Review: First Encounter: The Shinigami and the Royal Mage by Honor Raconteur
Genre: Gaslamp Fantasy
Published: December 1, 2024
Print length: 37 pages
Links: Goodreads | Direct Sales
Kindle Unlimited? No
Series: The Case Files of Henri Davenforth
Warnings: The main character has just escaped from being imprisoned and tortured, and she experiences some PTSD as a result.

Synopsis:

It wasn’t a promising introduction to a new planet: yanked from Earth, held captive and experimented on by a mad witch. Federal agent Jamie Edwards refused to play the victim. Killing her captor, she made her way to the nearest town and sought out help.

That help arrives in the form of Royal Mage Sherard Seaton, determined to get to the bottom of this strange tale of a woman from another world who single-handedly ended the reign of terror of the most notorious magical criminal of all time. But Jamie’s magical core (which she didn’t even know she had) is dangerously unstable due to her mistreatment by the witch, and there’s the small matter of finding the villain’s lair and neutralizing its traps and poisons.

Jamie and Sherard have their work cut out for them, but every great friendship has to start somewhere.

What I thought:

If you haven’t read at least the first book in Honor Raconteur’s Henri and Jamie series, stop and go grab Magic and the Shinigami Detective right now. I’ll wait. (It’s even in Kindle Unlimited.) Unique world, great characters that you’ll love spending time with. This story is essentially a “deleted scene” from early in that book and is best enjoyed if you already know what comes before and after.

I’m a long-time fan of the series, and Sherard is one of my favorite characters, so First Encounter was right up my alley. It’s essentially a long short story or maybe a novelette (I’d guess around 10,000-ish words). Nothing too dramatic happens, but it nicely fills in a blank space in the first novel in the series, and it’s a pleasure to see how Jamie and Sherard first met and watch them cautiously beginning what will become a very close and heartfelt friendship.

The things series devotees love about these characters are on full display. Jamie is her ever-resilient self, coping with the aftermath of kidnapping, abuse and being stranded on a strange planet with logic, determination and wry humor. Sherard is also in classic form: flamboyant, a little vain, competitive, super-smart but with a core of kindness and a deep-seated instinct to be helpful.

As a bonus, we get to see several of the Kingsmen, the royal police who will become Jamie’s loyal teammates in later books. The only minor disappointment is that Henri, her future partner in crime-solving (and eventually, very minor spoiler here, much more), is missing. But that’s okay, Henri gets plenty of time elsewhere; it’s good to let Sherard take the spotlight for a bit.

The story—Jamie and Sherard’s first meeting, his efforts to stabilize her magical core, and their expedition to find the witch Belladonna’s hideout and render it safe—is fine, but honestly the plots aren’t the reason to follow this series. It’s all about the characters, their relationships and the pseudo-Victorian world they live in. I’ll take all of that I can get, and this story provides it in a bite-sized package.

Who will love it:

• Everyone who’s devoured all the Case Files of Henri Davenport novels and still wants more.
• Anyone who’s read at least the series starter (there are no spoilers here for later books).

Favorite quotes:

I did not have time for the breakdown I deserved.

He gave the vibe of a theatrical pirate in search of a stage. [Jamie’s first impression of Sherard.]

“If you can face this with a sense of humor, I agree, you’ll be fine. Laughter truly is the best method of weathering the storm.”

About the author:

Honor Raconteur was born loving books. Her mother read her fairy tales and her father read her technical manuals, so was it any wonder she grew up thinking all books were wonderful? At five, she wrote and illustrated her first book.

At *mumbles age* she’s lost count of how many books she’s written and has no intention of stopping before she climbs into a grave. Right now, she lives in Michigan in a wonderful old Craftsman house with two dogs and four cats.

She also writes under the pennames Allie Brahms, AJ Sherwood, and Jamie Danners.

For more information about her books, to be notified when books are released, or get behind the scenes info about upcoming books, sign up or visit her at: NEWSLETTER or honorraconteur.news@raconteurhouse.com


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