A decent urban fantasy; for those who follow the field, I’d say better than the first books in the Dresden series and on par with the Iron Druid series. McLellan has been writing a while, so this is definitely not the work of an inexperienced writer. The pace starts off running and doesn't let up. Characterization is decent, although given there are essentially two main characters, Alek and Maggie, that's a reasonable expectation. It does explore a different group of urban fantasy creatures than are normally seen, which is intriguing. The hero, Alek, is half-troll, his bestie is a trapped djinn, there's a number of imps, along with few other creeps. An appearance by Death is particularly nicely done.

There are touches of humor: since the djinn, Maggie, has a telepathic connection with Alek, there's steady banter between the two. It gives the feel of Dresden and the skull, or Hearne's druid and his dog. Could banter be a genre requirement?

However, I'm not sure that the idea of the 'OtherOps,' or the police for the Others, quite makes sense, nor why our hero would still be allowed to be a contract slave in context of a legal society. But honestly, it wasn't the kind of book that I was intending to read closely; I was using some brainless reading time on Kindle unlimited account. Good diversion. ( )

Alek Fitz is a reaper who collects on overdue debts and extracts payment for a variety of employers, from the Lords of Hell to even completing a jobs for the Tooth Fairy. Death hires Alex to solve the problem of tracking down stolen property. Consequences for not completing this job are high and the clock on the is ticking.

Uncanny Collateral is the first in the Valkyrie Collections by Brian McClellan. It is a series of novellas currently. With so few pages there is just enough world building to get a sense of our characters and setting to kick off the fast paced plot. I like the world that we're introduced to. The main character, Alek, is an anti-hero of sorts and his partner Maggie is a trapped djinni. They have a great working relationship as they balancie each other out well. The story is wrapped up nicely and there's a good hook for the second book. ( )

I'm on the phone and sick so writing something coherent is not in the cards.

But I really really really enjoyed this. It's so refreshing to read an urban fantasy with a male lead who is friends with a woman but doesn't secretly wants to bone her. It is a suprise with how rare that is. I have more thoughts in this but then this would be a rant.

Save to say I was hesitant to pick this up.

But if this book is a good representation of how this author writes his stories than I will be reading more of his stuff.

Subtle sense of humour. Interesting plot and what feels to me an easy writing style. Engaging without being simplistic.

Perfect for lazy afternoon/evenings or when you're sick and need something light. ( )

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Short Review: Damn good urban fantasy, with a healthy dash of "look at the pretty shiny thing I'm showing you!"

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84 points, 4 ¼ stars
Uncanny Collateral was a really well-written urban fantasy adventure. It is a bit shorter than the standard urban fantasy novel (45k words vs 101k words), but it works for the story presented. I liked the way the story played out. There was lots of danger and lots of adventure that all unraveled in a very pleasing way. Everything worked well together.

This didn't exactly break any new ground, though. If you're unfamiliar with the genre or have only read a few series, you may not know that this isn't exactly new. This isn't a bad thing at all, though. It works well. If you aren't well read in the subgenre, Uncanny Collateral is not standard in popular, mainstream urban fantasy, but not uncommon throughout the entire genre. This does really good things with the subgenre, though, and as Brian McClellan is pretty popular maybe this will help showcase the delights of the subgenre to those unfamiliar with it.

Our main character for this adventure is Alex Fitz, and he is fun to read. He is a reaper who collects on debts. Unfortunately for him, he is also basically a slave who was sold as a child and now his company owns him and has rights to make him do whatever they want him to. Understandably, he holds a grudge over this. Fortunately for him, when he was younger he found a ring with a djinn in it and they're in constant communication. Alex and Maggie are really good friends, even if their relationship is a tad unbalanced.

Despite Uncanny Collateral being so short, it is absolutely filled with neat little things to see. There are all sorts of neat "look at the cool thing I came up with to add to my story!" moments. While almost nothing is explored in its entirety, there are a lot of bits and pieces to work with later on. I'm expecting great things out of the rest of the series.

This was a fun, interesting introduction to the Valkyrie Collection series. I was left at the end wanting more to the story. This was just the start of what sounds like a long, interesting journey. I'm looking forward to reading more from this series and from Alex and Maggie.

I received a copy from Brian McClellan for review purposes. Thanks so much! ( )

Fun shoot'em up fantasy book. ( )