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Queen Of Sinister (The Dark Age book 2) by Mark Chadbourn check out website: www.orionbooks.co.uk and www.markchadbourn.net
Caitlin Shepherd
is a GP in a small community. She is stretched to her limit when the populous
start falling ill with a terrible plague that nothing seems to stop. Medicines
and prayer have little or no effect and Caitlin is totally baffled. The disease
doesn't fit with any know disease. She ploughs through textbook after textbook
trying to find answers. Caitlin returns home from the village hall where they
are caring for the sick and needy in the village, returning to her husband and
young son.
Caitlin
storms out of the house in a rage feeling pulled into different directions, seeking
solace with her friend, Mary, a local healer using herbs and advise to help the
local villagers. Mary listens to Caitlin's problems and advises her to go back
and talk it through with her husband. On returning, she finds events have turned
for the worse and she is psychologically torn apart by the events that have occurred.
Her personality is split. Mary has a strange visitor. A man from a
newly formed university that is trying to piece together what happened. He says
he is drawn to the area because he needs Mary's friend, Caitlin, to help him cross
over to the otherworld (Tir n'a n'Og) to find a cure for the plague. The two of
them go to find Caitlin. They find her in a terrible state and Mary is given the
task of pulling Caitlin back together emotionally. She partially manages this,
but Caitlin's personality is still fragmented. Crowther, as the man
is known, takes Caitlin to find a suitable crossing point to the otherworld and
leaves Mary to follow her own quest. On the way, they pick up a few others, a
boy and a tough intelligent young girl and a young man seeking a way to cross
over. This is the second book in the 'The Dark Age' series and follows
on from 'The Devil In Green'. Like Mark Chadbourn's previous books in 'The Age
Of Misrule' series, the world is the same but each book is focused on a slightly
different viewpoint. In other words, you don't tend to get the same characters
cropping up. This adds a freshness to each book but does have the downside that
if you like a character in a previous book you may not get to see them again. The whole world set-up by Chadbourn is beautifully composed, allowing a
creative exploration of myths and ancient history and ideas. Although Celtic mythology
is drawn upon, it's not wholly exclusive to the framework of the books. This allows
Chadbourn a huge playground of material to work with. Wicca, witchcraft, the Goddess,
Celtic Gods and Greek mythology are just a few areas he uses with great effect. He also plays with reality and the characters' perception of their own
reality within the book. I must admit that when Caitlin and the rest of the group
pass over to Tir n'a n'Og my heart sank. I thought, oh no here we go - a disparate
band of people traipsing across fantasy landscape seeking treasure/cure/knowledge/disposal
of ring (delete as appropriate)...but all is not lost. The book did not slip into
over familiar territory. Reality is taken for a spin and the whole section is
lifted by the episodes with Mary being pursued over the British landscape by a
dismembered zombie-like creature while she tries to help Caitlin in her own way. You could argue this type of dark fantasy is going to appeal to mainly the pagan fraternity, but I think it's more than that. This series of books and the three books before it, 'The Age of Misrule' series, examines belief structures and reality perception. There is a lot of research gone into this book.
Sometimes with some books, the weight of the research shows through and slows
the book to an exercise in wading through mud. Mark Chadbourn, though, takes all
this research and runs with it allowing to develop the story rather than hinder
it. The whole premise of the Fall allows creative use of myths and also how these
ideas develop. I really enjoyed this book, perhaps in retrospect not quite as strong as 'The Devil In Green'. Lacking perhaps the depth of characters, Caitlin especially suffers in this respect and I felt the multi-personality disorder was not used to its full advantage. Although the different 'personalities'
allow snippets of information and clues to come out about what is happening and
what is to come, it just felt under-used. It is not till later on in the book
that Caitlin's character really comes out to the fore, functioning as a true part
of the story thread. The new characters and the further exploration
of the causes of the Fall mean that this book works just as well in singularity.
Although I would say definitely read 'The Devil In Green' first if you have not
read any others in the series. It is intelligent dark fantasy. I mean how many
fantasy books use Birmingham as a location?! I look forward to Mark
Chadbourn's next book in the series as it will be interesting to see where he
takes his ideas. There are rumours that he may be involved in a new SF TV series
for the Beeb if the new 'Doctor Who' series is successful and maybe even a film
could be in the pipeline. Definitely one to keep an eye on. Phil Jones
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OTHER REVIEWS - August 2004
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After
the Fall, the world descended into chaos. Man is no longer the top of the food
chain and technology rapidly falls away. Over time, though, people start to recover
and small pockets and villages start recovering although communication is still
limited. Ancient myths, gods and legends become real.
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