Scion of the Fox

I absolutely enjoyed this book. The characters were engaging. I loved the heroine, I was torn by the leader of Owls, and definitely despised the villains of the story. The cliff hanger at the end definitely makes me nervous.

I appreciate that the major conflict was resolved by the end of the book and not carried over into the sequel. The cliff hanger left no doubt that a sequel could come, but it would be something different.

This was a clean read and lovers of fantasy are sure to enjoy this unique story.

Once I read the description comparing this book to a combination of American Gods and Princess Mononoke, I knew I had to read it! Much to my surprise, when I reached out to ECW Press via Twitter playfully asking a signed arc make its way to me, they sent me a DM saying they couldn’t send a signed copy but would be happy to send an arc my way. I was super ecstatic by the news and eagerly awaited its arrival.
Turns out that I wasn’t able to fit it into my review cycle until October, but that was absolutely perfect. It definitely has some eerie, spooky parts and the spirits are monstrous in their descriptions. When I wasn’t reading this book (ie at work), then I was distractedly thinking about what would happen next or picturing what some of the characters look like.
Although the book had a bit of a pacing issue, I greatly enjoyed this novel for multiple reasons. Great diversity of cast is high on that list. The main character is a redhead! And her friends aren’t cookie cutters, they have thoughts and emotions and distinct voices. One of them was born without legs and another is plus size. I really liked that each character did have a distinct voice because this book is multiple POV and we could have gotten lost easily but the author handled it very well.
Last thought: the writing in the this book really spoke to something inside me. I can’t quite describe why but I think it comes down to word choices. They appealed to my fantasy reader/book nerd self. Like I said, hard to explain. Hope you all can give this one a chance! I am eagerly awaiting the sequel!!
SUMMARY:

As the winter ice begins to thaw, the fury of a demon builds — all because one girl couldn’t stay dead . . .

Roan Harken considers herself a typical high school student — dead parents, an infected eyeball, and living in the house of her estranged, currently comatose grandmother (well, maybe not sotypical) — but she’s uncovering the depth of the secrets her family left behind. Saved from the grasp of Death itself by a powerful fox spirit named Sil, Roan must harness mysterious ancient power . . . and quickly. A snake-monster called Zabor lies in wait in the bed of the frozen Assiniboine River, hungry for the sacrifice of spirit-blood in exchange for keeping the flood waters at bay. Thrust onto an ancient battlefield, Roan soon realizes that to maintain the balance of the world, she will have to sacrifice more than her life in order to take her place as Scion of the Fox.

American Gods meets Princess Mononoke in this powerful first installment of a trilogy sure to capture readers’ imaginations everywhere.

I found the mix of Japanese and Paranormal mythology to be the best part of Scion of the Fox. A YA book I wasn't quite too sure about but turned out to be a wonderful surprise. Definitely a creep book. Scion of the Fox was a fun and interesting read that I'm glad I read.

This Canadian gem is a great first novel in a new compelling and unique fantasy series. I'm usually not one to love urban fantasy but this is like urban meets earth magic. S.M. Beiko takes us on a journey set in frigid cold Winnipeg. She sets up the novel as if it's present day Winnipeg and her characters are all average teens or adults. That is until they aren't.

Setting
One of my favourite things about this novel is that the setting of Winnipeg (affectionately called Winter-peg by many Canadians as it is bitterly cold there in the winter) is so ingrained into the story line. You couldn't just move this story to another city or location without losing a lot of the mythological lore that Beiko has woven into it. From statues and designs in the Parliamentary building to the city's history of flooding; Beiko has used important aspects of Winnipeg to be key moments or places in her lore.

Characters
I don't adore the main character. In fact very few of the characters were standouts for me (except maybe for our lead gal's poor Aunt who is so out of the loop), but all of the were solidly written. I especially liked the inclusion of the main boy as being in a wheelchair. The challenges that come from navigating any world in a wheelchair are often lost to those who don't deal with them; but Beiko makes sure that almost nothing is convenient or easy (just like the real world) for our main boy. My cousin is bound to a chair and I thought of him a lot during this read. I made me really think about how difficult it must be to do simple things like even get up the stairs to a shop that is in a historic building (and therefore not wheelchair friendly).

There are a number of adults in this book that play side roles. Most of them were fairly typical. I'll forgive Beiko for this as it was clear she wanted to focus on our teens more than anything. However I would have liked to know more about the Uncle and the Grandmother. I'm hoping perhaps more comes to light in the second book.

The Ending
Now, don't get me wrong, this book is really, really good as a whole. But the last 100 pages were stellar. Jam-packed action, conspiracies unraveled and lots of rogue magic. The best part, you'll never guess how it ends!
Obviously this is only the first book in a series and so there is a cliffhanger of an ending. That said the ending is not cheap, too quick nor does it detract from the main plot of the novel. There is a good solid foundation being set in Scion of the Fox that is likely to make the rest of this series stand-up well.

Overall
I can't tell you how much fun it is to read a book about a place you've been! Or even one that has a climate similar to your own. I am always looking for Canadian fiction set in Canada as the setting seems to change my entire perspective of some books. If this feeling is even 1% of how poorly represented minorities feel when they read books that really represent them well, then I may understand a tiny bit about why they are so desperate to read more books with characters like themselves!
I cannot wait for book 2 and I know Beiko is more or less done it as I had a passing-by conversation at my local Comic Expo (a couple months back) where she told me that for sure there is more of our lead gal in it! I was so excited I had her book (and I won't lie I was a bit giddy) that I totally flaked on bringing back my copy for her to sign the following day. Lol.
Irregardless I really recommend this unique, earth based but set in a city, fantasy story. I think you'll be surprised by it's depth and intricacies (even if you don't know much about cold weather or Winnipeg).

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.