• Ink & Sigil (book 1): 10:11
• Paper & Blood (book 2): 10:06
• Candle & Crow (book 3): 11:04

Doin’ it Kevin Hearne Style, where one sometimes wanders

I’ll start off the review with this: the main story of this book gets interrupted a lot. Al has a clear overarching problem with fairly clear goals, but life keeps on interrupting him before he can resolve things. For some readers, this might be a bit annoying. For me . . . well, it just made it feel like a dude doing his job and getting interrupted regularly by life.

Yes, Al’s job is supernatural, extraordinary and only a handful of people on Earth share it with him, but it’s become totally normalized for Al because he’s been a sigil agent for decades. Unlike a lot of other urban fantasy, where we’re constantly reminded that everything happening to the protagonist is a Big Deal (yes, with caps), Al just kinda rolls with it.

Imagine this: you’re a technician at a nuclear plant responsible for making sure no disasters happen. The first few months, or even years, you might feel a sense of awe at the power and responsibility of your day-to-day work. After 20 years of doing it, though, you might just feel like another guy going to the office.

So yeah, the things Al does regularly could have world-shattering ramifications if mishandled. But he also has a crush on the local librarian, an estranged son, and complex interpersonal relationships at work that are touch to navigate. It all makes him relatable, but it also makes the story more like real life.

So, in true Hearne fashion, we get life’s interruptions complete with stories of “the olden days” as a man nearing retirement encounters things that remind him of past adventures. For the most part, I think Ink & Sigil does this “interrupt the narrative with a semi-connected flashback” thing a bit better than Iron Druid, but I can see how it’d drive some readers nuts.

A really cool magic system

Ink & Sigil is so named because the magic that Al (and other sigil agents) use is based on sigils. Basically, you hand-craft some magic ink, draw special sigils with it, and that allows you to do magical things. The sigils are imbued with power by the gods, who invented them specifically for sigil agents to use (Al’s sigils are powered by Brigid).

There’s no “mana,” or handwavy stuff (e.g., you use “too much” magic and your nose bleeds right before you pass out). Instead, you get ink that has very specific, and often very rare ingredients and properties, which limits how many sigils of a given type you can make. If you’re going into a bad situation, you only have the magic you literally bring along (either in the form of prepared sigils, or pens loaded with specific inks).

The curses of Al MacBharrais

Speaking of a cool magic system, I wanted to talk about another really fascinating story mechanic: Al’s curses. He has two of them, and both suck in most insidious ways.

The first curse has to do with Al speaking to anyone. Every word Al utters within earshot of another person inches that person a little closer to vehement loathing. Once you’ve heard al speak enough words, the curse triggers, and you will immediately and vehemently loathe him. It causes him to be estranged from his son, and forces him to speak through a text-to-speech app on his phone to interact with anyone in person.

Once you start really thinking about the implications of such a curse, it begins to reveal itself as something truly awful. Imagine being able to speak, but knowing that, if you do, it will make everyone around you hate you. If you’re a regular at a local coffee shop or a bar, you’d have to always type what you want to say into your phone. It limits conversation significantly, but it also limits connection.

The other curse is designed to kill off his apprentices after a certain amount of time via seemingly innocuous, freak accidents. This one is pretty terrible too, as Al pours a lot of time, effort, and camaraderie into his apprentices. They live long enough to almost be ready to take the mantle of sigil agent and let Al retire, but then die. It’s like living in a perpetual state of tragedy combined with “never been closer.” Gordie, his 7th apprentice to bite it dies choking on a raisin scone (which is deemed extra tragic due to Al’s anti-raisin disposition).

Because both curses directly impact Al’s ability to simply be human–to make human connections and build relationships–it evokes a sad sort of empathy in the reader. It makes you root for him while you despair at what he’s lost.

Wordplay that’s often crude, but almost always classy (sorta)

I find Hearne’s humor in this book a fascinating study on how to make extremely crude jokes without sounding crude. As an example, there’s a hobgoblin character in the book named Buck Foi. Now, swap the “B” and the “F.” Juvenile, right? But later we learn all about hobgoblins, and how they name themselves and their kids, and it sorta makes sense because it’s more than just a dirty joke, it is actually tied to the hobgoblin culture. Here’s one of my favorite quotes from the book that kind of illustrates my point:

Whenever someone shoulders past me or cuts me off, I feel like rooting for them instead of getting angry, and I hope they’re able to make it to the toilet before disaster strikes. I cheer for the steadfastness of their sphincters and wish them long life and clean underwear. People think I am patient, but not really; I just get it. We are ruled by our bladders and bowels.

First, note the prose. It’s elegant, and somewhat formal, but it’s also talking about someone needing to take an emergency “shite.” It’s also philosophical, as it’s explaining Al’s way of dealing with rude people, spinning it into something kind of beautiful. Instead of getting angry, he wishes them the best because we’ve all been in the “oh no, I’ve got to go” situation. It immediately locks him into empathy rather than rage, and tells us a lot about who Al is.

It is also a potty joke. So, you know . . . kind of crude.

Hearne does this a lot in Ink & Sigil, and I find it to be both brilliant and entertaining as hell. Not all the jokes land, but I enjoyed them.

And now I’d like to talk about inventiveness

Rather than do a deep analysis on how Hearne manages to make a pretty well established world feel fairly fresh, I’m just going to talk about my favorite surprise of the entire book: Lurnaug, God of Whiskey and Cheese!

Some pretty direct spoilers in this bit (click here)

Lurnaug starts his existence as a painted, made-up deity on the side of Nadia’s “wizard van.” Nadia is Al’s office manager for both his cover business (a print shop) and ensuring his secret business (sigil agent) can continue to operate.

Inside the wizard van is an alter to Lurnaug where you pay homage by eating good cheese and drinking whiskey. Lurnaug is a just god who eats the heads of wicked men (especially those that choose to abuse women) but otherwise just wants everyone to get along. He’s accepting of all creeds, cultures, and beliefs, so long as you’re not hurting anyone else physically or mentally.

Lurnaug is purely an invention of Nadia, and has no real following. This is important because, in Hearne’s universe, Gods come into being once enough people believe in them. So, when Lurnaug is needed, Nadia and Buck Foi start a church and get people into it . . . the rest is just kind of brilliant, even if it is slightly leaning into Deus Ex Machina territory.

The audiobook is pretty great

I enjoyed the audiobook a lot, especially the intro to the 3rd book where Hearne directly calls out his audiobook narrator, Luke Daniels, just to mess with him. The thing you have to understand is that the main character is from Glasgow and thus has a Glaswegian accent. Daniels tries really hard to nail this accent (and all of the other ones in the book) throughout, so it takes a little getting used to. To my (very) untrained ear, I think he does a good job, but it’s not always perfect.

Here’s a little primer

Thanks, Gerard! Anyway, I saw several reviews that show some people really do not like the accents, so it’s something to keep in mind. To me, it just added to the performance once I got used to it (which didn’t take long at all). Learning slang and insults from Scotland is also good fun, and I highly recommend it. It’s a straight-up art form that few other dialects of English can match (if any).

I do think that, at times, Daniels is trying a little too hard, which makes the delivery of the actual dialogue a little awkward, but it’s not often enough to be a major issue for me.

So, it’s a good series, right?

Yes. I really liked it! But, it’s definitely not for everyone. It’s meandering, and there is a lot of wordplay and humor that I know won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. The 2nd book is the weakest, IMO, and tends to drag a bit in the middle while the narratives drifts around a little too much. In other words, it’s not perfect.

However, I think Hearne’s concept is really cool, and the writing is reflective of what he was trying to accomplish with Al. He’s in his 60s, a widower, and wants to retire so he can take time he was never able to enjoy life a bit before he’s too old for that to be easily possible. He’s a good person, so he gets sidetracked when he learns people need help. He’s juggling a complex, if limited, personal life with a complex work life, but he’s been doing that so long that it’s become rote (to a degree). All of this affects his worldview and how he responds to what’s going on around him.

It’s well done, but not for everyone. I found Ink & Sigil to be better, and more . . . intentional than Iron Druid. In the latter, I felt like the series kinda played itself out several books in, and the last few were just a bit meh. Many reviewers point out that the tale end of Iron Druid chronicles felt like Hearne had just lost interest in the series and was either phoning it in, or rushing to get it done. I think, by limiting the length of the series, Hearne mostly avoids that problem in Ink & Sigil.

The verdict

Highlights

• If you like Iron Druid, you’ll probably like Ink & Sigil
• If puns make your eyes roll a little too hard, you may want to gird yourself or skip this series
• The narrator’s strong accents are not for everyone, but I liked them
• The story . . . wanders, but I do think this adds to the character development of Al, and make him feel more like a normal guy close to retirement
• Great magic system, and really cool mechanic (in the form of dual curses) impacting the protagonist
• All hail Lurnaug, God of Whiskey and Cheese!

Score (out of 5)
Wordcaster score: 4
Wider audience: 3 Audiobook performance: 3.5