41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning, gorgeous... chewy., April 20, 2009
This review is from: A Madness of Angels: Or The Resurrection of Matthew Swift (Hardcover)
I didn't want to read this book. It was a gift that I almost gave away unread. I'd practically given up on urban fantasy, put off by far too many mediocre books with far too-similar plots and revolting artwork (if I see one more supposedly-attractive woman's butt or bare back, I. Am. Going. To. Scream). Or in the rare UF with a male protagonist, far too many efforts to ape the pulp noir genre that fail miserably.
So I was caught a bit off-guard when this book turned out to be AMAZING.
The story follows Matthew Swift, an "urban sorcerer" in London. Although he can channel electricity from wall plugs and banish demons using trash bins, he was not an especially powerful or ambitious sorcerer -- that was, until somebody killed him and brought him back to life. Now Matthew's eyes are blue (they were brown) and now he has both incredible power and a driving ambition: revenge.
The story follows his quest for vengeance as he stalks and tackles his enemies one-by-one -- but with some fascinating diversions. First, he's being trailed by the Hunger, the same creepy wraithlike creature that killed him the first time. Second, Matthew himself is no longer quite human, as the story gradually reveals -- or wholly sane, really, but this is a minor matter. Griffin reveals all this with dark, dense, chewy prose that reminds me of China Mieville and Storm Constantine at their best. She sandwiches this between devilishly witty humor (as when Matthew weaves a powerful protective spell out of a subway ticket, simply by reading the ticket's fine print) and elegant characterization, and tops it all off with some of the most original magic I've ever seen. Best of all, she lovingly depicts London in all its multicultural, multilayered glory, from the rush of the Tube to the reek of the Thames, from bustling core to sleepy suburbs. I'm a New Yorker and I love my city, but this book makes me want to emigrate.
(No, seriously.)
(OK, maybe just an extended visit.)
Anyway, I don't give five-star reviews often, but this book deserves them. Buy it, and enjoy. I'm off to go waitlist the second book of the series.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Solid Urban Fantasy, April 28, 2009
I love novels that take the world I know and present fantastic elements just underneath it's surface. From the good (wisecracking Chicago-based wizards) to the not-so-good (Vampire executioners with poor impulse control), I'll read just about anything. What makes this book special is its rich mythology. The mysteries of what magic is and how it works are inventive and plausible. It takes a little getting used to as the reader, like the protagonist, is dropped into the story without knowing which way is up. If you like books about mystical forces and the people who wield them, you will enjoy getting to know Matthew Swift.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderfully imaginative multi-layered fantastical dialog-full fantasy, April 29, 2010
This review is from: A Madness of Angels: Or The Resurrection of Matthew Swift (Hardcover)
with subtle wit and layer upon layer of life and sorcerers, magic, London, the underground tube and telephones. We are first treated to a mish-mash of thoughts, feelings, terror and wonder in the beginning of the book. Much is written in third person of "We and Our". However you soon realize that Ms. Griffin is merely painting a picture with words of what it would be like to awaken after being dead for two years and having a new life form inside of you - the blue electric angels. The story is revenge against The Hunger that murdered Matthew and good vs. evil. Perhaps more importantly it is about Matthew's resurrection and his new life. He makes alliances and enemies and alliances out of enemies. Eventually he unites a group of like minded people (except for a group of a radical religious group) and unites them against a common enemy. The world has greatly changed since his death and The Tower intimidates and kills dissidents. Fear rules the magical world and even The Order (religious group)want it eliminated. There are skirmishes, battles, trators, spying, and Run RUN RUN and NEVER STOP running to and from life and it's experiences.
What I truly liked was how Ms. Griffin continually painted pictures with her dialog and descriptions. She brings Matthew to life quite like you might expect from one recently dead, and one never having physically lived sharing the same body. Those subtle sounds and voices you hear on telephones becomes the electric blue angels and live a symbiotic life within Matthew. They are electricity and remember all. They can go to the moon and back in a nano-second. They are the thoughts and lost words of everyone on the telephone. They are all of us - our energy made the magic that made them. The simple wonders of our physical world by an alien being help shape the resurrection of Matthew Swift. As the book progresses the "I's" and the "We's" start blending more and more and we see Matthew growing to accept and understand what he has become even tho no one else knows what to make of him. Finally, he is shaped by the basic goodness that Matthew used to be.
It takes a bit of staying power to get through the beginning (of the book) but it is well worth it. I wasn't used to read books in the third person, but it serves the story well.
I highly recommend this book because it is, indeed, a new fantasy world different from the mundane we hear about every day.
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