One of the two books in my Alt.Fiction goodie-bag was 'Sixty-One Nails' by Mike Shevdon. I've been reading it this week, and finished it yesterday.
You could be forgiven for thinking, upon reading the blurb, "oh no not again..." We have here the seven courts of Faerie, a London setting, dark basements, eerie mildew, urban magic - but then again an endorsement from Juliet McKenna, who knows what she's talking about.
The tale is of Niall Petersen, a man we first meet walking in the London Underground. Suddenly taken ill, as if by a heart attack, he is rescued by a mysterious woman called Blackbird, who at once begins to tell him he is not, in fact, who he thinks he is. There is Fey blood in his veins. Over the course of the next few chapters Niall finds out that somewhere in his past lies a dark secret, that gives him control of the 'gallowfyre.' Blackbird meanwhile is a Fey of Fire and Air. Their situation is not good. The unreconstructed Untainted are after them; turns out that six of the seven courts diluted their bloodline with mere human stuff in an effort to stay fertile, while the faerie fundamentalist seventh court, the Untainted, did not. And there's been trouble ever since.
So Niall has to run. The barrier between the human world and the Fey world is weak. He has to protect his daughter too. An ancient London ritual (which actually exists - it's 800 years old next year) called the Quit Rent Ceremony is the only thing stopping the wrathful Untainted from following their terrible plan.
Following the faerie Way to Shropshire, seeking the participants of the Quit Rent, via iron smiths and much derring-do, the unlikely pairing of Niall and Blackbird become closer to one another and to their goal of using a special forge to bring safety to the human world, and to their own lives.
This novel could have been so-so. But it ain't. For a debut novel, this is pretty good. The pacing is excellent, the characters interesting, the temptation to splurge on dozens of Fey with special powers ignored. Probably it's a tad too long, but that's the case with so many novels. Also it's not been brilliantly proof-read. But those niggles apart, this is very well written, involving, and a terrific read. I really enjoyed it, and I wasn't expecting to. (It was quite strange reading the Shropshire parts though - as a Shropshire lad myself, currently living near Shrewsbury, I know the area well, including Bridgenorth, which is where the iron smiths live.)
I think there may be cross-over appeal here. Readers of Holly Black's excellent 'Tithe,' Herbie Brennan's bonkers 'Faerie Wars,' and maybe even readers of Steve Augarde's work would enjoy Sixty-One Nails. And there's another volume to come, because Blackbird is pregnant...
You could be forgiven for thinking, upon reading the blurb, "oh no not again..." We have here the seven courts of Faerie, a London setting, dark basements, eerie mildew, urban magic - but then again an endorsement from Juliet McKenna, who knows what she's talking about.
The tale is of Niall Petersen, a man we first meet walking in the London Underground. Suddenly taken ill, as if by a heart attack, he is rescued by a mysterious woman called Blackbird, who at once begins to tell him he is not, in fact, who he thinks he is. There is Fey blood in his veins. Over the course of the next few chapters Niall finds out that somewhere in his past lies a dark secret, that gives him control of the 'gallowfyre.' Blackbird meanwhile is a Fey of Fire and Air. Their situation is not good. The unreconstructed Untainted are after them; turns out that six of the seven courts diluted their bloodline with mere human stuff in an effort to stay fertile, while the faerie fundamentalist seventh court, the Untainted, did not. And there's been trouble ever since.
So Niall has to run. The barrier between the human world and the Fey world is weak. He has to protect his daughter too. An ancient London ritual (which actually exists - it's 800 years old next year) called the Quit Rent Ceremony is the only thing stopping the wrathful Untainted from following their terrible plan.
Following the faerie Way to Shropshire, seeking the participants of the Quit Rent, via iron smiths and much derring-do, the unlikely pairing of Niall and Blackbird become closer to one another and to their goal of using a special forge to bring safety to the human world, and to their own lives.
This novel could have been so-so. But it ain't. For a debut novel, this is pretty good. The pacing is excellent, the characters interesting, the temptation to splurge on dozens of Fey with special powers ignored. Probably it's a tad too long, but that's the case with so many novels. Also it's not been brilliantly proof-read. But those niggles apart, this is very well written, involving, and a terrific read. I really enjoyed it, and I wasn't expecting to. (It was quite strange reading the Shropshire parts though - as a Shropshire lad myself, currently living near Shrewsbury, I know the area well, including Bridgenorth, which is where the iron smiths live.)
I think there may be cross-over appeal here. Readers of Holly Black's excellent 'Tithe,' Herbie Brennan's bonkers 'Faerie Wars,' and maybe even readers of Steve Augarde's work would enjoy Sixty-One Nails. And there's another volume to come, because Blackbird is pregnant...
