Highly Recommended Reading: 'Scar Night' by Alan Campbell

Filed by: Darren Turpin on June 15, 2007 at 16:58
Filed under: Books

'Scar Night' by Alan Campbell - Click for ordering info from Amazon.co.ukI've been meaning to read Alan Campbell's debut novel, Scar Night [Amazon] ever since I received a proof copy from Macmillan / Tor UK about a year ago, but for some reason there always seemed to be just one more book to go before I got around to it. But now I have, and I'm extremely glad indeed that I finally made the effort.

There's a distinctly Miévillean air to the setting for Scar Night: the city of Deepgate squats astride a vast and quite literal abyss - suspended from and supported by a network of immense chains, with streets made of rope and plank bridges and buildings that exist in permanent danger of toppling to the darkness below - into which the city's dead are cast, in order (so the holy books of the priests tell Deepgate's populace) to swell the ranks of an army being gathered by the god Ulcis so that he might storm the gates of heaven, overthrow the usurper who cast him down, and lead his followers to glory. It's a wonderfully gothic, sumptuously insane vision: a city driven to exist on the constant brink of disaster by the dictates of religion (read into that as much metaphor as you like).

The city - and by extension the novel - is populated by a varied cast of eclectic and fantastical characters. The prinicpals and supporting cast largely comprise: two angels (one, Dill, is a callow youth struggling to find both acceptance and a place in his world; the other, Carnival, is a periodic murderer struggling to avoid being slain for her crimes), Rachel Hael the Spine assassin (assigned to guard and train the young angel), Presbyter Sypes the Patriarch of the temple (grown old and bent over by the weight of the secrets on his shoulders), Devon the Poisoner (a twisted genius and mastermind behind the city's very worst and nastiest weaponry who is gradually falling prey to his own alchemical experimentation), Mr Nettle the net-scavenger (who loses his daughter to the abyss but vows to regain her... if only he can first find and regain her soul) as well as diverse guardsmen (red-shirts, all), aristocratic aeronauts, Heshette tribesmen (the city's ancient and implacable foe), the priests of the temple and their Spine guards (who are all 'tempered' to remove any trace of emotion... well, all but Rachel, that is) and a few more besides, whose roles are somewhat central to the unfolding of the plot, and so will have to remain shrouded in mystery for now.

The prose itself is very good indeed. Alan Campbell's writing is very easy to read, and the visuals come thick and fast. He blends character development, background information, plot exposition, atmospheric description and action scenes with with most definite aplomb. All in all, he writes with the easy, flowing style of an expressive, imaginative, confident writer; a style that's all the more impressive when you occasionally remember that this is still his first debut. If he's this good now then I look forward to reading his work in five or six books' time, by which time he should be superb.

Highly recommended to fans of China Miéville, Jeffrey Ford, Jeff Vandermeer, K.J. Bishop, Steph Swainston, Scott Lynch... you know, the usual crowd. One to watch in years to come as well, definitely, starting with the second part of The Deepgate Codex, whenever that one's due...

Author info: www.alancampbell.co.uk / anurbanfantasy.blogspot.com
Ordering info: Amazon
Publication info: May 4th 2007 (paperback edition), Tor Books, UK

Filed on: June 15, 2007
Filed under: Books
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Comments

2 Responses to 'Highly Recommended Reading: 'Scar Night' by Alan Campbell'

  1. Ed on June 17th, 2007 10:31 pm

    I picked this up purely on the Deepgate premise, and a few positive reviews on 'tinterweb. Will let you know my opinion when I finally get round to reading it, hopefully some time this year.

  2. Joe on June 18th, 2007 6:42 pm

    I picked this up last summer when Macmillan sent me a copy and was in that rare position of not knowing anything about it when I started - by the time I finished I was seeking out Alan for a few words for the blog. In fact, I think I started originally because Hal Duncan's Ink was due around then but it got put back till January, Alan's book arrived and so I thought, okay, let's have a look and was very, very glad I did. Second your recommendation to fans of Mieville, VanderMeer et al - pretty sure anyone who likes those will enjoy it. Also enjoyed the creepy idea of a city built literally over the underworld of its religion and the fact that this is a reality where death isn't necessarily the worst thing that can happen to you and that what might happen afterwards could be worse.

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