman (George R.R. Martin). And even though I didn't find myself picturing her in a leather bikini, I found that take so refreshing.
What kills me, and maybe this is where my strong reaction comes from, is that there are all the elements for a great story. But they just aren't there.
From page one, Kadrey takes the stance that he is cooler than you. He knows more about the counter culture than you, he's more bad ass and yet more artistically sensitive than you. And you know what, that might be true. But it makes for a bad book. I just very strong got the feeling that this entire novel is Kadrey's little counter-culture wet dream. He is Spyder. A character who tries to be every cool cliche
at once, and fails. And Shrike is the ninja-clad Lara Croft that kadrey jerks off to at night.
I bet he has a friend that very closely resembled the mostly useless sidekick Lulu.
Kadrey tried very hard to make his characters anti-heroes, anti-cliches, anti-society, anti-everything. But he missed the mark. We've had all these anti characters already. And here we are, coming back to the
place i feel personally insulted. I usually love these anti characters. You wouldn't have to do much to
get me to fall in love with an anti-character.
"The night before he went to London, Richard Mayhew was not enjoying himself. He had begun the evening by enjoying himself: he had enjoyed reading the good-bye cards, and receiving hugs form several not entirely unattractive young ladies of his acquaintance; he had enjoyed the warnings about the evils and dangers of London, and the gift of the white umbrella with the map of London Underground on it that his friends had chipped in money to buy; he had enjoyed the first few pints of ale; but then, with each successive pint he found that he was enjoying himself significantly less; until now he was sitting and shivering on the sidewalk outside the pub in a small Scottish town, weighing the relative merits of being sick and not being sick, and not enjoying himself at all."
That's all it takes, and I love Richard Mayhew. Richard Mayhew could start eating babies in the next paragraph and I'd still love him. Hell, I want to have Richard Mayhew's baby. (He's from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere)
Here's the opening to Butcher Bird, you tell me if there's a difference in tone, or if I'm being too sensitive about it all.
'They say that when your head gets chopped off, it can still see and hear for a few seconds, so I'll have to go with beheading,' said Spyder to Lulu Garou.
Spyder Lee was drinking shots of Patron Anejo tequila with Lulu, his business partner, at the Bardo Lounge just off Market Street in San Francisco.
Lulu looked into her empy glass and thought for some time, took a drag off her Marlboro Light and winked at the woman tending bar. 'Being beaten to death,' said Lulu. 'Badly. I don't mean like with a baseball bat or rebar so you're out cold, but something small.' She crushed out her Marlboro in the ashtray the bartender slid in front of her. 'An eight ball in a sweat sock. That'd give your killer a good workout'."
Overall, it's not a bad book, it's not a good book. It would have been a classic middle of the road book. Except for this posturing that may have been there, or I might have imagined.
"one of the quintessential 1980s cyberpunk novels," going on to describe "a gritty acid-trip through an ultraviolent L.A. where nothing is what it
Show More
seems.... Alongside novels such as [William Gibson's] Neuromancer and Lewis Shiner's debut novel Frontera, Metrophage helped establish the cyberpunk aesthetic: relentless, paranoid and playfully cynical."I still haven't gotten my hands on a copy, but I did grab his latest book, "Butcher Bird". And it has dampened my enthusiasm. I didn't like this book. It had demons, hidden realities, hell, tattoos, hot deadly chics, and a secret cadre of evil men in suits. And somehow... I still didn't like it.
You've got Spyder Lee, the tattoo artist who accidentally picks a fight with a demon in a bar one night.
You've Lulu, Spyder's best friend who he has known for years. But after surviving said fight with said demon, he sees her with new eyes. And he's drawn into her mysterious, hidden reality.
You've got Shrike. She's a hot chic who is a mysterious deadly assasin as well. ...well of course she is.
Only once have I seen an author make his "warrior chic" a big socially awkward troll of a woman (George R.R. Martin). And even though I didn't find myself picturing her in a leather bikini, I found that take so refreshing.
What kills me, and maybe this is where my strong reaction comes from, is that there are all the elements for a great story. But they just aren't there.
From page one, Kadrey takes the stance that he is cooler than you. He knows more about the counter culture than you, he's more bad ass and yet more artistically sensitive than you. And you know what, that might be true. But it makes for a bad book. I just very strong got the feeling that this entire novel is Kadrey's little counter-culture wet dream. He is Spyder. A character who tries to be every cool cliche
at once, and fails. And Shrike is the ninja-clad Lara Croft that kadrey jerks off to at night.
I bet he has a friend that very closely resembled the mostly useless sidekick Lulu.
Kadrey tried very hard to make his characters anti-heroes, anti-cliches, anti-society, anti-everything. But he missed the mark. We've had all these anti characters already. And here we are, coming back to the
place i feel personally insulted. I usually love these anti characters. You wouldn't have to do much to
get me to fall in love with an anti-character.
"The night before he went to London, Richard Mayhew was not enjoying himself. He had begun the evening by enjoying himself: he had enjoyed reading the good-bye cards, and receiving hugs form several not entirely unattractive young ladies of his acquaintance; he had enjoyed the warnings about the evils and dangers of London, and the gift of the white umbrella with the map of London Underground on it that his friends had chipped in money to buy; he had enjoyed the first few pints of ale; but then, with each successive pint he found that he was enjoying himself significantly less; until now he was sitting and shivering on the sidewalk outside the pub in a small Scottish town, weighing the relative merits of being sick and not being sick, and not enjoying himself at all."
That's all it takes, and I love Richard Mayhew. Richard Mayhew could start eating babies in the next paragraph and I'd still love him. Hell, I want to have Richard Mayhew's baby. (He's from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere)
Here's the opening to Butcher Bird, you tell me if there's a difference in tone, or if I'm being too sensitive about it all.
'They say that when your head gets chopped off, it can still see and hear for a few seconds, so I'll have to go with beheading,' said Spyder to Lulu Garou.
Spyder Lee was drinking shots of Patron Anejo tequila with Lulu, his business partner, at the Bardo Lounge just off Market Street in San Francisco.
Lulu looked into her empy glass and thought for some time, took a drag off her Marlboro Light and winked at the woman tending bar. 'Being beaten to death,' said Lulu. 'Badly. I don't mean like with a baseball bat or rebar so you're out cold, but something small.' She crushed out her Marlboro in the ashtray the bartender slid in front of her. 'An eight ball in a sweat sock. That'd give your killer a good workout'."
Overall, it's not a bad book, it's not a good book. It would have been a classic middle of the road book. Except for this posturing that may have been there, or I might have imagined.
Show Less
LibraryThing member JohnnyPanic13
I went through, and maybe still am in, a cyberpunk phase. One title that keeps coming up over and over again is Metrophage by Richard Kadrey (1988)
"one of the quintessential 1980s cyberpunk novels," going on to describe "a gritty acid-trip through an ultraviolent L.A. where nothing is what it
I still haven't gotten my hands on a copy, but I did grab his latest book, "Butcher Bird". And it has dampened my enthusiasm. I didn't like this book. It had demons, hidden realities, hell, tattoos, hot deadly chics, and a secret cadre of evil men in suits. And somehow... I still didn't like it.
You've got Spyder Lee, the tattoo artist who accidentally picks a fight with a demon in a bar one night.
You've Lulu, Spyder's best friend who he has known for years. But after surviving said fight with said demon, he sees her with new eyes. And he's drawn into her mysterious, hidden reality.
You've got Shrike. She's a hot chic who is a mysterious deadly assasin as well. ...well of course she is.
Only once have I seen an author make his "warrior chic" a big socially awkward troll of a woman (George R.R. Martin). And even though I didn't find myself picturing her in a leather bikini, I found that take so refreshing.
What kills me, and maybe this is where my strong reaction comes from, is that there are all the elements for a great story. But they just aren't there.
From page one, Kadrey takes the stance that he is cooler than you. He knows more about the counter culture than you, he's more bad ass and yet more artistically sensitive than you. And you know what, that might be true. But it makes for a bad book. I just very strong got the feeling that this entire novel is Kadrey's little counter-culture wet dream. He is Spyder. A character who tries to be every cool cliche
at once, and fails. And Shrike is the ninja-clad Lara Croft that kadrey jerks off to at night.
I bet he has a friend that very closely resembled the mostly useless sidekick Lulu.
Kadrey tried very hard to make his characters anti-heroes, anti-cliches, anti-society, anti-everything. But he missed the mark. We've had all these anti characters already. And here we are, coming back to the
place i feel personally insulted. I usually love these anti characters. You wouldn't have to do much to
get me to fall in love with an anti-character.
"The night before he went to London, Richard Mayhew was not enjoying himself. He had begun the evening by enjoying himself: he had enjoyed reading the good-bye cards, and receiving hugs form several not entirely unattractive young ladies of his acquaintance; he had enjoyed the warnings about the evils and dangers of London, and the gift of the white umbrella with the map of London Underground on it that his friends had chipped in money to buy; he had enjoyed the first few pints of ale; but then, with each successive pint he found that he was enjoying himself significantly less; until now he was sitting and shivering on the sidewalk outside the pub in a small Scottish town, weighing the relative merits of being sick and not being sick, and not enjoying himself at all."
That's all it takes, and I love Richard Mayhew. Richard Mayhew could start eating babies in the next paragraph and I'd still love him. Hell, I want to have Richard Mayhew's baby. (He's from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere)
Here's the opening to Butcher Bird, you tell me if there's a difference in tone, or if I'm being too sensitive about it all.
'They say that when your head gets chopped off, it can still see and hear for a few seconds, so I'll have to go with beheading,' said Spyder to Lulu Garou.
Spyder Lee was drinking shots of Patron Anejo tequila with Lulu, his business partner, at the Bardo Lounge just off Market Street in San Francisco.
Lulu looked into her empy glass and thought for some time, took a drag off her Marlboro Light and winked at the woman tending bar. 'Being beaten to death,' said Lulu. 'Badly. I don't mean like with a baseball bat or rebar so you're out cold, but something small.' She crushed out her Marlboro in the ashtray the bartender slid in front of her. 'An eight ball in a sweat sock. That'd give your killer a good workout'."
Overall, it's not a bad book, it's not a good book. It would have been a classic middle of the road book. Except for this posturing that may have been there, or I might have imagined.
"one of the quintessential 1980s cyberpunk novels," going on to describe "a gritty acid-trip through an ultraviolent L.A. where nothing is what it
Show More
seems.... Alongside novels such as [William Gibson's] Neuromancer and Lewis Shiner's debut novel Frontera, Metrophage helped establish the cyberpunk aesthetic: relentless, paranoid and playfully cynical."I still haven't gotten my hands on a copy, but I did grab his latest book, "Butcher Bird". And it has dampened my enthusiasm. I didn't like this book. It had demons, hidden realities, hell, tattoos, hot deadly chics, and a secret cadre of evil men in suits. And somehow... I still didn't like it.
You've got Spyder Lee, the tattoo artist who accidentally picks a fight with a demon in a bar one night.
You've Lulu, Spyder's best friend who he has known for years. But after surviving said fight with said demon, he sees her with new eyes. And he's drawn into her mysterious, hidden reality.
You've got Shrike. She's a hot chic who is a mysterious deadly assasin as well. ...well of course she is.
Only once have I seen an author make his "warrior chic" a big socially awkward troll of a woman (George R.R. Martin). And even though I didn't find myself picturing her in a leather bikini, I found that take so refreshing.
What kills me, and maybe this is where my strong reaction comes from, is that there are all the elements for a great story. But they just aren't there.
From page one, Kadrey takes the stance that he is cooler than you. He knows more about the counter culture than you, he's more bad ass and yet more artistically sensitive than you. And you know what, that might be true. But it makes for a bad book. I just very strong got the feeling that this entire novel is Kadrey's little counter-culture wet dream. He is Spyder. A character who tries to be every cool cliche
at once, and fails. And Shrike is the ninja-clad Lara Croft that kadrey jerks off to at night.
I bet he has a friend that very closely resembled the mostly useless sidekick Lulu.
Kadrey tried very hard to make his characters anti-heroes, anti-cliches, anti-society, anti-everything. But he missed the mark. We've had all these anti characters already. And here we are, coming back to the
place i feel personally insulted. I usually love these anti characters. You wouldn't have to do much to
get me to fall in love with an anti-character.
"The night before he went to London, Richard Mayhew was not enjoying himself. He had begun the evening by enjoying himself: he had enjoyed reading the good-bye cards, and receiving hugs form several not entirely unattractive young ladies of his acquaintance; he had enjoyed the warnings about the evils and dangers of London, and the gift of the white umbrella with the map of London Underground on it that his friends had chipped in money to buy; he had enjoyed the first few pints of ale; but then, with each successive pint he found that he was enjoying himself significantly less; until now he was sitting and shivering on the sidewalk outside the pub in a small Scottish town, weighing the relative merits of being sick and not being sick, and not enjoying himself at all."
That's all it takes, and I love Richard Mayhew. Richard Mayhew could start eating babies in the next paragraph and I'd still love him. Hell, I want to have Richard Mayhew's baby. (He's from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere)
Here's the opening to Butcher Bird, you tell me if there's a difference in tone, or if I'm being too sensitive about it all.
'They say that when your head gets chopped off, it can still see and hear for a few seconds, so I'll have to go with beheading,' said Spyder to Lulu Garou.
Spyder Lee was drinking shots of Patron Anejo tequila with Lulu, his business partner, at the Bardo Lounge just off Market Street in San Francisco.
Lulu looked into her empy glass and thought for some time, took a drag off her Marlboro Light and winked at the woman tending bar. 'Being beaten to death,' said Lulu. 'Badly. I don't mean like with a baseball bat or rebar so you're out cold, but something small.' She crushed out her Marlboro in the ashtray the bartender slid in front of her. 'An eight ball in a sweat sock. That'd give your killer a good workout'."
Overall, it's not a bad book, it's not a good book. It would have been a classic middle of the road book. Except for this posturing that may have been there, or I might have imagined.
Show Less
LibraryThing member earthwindwalker
love this..sucked me in...great visual writing style...
LibraryThing member NatalieSW
Not as good a book as the others of his I've just read, especially since it seems very reminiscent (not necessarily consciously) by Neil Gaiman's classic Neverwhere.
LibraryThing member hopeevey
I downloaded this from the publisher's website, and was very glad I did. It's gripping, intelligent, gritty, cynical, but manages to be very real and touching at the same time.
It's hard to say much about it giving away things better found in the course of the text. Iill say I think I'll have to
It's hard to say much about it giving away things better found in the course of the text. Iill say I think I'll have to
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track down the rest of his books - I've been very impressed with what I've read so far. Show Less
LibraryThing member tldegray
If you like Kadrey's Sandman Slim series then I don't know why you're even reading this review when you could be reading this book. It has the same horror feel, that of creepy underpinnings and the evil lying right beneath the good, but it also has a fantasy element that adds a ... well, I won't
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say lighter touch, but a different touch to things. Read it, it's creepy and cool. Show Less
LibraryThing member KittyCunningham
This is similar in flavor to Clive Barker's Imagica.
Language
Original publication date
2007-07-25
Physical description
256 p.; 8.9 inches
ISBN
1597800864 / 9781597800860