Cushla McKinney reviews The Secret War and The
Immortals.
THE SECRET
WAR
M. F. W. Curran
Macmillan, $26.99, pbk
The Secret War is a historical fantasy in which the
main characters are caught up in a metaphysical battle
between Heaven and Hell, and an earthly clash between the
Vatican and Count Ordrane of Draak.
The first night after the Battle of Waterloo, William Saxon
and Kieran Harte should be celebrating their victory.
Instead, they find themselves battling a fiery daemon that
massacres the French village in which they are staying,
killing Kieran's fiancee and burning the settlement to the
ground.
The only clue to the monster's origins is in a mysterious
brass pyramid (the Scarimadean) that William finds in a
filthy hovel from where the flames seem to have originated.
Slowly and inexorably, the two young soldiers find themselves
drawn into a secret war, fighting alongside a militant papal
order and the enigmatic, supernatural Dar'uka, who may or may
not be angels.
Their mission is to destroy the Scarimadean and protect the
Church against the vampyric assassins of Count Ordrane, a
fight in which the fate of mankind may be decided.
The fantasy aspect conforms to a familiar trope, with little
to set it apart from numerous others in this genre. It isn't
what you would properly call "horror", but it does work as a
fast-paced historical action-adventure.
Well written, especially for a first novel, the
early-19th-century setting is realised in grimy detail and
the battle scenes are very graphically described. Not a
standout, but a good, solid read.
The Immortals
Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
Doubleday, $39.99, pbk
By way of contrast, The Immortals is pure whimsy and
although one of a series, is easy to read as a stand-alone
work.
The world in which it is set is peopled by a diverse variety
of sentient figures, ranging from the almost human to the
fantastic; fourthlings, cloddertrogs, goblins, waifs,
gobtrolls and more.
In place of oil, everything from skyships to firearms is
powered by stormphrax, crystallised lightning with a weight
that depends on light levels, and spontaneously combusts in
bright conditions.
Young Nate Quarter works in a phrax mine where he is in
charge of tending the lamps that keep light levels high
enough that the crystals can be lifted, but dim enough to
prevent explosions.
His father used to be the mine sergeant but died in
suspicious circumstances and Nate is soon forced to flee for
his own life, winding up in the city of Great Glade.
This is only the start of a series of adventures that take
him from one side of the land to the other, accompanied by an
increasing band of companions whose storylines converge with
his. My main criticism, apart from the fact that nobody needs
to wash or use the bathroom, is that it there are too many
plots.
Pratchettesquely fun and frothy (although lacking the dry wit
of the Discworld series), the text is enhanced by the
wonderful drawings that appear every few pages. The
Immortals provides a great diversion from a financially
and environmentally challenged reality.
- Dr Cushla McKinney is a Dunedin scientist.
