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Title: Jack of Ravens
Author: Mark Chadbourn
Publisher: Gollancz
Published: 6 December 2007
Price: £7.99
Review Copy

Jack of Ravens continues Mark Chadbourn’s exploration of myth, archetypes and human nature. He does a lot more besides that but these are the backbone of the cycles of books that started with World’s End. Jack of Ravens starts with return of Jack Church who disappeared (or died depending on your point of view) at the end of the Age of Misrule trilogy and who was brought back following the events at the end of The Dark Age cycle.

Chadbourn has definitely taken the long view when it comes to this series. As one book builds on the next and each cycle seems to come to end only for something greater or deeper or darker is then revealed.

In Jack of Ravens Chadbourn changes tack again in his exploration of the Fixed Lands (here), the Fragile Creatures (us) and the Tuatha Dé Danann (old celtic gods who influence our lives but in this book there is hint that the world also has gods from other denominations) But instead of confining himself to the near future and the ancient sites of Britain of previous books instead Chadbourn takes us through time and across continents as Jack Church tries to stop the darkness that has altered history to make its plans work.

The best part of each book is that as the reader gets more exposed to the world that Chadbourn has created the more he changes the rules. Here he gathers again the heroes and some villains of past books but they are changed and how they act and react is different as the events that have shaped them previously has changed.

I could go on about the layers that have been built into this series and the connections that are pulled, rewired, crossed and severed as the story is told but that would spoil it. The nature and effect of experience is a major theme.

There is one slight problem with Chadbourn’s storytelling is that it relies on the reader putting things together.Lots is left unexplained but makes a lot of sense if you consider what has gone on before. But in the case of this book if you haven’t read The Dark Age and ideally the Age of Misrule you may lack the knowledge to care about Jack’s journey through 2,300 of history.

Which would be a great shame as Jack of Ravens gave me several ooo and ahh moments as I realised how events were playing out. Chadbourn also has a wonderful imagination. The characters and places of the Far (Faery) Lands are as tangible as they are fanciful.

Overall, Mark Chadbourn has again proved himself an amazing and imaginative story-weaver (he’s laid so many threads) that kept me breathless from beginning to end. I can’t imagine what he has planned for The Burning Man but I can’t wait to find out.

9/10

Additional:

Here are links two reviews of books two and three of The Dark Age cycle.

And an overview of the series so far by me is here.

Tags: 9/10, Gollancz, Mark Chadbourn

Title: No Dominion
Author: Charlie Huston
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 5 Jul 07
Price: £6.99
Review Copy

You gotta feel sorry for Joe Pitt. He can’t seem to help finding himself in serious trouble. Out of blood and out of cash and being behind on the rent Pitt needs a job. Though being a Vampyre and a Rogue it can’t be a 9-5 gig. Unfortunately he’s in the wrong place and the wrong time and a job finds him and it involves a trip Uptown.

Carrying on from the sucked dry Already Dead Charlie Huston delves deeper into the Vampyre Clans on Manhattan.  Huston keeps it simple. We see it all from inside Joe’s head as follows the trail set out in front of him.  But Huston isn’t a simple storyteller not by a long shot. He’s created a deep, dangerous and moral man in Pitt and throws that up against the different Clans who are more establishment than Pitt likes getting close to. And Huston plays on this tension, as well as tensions from the hunger for blood and from his girlfriend who needs him a lot right now.

Huston is a master of set-up and pay-off even if the payoff isn’t what it first appears and in most cases isn’t a pay-off at all but another set-up.  Something is about to go down.

I can’t wait to get my teeth into Half the Blood of Brooklyn, which happens to be out now from Orbit.

9/10

Tags: 9/10, Charlie Huston, Orbit, review

Title: The Somnambulist
Author: Jonathan Barnes
Publisher: Gollancz
Published: 10 Jan 08
Price: £7.99
Bought Copy

There is something intriguing about Victorian England. A place and time that has a personality all of it’s own. It’s that personality which Barnes draws on for The Somnambulist. Set in Victorian London we follow the latest and maybe last case of Detective and Stage Conjurer Edward Moon as he looks into the mysterious murder of Cyril Honeyman. But all is not as it seems. Something is afoot.

A good writer gets the reader to suspend their disbelief and brings them into the story’s reality. It feels like if you take a wrong turn you might run into The Somnambulist writing on his chalkboard as Edward Moon waves his hand dismissively.

The Somnambulist is a strange tale. We follow Moon as he traipses around London following leads and taking us to some weird and wonderful places like establishment of Mrs Pugsey and the butchers shop in Limehouse. The places are nothing compared to characters like Mr Cribb, who can’t possibly knows what he says he knows and Madame Innocenti whose prediction makes the investigations of Edward Moon even more urgent.

The story isn’t wholly logical and it isn’t meant to be. It’s phantasmagorical, teasing, and imaginative. The characters are extra-ordinary sometimes grotesque but quite believable in this setting. A combination of the personality of the narrator and skill of Barnes makes it strangely believable and quite compelling.

There are some oddities even in this strange tale. In part it comes down the to limitations of the point of the view of the narrator (quite cleverly chosen BTW) and partly it is the tale as a whole. It doesn’t quite all fit but no matter the journey is highly enjoyable entertaining and it doesn’t spoil the tale being told.

I’m looking forward to sampling more of Barnes’s formidable imagination in The Domino Men where characters from The Somnambulist are trapped in a chalk circle under Downing Street, a manuscript brings together every conspiracy theory about the Royal Family and explains where the power of Number 10 really lies.

8/10

Tags: 8/10, debut, debut review, Gollancz, Jonathan Barnes

Title: The Houds of Avalon
Author: Mark Chadbourn
Publisher: Gollancz
Published: 08 June 2006
Price: £6.99

There are some writers who build whole new worlds and some who raise questions about the world we are already in. Mark Chadbourn has created his own brand of urban fantasy by building a story around the myth and legends surrounding the British Isles and asking what if these old Gods and creatures of myth and legend returned?

The Hounds of Avalon sees a diminished British government coping as best it can when an unstoppable army of mystical creatures attack with intention of eliminating everyone in their tracks as they march towards Oxford, the government’s new home. Their only hope of salvation is the actions of those chosen to be champions of humanity; those known as the Brother and Sisters of Dragons. But the government doesn’t realise how important they really are.

To say more about the plot would end up with me getting in a muddle, giving away spoilers and confusing you. Because, unofficially, this is book six in the series and book three in the second story arc, so a lot has gone on already to get to this point (see here for details).

You can read it as a standalone but some of the significance of the events and characters might pass a new reader by. Though saying all that Chadbourn does a grand job keeping the events self-contained enough so that the story works in its own terms and is accessible enough for new readers and those of us who has left it a while between books.

What’s impressive is the amount of action, information, and emotion that Chadbourn builds into each page. His skill is how he weaves the exploration of what it is to be human with a story of what could be the last moments of the human race. He shows how we all deal with situations differently; some of us hide away, some of stand and fight, but in the end we all have a role and we can’t always see the role we play or how vital it is.

Chadbourn’s other strength is that he sets a lot of different threads in motion, some placed books ago, as he recalls to the roster characters who had fulfilled their jobs in previous books and it seemed that they had no further role to play.

As a storyteller he keeps the reader moving along a roller coaster that could come off the tracks any second and the characters could fail in their missions and the world could end before they have chance to fight back. One thing he does show is that there is always hope. Oh, and the end really isn’t the end.

Personally I’d say read all the previous books as Chadbourn is a master storyteller and all the other books in the series are tell different parts of the tale but stand in their own right as masterpieces of fantasy.

An excellent end to The Dark Age sequence and sets us up for the next one with The King of Serpents and the first book, Jack of Ravens.

Score: 10/10

Tags: 10/10, Gollancz, Mark Chadbourn, review

Title: Debatable Space
Author: Philip Palmer
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 24 Jan 08
Price: £10.00

A band of pirates kidnaps the daughter of the ruler of the universe and holds her for ransom. The trouble is ruler of the universe Cheo isn’t that receptive to their demands and their prisoner, Lena, isn’t what she first appears.

But this isn’t just a pirate story. It’s an exploration of 1000 years of human history. And what has happened? Human have travelled, colonised, enslaved, and turned into dolphins (well some of them have).

For a first novel it’s a big challenge and a bit of a balancing act. Palmer presents his story from multiple viewpoints. We delve into the minds of Lena, the pirate crew, occasionally others, but we get most of our information from Lena.

And this is where the balancing act comes in. How time do you spend with each character and how they appear will depend on their part of the story. As Lena is a big part of the story we spend a lot of time with her. As a main character she is a fascinating and a worthy companion. The problem is she goes on a bit.

Palmer through her retells how the current state of humanity came about. He does occasionally retell too much. This is slightly frustrating especially as events speed to a conclusion when we’re presented with a large chunk of history. It is relevant but maybe isn’t as vital or as enjoyable as Lena, or perhaps Palmer, thinks.

This is strange as I enjoyed most of the other tales and the asides and presentation of history. It’s probably because it takes too much time out of the current action at a point where it should be sprinting towards the finish.

This isn’t though a fatal flaw. The characters are varied and well formed; the story is well planned and interesting. And most of the time it works. When it doesn’t I’d put down to over enthusiasm on Palmers part to share the universe and history he’s created.

For a first novel and a story on such a wide scale Palmer keeps a good grip on the reins and where it does get away he pulls it back in. I look forward to seeing what tale Palmer tells next.

Tags: 7/10, debut, debut review, Orbit, Philip Palmer, review copy

Title: In The Woods
Author: Tana French
Publisher: Hodder
Published: 14 November 07
Price: £6.99
Bought It

You can never escape your past or so they say. And Tana French plays with this idea in her debut novel, In The Woods. Rob Ryan retells the investigation into death of a small girl found in the same woods where he, but not his two friends, had a lucky escape twenty years ago.

French hasn’t created a conventional detective novel. Ryan’s past comes back to haunt him during this investigation. She pitches it right. Ryan unravels as the case gets tougher. And as you read you wonder if he can solve it before he unravels too far.

It’s a very emotional read. French keeps you reading by playing with you. She builds the connections between the main characters and sparks them off each other. It’s a small world after all.

The strengths of this novel is how well French sets everything up. As I was reading I thought I had a good idea of who did it, if not why, and I was wrong. French, through Ryan’s eyes, gives a lot of leads and clues but these are muddied by Ryan own biases and obsessions. Another strength is how she explores the effect the investigation has on the relationship with his partner DI Cassie.

French foreshadows a lot of the major events, sometimes a little too heavily, and this gives a drive to find out the truth. And it is truthful and a bit brutal in its honesty. It’s an interesting balancing act between keeping plot moving in terms of finding the killer and showing us the emotional tensions surrounding it.

In The Woods keeps you reading as Ryan recounts and explores this investigation from beginning to end. French has created a well-crafted story with a believable, if highly fictional set events, told with strong compelling voice. A strong performing and haunting debut. I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next.

Tags: 8/10, Bought it, crime, debut, debut review, Hodder, New Writers, review

Title: The Stone Gods
Author: Jeanette Winterson
Publisher: Hamish Hamilton
Published: 27 September 2007
Price: £16.99
Review Copy

The Stone Gods is described as an ‘intergalactic love story’ set as man is due to colonise a new blue planet just like ours before we started using more than we put back.

Winterson starts well enough with the tale of Billie who hasn’t been ‘Fixed’, who is getting parking parking tickets even though she has a permit and has been asked to interview the robo sapien, Spike.

And as it progresses this storyline isn’t so bad and is an interesting take on how we might progress. Everything artificial, nothing to do but look young and have sex and be consumers. The problem comes when Winterson leaves this tale and all the fables she weaves into it and moves into parallels.

The other stories lack the initial engagement of the character of Billie and her relationship with Spike even though they are mentioned.  And at this point I have a confession to make. I skipped and skim read looking for any threads to cling back on to.

This is the danger when you change the nature of the story. You loose your reader and what tentative links they’ve made. And Winterson lost me.

I’d recommend reading it for the opening novella but without the expectation of understanding or enjoying what follows.  If Winterson had played it straight it would have been tighter and stronger and left room to explore sexuality as well as human evolution but I guess each writer tells the tales they want to tell.

Tags: 4/10, Scf-Fi

Title: Fool Moon
Author: Jim Butcher
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 01 September 2005
Price: £6.99
Own Copy

In Storm Front Harry Dresden had to battle with dark magic drawn from lust and desire. Now in Fool Moon he has to travel deeper into our animal natures and battle against werewolves. Being Chicago’s only wizard in the phonebook isn’t just about looking for lost items you know.

I have to admit having a soft spot for Dresden after watching the prematurely cancelled Dresden Files earlier this year and the main actors will now forever be etched as the characters they portrayed. Not sure a bad thing though I am missing the embodied version of Bob. Though being a novel these version are a bit more kick ass.

And kicking ass there is. Fool Moon is action from beginning to end along with the added complication of Murphy not quite yet recovered from the events of Storm Front and so has Dresden on a very short leash and a very short fuse.

Butcher knows how to keep things moving though does seem to get himself into one too many impossible corners that aren’t 100% satisfyingly got out of. Him and Dresden are still finding their feet and it’s not done badly just not as eloquently as it could have been. There are also hints of more dangers on the horizon.

This series are bags of potential and a good job too as I’m a bit behind. If you like your magic modern and fast moving and realistic then this is shaping up to be the series for you.

Tags: Bookshelf, reading lists, Urban Fantasy

Title: The Pools
Author: Bethan Roberts
Publisher: Serpent’s Tail
Published: 29 August 2007
Price: £10.99
Review Copy

Bethan Roberts has started her literary career with a disturbing tale of Middle England, mid-1980s when the death of a teenager, Robert, is the inevitably conclusion to the paths of many lives.

This is a hard book to pin down. Beth rebuilds the events that lead up to Robert’s death but she goes further than that. She dismembers them. She gets under the skin of the narrators as she retraces the steps.

This is not a who dunnit. It’s not even a why dunnit. It’s story of life and how our characters might be natured as well as nurtured and how we can’t escape from what is in our hearts.

I wish that Roberts wasn’t so honest in her portrayal. I was she’d been more writery so that the story isn’t as brutal as it is. But she doesn’t flinch and she doesn’t pull her punches. She confronts the confusion we experience as we find out who we are and maybe face the realisation that we can’t escape what we done or perhaps the effect that our parents have on us.

Overall, Bethan has created a challenging novel that delves deep into the pools inside each one of us and it makes you question your own decisions. It also makes you thankful that you still have choices. An outstandingly insightful début.

Tags: reading lists

If there is a film to restore your faith in the movies it has to be Stardust.A boy makes a promise to cross The Wall and bring back a falling star - but he isn’t the only one looking for it and the star isn’t exactly a chunk of rock.

Stardust is a modern fairy tale, which produces clichés then deals with them with a big dose of common sense.

It has everything that a fairy tale needs; a quest mixed with a love story, villains that are more misguided than evil and pirates who owe a little nod to Johnny Depp.

There are stellar performances throughout.

I really can’t praise it enough. It really is what a blockbuster should be.

Tags: 10/10, Film, flash fiction