Anthony G Williams
Greybeard
An extract from my SFF blog: http://sciencefictionfantasy.blogspot.co.uk/)
As regular followers of this blog (yes, both of you!) will know, I have a soft spot for books which feature alternative histories and particularly a magical version of London. I can't recall what caused me to buy The Witches of Chiswick, probably I thought this was a member of this sub-sub-genre but, in fact, it is rather different – very different.
The complicated plot starts in the 23rd century, a grossly overcrowded and dystopian London in which the hero, one Will Starling, a young man obsessed with the Victorian age, is at work in a museum cataloguing paintings of that era when he discovers a jarring little detail in a portrait – the subject is wearing a digital watch. The authorities seem very keen to destroy the painting but Will hides it, only to discover that he is being hunted as a result. After a chain of improbable circumstances Will finds himself transported by a time machine back to the Victorian era – but one which is very different from that portrayed in the history books, with a far higher level of technology.
I can't say much more without spoilers, but Will's adventures in this strange version of Victorian London are often hilarious (the author has a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour and the book is full of jokes), sometimes grim as he eventually comes up against the deadly Witches of Chiswick who are behind all of the changes.
This is a decidedly zany story with a writing style to match (the author sometimes addresses the reader directly via footnotes – including an apology for a really bad joke) and at first I thought I wasn't going to like it, but I found it increasingly difficult to put down. It certainly won't be to everyone's taste but it's worth trying for a decidedly different reading experience.
As regular followers of this blog (yes, both of you!) will know, I have a soft spot for books which feature alternative histories and particularly a magical version of London. I can't recall what caused me to buy The Witches of Chiswick, probably I thought this was a member of this sub-sub-genre but, in fact, it is rather different – very different.
The complicated plot starts in the 23rd century, a grossly overcrowded and dystopian London in which the hero, one Will Starling, a young man obsessed with the Victorian age, is at work in a museum cataloguing paintings of that era when he discovers a jarring little detail in a portrait – the subject is wearing a digital watch. The authorities seem very keen to destroy the painting but Will hides it, only to discover that he is being hunted as a result. After a chain of improbable circumstances Will finds himself transported by a time machine back to the Victorian era – but one which is very different from that portrayed in the history books, with a far higher level of technology.
I can't say much more without spoilers, but Will's adventures in this strange version of Victorian London are often hilarious (the author has a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour and the book is full of jokes), sometimes grim as he eventually comes up against the deadly Witches of Chiswick who are behind all of the changes.
This is a decidedly zany story with a writing style to match (the author sometimes addresses the reader directly via footnotes – including an apology for a really bad joke) and at first I thought I wasn't going to like it, but I found it increasingly difficult to put down. It certainly won't be to everyone's taste but it's worth trying for a decidedly different reading experience.
