Gather the Fortunes by Bryan Camp Pages: 384
Published by John Joseph Adams/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on May 21, 2019
Series: Crescent City #2
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy & Magic
Source: Finished Hardcover from Publisher
Renaissance Raines has found her place among the psychopomps—the guides who lead the souls of the recently departed through the Seven Gates of the Underworld—and done her best to avoid the notice of gods and mortals alike. But when a young boy named Ramses St. Cyr manages to escape his foretold death, Renai finds herself at the center of a deity-thick plot unfolding in New Orleans. Someone helped Ramses slip free of his destined end -- someone willing to risk everything to steal a little slice of power for themselves.
Is it one of the storm gods that’s descended on the city? The death god who’s locked the Gates of the Underworld? Or the manipulative sorcerer who also cheated Death? When she finds the schemer, there’s gonna be all kinds of hell to pay, because there are scarier things than death in the Crescent City. Renaissance Raines is one of them.
Gather the Fortunes is the second book in the young adult fantasy Crescent City series by author Bryan Camp. Though you do not need to read the first book, in order to understand and enjoy the second novel, I would advise it. I went into the second book without having read the first book, and I think that detracted from my overall enjoyment of the story. I found myself wanting to know more about the world. Though, to my knowledge the second book follows a different character than the first book- The City of Lost Fortunes does, so I think in that regard you should be fine.
Gather the Fortunes was a great read. There are so many aspects of the story that I really love. First, I love the New Orleans setting, and Bryan Camp’s New Orleans is even cooler because we get to experience both the normal New Orleans as well as the underworld New Orleans filled with Gods and Magic. Which leads me to the next thing that I loved- Gods. I adore any book that features gods of any sort of mythology, and Gather the Fortunes had that in spades. This was a really fun and magical adventure.
The main character in Gather the Fortunes, Renaissance Raines or Renai, is a psychopomp, which is someone who lead the souls of the dead through the Seven Gates of the Underworld. Renai is a great main character. I loved that she had a good moral compass and I also loved how spunky she was. Dealing with gods of the underworld is no easy feat. I was really intrigued about the mission she was tasked with. Along with her mission we got to learn more about the gates of the underworld and the gods and magic found within. I really loved that aspect of the story.
I think fans of The City of Lost Fortunes will really enjoy Gather the Fortunes, and I am proof that a reader can also start on this second book and really love the story. If I had a do over, I would have chosen to first read The City of Lost Fortunes before I dove into Gather the Fortunes. So if you have the choice, I would grab both books and read them back to back. If you are a fan of fantasy books set in New Orleans and the Underworld, the Crescent City series is one for you to check out.
Praise for GATHER THE FORTUNES
“Camp’s prose is suspenseful and rich with feeling, highlighting an incredible heroine. VERDICT: Full of magic and numerous mythologies but still tied to the lush New Orleans setting, this Crescent City is one readers will not want to leave.” —Library Journal, STARRED
“Savory…Renai’s second outing is as raucous as her first, and the magic is just as double-edged and slippery… Renai is a real standout of a heroine, a powerful African-American woman cutting through bad or desperate situations in living and dead realms of increasing chaos, armed with snark, courage, and a storm of magic drawn from deep within her. This will be a feast for all lovers of urban and dark fantasy.” —Publishers Weekly, STARRED
“The second Crescent City book (after The City of Lost Fortunes, 2018) once again displays Camp’s ability to weave different mythological beliefs in fascinating ways. Readers will relate to Renai as she learns her most trusted guides are unreliable in this fast-paced urban fantasy.” —Booklist, STARRED
“In this second installment of his Crescent City urban fantasy series, Camp raises the stakes and broadens the scope of his alternate world…the richness and inventiveness of Camp’s vision and the vivacity, warmth, and compassion of his leading woman keep you alert to whatever’s happening next. As with the real New Orleans, once you leave this creepier but just as colorful variant, you’ll be eager to go back.” —Kirkus Reviews
“What a joy it is to return to Bryan Camp’s weird, dark, vivid, gorgeous magical New Orleans. Highly recommended!” —Sam J. Miller, award-winning author of Blackfish City
“The magic and mythological heft of Bryan Camp’s debut doesn’t lose any momentum in Gather the Fortunes. He captures the essence and resilience of a still healing New Orleans by digging into the parts of a city too often ignored by the well-to-do and powerful. If The City of Lost Fortunes was a love letter to New Orleans then its next installment is an Earl King blue’s song.” —Brent Lambert, editor at FIYAH Magazine
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About Bryan Camp
Bryan Camp is a graduate of the Clarion West Writer’s Workshop and the University of New Orleans’ Low-Residency MFA program. He started his first novel, The City of Lost Fortunes, in the backseat of his parents’ car as they evacuated for Hurricane Katrina. He has been, at various points in his life: a security guard at a stockcar race track, a printer in a flag factory, an office worker in an oil refinery, and a high school English teacher. He can be found on twitter @bryancamp and at bryancamp.com. He lives in New Orleans with his wife and their three cats, one of whom is named after a superhero.
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