Kim Harrison has started another series with Three Kinds of Lucky. Petra Grady is a sweeper first class who collects dross from the magicians' workings and disposes of it. She is not a mage, but is she something more? Magicians make mistakes handling dross, her roommate is a spy, and she has to flee her quarters with a mage and others. Shadow is more than terror; can she handle it? Modern fantasy with intriguing twists and turns.

Three Kinds of Lucky by Kim Harrison- From its picturesque descriptive language to its twisty plot to its wonderful characters, Harrison has penned a beautifully crafted paranormal fantasy with a pinch of romance that will hook you as a fan. Can’t wait for book number 2! Highly recommended.

This is absolutely one of those books where you check to see when the sequel is being published as soon as you turn the final page. Heavily plot drive (there are problems that must be addressed) but we get to see some character growth as they frantically dash from disaster to disaster. Lots of sudden betrayals and very twisty motivations. Honestly, I could have just kept reading about how the magic system worked in this even more.

This book was different than what I expected, in a good way, and the title is kind of clever once you read the story. Dross is like a physical embodiment of bad luck, but only sweepers and spinners and can see it. Mages sometimes can, but really their focus is magic. So essentially it’s a little chaos gremlin that is just running amok wreaking havoc. But since this means that “sweepers” are essentially cleaning up after the mages, they’re looked down upon. However, as the dross and shadows react differently to Petra, there might be something more to it— to her than believed. This guy who she calls her uncle to anyone who asks, has been leaving her money and trying to contact her; Petra sees it as guilt for being responsible for her dad’s death. However, there’s more to it, and Petra realizes that there is more to the past and what is going on around her than she knew. People she thought she could trust betray her, and in the worst way, and someone she thought betrayed her, may become her best ally. Yes I’m looking at you MMC, Benedict. The ending reminded me of an action hero movie where it ends with the tease of a new upcoming mission, and I can’t wait to see how Petra and her new sidekick(s) tackle it!

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the copy for review!

In Three Kinds of Lucky, the author introduces an unusual magical culture. The depiction of magic draws a bit from science proposing a world where magic produces waste. Otherwise know as dross, it is like dust bunnies, accumulating until they start to cling to you. And when that happens, bad luck follows.

Petra Grady is a sweeper. With supposedly no talent for magic, but able to see the dross, sweepers are an important part of the magical society, cleaning up after everyone else. And just like in the world of mundane trash collection, those with magical talent have no regard for those sweepers who perform such an important task.

When Benedict Strom invents a method for dealing with dross, Petra is called in to help with the research. The research takes a terrible turn compelling Petra and Benedict to flee, seeking solutions. The adventure will bring them together, revealing secrets, hidden talents and possibly a bit of revolution.

This first book in a new series is my introduction to Kim Harrison. Harrison is a fantastic storyteller! The Shadow Age sets up the world, the characters and a long-term story arc. It looks to be a fun and interesting new series.

Through Netgalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book. My review is my honest opinion.

Engaging and entertaining, all at once. Kim Harrison’s THREE KINDS OF LUCKY reels you in from the very start.

In her new book, Three Kinds of Lucky, Kim Harrison has created a compelling new series The Shadow Age with complex worldbuilding and intriguing new characters. As I read the book, I liked the premise and the way the magic is described and the unfolding of how magic works in this new work.
One of the things I especially like is her main character Petra and her abilities. I like how she grows the character and the dynamics of Petra’s powers, including how she slowly discovers that her magic isn’t quite what she thought it was. I also like Benedict, his willingness to be a friend and how their relationship evolves over the course of the book.
While there are some things that could use some clarity at the beginning, the complex worldbuilding helps the book shine. There are some heartbreaking moments, made more so because you fall for Petra and those she cares for. If you like urban fantasy, this is a unique and new world that will make readers fall in love.

I had a fantastic time reading this book! I love her writing, and this book sounded really great! And oh, this world was so interesting, with the way that the magic worked, with the three types of people, and dross, it was so interesting!

I really enjoyed Petra's story! She's in a dead end job where the people who create the mess that she cleans up treats her pretty poorly, and it was pretty frustrating, watching her have to deal with that. And of course things get complicated, between Benedict and his theory and everything that happens!

The magic system was very scientific, and pretty dense, which was pretty interesting, that it took some elements from the element type magic system, and given it scientific principles and explanations. It did take me a minute after things were explained to really get it but once I did, yeah, it was pretty freaking cool!

Oh, but that ending was so fantastic! I loved how the various elements came together, and deal with. And it has me so excited for where the series is going to go, this was a really fantastic jumping off point for this series! I can't wait to see what Petra is going to do next!

This was such a great read and I can't wait to read more in this world!

The first thing I learned as I was putting together this post was that Three Kinds of Lucky was 464 pages long. Surprise! Now recently I have read books that were 200+ pages and thought they were never going to end. Three Kinds of Lucky flew by mainly due to an abundance of thrilling episodes in the midst of some very good world-building. Yep, I was beyond startled to learn that it was 464 pages!

Petra Grady has accepted her position in life as a dross sweeper, the seeming lowest of the low in the magical realm below the spinners and well below the active magical practitioners who are actually the ones responsible for making so much dross that needs to be swept. Dross is the residual energy from magic that can create havoc if left alone. But Petra understands and manipulates dross more than other sweepers, and then there’s the matter of shadow, an energy that feeds off of inert dross but can also destroy. As Three Kinds of Lucky evolves, the reader begins to wonder if Petra Grady is something other than a sweeper.

So, first, I loved this book. It was engrossing and I completely lost myself in the narrative and the constant action. Petra’s character was strong, self-accepting, but her crush on Benedict drove me crazy because I didn’t feel like he was deserving of her (and, you know, I didn’t really like him). I was not enthralled–at all–with Benedict, which is odd because I tend to like the smart nerd characters. Benedict’s obliviousness and arrogant certainty didn’t help.

Kim Harrison threw in a lot of twists that I didn’t see coming but which served the novel well. Unfortunately there’s a lot I also can’t mention because that would give away some of the plot twists–and who would want to do that?!

I will say that if I have one trigger as far as aspects of books that I tend to shy away from, this one had it. If you know me, you may guess what it was. Ugly cry moment. Throw the book against the wall moment (except it was my Kindle, which while emotionally gratifying would not have been wallet gratifying). But Harrison turned the moment into something else, which, while it didn’t fix things, made it somewhat better.

I do like this as the beginning of a series. It was fresh, new, definitely something different, which is always welcome! And, I kind of hope that Petra gets over her crush on Benedict (or is that just me?!).

So many thanks to Ace Books for sending me a copy. I look forward to reading more in the series.

A new world of magic is brewing in Three Kinds of Lucky. While entirely unique, the storytelling reminds me of her early Hollows novels (my all-time favorite series). I DNF’d Dead Witch Walking twice before falling in love with Rachel Morgan. This book reminds me why – slow early world building, new complex magic system, and characters who have a lot of growing to do. I’m glad I pushed through the slower pace of those early books, and I recommend that fans of urban fantasy give this series a chance. I can’t wait to read more of the series and see what Harrison has planned for Petra’s next adventure.

Kim Harrison starts a new urban fantasy in which magic produces dross which has to be swept up. Petra Grady sweeps up the bad-luck causing dross, the lowest job that requires magical talent, for almost a decade. But she is Three Kinds of Lucky (hard from ACE) because her magical talent is rare, and not what she thinks . It all comes to light when a magical researcher, Benedict Strom who is also a childhood friend, wants her to work on his project for stabilizing dross that might reduce the need for sweepers. Then the dross vault explodes, and Benedict and Petra go on the run, chased by magical rebels and the magical authorities. Lots of fun and a solid opening for the series.

Kim Harrison knows how to write urban fantasy. Three Kinds of Lucky, a book one in her newest series, has all the wonderful world building, characterization, and writing as her Hollows series. Harrison brings a whole new magic system to Three Kinds of Lucky. It's well thought out and unique.

Petra is a sweeper, finding and cleaning up the magical waste left behind by practitioners. Despite having no real magic like others, she is pulled into a waste studying research project by her sexy and smart childhood friend, Benedict. Unfortunately, he doesn't understand the waste like she does. After an accident in their research, the two search out the person who may be able to help. Along the way, Petra learns of hidden talents and must decide whether to unleash them or continue to keep them hidden.

Harrison does a wonderful job of creating this new world. The magic system is unique, the characters are engaging and relatable, and the story is full of action and intrigue. As a fan of the author, I'm excited to see where this new series leads. Needless to say, I'm hooked!

A new series from Kim Harrison? Yes, please! I absolutely adore Kim's writing, and haven't been disappointed by anything that I have read by her. So, I was excited to see a new Urban Fantasy series from her! I enjoyed the character & world building in this story, and the introduction of a new magic system. I am looking forward to reading more from this new world!

Mages split light to use magic, creating dross as an unfortunate side effect, but their magic allows them to do such glorious feats that it has to be worth the occasional pop of bad luck if a bit of dross breaks on them. And if they do not want to deal with the dross, there are always sweepers to deal with it. Petra Grady is a sweeper first-class, excellent at her job, she knows how dross works far better than most. Perhaps better than she would like when she is recruited to help a particularly oblivious mage, her former friend, Benedict Strom, with research into the nature of dross and a potential way for mages to render it inert without the need for a sweeper’s help. Research that leads to a horrific accident and Grady chasing shadows in the desperate hope of finding the only person who might be able to help set things right. The only person who might be able to explain the strange new abilities that Grady seems to be developing. The man who got her father killed during his own experiments using dross for magic.

I find Kim Harrison’s Three Kinds of Lucky entertaining and frustrating by turns. There are ideas that are fantastic and that I looked forward to seeing more of, like the whole mystery of what was going on with Petra’s power and the shadow that seemed to be following her. But then Harrison also had a habit of feeling like she got bogged down in details that did not help the book or that made the characters much more frustrating than it felt like she intended, much of Strom’s early characterization made him feel less like an oblivious mage and more like a brilliant idiot with no idea of how bad his testing process really was. There were moments when I wanted three sequels and a movie from this book and moments where I wanted to be reading literally anything else.

The pacing does the book no favors here and likely added more to my frustration than anything else. Petra being angry at and unwilling to work with Benedict while also regularly expressing attraction to parts of him, like his butt or his smell, gets really old. While she brings up reasonable issues with his methods that really should have been looked into, due to the accident being listed in the blurb, it is clear that Petra, the subject expert forcibly dragged onto the project, will not be listened to no matter what. But then, said horrible accident that kicks off the plot does not happen until something like half way through the book, leaving the lead up to feel less like Harrison setting the world up for her readers than like she was marking time. Unfortunately to my mind, the time is used driving it in that Benedict is totally the love interest and that there is something off about Petra's friend Ashley and that mages are irresponsible idiots about their use of magic and the sheer amount of dross they create. It gets old and it drags on in a bunch of little ways that left me a little worried that Three Kinds of Lucky would not actually get an ending of its own.

Similarly, the character development felt fairly strange. Bendict Strom goes from being oblivious to how dangerous his method of rendering dross inert is, and how bad an idea it would be to release it to the public at large after what seems like a bare week at most of non-lab testing, to this trusted love interest who Petra is going to do whatever she has to in order to keep him safe and who believes in her more than anything. Ashley feels so low key vicious about sweepers and having to deal with dross at home in the lead up to the plot that it feels absolutely unbelievable that she worked with Petra for two years, much less shared an apartment with her. And then we have Petra herself, I like Petra in concept, she is this magical cleaner who is excellent at her job and proud of her work. She has co-workers she likes and cares about, but is ever in a sort of haze of frustration at mages for not paying attention to how much dross they create and how snooty they are. Her anger at Strom feels, if not entirely reasonable, earned based on how he acts, how other mages treat her, and what the reader is told about their shared past. But she is a solid person at her core, so her saving Strom makes sense but the falling for him feels unpolished, like a switch was flipped. Her feelings towards her strange and changing powers feel a lot more natural, slower and more fluid with backsteps when something unexpected happened. I enjoyed seeing how Petra’s power developed and how she reacted to it.

Honestly, the whole set up of mages, sweepers, weavers, and mysterious Petra related other is pretty fascinating. There are pat bits, mages looking down on sweepers for not being able to use magic for one thing, but the ideas are at the base quite interesting. We are repeatedly reminded that much more dross is made now than has been in the past, that without dedicated sweeper organizations working pretty constantly there would be enough gathering to draw shadows in, never mind how much trouble it could cause in a modern setting. There are spinners, sweepers who have some degree of magic that makes them more capable of turning dross from a threat to something useful for gathering more dross, and I find myself feeling like going more into them would have helped somewhat in building what Petra is out a bit more, but that could also just be that they feel like a sort of odd job out that I wanted to see more of to try and figure out their niche better. If mages do not respect sweepers for not being able to use magic, then what do they feel about a spinner who can? Likewise, the shadows, dreaded beings drawn to overabundances of dross, dangerous to anyone who gets too close to them, but also more. The nature of them is forgotten by design but the design feels incomplete, too simple in some ways and too much like a commentary on the upper one percent in other ways. It is fascinating but clumsy in ways that it feels like Harrison could go further into.

Three Kinds of Lucky feels very like a book from about eight years ago when urban fantasy and supernatural romance got cross shelved quite a lot. The characters are solid enough to function, and function well in some places, but have absolutely locked in types that will be hammered in. The magic system is fascinating in concept but feels like more could be done with the workings of it on page. Likewise for the setting and magic society. Harrison is clearly a practiced and talented writer, but the book is very much the start of a series and has the stutters that can come with that. So, for all my complaints, I find myself wanting to see what comes next and feeling like the next book is likely to have a lot of the expansions I was hoping for here and that it might move a bit faster now that things are set up. Frustrating and fascinating by turns, I feel like Three Kinds of Lucky earns a three out of five and look forward to the next one.

I had such a great time with this one! Kim Harrison is fantastic with worldbuilding, which is no surprise to me since this is not the first of her books I have read. The magic system was complex but is very well explained and developed throughout the novel. I love the way the light and shadow are described in balance and the power plays from those who seek to control everything. This one kept me on my toes with the twists and turns and I can honestly say I almost never saw what was coming next! It's fun, action-filled and dramatic with some romance and heart wrenching moments. I was rooting for Petra from the start while some of the other characters caught me off guard. There are many characters but I found them easy to differentiate and each one was complex, even the ones that were introduced in this book but who didn't play a huge part. I look forward to seeing what's in store for them all in the next installment! The rival factions, double agents/spies, secrets, shadows, all of it was just fantastic. If you like urban fantasy and strong FMCs, this one is a great pick!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a digital ARC from Berkley Publishing Group, Ace via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A big thanks to Netgalley and Ace for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Magic based on luck? Yes please!

Three Kinds of Lucky by Kim Harrison is a fantasy novel with a magic system based on luck. Petra Grady has known since adolescence that she has no talent for magic—and that’s never going to change. But as a sweeper first-class, she’s parlayed her rare ability to handle dross—the damaging, magical waste generated by her more talented kin’s spellwork—into a decent life working at the mages’ university. Except Grady’s relatively predictable life is about to be upended. When the oblivious, sexy, and oh-so-out-of-reach Benedict Strom needs someone with her abilities for a research project studying dross and how to render it harmless, she’s stuck working on his team—whether she wants to or not. Only Benedict doesn’t understand the characteristics of dross like Grady does. After an unthinkable accident, she and Benedict are forced to go on the run to seek out the one person who might be able to help: an outcast exiled ten years ago for the crime of using dross to cast spells. Now Grady must decide whether to stick with the magical status quo or embrace her own hidden talents . . . and risk shattering their entire world.

This is all just *chef's kiss*. The world is amazing. The magic system is cool. I would love to live in this world forever.

I really enjoyed this book. I've read Kim Harrison before so I had expectations and she did not disappoint. Grady is a sassy, strong, likable character. The side characters are good and the world building was fantastic without dragging the story down. I look forward to more in this series

*Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

The nitty-gritty: A fast-paced series opener with a great hook, Three Kinds of Lucky excels with fascinating world-building and a lovable heroine.

Have I ever read a Kim Harrison book before? I’m not sure, but I’m so glad I read Three Kinds of Lucky, which is such a fun opening book in her new series. This is an urban fantasy tale about a group of people who are able to use magic, but instead of focusing on the magic itself, Harrison’s story deals with the waste that is created from using magic. I thought it was a really cool idea, and bonus, I loved the characters as well.

We follow Petra Grady, who is a sweeper at St. Unoc University, someone who picks up and disposes of dross, the waste left behind after magic is performed. Sweepers are looked down upon in general, because they don’t have the ability to do magic themselves, but Petra just happens to be one of the best sweepers in Tucson, Arizona, where the story takes place, and although she’d prefer to be a mage, she’s content with her life in general.

Dr. Benedict Strom is a mage with an idea, and he’s also a friend from Petra’s childhood. He’s  come up with an idea to make dross inert, basically rendering sweepers irrelevant. When Petra hears his idea, she’s horrified, since she doesn’t believe it will work. And then, the unthinkable happens: a terrible accident destroys parts of the university and kills dozens of people, when Benny’s ill-fated idea proves to be dangerous. Petra and Benny find themselves on the run after Petra receives a strange message from her benefactor, a disgraced mage named Herm Ivaros who has something important to tell Petra. With a group of separatist mages on their trail, Petra and Benny are about to learn the truth about the dangerous magical element called shadow.

Harrison’s ideas are a lot of fun, and you can tell she had fun herself figuring out this world, which is intricately developed and explained. I loved the idea of dross as a bit of “bad luck” floating around until a sweeper is able to pick it up. It’s usually only sweepers who can even see dross, which I picture as strands of light that resemble cotton candy, so people can step on dross and it “breaks,” which causes something bad to happen to that person, like tripping or spilling coffee on themselves. I also got the feeling that Harrison was trying to make a point about environmental waste, as there are so many mages making dross every time they do magic, but no good system in place to eliminate it completely.

I was a little surprised that the author didn’t go into much explanation about the magic itself. The story is mostly about the aftermath of magic and dealing with dross, and we only see mages do smaller things like use magic to heat up their coffee. This is a complex magic system, with mages, sweepers, spinners and weavers all part of the magical world, and I’m excited to learn more about it in future books.

I thought all of the characters were really well done. Petra is a hard worker and does her job well, even though she’d rather not be a sweeper. Her father died ten years before the story begins, in an accident caused by Herm Ivaros, at least that’s what Petra believes. Unbeknownst to her friends and colleagues, Herm has been sending Petra money each month, perhaps out of guilt at what he did. Herm is sort of a mystery in the story, and we  eventually get to meet him, but I’m hoping we learn more about him in the next book, since I think his character has a lot of potential. Petra ends up finding all sorts of interesting things out about herself as the story progresses, and I liked her story arc a lot, although there is a bit of “special snowflake” to her character since she seems poised to save everyone at the end of the story.

Benedict is the potential love interest for Petra, but to be honest I wasn’t that impressed with him as a character. He’s convinced that his theories about dross are correct and he refuses to listen to anything that Petra says (Petra is clearly smarter than him, even though he is a mage). Time will tell whether I grow to like Benny more, but right now I’m sort of on the fence.

I did love most of the side characters, like Darrell, a Spinner with the talent to weave dross, and of course Petra’s dog Pluck, her loyal companion. And because I always disclose the dog’s fate in my reviews, I must tell dog lovers that something bad happens to Pluck, although there is a glimmer of hope later in the story that Pluck isn’t perhaps completely gone? In any case, do be aware if you’re a dog person and you plan on reading this book.

Harrison’s pacing is fast and furious, as Petra and Benny find themselves trying to stay one step ahead of the bad guys while trying to track down Herm to help them. Not all of the characters are telling the truth about who they are, which added lots of intrigue to the story. My only complaint is that I thought the story went on a little too long, especially the last hundred pages where the action seemed a bit drawn out.

But by the end, I was fully invested in the story, and Harrison wraps things up nicely but also sets the characters up for the sequel. Urban fantasy fans will have a blast with Three Kinds of Lucky, and I can’t wait for the next book.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Latest #Netgalley Read:
Three Kinds of Lucky (bk 1 The Shadow Age) by Kim Harrison

💜 Fantastical World Building
🖤 Creative Magical System
💜 Slow moving plot but still full of action
🖤 Don’t trust anyone!
💜 Betrayal for days!
🖤 Death of Supporting Characters 💀
💜 Separatists who want to kill everyone but Mages
🖤 No romance for those who love romantic fantasy

Overall, this was a good start for a fresh perspective on a magical system and urban type paranormal / fantasy series. During certain spots where the plot was sort of thickening, I became a tad bit bored with how slow things were moving but it never lasted long. Although there’s no underlying romance trope going on here, she definitely set the foundation for that trope to pickup in the next book. It’ll be interesting to see if that happens.

There’s a moment in this one where I absolutely loathed one of the characters who continues on and survives until the end…. Loathed him. Without having to provide a warning for spoilers, let’s just say that certain areas of the story should’ve ended certain characters for good. Being scared should not have been the excuse for killing in this one specific instance. No way would I have been able to just move on from that like it’s all good later in the story. Nope. No way. Now, I love the shadow. I love the potential that the relationship with the shadow has to continue moving on in the series. Such a fun, creative twist.

Again, overall, good start to an action packed series. Now that so much groundwork has been laid, I figure the others in the series will move a little more quickly.

🏷️ #netgalleyreads #netgalleyreviewer #netgalleyreview #bookreview #fantasybook #paranormalbook #newseries