Sci-fi and fantasy round-up
On a near-future Europe, trouble with fallen angels, supernatural steampunk, all-new Cthulhu, a PKD kids’ story, a mistake and two Tolkien art books
the focus is more on the pocket Universe somehow created in Victorian times, which overlays parts of Europe. There are points where you can cross between the two, and when a young university professor escapes from his world into ours, a complex train of events is set in motion... The story unfolds in a series of almost novellas set in both worlds, with different viewpoint characters – Hutchinson makes the reader work, but it’s worth every moment. Europe in Autumn was shortlisted for three major SF awards; Europe at Midnight should win at least one. It’s possibly the most believable SF novel I’ve ever read, and quite unputdownable.
Aliette de Bodard’s The House of Shattered Wings is startlingly unusual. It’s set in a partly ruined Paris after the Great War – but it’s the Great Magicians’ War, not the one familiar to us. Competing magical houses live in a very uneasy truce in Paris, most of them led by Fallen Angels – and the one of the title was founded by Morningstar, who we soon realise was Lucifer. Morningstar vanished some years ago and is presumed dead – but he still seems to have a powerful influence. His successor as leader of the house is one of four viewpoints, between them mortals, immortals, alchemists and fallen angels, each with their own complex character and background, in this novel of intrigue, treachery and out-of-theordinary magic. And it’s beautifully written.
Supernatural steampunk noir – as close as you’ll get to a category for Alan K Baker’s The Martian Falcon. It’s set in 1920s America where a. we’ve had a manned expedition to Mars, b. zombies, poltergeists, shapeshifters and the rest of the dark panoply exist, c. Al Capone is largely mechanical and d. HP Lovecraft joins Charles Fort’s private investigator agency – which means that e. we get some very powerful and dangerous Great Old Ones. You might think that’s at least one too many elements of oddness, but everything comes together into a gripping tale.
If you’re a Lovecraft devotee, The Dulwich Horror & Others is a collection of stories by FT regular David Hambling. Most are set, from 1927 to 2013, in south London – Dulwich, Norwood and perhaps my favourite, ‘The Monsters in the Park’, at Crystal Palace, with its underlying political message that Fascists are as much monsters as anything darkly supernatural. Wonderfully disturbing, and each is written in a suitable style, from ‘The Dulwich Horror of 1927’ (a tribute to Lovecraft’s ‘The Dunwich Horror’) to ‘The Thing in the Vault’, set in gangster-ridden Chicago of the same year. There are links between some of the stories, suggesting that Hambling is developing a whole new branch of the Cthulhu mythos.
Philip K Dick wrote only one book for young readers. On one level Nick and the Glimmung is simply the story of a boy and his cat (and his parents) having to leave Earth because pets are no longer allowed. The planet they go to as settlers has an assortment of weird and wonderful creatures; one, the Glimmung, is bringing war and destruction – and Nick (via his cat) becomes caught up in the battle against it. On another level, this being PKD, it’s a story about the individual being crushed under officialdom and bureaucracy, and striking out in rebellion. It’s a slight tale, and over-priced for its length, but it’s exciting and brave and funny and a bit scary.
The Seventh Miss Hatfield begins in the 1950s with 11-year-old Cynthia being drugged and turned into an immortal by the sixth Miss Hatfield; this has been going on for some centuries. When Cynthia wakes up the next morning she’s a full-grown young woman – and she just accepts this, after a few minutes’ confusion. Miss H sends her to steal a painting from a wealthy elderly man half a century earlier – and, disguised as his niece, she falls in love with his son. What could have been an interesting story about serial immortality and time travel becomes a period love story, with almost no plot, and poorly written besides. The fact that the author is 17 is no excuse for Gollancz publishing something so weak, and I’d imagine in five years’ time an embarrassed Ms Caltabiano will wish they hadn’t. Avoid, unless you’re a Mills & Boon fan.
Let’s finish with two art books. The Art of the Lord of the Rings is a large-format slip-cased hardback of Tolkien’s artwork. With the exception of his designs for the jackets of the three books, and one or two others, most of these are just rough sketches, some from his manuscript pages, or draft maps or inscriptions, and never intended for publication. The few finished pieces, like Old Man Willow and Rivendell, have long been available elsewhere. For completists only. The Art of Stephen Hickman is much more fun. Hickman is a Tolkien illustrator, but has also done covers for a wide range of SF and fantasy artists. There’s a plethora of dragons – some of them gorgeously coloured – and of well-endowed ladies, from mermaids to princesses and warriors. Beautiful stuff!
61