"The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl" by Tim Pratt

Imagination, love, art and Santa Cruz would seem like an odd combination for a Western. In his debut novel, author Tim Pratt brings these elements together effortlessly for "The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl."

Marzi (short for Marzipan) works at the local coffee shop, Genius Loci, where we meet a few of the regulars. Marzi's best friend Lindsay introduces her to recent Santa Cruz arrival Jonathan, hoping to bring a little fun into her tightly guarded world. Jonathan is in town to study the works of Garamond Ray, whose murals adorn the walls of Genius Loci. Lindsay is a perpetually sunny friend, but not to the point of being cloying. Lindsay has proven herself to be extremely loyal to Marzi, staying by her side when she endured a certain shock to the system a few years prior, causing her to drop out of college and to some extent, the rest of the world.

When we meet Marzi, she is fairly well recovered, is enjoying a reasonably normal life, and the thought of allowing someone like Johnathan into her world looks like it might actually be possible. Enter Jane the mudwoman. At first, the introduction of this other-worldly character seems a little jarring. At second glance, it corroborates what Marzi and friends are also experiencing: What the heck is this? Pratt provides this none-too-subtle clue that this is no simple tale of love, art and coffee shops. We have some serious imaginations to contend with, including Pratt's, and the woman covered completely in mud, spouting about goddesses and moving to attack our heroine is just the beginning.

As Marzi's life becomes more and more bizarre, Pratt moves deftly from character to character, using the different perspectives to flesh out the details of the coming California apocalypse. All of the characters are artists or work with art in some manner, so there are frequent art-related discussions or personal wanderings about art. Fortunately, they are never so involved as to alienate the non-art-absorbed reader. Pratt gives us just enough to help define who we're following and how they think. On a broader scale, the art-related moments of the story help to depict Santa Cruz . Although "Strange Adventures" could probably be set in any small, artistic community, Pratt's choice of rooting it in a real locale is yet another succinct way of providing something real, with a lot that's not.

Marzi's chosen art form is that of a comic book that shares the title with Pratt's novel. Early on, we see that Rangergirl and Marzi share much in common, but this story is not so simple as one of Marzi's comic books come to life. How much her imaginative comics, with wild and dangerous creatures, have in common with what's happening around her, continues to unfold all the way to the climax of the novel. The "bad guy" takes on various guises including The Outlaw, an earthquake god, and a goddess, depending on who's looking at him and when. Sculpture becomes a gateway to another place. Much is fueled by Marzi's imagination. Even in the midst of chaos, however, Marzi can recognize something not of her making as a good idea. That definitely goes beyond basic art appreciation.

Pratt has a lot to contend with here, but resists the temptation to turn this into an epic, painting every detail, creating multiple canvases and filling a whole gallery. Instead, he is definitive with his brush and gives us Marzi's strange adventures in a room's worth of paintings. It's art that's down to earth with enough creativity to keep us wondering what else could possibly turn up. We trust that Marzi will keep us covered, but we'll have a lot of fun along the way.

-Robin Dahlberg is a graphic design artist for Neighbor's Bookstore.