I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Enchantment Emporium
by
Tanya Huff
urban fantasy in a Kindle edition that was published by DAW Books on June 2, 2009 and has 380 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Truth of Valor, The Wild Side: Urban Fantasy with an Erotic Edge, The Wild Ways, An Ancient Peace, Shadowed Souls, A Peace Divided, The Privilege of Peace, Valor’s Choice, The Better Part of Valor, The Shorter Parts of Valor
First in the Gale Women urban fantasy series and revolving around the powerful and terrifying Gale family. The focus is on Allie Gale with a secondary focus on Charlie with the primary action taking place in a junk shop in Calgary, Canada.
My Take
It’s about power and choices with each rare, totally indulged Gale boy given a list of possibilities. “The boy chooses the woman, but she rules the boy.”
It’s a larger-than-life set of characters with a way-larger-than-life family ruled by the aunties. Yep, the Gales are a strange, strange family, and Huff is amazingly vague about their sex lives, their children, and what holds them to the land, some of which may be explained by a story, maybe a myth, about how the Gale family started.
Huff uses third person global subjective point-of-view from the perspectives of a variety of characters, although the primary perspective is Allie’s. It’s her “coming-of-age” story with lots of family involvement.
There are plenty of conflicts in The Enchantment Emporium with the aunties worrying over David being a power — going to the darkside and becoming a sorcerer; the aunties’ viciousness in strengthening the family powers and weeding out those members they consider too stupid to breed; the interference of the Dragon Lords; Joe O’Hallon’s vulnerability; what Allie will do with the shop; Charlie’s own conflicts; and, newly discovered family.
The Gales are ALL about the family and eliminating sorcerers. It’s a given that Gale girls are attracted to power — and David is a power. Those boys with power always get corrupt with it and their corruption leads to abuse, and that’s not acceptable.
Rituals are an important part of the Gale family, but Huff doesn’t talk much about them, except to speak of the different circles of power and imply the sex the ritual sets off. The first circle is dominated by the aunties; the second circle is one of crossing, connections, and possession; the third circle; and, then the fourth that holds the line.
”The aunties considered government regulations to be more of a set of guidelines.”
Grandmother, Auntie Catherine, is definitely a Wild one . . . as Allie discovers when she finds her collection of sex toys. It kind of reinforces Allie’s lack of a love life, for she’s in love with the gay Michael. And does she ever go on about it! I do feel for Michael — he is lucky he found the Gales and was absorbed in. I doubt if his parents ever noticed.
There are some interesting powers in this family, from what you need showing up, to the charmed change — Charlie sends hers on taxi rides. They don’t force it, it just happens. I do love how Charlie travels. No tickets, no standing in line . . . sigh.
There is plenty of action, including pie-eating, and yet the majority of the story is powered by its characters. The kind and compassionate to the ruthless. That Allie is a natural caregiver although she has the arrogance of a Gale, as Graham discovers in his sad story. He and Allie both have important character arcs. Graham comes to a sore realization about his family while Allie finds her purpose in life. Michael has his own issue.
Conflicts in Calgary quickly set up. There is, of course, the Gale family interference and those know-it-all aunties; the Dragon Lords who are concerned about the little-bad and hoping to not encounter the big-bad in their family emergency; the messing-about those of the UnderRealm do to the humans in Midrealm — earth; and, the truly nasty, selfish Kalynchuk with his obsession about the Gales, the Dragons, and his passionate desire for death.
On the negative side, all those conjoined sentences drove me crazy — I’m hoping Huff will do a Find > Replace to fix this. I also found the vague, implied incest to be rather creepy.
Other than that, The Enchanted Emporium is enchanting, scary, and fascinating with the odd, the mundane, and the totally out-there artifacts. What can I say, anyone who likes Jack O’Neill and Captain Jack Harkness, well that just appeals to my favs!
The Story
Grandmother is dead, and anything that could take her down is a danger to the entire family. So it’s a suspicious Allie who assesses Joe O’Hallon and that nosy reporter.
It’s that Gale sense of superiority and her own strength that helps Allie face down the Dragon Lords and Kalynchuk.
Luckily, Alysha has always wanted a younger brother.
The Characters
The footloose Alysha “Allie” Gale has a Fine Arts degree and has lost her job as a research assistant at the Royal Ontario Museum. Allie’s mother, Mary Gale, is married to Tom, one of those rare Gales by marriage. Dr David Gale, a brilliant young criminologist, is Allie’s older brother. Michael is a gay architect with whom Allie has been in love for years. Everyone in the family adores him. Brian is his boyfriend, and they live together in Vancouver.
Charlotte “Charlie” Gale is a cousin who can play most any musical instrument and flits from band to band, a Wild child who travels the Wood. Her mother is Auntie Andrea who runs a travel agency; Charlie has twin sisters, Carrie and Ashley.
The Enchanted Emporium is . . .
. . . well, had been Auntie Catherine’s junk store in Calgary with a number of side hustles. The very suspicious Joe O’Hallon is a Leprechaun who refuses to answer the call back to UnderRealm. Kenny Shoji runs the coffee shop next door. The magic mirror has a juvenile sense of humor.
The Gales are . . .
. . . based in Darsden East on the east coast and are an incredibly formidable magical family, that runs to girls and is run by the even scarier aunties. Gran, a.k.a. Auntie Catherine, is a Wild one, a seer, who leaves everything to Allie. Grandad is the anchor who ties the family to the land, a human who turns into a deer, à la Herne the Hunter.
Auntie Jane, a retired English teacher, is a forceful personality and is in charge. Auntie Anna had insisted her brother would turn, but Auntie Clara insisted he wouldn’t. Auntie Bea is part of the David-cannot-be-trusted group. Auntie Carmen is Roland’s grandmother. Auntie Carol, Auntie Christie does a scary two-step after a couple of beers, Auntie Ellen, Auntie Elsa has a particular warning tone, Auntie Ester had lived on gingerbread for the last two years of her life, Auntie Grace, Auntie Gwen, Auntie Kay, Auntie Meredith, Auntie Muriel had been quite the traveler and now she knits, Auntie Ruby is on a downhill slide with a bad memory (Uncle Gerald has been dead for ten years), Auntie Ruth has two children, Katie and Maria, and Auntie Vera. Auntie Marion and Uncle Richard have a daughter, Brianna, who has a four-year-old, Merry, with Kevin.
The uncles aren’t important and include Uncle Evan; Uncle Stephen, who drives an ancient Pacer; and, Uncle Neil who has a construction company.
Cousins include Roland, a lawyer (Alan Kirby is his boss in Darsden East) with a three-year-old daughter, Lyla, with Rayne and Lucy; Holly; Zachary; Betsy, who is suddenly called in to substitute teach in Odessa; Uncle Don broke his leg, which leaves cousins Carol and Theresa to deal with the farm; Sandi got a part as an understudy; Bonny is serious about a member of the county road crew; Callie is five; Dmitri has a younger sister, Ashley; and, Kristen. Jonathan Samuel Gale was lost to the family long ago. Samson and Delilah are some of their border collies. Mozart is a rooster.
Graham Buchanan is a journalist with the Western Star, a tabloid. He originally came from Blanc-Sablon. The brothers closest to Graham in age were Frank and Evan. His boss, Stanley Kalynchuk owns the Western Star as its publisher, is Graham’s boss, and has been his mentor since the fire. The Chop House and Whiskey Bar is a restaurant owned by the Buchanan family.
Charlie’s musical contacts
Dave is in Winnipeg but shows up in Calgary. Derek is a friend Charlie was in studio with in Halifax. Tom is Derek’s buddy based in Toronto. Dun Good is a Calgary bar band with Curtis as the drummer.
The Dragon Lords are . . .
. . . shapeshifting dragons, Princes. Adam is the oldest. Ryan is the youngest of eleven boys. And one sister, the Dragon Queen. Trent is Blue Eyes??, Delsin is Copper Eyes??, and Viktor is Red Eyes. Jack is the dragons’ nephew, a dragon with access to sorcery.
The Courts are . . .
. . . the fey who live in UnderRealm. The family didn’t mess with the fey, and the fey don’t mess with the family.
Then there are the fey who visit MidRealm and play on sports teams. A Loireag who lives in the river. There is a pair of corbae sisters. Boris is a minotaur. Brownies.
Joe Young had been a world champion with the yoyo. Dr Yan had been Allie’s boss at the Royal Ontario Museum. We meet Auntie Catherine’s snarly accountant. Sandra shared a seat with Roland on the plane. The Peter Lougheed Centre of the Calgary General Hospital comes in handy. Alastair Bronwin, a sorcerer, was taken out in 1973. Peter, Joey, and Steve are Michael’s former boyfriends. Jamal Badawi is the latest soul to enter Calgary. Conrad Black was a real person, and I don’t think Huff likes/liked him.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a range of blues making up the the front of the Enchantment Emporium and its display windows with light shining from them. Covering them is a black shadow, that of a dragon. There’s an info blurb at the very top in white with the author’s name below it, also in white. The title is centered across the bottom in a grayed-out red with a white outline.
The title is where it all begins, The Enchantment Emporium.
