Nick Medea is the Guardian of the Gate. It is his duty to
protect the gateway to faerie, and has been ever since he slew the dragon.
He fights against fae incursions in prohibition era
Chicago – but something far more powerful and sinister than mob bosses is
manipulating the warring gangs. Not all old enemies are defeated – and he risks
losing the woman he loves, again, and his soul to the very beast he once
destroyed in his battle to protect the city – and the world.
The concept of this book is… pretty amazing
St. George, the dragon slayer, is possessed by the very dragon he slew. And haunted by Diocletin, the Roman Emperor who ordered him (hey that’s some cannon research there!) executed for not turning his back on his Christianity. And fighting to protect the gateway
All of this is against a backdrop of 1920s mob-torn film
noir Chicago.
And the King of the Fairies is manipulating the mobs. Who
is pretty much at war against the Queen of the Fairies – who also can’t be
trusted. Both of whole are epicly creepy and powerful
You’re still reading this review? How can you not read
that concept and not make grabby hands for the book right away? I know I did!
Shall I throw in faerie exiles including a werewolf
trying out Chicagoan 20s slang?
I also really do like the plot – I love that these
ancient, mighty, incredible fae lords who are 10,000 steps ahead of you at all
times. I love the complexity of their plan. I love the craftiness of it.
I love Nick’s constant battle and worry about the beast
inside him.
I love the concept of the very very creepy fae that
inhabit this world. I love how they’re presented and Nick’s duty related to
them – I even love lord of the fae’s end game and what it implies for the whole
world. I love its twists.
The main problem I have with this book’s writing is it’s
well over 300 pages long and it could be very easily cut down to about 200 and
not have changed the story over much. There’s a big waffle in the middle of the
book where not much seems to be happening. Oberon hangs around and taunts them
a bit but they don’t seem to actually do much or advance the story. It’s just a
bit waffly.
In terms of women we have Claryce. And I like her – she’s
skilled, she’s powerful, she’s determined not to be mushroomed and curious and
intelligent and insightful. Which is all excellent. And it would have all still
being excellent if she weren’t a reincarnation of Nick’s previous love interest
who is apparently doomed to die. This was so unnecessary. We didn’t need this
plot line to justify her involvement. We didn’t need the sexual tension. We
didn’t need the doomed future to justify Nick trying to keep her in the dark
and constantly send her away. She was an awesome character – she didn’t need
this.
We had Detective Cortez, the latino detective who is
astute and capable and intelligent and very overlooked by his fellows. In some
ways he’s an excellent portrayal of how excellent people faced racism and, as
such, their utter potential was wasted and they could have done a lot more and
that the people who didn’t appreciate him are literally hurting themselves in
doing so. It was well portrayed in about a third of the scenes he appeared in.
Then well portrayed in the other third. Then well portrayed again in the last
third. Every single time Cortez appeared we would have a comment about the
racism he faced, usually several. All. The. Time. I’m not saying they aren’t
great points to make but if his every moment of existence is to comment on racism
then you do need to step back and add some more character elements.
Also, again, Chicago is pretty diverse city and barring
the odd character we had very few POC. And no LGBTQ people.
On the whole, I was impressed by this book. The
originality, the characters, the concept I never even dreamed of, the
imagination, the cunning, the plot. But it is badly let down by its writing. It’s
still an amazing book – but with a few careful edits it could have been epic
But even with the waffle, it’s worth 4 fangs
