Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A startling and mysterious story, January 12, 2007
Oftentimes when the term "fantasy" is bandied about, people conjure up immediate Tolkien-esque images: wizards, Elvish warriors, Rings of Power, trolls, and other elements of the genre that have become very typical. It is because that imagery is so commonplace that when someone comes along like, say, Mervyn Peake or China Mieville, and darkens the notion of fantasy with grit, gloom and intensity, readers really take notice.
Alan Campbell may soon tire of comparisons to Peake and Mieville, but that doesn't mean they are not deserved. Campbell weighs in to the fantastic, giving us the dreary and spectacular city of Deepgate in his debut novel, SCAR NIGHT. This endeavor, upon first inspection, could have been buried by its premise, but instead Campbell deftly weaves a startling and mysterious story through the dark streets of an equally mysterious city and leaves readers groaning for the sequel.
Deepgate is like no other city you've visited. It hangs suspended over a black abyss that is supposedly the realm of Ulcis, a God known as the Hoarder of Souls. Great chains hold the city in place...though what they're connected to none can rightfully say. Airships bring business and travelers to and fro, though why anyone would come here is another story. Deepgate is a wound, a dilapidated and sinister city where every road is an alley and every walk out is a potential last trip.
Then there is Scar Night. The foolish fail to stay hidden behind locked doors, for on this night, as she has for thousands and thousands of years, the angel Carnival comes to Deepgate to feed.
While this all may seem enough for a novel, there is oh so much more. Enter Dill, the last archon and now just old enough to begin his duties. Rachel, an assassin who is part of a force trying to hunt down Carnival, takes Dill under her charge. She is hard, cold and demanding. And then there is Devon, the Poisoner, who has his own devious plot to concoct a potion of immortality, which requires the gathering of souls.
Dill may seem to be the eternal youthful hero, but he is really far more detailed than you expect. In fact, one of the great aspects of Campbell's writing is that each of his characters is so well defined and so interesting that it is hard not to be drawn to them, even Carnival and Devon. Dill is likable in his naivete and his desire to succeed, as well as the weight of the burden of being the last of his kind. Rachel, though rough, has a side she refuses to yield to fully, holding back a piece of herself out of fear of losing herself forever. Campbell's most outstanding creation, however, is Carnival, the scarred angel who feeds and enjoys what she does but feels despair afterwards. None of these characters is cookie-cutter nor are they paper thin.
A second strength of the author is his utter disregard for laying out the bare bones of his story for readers. Getting into SCAR NIGHT may seem like work initially, but that is only because you are made to feel like you've just arrived. You cannot know everything about a place right from the outset, and Campbell makes you work for the information. He will give you the nuggets you need as you progress, yet you will still be left with questions.
What are those chains attached to?
--- Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A new concept that worked, December 27, 2006
I picked this book up because it had a concept I've never seen before, and the author made it work very, very well. The idea of a city, suspended over a seemingly bottomless abyss full of ghosts, twisting and groaning on its rusty chains and fraying ropes that do not always hold being the BEST place to live throws you into a completely foreign world that I've not seen the like of. And don't forget to surround this city by deserts and other inhospitable regions peopled by radicals opposed to everything the city stands for.
It is a dark place. Despite Campbell's periodic references to the brightness of the sun and the cloudless skies it always felt to me like they were in a pit or a cave. Perhaps this was a result of the underlying despair of the "last" angel Dill and his inability to meet his self-imposed expectations, the novice Spine assassin who wants and loathes her job simultaneously, the vampiric angel Carnival who enjoys the hunt and the kill every month until the deed is done and then she loathes herself, the bitter and slightly mad poisoner Devon who believes the whole city owes him an impossible debt and knows nothing will bring his beloved wife back, and the obvious despair of the man who lost his daughter's soul to a murderer and is consumed with first of all avenging her, and then bringing her back.
Campbell seems to take a somewhat dim view of organized religion and his gods are much more like those from Greece, Rome, and Scandanavia then any now worshipped. Angels are not necessarily immortal, and apparently, from the hints, they follow Lucifer more in disposition than Michael being very egotistical and seemingly to reproduce they must impregnant human women which results in the death of the mother at birth (not a completely fleshed out back story, perhaps in the sequel we'll learn more). There's a lot of promise here for more fast paced and involved sequels. The plot twist is not forseeable and the conclusion is anything but foregone making it a good read in my book. I don't recommend it for someone who wants a happy ending and you need to like fantasy to wade through the jargon, but I highly recommend if for any fantasy fan looking for something NEW.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Perhaps all will come clear in future books . . ., January 14, 2007
I agree with the reviewer from Beaverton, OR - although the ideas presented in this book are intriguing, it does feel like a video game. The characters are mostly one-dimensional, the action is uneven and the dialogue is stiff. That said, the idea is quite intriguing and I hold hope that future books in the series will help Campbell's vision to come clear. As another reviewer said, the city in chains, on chains, over the abyss, is a bold statement and the story feels very dark. I can imagine the many buildings - all crowding together and continually building up and up so the richer people can be up in the sun - the constant creaking of the chains, the rust and decay everywhere . . . it is a richly imagined world. Dill, the last angel in a long line going back to the great angel and battle Archon Callis who helped first drive the barbarians away from the city 2000 years ago, chafes against his duties in the temple and longs to be a battle archon, as his ancesters were. However, the priests of Ulcis, the god of chains and the Soul hoarder - especially the head priest, Presbyter Sypes - claim that the barbarians would never dare attack the city again and are kept under control with the constant barrage of poisons and toxins the people of Deepgate keep sending at them in their airships (similar to dirigibles) as created by Devon; plus they fear the loss of their last angel - so they keep Dill in isolation to "protect" him, keeping him innocent and naive. Devon, the head poisoner, is slowly dying from the constant exposure to the toxins he is responsible for creating, and bitterly mourns the wife he lost to the same type of lingering death (from the sound of it, she may have been the former Head Poisoner). On the surface, he appears to be the same gentle, charming man he always was (only with most of his skin turned to blisters and oozing), while under the surface he seeths; and murders people by draining their blood (thus rendering them unfit to be blessed, as blood is the soul and once it is drained the soul is lost) in his quest to create Angelwine, which will not only heal him, but make him immortal (he believes). He was sent the journals of the Soft Men, containing the formula, anonymously, but he believes the Presbyter sent it. One of the people he murdered turns out to be the daughter of a man called - always and only - Mr. Nettle. Mr. Nettle is a bear of a man whose sole purpose in life has narrowed to avenging his daughter. At first he thinks her death is the result of Carnival - an ancient, insane angel who stalks the streets of Deepgate and at the dark of every moon, takes a single victim, who she drains of blood, thus relegating their souls to Uril and the Maze since they cannot be blessed by the church. Carnival is heavily scarred so the dark of the moon is now called Scar Night. However, after the next Scar Night - when Mr. Nettle hunts Carnival but is passed over by her - he discovers that the murderer is indeed Devon. He then turns his attention to Devon. Scar Night also sees another unsuccessful attempt by the Spine - using untempered Adept and Dill's overseer, Rachel, as bait (almost getting her killed) - to destroy Carnival. Carnival's revenge when she is injured is often extreme. . .
I could go on for ages giving you JUST the basic plot without spoiling this book for you. It is INCREDIBLY dense and I had a difficult time plowing through it. However, I remind myself that I also had difficulty getting through both "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" series the first time and I now love both, so I will hold on to this book and hope that future books in this series will assist in bringing the first book more into focus. If you are a fan of dark fantasy or horror, you would likely find this book of interest. You may want to wait at least until the 2nd book comes out if you don't have the patience to wait to discover just where Campbell is going with this, but then again, you must make up your own mind. I know I will be waiting for the next book with interest.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
