The Modern World (GollanczF.) [Paperback]

Steph Swainston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 2007 | Series: GollanczF.

The third of the castle novels will take the reader ever deeper into a world of beauty and terror. A world led by an immortal emperor and the circle; his 50 immortal helpers. It is a world with an absentee god, a world that has been fighting a war against giant insects. A world like no other. There will be more insights into Jant, the emperors vain winged messenger, and the shift, the surreal other life Jant enters when he overdoses on his drug of choice and where he meets the dead in a land that defies logic. This is a fantasy series like no other - a literary fantasy with the verve and originality to stand alongside the best of Mervyn Peake, M. John Harrison and China Mieville.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Swainston's daring and imaginative third Fourlands fantasy novel (after The Year of Our War and No Present Like Time) plunges the reader into the action with a gripping account of a bloody battle between fearsome aliens known as the Insects and the people of the Fourlands. A century later, Jant Comet, the winged messenger granted immortality for as long as he serves the Fourlands' Emperor San, battles both his nightmares of the past and the continuing threat of the alien invaders. As Jant struggles to develop a plan that will end the menace once and for all, his focus is diverted by the disappearance of Cyan, the daughter of Jant's fellow immortal and friend, Lightning. Meanwhile, the Insects are developing terrifying new abilities and strategies that may spell doom for the Fourlands. A dramatic and compelling plot, plus inventive and convincing descriptions, elevate this above the common run of contemporary fantasy fiction.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

“A dramatic and compelling plot, plus inventive and convincing descriptions, elevate this above the common run of contemporary fantasy fiction.” (Publishers Weekly )

“Combines action-adventure with a beautifully surreal approach to imagery and description. … Infinitely fascinating. (Realms of Fantasy ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Gollancz; Export ed edition (May 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575077689
• ISBN-13: 978-0575077683
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,653,620 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars complex bleak fantasy, July 1, 2007

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dangerous Offspring (Paperback)

In the Fourlands, winged messenger Jant Comet the drug addict desires the better life as he has survived the invading horde of Insects over the last few centuries and even worse the decisions of the Immortal leadership. He would like to enjoy life for a change while pondering is that asking too much of a messenger sent to the world hovels and most dangerous spots in the Fourlands.

While he thinks he deserves some pampering R&R, Jant knows that will not happen probably for a millennia or so as long as the war continues. Architect Frost has persuaded her Circle of Immortals that the time has come to defeat the insurgent Insects, which would keep Jant busy in and out of the battlefields. At the same time seventeen years old Cyan, daughter of his friend Immortal Lightning has vanished. Jant wants to find her his style, but knows she should be untouchable at least by him even if she is a desirable siren. Finally the wise Immortal Emperor San embellishes Frost's plan and that makes Jant deeply concerned although he knows whatever is chosen for him, it is a good thing he is a drug addict albeit suddenly one with a pain in the wing conscience.

The Fourlands are so different from our world yet in some ways seem identical especially when it comes to power and pawns. The action-packed story line grips readers because this gritty forsaken landscape seems genuine especially the Gods (Immortals) war against terrorism. Jant is a terrific protagonist who recently struggles with his mission as if he suffers from battle fatigue syndrome leading to a conscience the worst thing an Immortal messenger needs as he relays suicidal orders. In spite of being well written and exciting, this is not an easy fantasy to read, as Steph Swainston paints a bleak world even for Immortals.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please read., June 17, 2008

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dangerous Offspring (Paperback)

A friend commented recently that I did not seem to like SciFi/Fantasy very much. Isn't true. I love it. Some years ago, however, I realized that it was pretty much all I read and that now that I was working I had stopped learning. That's when I put myself on my reading schedule, where I try to space out what I read and mix the genres up a little bit. I am really glad that I did that. It was a good decision. However, it sometimes means that when I do read speculative fiction, I fall on it like a dieter on a bar of chocolate. It also means that I am more easily disappointed if I have used my ration on a book that I do not really like.

Over the years, I have gotten fussier about what I enjoy. Even though there are writers that I recognize are good, there are not so many that I have gotten really excited about reading.

Steph Swainston is one of the really lucky exceptions. I love her work. I really enjoy the Castle series. (Dangerous Offspring is the third book and was released as The Modern World in the UK.) In fact, the only problem that I have with Steph Swainston is that despite pacing myself, I have now finished the last book that she has in print. This is unfair and impossible and I want something more to read.

Swainston's main character is a drug addicted winged currently immortal messenger named Jant Comet. The Fourlands is a world ruled by mortal kings and immortal avatars, with every avatar chosen by the Emperor and able to retain their position unless challenged. In this book, a grand engineering project designed to fight the ever-present threat of insect invasion leads to an even grander disaster. The Emperor himself rides to war, and more than one world is involved in the resulting battle...

Swainston's diction is quite distinctive. The best adjective that I have heard for her writing style is "elliptical". Not everyone likes it, but I love it (as already noted).

Recommended. Why haven't you read something by her already?

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Winner by Swainston, July 30, 2007

By 

David Kobb - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dangerous Offspring (Paperback)

Immaginative in a stagnat genre. Swainston's creativity is unrivled by todays fantasy writers. Again, another winner by Swainston.