No Trick — This book is a great read!

I was right — I needed a free weekend to read this book.

Trickster Noir is the second in the Pixie for Hire series by Cedar Sanderson. I read the first book, Pixie Noir, in 24 hours from first word to last, and waited, weeks as it turned out, until I had a similar block of time to read Trickster.  I needed it.

I will reiterate some of the things I said when reviewing Pixie for Trickster — because Sanderson did the same good job for both books.

The book moves quickly from the start — I was drawn in from the beginning — though this time it didn’t take me awhile to get the lay of the land to know what sort of universe the story was set it.

You definitely want to read the first book before reading Trickster, to get that understanding of the universe, since Sanderson did such a good job of making it understandable there. Since Trickster is a continuation of the story of the two main characters/narrators, you will understand the references and context a lot better if you do. That said, I believe one could read Trickster before reading Pixie and still find it understandable and enjoyable.

Trickster isn’t a second installment of a trilogy. The plot stands firmly on its own. Actually, I found it more episodic, sort of like two separate stories or plots expertly woven into one book, held together by the characters and their growth through  the sequence of events that made up the two plots, with the shadow of the “Trickster” always in the background.

Sanderson introduces a lot of elements from  myth and fairy tale and gives them believable substance and reality. I see this universe full of many other engaging stories that could be written, and hope that we might get to read some of them some day. Perhaps a third Pixie for Hire book, along with some “spin-off” books? My wife and I are already speculating on the third book’s title. What comes after Pixie and Trickster, after all?