Reviews for Urban Shaman: The Walker Papers

The average rating for Urban Shaman: The Walker Papers based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-03-21 00:00:00 Antoinette Lukaszewski Ms. Murphy managed to do something I didn't think could be accomplished. She wrote this incredible story that seamlessly intertwines Celtic and Native American folklore and mythology. Let me tell you this is a book you don't want to put down. It is so vivid it's like a movie, but I haven't seen a movie this cool. Hollywood doesn't like to take chances on women in high prolife action roles. And this is definitely a woman's story. Joanne Walker is running away from her dual heritage as a Cherokee Native American and a woman of Irish descent. She just wants to be one of the guys and work on cars in the police unit, although she is a cop. But our destiny calls us, and we cannot run away from it. It only runs right into us. She has to face her identity when the shamanic heritage that she inherited from her dad awakens within her. It happens at a good time, because she's having to deal with Celtic deities wreaking havoc in her city. I really enjoyed the folklore elements. It was so cool to see Joanne taking on Cerunnos, the Horned God of Celtic myths, and also Hearne the Hunter. She has to stop the Wild Hunt from occurring and taking human souls. This is a book that you might want to read along with a mythology encyclopedia, or at least zip over to Wikipedia, because you will find yourself reading about people and things that might not ring a bell, but they are definitely part of folklore. Or if you are inclined towards the myths, you will think it's pretty cool. Don't let me forget to tell you that her spirit guide is a Coyote Trickster, a nod toward the Native American folkore. He talks in her dreams. Pretty surreal. Another thing I liked was there was no sex. Okay now I'm going to get laughed at. But it is refreshing to read a woman's book where the heroine isn't fixated on her sex-life or lack therof, or is in a relationship or between relationships. Woman are complex creatures and it seems as though in fiction and the media, we are defined too often by our sexuality. Joanne is not a sexless being, don't get me wrong. There is tension with Cerunnos, who is clearly digging on her, and there is an attraction between Joanne and her boss Captain Morrison, who sounds really hot to me. I pictured Hugo Weaving as Cerunnos, complete with horns around the sides of his head that resemble a crown, and Angus MacFadyen as Morrison. I really did like the fact that Joanne was comfortable in a man's world and got along really well with the men she knew, and how much they respected her abilties. If you enjoy great urban fantasy and like to read about women saving the day and coming into their own, you would really like this book.

Review # 2 was written on 2007-08-11 00:00:00 John Becanitch In general I find that I like urban fantasy, so picking this book up was easy to do. Let's get quickly to the positives: There wasn't a single anthropomorphic cat-person. A+++ The characters were well written, but often rendered a bit simplistically. I quickly gained a sense for who the characters were without feeling they were too one-dimensional. B The friendly roster lists a cross-dressing police detective. A+ Now for the downers: Murphy periodically seems to be someone who is operating just beyond the edge of her vocabulary. To be fair, this may be due to having an editor who is little more than a crack-monkey taking the first recommendation of Word's spellcheck feature. We're treated to the "basic tenements of shamanism", and we witness, in awe, a "torrent of infinitesimal power". Perhaps I'm oversensitive; common misuse of "ambivalent" makes me grind my teeth. Even if these faults originate with Murphy's editor (I suppose they must be considered editorial faults in either case), it doesn't make recommending this book any easier for that. If that sort of thing doesn't bother you, then this is not even a nit. In this book, and the follow-on, Thunderbird Falls, Murphy has a tendency to wrap things up with too pat and just-so epiphanies of a "the answer was in me all along!" sort. While empowering and satisfying once in a while, that candied veneer wears off very quickly, and simply won't do if you expect to hold my interest. In summary: pleasing and sometimes novel characters, annoying misuses of the English language, and overly pat resolutions.