Battle Hill Bolero by Daniel José Older urban fantasy book reviewsBattle Hill Bolero by Daniel José Older speculative fiction book reviews urban fantasyBattle Hill Bolero by Daniel José Older

Battle Hill Bolero (2017) is the concluding novel in Daniel José Older’s BONE STREET RUMBA trilogy of urban fantasy novels set amid the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn, NY. While not as strong as the preceding novels, Half-Resurrection Blues (2015) and Midnight Taxi Tango (2016), Battle Hill Bolero does deliver on what Older does best: vibrant and diverse characters, a multi-cultural and multi-faceted city that fully comes to life, and a hefty dose of righteous indignation. Bear in mind that this series really should be read in order, so that you have context for what’s happening, why, and to whom; spoilers for the previous books may be unavoidable, but we’ll try to keep them to a minimum.

Carlos Delacruz, acting as a double agent by pretending to represent the Council but reporting everything he knows to his friends, has been seeing more and more instances of the dead peacefully co-existing with the living — something he’s been told is impossible. Sasha Brass, ridiculously lethal assassin and mother of adorable twins Jackson and Xiomara, has just received disturbing information about her past life, the one before she died and was half-resurrected. After the battles, frustrations, bureaucracy, and heartbreak of the last two books, things seem to have come to a head in Battle Hill Bolero. Renegade squads of Soulcatchers prowl the streets, the Council of the Dead is losing control over the various districts, and rebellion simmers beneath the surface of it all.

~Jana Nyman


Battle Hill Bolero by Daniel José Older speculative fiction book reviews urban fantasyJana, like you I found this series gripping, with vibrant, complicated characters and a real sense of life in almost every scene. Like you, in this book I was baffled by the disappearance of Reza and the twins, especially when we have a scene with Caitlin setting up a nefarious scheme. After that, all I found was one throw-away line about babysitting near the end. I hope you’re right and we can find that story in Salsa Nocturna. You and I both like Reza as a character, and I was saddened to see her short-changed here.A Bone Street Rumba Novel by Daniel José Older

As with the other two books, Older brings various magical traditions into play and they all work. When Carlos’s friends band together, it is inspiring. I like stories that work as stories while also illuminating human behavior of social issues, Battle Hill Bolero does that. It does not work solely as a metaphor, but can be read as an optimistic anthem to the power of community, communication and art when fighting inequality or political corruption.

I love this world. I love how Older brings music, scent and food into his prose, how the city of Brooklyn seems to hum. I appreciated the un-credited cameo by Sierra Santiago from Older’s YA fantasy Shadowshaper. Even with Reza and the twins getting sent offstage for far too long, I think this book does a good job of wrapping up the story of Carlos and Sasha. Because his characters are so lively and his prose is so good, I’m basically to the point where I will read anything that has Older’s name on it.

~Marion Deeds


Battle Hill Bolero by Daniel José Older speculative fiction book reviews urban fantasyA satisfying conclusion! It was fun to listen to Older narrate the audiobooks.

~Kat Hooper

Published January 3, 2017. In the third in the “richly detailed and diverse” (io9) urban fantasy series, the time has come for the dead to rise up against the shady powers-that-be… The time has come for the dead to rise up… Trouble is brewing between the Council of the Dead and the ghostly, half-dead, spiritual, and supernatural community they claim to represent. One too many shady deals have gone down in New York City’s streets, and those caught in the crossfire have had enough. It’s time for the Council to be brought down—this time for good. Carlos Delacruz is used to being caught in the middle of things: both as an inbetweener, trapped somewhere between life and death, and as a double agent for the Council. But as his friends begin preparing for an unnatural war against the ghouls in charge, he realizes that more is on the line than ever before—not only for the people he cares about, but for every single soul in Brooklyn, alive or otherwise…

Authors

  • Jana Nyman

    JANA NYMAN, with us since January 2015, is a freelance copy-editor who has lived all over the United States, but now makes her home in Colorado with her dog and a Wookiee. Jana was exposed to science fiction and fantasy at an early age, watching Star Wars and Star Trek movie marathons with her family and reading works by Robert Heinlein and Ray Bradbury WAY before she was old enough to understand them; thus began a lifelong fascination with what it means to be human. Jana enjoys reading all kinds of books, but her particular favorites are fairy- and folktales (old and new), fantasy involving dragons or other mythological beasties, contemporary science fiction, and superhero fiction. Some of her favorite authors are James Tiptree, Jr., Madeleine L'Engle, Ann Leckie, N.K. Jemisin, and Seanan McGuire.

  • Marion Deeds

    Marion Deeds, with us since March, 2011, is the author of the fantasy novella ALUMINUM LEAVES. Her short fiction has appeared in the anthologies BEYOND THE STARS, THE WAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, STRANGE CALIFORNIA, and in Podcastle, The Noyo River Review, Daily Science Fiction and Flash Fiction Online. She’s retired from 35 years in county government, and spends some of her free time volunteering at a second-hand bookstore in her home town.

  • Kat Hooper

    KAT HOOPER, who started this site in June 2007, earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience and psychology at Indiana University (Bloomington) and now teaches and conducts brain research at the University of North Florida. When she reads fiction, she wants to encounter new ideas and lots of imagination. She wants to view the world in a different way. She wants to have her mind blown. She loves beautiful language and has no patience for dull prose, vapid romance, or cheesy dialogue. She prefers complex characterization, intriguing plots, and plenty of action. Favorite authors are Jack Vance, Robin Hobb, Kage Baker, William Gibson, Gene Wolfe, Richard Matheson, and C.S. Lewis.