“Deathless” by Catherynne M. Valente (Reviewed by Robert Thompson)

Official Catherynne M. Valente Website
Order “Deathless” HERE
Read An Excerpt HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s Review of The Orphan’s Tales HERE (Pt. 1) + HERE (Pt. 2)
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s Interview with Catherynne M. Valente

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Catherynne M. Valente is the author of over a dozen books of fiction and poetry including The Labyrinth, The Orphan’s Tales, Palimpsest, The Habitation of the Blessed and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. Her work has been awarded the James Tiptree, Jr., Mythopoeic, Andre Norton, and Lambda Literary Awards, and has also been nominated for a Hugo, World Fantasy, and Locus Award.

ABOUT DEATHLESS: Koschei the Deathless is to Russian folklore what devils or wicked witches are to European culture: a menacing, evil figure; the villain of countless stories which have been passed on through story and text for generations. But Koschei has never before been seen through the eyes of Catherynne M. Valente, whose modernized and transformed take on the legend brings the action to modern times, spanning many of the great developments of Russian history in the twentieth century.

Deathless, however, is no dry, historical tome: it lights up like fire as the young Marya Morevna transforms from a clever child of the revolution, to Koschei’s beautiful bride, to his eventual undoing. Along the way there are Stalinist house elves, magical quests, secrecy and bureaucracy, and games of lust and power. All told, Deathless is a collision of magical history and actual history, of revolution and mythology, of love and death, which will bring Russian myth back to life in a stunning new incarnation...

CLASSIFICATION: Weaving together fairy tales and history, Deathless is kind of like Pan's Labyrinth, if it was told by Hayao Miyazaki and Neil Gaiman. Highly recommended for fans of adult fairy tales, Russian folklore, and Catherynne M. Valente.

FORMAT/INFO: Deathless is 352 pages long divided over a Prologue, six Parts, and thirty numbered/titled chapters. Narration is in the third-person, mostly via the protagonist, Marya Morevna. Deathless is self-contained. March 29, 2011 marks the North American Hardcover publication of Deathless via Tor. Cover artwork is provided by Beth White.

ANALYSIS: As a fan of fairy tales and mythology from around the world, I loved Catherynne M. Valente’s The Orphan’s Tales, which I consider a modern day classic. So when I heard the author was putting her unique stamp on Russian folklore in her latest novel, Deathless, I couldn’t wait to get a copy...

Presented mostly in the form of a fairy tale, Deathless is the story of Marya Morevna, the fourth oldest and fourth prettiest daughter who, at “sixteen years of age, with seventeen’s shadow hanging heavy on her every tear”, meets Koschei the Deathless, who whisks her away to his home in Buyan in the Country of Life. Now, I’m no expert on Russian folklore—in fact, apart from Baba Yaga, I have very little familiarity with Slavic mythology—but what I could gather from researching Koschei online, Deathless remains fairly true to the original tales including Koschei’s death hidden from his body, birds turning into men who marry Marya’s sisters, an Ivan who steals Marya away from Koschei, a role played by Baba Yaga, and Koschei’s fated demise.

Of course, there are plenty of deviations like Koschei depicted as a tragic hero rather than an evil villain; the historical setting, which includes Leningrad during World War II; Ivan and Marya not being brother and sister; and the war between the Tsar of Life and the Tsar of Death. Even with all of the changes made to the original tales however, Catherynne M. Valente manages to keep her novel firmly rooted in Slavic mythology as evidenced by the appearances of domovoi (house imps), leshy (forest imps), vila, rusalka, firebirds, Likho, Viy, Gamayun and more. At the same time, Catherynne M. Valente’s boundless imagination is on full display with a rifle imp and a factory where girls who never age weave lifeless cloth soldiers for battle against the Tsar of Death some of the more inventive material in the novel.

Personally, what I loved most about Deathless was the fairy tale aspect, specifically the author’s frequent use of the “rule of three”: the three birds who turn into men and marry Marya’s three older sisters; the three tasks that Marya must perform in order to gain Baba Yaga’s approval to marry Koschei; the three chyerti friends who aid Marya with her tasks; the three gifts Marya receives from her sisters when she and Ivan are fleeing the Country of Life; and so on. Even when Catherynne M. Valente is not employing the rule of three, most of Deathless still possesses a charming fairy tale-like quality that accounts for much of the novel’s irresistible appeal.

Unfortunately, from the moment the story shifts to Leningrad at the start of Part Four until the book’s conclusion, it felt like I was reading a different novel altogether. The subject matter became darker and more depressing, the pacing waned, and the fairy tale qualities were less enchanting. To top it off, the ambiguous ending was hardly the payoff that I was expecting. Now don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against fairy tales with dark themes, adult content or unhappy endings—on the contrary, I enjoy such tales very much—but in this case, the last three Parts of Deathless just didn’t fit with the rest of the book.

While I may have had issues with the direction and tone of the novel’s final three Parts, I have nothing but praise for Catherynne M. Valente’s writing. Between her evocative and melodic prose, vivid imagination, a genuine passion for the material and bold vision, Catherynne M. Valente’s performance in Deathless was a joy to experience, and one of the main reasons to read the novel:

“Chyerti—that’s us, demons and devils, small and big—are compulsive. We obsess. It’s our nature. We turn on a track, around and around; we march in step; we act out the same tales, over and over, the same sets of motions, while time piles up like yarn under a wheel. We like patterns. They’re comforting. Sometimes little things change—a car instead of a house, a girl not named Yelena. But it’s no different, not really. Not ever. That’s how you get deathless volchitsa. Walk the same tale over and over, until you wear a groove in the world, until even if you vanished, the tale would keep turning, keep playing, like a phonograph, and you’d have to get up again, even with a bullet through your eye, to play your part and say your lines.”

CONCLUSION: If not for faltering towards the end, Catherynne M. Valente’s Deathless could have been another masterpiece like The Orphan’s Tales. Even so, Deathless is still a special novel, one that will no doubt garner award recognition while continuing to expand Catherynne M. Valente’s audience and her reputation as a master storyteller...

Author Guest Post: Lory S. Kaufman author of The Lens and the Looker

Visit the official website for the History Camp Stories Here
Visit the Facebook Page for the History Camp Stories Here

Fantasy Book Critic is excited to welcome Lory S. Kaufman as a guest post today. Lory S. Kaufman is the author of Lens and the Looker (available March 16, 2011) which is the first book in the Verona Trilogy. This is a series of books known as the History Camp stories. He stops by to talk about what inspired the ideas behind the concept of The History Camp stories.

Book Summary:

It’s the 24th century and humans, with the help of artificial intelligences (A.I.s) have finally created the perfect post-dystopian society. To make equally perfect citizens for this world, the elders have created History Camps, full sized recreations of cities from Earth’s distant pasts. Here teens live the way their ancestors did, doing the same dirty jobs and experiencing the same degradations. History Camps teach youths not to repeat the mistakes that almost caused the planet to die. But not everything goes to plan.

In this first of a trilogy, we meet three spoiled teens in the year 2347. Hansum almost 17, is good looking and athletic. Shamira, 15, is sassy, independent and an artistic genius. Lincoln, 14, is the smart-aleck. But you don’t have to scratch too far beneath the surface to find his insecurities.

These three “hard cases” refuse the valuable lessons History Camps teach. But when they are kidnapped and taken back in time to 1347 Verona, Italy, they only have two choices; adapt to the harsh medieval ways or die. The dangers are many, their enemies are powerful, and safety is a long way away. It’s hardly the ideal environment to fall in love – but that’s exactly what happens. In an attempt to survive, the trio risks introducing technology from the future. It could save them – or it could change history

A huge thank you to Lory S. Kaufman for stopping by today.

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I’ve been continually flattered of late by people telling me they believe my History Camp concept is quite original and asking me where the idea came from. The first History Camp novel, entitled The Lens and the Looker is about an almost Utopian 24th century world where kids are taught not to repeat the mistakes of the past by being forced to live in recreations of cities from Earth’s distant past. There they must experience the hard lives of our ancestors, so they will appreciate their modern civilization. Some unappreciative “hardcases” then then find themselves sent back in time to experience the real thing.


Where did this come from? What I brought to the table was my experience in the Green political movement. But there’s also all the visionary books which molded my thinking since I was young. I’ve written a list below and include, not just my SF/Fantasy faves, but some of my general fiction heroes. I believe it’s really important to be expansive in what you read to keep growing and healthy. Here’s a very incomplete list of 20 old and new titles and authors whose work has influenced me greatly. Their order does not reflect rank. I’ve added a little blurb about each.


Young Adult Dystopian


1. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (If it was written now, it would include gene manipulation, but this was written away before that. It set the pattern for so much that came after it.)


2. Unwind, Scott Westerfield (Not for a young, young adult. Mr. Westerfield creeped me out several times in this book. Well done, sir.)


3. The Giver, Lois Lowry (A good example of a well-written “G” rated book. Not an easy feat.)


4. The Road, Cormac McCarthy (Again, not for a young, young adult. The movie was good, the book was friggin’ fantastic. A great example of story arc and keeping the tension tight.)


5. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (the biggest, current phenom, and well deserved)


6. Lord of the Flies, William Golding (The book that made me know I wanted to be a writer.)


7. The Percy Jackson Series, Rick Riordan (Middle grade but I love it and you can tell.)


8. Spin, Robert Charles Wilson (Listed as adult but with young adult characters, this shows a dystopia by nature’s hand)
Science Fiction


9. Kindred, Octavia Butler (I love time-travel with no explanation. The best use of throwing people from different times together that I’ve read)


10. Hominoid Series by Robert J. Sawyer (A great alternative universe trilogy where the humans are the bad guys for a while.)


11. Ender’s Game (and the series) by Orson Scott Card (It’s got little kids as heroes, and it works.)


12. Handmaiden’s Tale, Margret Atwood (A great mix of dystopia, but written with a general fiction tone.)


13. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein (The guy’s crazy and he really pushed the bounds of morality, but I couldn’t get enough of him when I was a “hard case” teen.)


14. Ringworld, Larry Niven (Mr. Niven thinks big and out of the box. In a circle, really. I loved his kooky characters.)


15. The House on the Strand, Daphne du Maurier (Time travel with drugs and written by a matronly lady. What were you doing behind closed doors, Daphne?)
General Fiction


16. 1000 Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini (I love this guy’s written voice.)


17. The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway (One of my top five.)


18. For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway (My favorite book of all time. He’s the only writer I’m putting in twice. This book informs all my high adventure sequences.)


19. City of Thieves, David Benioff (One of my top five in the last 3 years. I hate this guy. He’s young, talented, written books and movies and . . . is married to Amanda Peet. Life is good to young Mr. Benioff.)


20. The Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman (One of my top five in the last 3 years. I love the way he writes his characters in this book. You really know what they’re thinking. This is one of the most perfectly written books of a living writer that I’ve read.)


I could have made a list of well over one hundred titles, but this will give you an idea of what I like and inform you of what you can hopefully expect if you read the first book in my new series, The Lens and the Looker. You can find out more by going to: www.history-camp.com . You can also “like” the History Camp Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/historycamptrilogy?v=info.

The Gemmell Award 2011 and more 2011 Books, Redick, Rothfuss and Obreht (by Liviu Suciu)

The voting to select the shortlist in the three categories of The David Gemmell Award for fantasy 2011 - Legend (main), Morningstar (debut) and Ravenheart (cover art) is soon going to end, so I urge everyone to go and vote since it takes only several minutes and the lists are extensive enough to have something for every lover of the fantasy genre.

In the main category - Legend - I voted for Mark Newton's City of Ruin as the best fantasy I've read in 2010 which was both awesome and heroic. It was a hard decision since on the list there was my favorite fantasy of 2010, The Scarab Path by Adrian Tchaikovsky and another huge favorite, The Black Prism by Brent Weeks. But I decided that this year I will try and vote as close to "heroic" as possible and The Scarab Path while with lots of action is also very personal and The Black Prism is closer to an exuberant romp than to a "last stand, no holds barreled" type of book that City of Ruin turned out to be, so my choice - though I will note that both The Scarab Path and The Black Prism have their own versions of "the last stand" but integrated in a larger tapestry, while City of Ruin, well the title says it well.

In the debut category - Morningstar - there was no doubt in my mind since one fantasy debut last year truly blew me away, namely The Last Page by Anthony Huso and it has its own "last stand heroic defense" to match the award.

In the cover art category - Ravenheart - again no doubt since the cover of Chris Wooding's Black Lung Captain done by Stephane Martiniere is outstanding. It may not be a "heroic cover" but I think that recognizing original covers over run of the mill genre ones is important.

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This month I got four of the big hitter releases of 2011 for me and I read three of them (Naamah's Blessing which is currently my #1 all around book of 2011, Embassytown and The Wise Man's Fear for which see below), but the fourth one which I am currently about 1/3 in may take the prize since so far "The River of Shadows" is mind-blowing - exuberant but also dark and full of foreboding, crazily inventive and with the same great cast from the first two volumes.

Here is a quote explaining the title:

"The River is the dark essence of thought, for thought, more than anything else in the universe, has the power to leap between worlds. It belongs therefore to all worlds where conscious life exists. And yet strangely enough, consciousness tends to blind us to its presence. I have even heard it said that the more a world's inhabitants unlock the secret workings of the universe - its pulleys and gears - the deeper the River of Shadows sinks beneath the earth. Societies of master technicians, those who trap the energy of suns, and grow their food in laboratories, and build machines that carry them on plumes of fire through the void: they cannot find the River at all."

Fantasy at its best and of course the full review will come here sometime in April.

Edit: 3/14 I finished it and indeed it kept the awesomeness to the end; The last book The Night of the Swarm hopefully will put the exclamation mark on this superbly entertaining series, but you can read the first three books ending with this one for a complete experience.

Exuberant, crazy, inventiveness, great characters, action - this book has everything and it's full of sense of wonder too.

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Robert has reviewed The Wise Man's Fear for FBC and I have just finished it several days ago after almost two weeks of chugging at it while reading some 4-5 books in-between and I found it one of the most frustrating reads in recent memories.

Some of the best scenes in recent fantasy and superb nuggets of storytelling and action scattered among hundreds of pages of interminable self-indulgent writing. I would not want to spoil the book, but just to name one of the most egregious example is the overnight transformation of Kvothe from a boy shy and inexperienced with girls into an irresistible charmer with tons of conquests. And there is much more like that...

The last 100-150 pages are excellent though and I wish the book was like that end-to-end. Since The Name of the Wind explicitly promises that Kvothe's tale will contain a bunch of stuff while in The Wise Man's Fear we get very little from that, I am really curious how the author will manage to cram all in the last book assuming the series remains a trilogy. It could be done in 1000 pages for sure but I think it would need a much faster pace than in the first two books. We'll see!

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The Tiger's Wife is one the 2011 debuts that made a lot of waves - it is not sff though it tries to achieve some kind of mythic resonance as the blurb below shows:

The time: the present. The place: a Balkan country ravaged by years of conflict. Natalia, a young doctor, is on a mission of mercy to an orphanage when she receives word of her beloved grandfather’s death far from their home under circumstances shrouded in confusion. Remembering childhood stories her grandfather once told her, Natalia becomes convinced that he spent his last days searching for "the deathless man," a vagabond who claimed to be immortal. As Natalia struggles to understand why her grandfather, a deeply rational man, who go on such a farfetched journey, she stumbles across a clue that leads her to the extraordinary story of the tiger’s wife.

On finishing it I agree that the author can indeed write very well and I kept turning the pages till the end because of that but the story left me cold. The atmosphere is pitch perfect and it shows the author's Eastern European roots but ultimately the book can be summarized like : s..t happens especially for people unlucky not to be born in the affluent West, some people cope better, some less so and everyone dies in the end.

The book is not that dark in itself, but it is kind of pointless and a clear antithesis to the "can do" western ethos, so in that sense I found it a bit stereotypical: the people in Eastern Europe deserve their fate because the way they are, not because of circumstances and that message - however unintentional - is a bit annoying. I also found the Kipling gimmick just that, a gimmick that did not work for me in the least. I would stick with Milorad Pavic and Zoran Zivkovic, though I liked the author's prose enough to try another book by her especially if it has a more interesting story.

The Spirit Rebellion by Rachel Aaron (reviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)

Official Author Website
Read An Excerpt HERE
Order “The Spirit Rebellion” HERE
Read FBC Review of "The Spirit Thief"

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Rachel Aaron lives in Athens, Georgia with her family. She has graduated from University of Georgia with a B.A. in English Literature. She has been an avid reader since her childhood and now has an ever-growing collection to show for it. She loves gaming, Manga comics & reality TV police shows. She also blogs on a semi-regular basis on the Magic Districts website along with a host of other authors.

CLASSIFICATION: The Spirit Rebellion is a classical fantasy novel set in a medieval world; the book is similar to its predecessor and invokes tales popularized by Terry Brooks and David Eddings.

FORMAT/INFO: The Spirit Rebellion is 441 pages long divided over twenty-four numbered chapters. Narration is in the third person via many different characters such as Eli Monpress, Miranda Lyonette, Nico, Josef Liechten, Slorn & Duke Edward. The Spirit Rebellion is the second volume in a series of five books. November 1, 2010 marked the mass market and e-book publication via Orbit Books.

ANALYSIS: Rachel Aaron’s debut book “The Spirit Thief” won me over with its simplistic story and energetic pace. I was psyched to read “The Spirit Rebellion” and the rest of the series after reading the first novel. I did get my hands on the next book and I dove in anticipating another round of fun and further unveiling of the world of Eli Monpress.

The story begins with a prologue which is set many years into the past. It introduces readers to a small boy who is rebelling against the nature of his teachings and eventually runs away from his teacher. Also involved in the prologue is a very important character to the first book and who meets the boy. This meeting between the two figures is critical to the series and die-hard followers of the series will be able to figure out the identity of the boy.

Following the prologue readers are quickly brought into the current world just a few days after the events of “The Spirit Thief". Miranda is on her way back to the Spiritualist headquarters where her appearance is greeted rather rudely by the others. Miranda is also quickly presented with a choice that goes against her very nature.

On the other hand Eli and gang find themselves seeking company of an eccentric sort who can help them with Nico’s coat. Slorn is another intriguing character and is the person whom Eli turns to, for his remedies. They strike a deal to help each other out as Slorn wants a rather peculiar blade and Eli wants a new coat for Nico. The main plot kicks in with the introduction of Duke Edwards who’s the ruler of Gaol. He has a plan to catch to Moonpress and of course Eli can’t resist a trap which is specifically designed for him. Trouble begins when Eli, Josef and Nico arrive in Gaol and on another track Miranda also makes her way to the same place but for a different reason.

This book is similar to its predecessor in its style, content and prose. However, there are some major changes that weren't present in the first book. First, there is a slight shift of focus of the story from Eli to Miranda. Second is the ability to get readers to know and understand the characters in the story. Nico is another character whom we get to know about a bit more as in the first book we got to know her abilities and in this book the reader gets a proper understanding of her background and the future she faces. The third is that readers get to see a background of the world that the novel takes place in. We learn more about the League of Storms and why they are so worried about demons and demon seeds.

Rachel Aaron has quintessentially channeled Terry Pratchett in her world, by making things as quirky as possible. This was a massive plus point for me as I was constantly looking forward to reading about the nature of the spirit world. The writing is just as smooth as the first book. What was particularly exciting to see was how she showed that while the characters face similar challenges from the previous volume, they are indeed mortal and their opponents are more dangerous than they were thought to be.

Negative points are negligible in the sense that these books are light classical fantasy books which utilize obvious tropes and don’t do anything new in terms of genre development. People who are expecting these books to announce the new face of fantasy will be disappointed. These books are meant to be light reads which will grab the reader's attention and have them asking for more of Eli, Nico and Gin.

Ultimately, I was as pleased with “The Spirit Rebellion” as I was with “The Spirit Thief". The back-to-back release schedule also helps a lot as the wait is reduced considerably and one gets to plunge merrily in this wonderful adventure. Overall, this was a rather excellent sequel and a very good book, setting up the third book rather nicely as Eli’s bounty looks all set to increase. Readers can expect one thing from the author: she will knock your socks off with her wild and exhilarating stories.

Hell's Horizon by Darren Shan (Reviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)

Official Author Website

Order the book HERE

Read an excerpt HERE

Read FBC review of Procession Of The Dead

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Darren O'Shaughnessy is the much acclaimed author of the "Saga of Darren Shan" and "The Demonata" series. He has previously taken various pen names such as D.B. Shan and Darren Shan which he now uses to differentiate between his adult and YA books. He was born in London but moved to Ireland during his childhood. He currently spends his time between living in the Irish countryside as well as in London. The first book in the "Saga Of Darren Shan" was made into a film called "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" and was released last year.

BOOK BLURB: In the City, The Cardinal rules, and Al Jeery is a loyal member of his personal guard. But when Al is pulled from his duties at Party Central to investigate a murder, an unexpected discovery leads him in a new direction, where his loyalties and beliefs will be severely tested.

Soon he is involved in a terrifying mystery that draws in the dead, the City's Incan forefathers, the imposing figure of The Cardinal, and the near-mythical assassin Paucar Wami.

Wami is a law unto himself, a shadowy, enigmatic figure who can apparently kill anyone he chooses without fear of punishment or retribution. And Al is about to find out that he has a lot more in common with Wami than he could ever have imagined...

FORMAT/INFO: The ARC of Hell’s Horizon is 278 pages long divided into six named parts which are further divided into twenty-six chapters with a prologue and epilogue. Narration is via first person and features Al Jeery exclusively, similar to the first book which featured Capac Raimi. This is the second book in the City trilogy. This book is set in the same timeline as that of the first book and in fact runs parallel with the events of the first book and references some events from the first book. This book can also be read as a standalone however due to the mentions of certain events from the first book, some new readers might be a bit confused.

January 5, 2011 marked the Hardback publication of Hell’s Horizon via Grand Central Publishing.

This book was first published in 2000 and was released under the same name. However the third part of this series was never published. This book has since then been re-written and re-edited and is now being re-released. The story is a bit different from its predecessor in the sense that this book is more of a crime mystery while the earlier one was rooted more in noir UF.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Hell’s Horizon begins a bit differently than its predecessor as a murder occurs and we get to see who had a hand in it. We are then introduced to Al Jeery who is a lowly soldier in the Cardinal’s gang. He is recently divorced however is still happily in love with his ex-wife Ellen. When he returns from his fishing trip, he finds that there is a major upheaval going on in the Cardinal’s hotel as the murder of a young woman without the Cardinal’s know-how or consent is a major no-no! Al is caught between the Cardinal’s two security heads Ford Tasso and Frank Weld. However he soon gets a call from the Cardinal after an inadvertent discovery connects him rather morbidly to the event occurring in the prologue.

Al then gets his first proper meeting with the Cardinal who touches on his past and while enlightening him about his father; also gives him an offer which he cannot refuse [as to do so means certain death]. He agrees to do a “task” for the Cardinal and in the process becomes the man he was deemed to be. As he goes about his way in trying to figure out the why and how of the murder, he also runs into one of the Cardinal’s most feared weapons, Paucar Wami. Paucar however seems to interact with Al on a rather comradely note, which troubles him greatly as knowing Paucar and the legends associated with him, and not knowing the assassin’s thoughts makes him very wary and curious at the same time.

Al is then forced to consider a lot of things about the City which he never bothered with, like the fog which goes and comes, the blind priests which people rarely see, the City’s Incan origins and the cult of the sun worshippers who seem to be linked inextricably with the murder and the girl. Entwined along with the plot threads are events from the first book as both the books occur along the same time frame. The reader gets to see a bit of the action from the first book in a different perspective, Capac Raimi gets spoken about and many characters refer to him however he does not make an active appearance. We also get to know how Al had an active hand in facilitating Capac’s meeting with the Cardinal. Lastly this book lays bare much of the Incan mythology associated with the series. We get a deeper understanding of who the priests are and what they are attempting to do, in the last book the focus was on Capac and the Cardinal, in this book a similar focus is provided on Al and Paucar Wami, we also get more time with minor characters from the last book like Ford Tasso, Frank Weld, etc.

The prose in this book is similar to that of the first, the city and characters hold your attention completely and the mystery is deepened with the overall addition to the Incan mythology, however this book is much different from the first in the sense that this is a murder mystery. The central thread revolves around why the girl was murdered and what does Al have to do with it! The other plot threads involve his connection to the city, with Wami and the other characters. The overall feel is again similar to that of the first with a gritty mysterious aura prevalent through out the book but by the end of this tale the reader is much more awakened to what is truly happening in the City.

Negative points for this book are that while the first one was a fast paced tale, this book trades in a bit of the pace for a deeper understanding of the plot. The first book had a very captivating narrator whereas in this case, the narrative struggles a bit from time to time as Al Jeery is thoroughly misplaced in his role as a detective but manages to hold his own when push comes to shove. This book reads more like a detective novel than an urban fantasy one; this isn’t bad as a lot of readers might enjoy this nuanced aspect of the tale. Darren Shan has taken a risk by not rehashing the first book and making the readers experience a different type of story while enhancing their understanding of the preceding story.

CONCLUSION: Earlier it felt like that this book was a bit of a letdown after the fast paced Procession Of The Dead however on a re-read this book is seemingly the stronger of the two in terms of character and plot development. Either ways the stage is set for the third and final book in the City trilogy, wherein we will get to see Capac Raimi & Al Jeery after the events of their respective stories and with the Priests not yet done with them. The City trilogy looks set to end in a tremendous fashion and I can’t wait to read what Darren Shan has planned for the finale!