It's a strange world, where human magic is generated by consuming the bones of magical creatures. Southern California is its own nation, ruled by the osteomancer the Hierarch, who killed and ate Daniel Blackhand's father in order to gain his magic. It's a nasty world, with slaves and cannibalism calmly accepted. Daniel has survived because the Hierarch believes him dead. He's become a small-time thief, but that's about to change. I really liked the vision of this alternate California although the incredible cruelty shown made me cringe a little. van Eekhout doesn't go into long gory details of it, at least, and I'm intrigued enough to find the next in the series. A good alternate world/urban fantasy, but the unicorns here exist only to be ground up and eaten.

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