Doc Sidhe

One factor not stressed in the other reviews of _Doc Sidhe_, is the quality of the writing. Since the genre is roughly "Doc Savage 1930s pulp", you wouldn't expect high quality prose. Wrong! This book delivers in style as well as content.

Harris Green has hit bottom. His career as a professional kickboxer has gone nowhere, his girlfriend Gwen has dumped him, and he is as drunk as he can be. He comes up with the bright idea of talking Gwen into taking him back and arrives at her apartment just in time to see her being kidnapped. Harris's kickboxing might not be good enough to make him rich but its plenty to take on a couple of low-budget hoods with his girl. What he doesn't expect is that the kidnapping would leave him in a portal between our own world and the fair world--a place where magic works but where good and evil still battle. The grim world of common humanity and the fair world are tied together and sometimes share people and ideas. But someone is tampering with the ties in an attempt to gain control of both worlds. Only Doc Sidhe and his Sidhe Foundation stand in their way. Harris joins up with a reluctant Doc when he finds that Gwen is one of the keys. Through a series of adventures, the two males learn to appreciate one another--but can they survive the showdown with the masters of evil magic? Author Aaron Allston delivers a well written and fast paced fantasy adventure. With using both Irish/British legend and modern technology, Allston's parallel world construction is convincing and interesting. Harris is a fully motivated character with both flaws and goals. Harris drives the plot forward as his experience in both grim and fair worlds teaches him to be a full man.

Reading "Doc Sidhe" really brought back that glowing feeling I haven't quite experienced since discovering old pulps and Fantasy as a twelve year old! It's a light-hearted adventure, and a loving hommage to thirties pulp fiction. The gap between the nineties and a thirties setting is elegantly spanned by introducing a parallel world with a history loosely similar to ours, but lagging sixty years behind. Add technically sophisticated faeries, magic, super criminals bent on world domination --- and above all COLOURS. The vivid, colourful images is actually the most lasting impression after reading this entertaining little yarn. Recommended for anyone who has ever been twelve and spent an entire Sunday in a dusty attic, lost in the radiant world of a yellowed pulp paperback.

"Doc Sidhe" is a great example of fun reading. The characters are enjoyable, capable and the interaction between them is smooth. Allston's writing style does not jar, dislocate or disorient the reader, and the characters will stay with you. His main antagonist is delightfully wicked, and since your hero is only as good as your bad guy, this is important. Humorous and action-packed, this book is a MUST read for all fantasy fiends & fans. A great mix of fantasy and pulp fiction writing.

_Doc Sidhe_ is an incredible book. Not only does it capture the spirit of the great pulp heroes of the '30s, but it manages to flawlessly incorporate them into a world where magic and technology combine. Allston's characters are not copies of the original Doc Savage and his friends, but loving tributes, full of their own life and energy. The setting was intricate enough to resist scrutiny, but not so much that it obscured the plot. And what a plot it is! The book picked me up and carried me along, and didn't put me down until the end. And then, I wanted to read it again! If you like pulp heroes like Doc Savage and The Shadow, you'll love this book! Mr. Allston himself told me that there are plans for a sequel, and I will be looking for it with great anticipation.