Conrad Brent protects the people of Brooklyn from monsters and magical threats. The snarky, wisecracking guardian also has a dangerous secret: he’s one in a million – literally. Magical ability comes to about one in every 30,000 and can manifest at any age. Conrad is rarer than this, however. He’s a middling, one of the half-gifted and totally despised. Most of the gifted community feels that middlings should be instantly killed. The few who don’t flat out hate them still aren’t excited to be around middlings. Meaning Conrad can’t tell anyone, not even his best friends, what he really is.
Conrad hides in plain sight by being a part of the volunteer Watch, those magically gifted who protect their cities from dangerous, arcane threats. And, to pay the bills, Conrad moonlights as a private detective and monster hunter for the gifted community. Which helps him keep up his personal fiction – that he’s a magical version of Batman. Conrad does both jobs thanks to charms, artifacts, and his wits, along with copious amounts of coffee. But little does he know that events are about to change his life…forever.
When Conrad discovers the Traveling Fair auction house has another middling who’s just manifested her so-called powers on the auction block, he’s determined to save her, regardless of risk. But what he finds out while doing so is even worse – the winning bidder works for a company that’s just created the most dangerous chemical weapon to ever hit the magical community. Before Conrad can convince anyone at the Watch of the danger, he’s exposed for what he really is. Now, stripped of rank, magical objects, friends and allies, Conrad has to try to save the world with only his wits. Thankfully though, no one’s taken away his coffee.
The Middling Affliction is the first book in Alex Shvartsman's The Conradverse Chronicles series. This urban-fantasy novel hits stores on May 31, 2022. The publisher CAEZIK SF and Fantasy made an early galley available to me in exchange for an honest review.
This novel started out strong for me. I liked what Shvartsman put into his worldbuilding; he seamlessly blends modern New York City with fantasy elements to create an exciting and fun setting. His protagonist Conrad Brent was also initially likeable. For the first few chapters, I was pulled into the story.
However, I was not a big fan of the heavy use of comic book references. Holding iconic characters like Batman and Rorschach as comparisons for your main character really sets up a no-win situation. They both bring up very distinct images that leave the protagonist in an unfair light. The various Star Wars, zombie and vampire TV shows and movies, and other sci-fi references were not really needed. The reliance on winks and nods to other properties that the author likes seemed too much of a service to fanboys. As a fanboy myself, I found they did more harm than good.
Also, the inspiration for the character of Bradley Holcomb was instantly obvious to me. If his professional resume wasn't enough, his way of speaking and choices of certain phrases were the clinchers. Again, my having a strong opinion of this individual immediately took me out of the narrative.
If the author had stuck to the original spirit, I think I would have been along for the long ride.
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