This review is based on an advance reading copy received from the publisher. I did almost finish it in time for the "advance" part to do some good.
The Oversight, a free company of people of mixed supernatural and human blood, has guarded the line between ordinary life and the magical world since ancient times. In early 19th century London, their number has fallen to the bare minimum to keep the order intact and their enemies have seen the opportunity to steal a powerful item they guard.
This book reminded me of a historical Neverwhere more than anything else. The world is permeated by a magical, dreamlike quality, and yet individual people have a matter-of-fact, natural quality that makes it seem perfectly normal in a way that I associate with Neil Gaiman. There were a few characters whose stories seemed underexamined to the point that I wondered what they were doing in the book, but in the last couple of chapters it became clear that this is intended to be the beginning of a series. (That was not apparent from the cover text or any publicity that I've seen.) Most likely those threads will be picked up at another time.
Overall Grade: A
The Oversight, a free company of people of mixed supernatural and human blood, has guarded the line between ordinary life and the magical world since ancient times. In early 19th century London, their number has fallen to the bare minimum to keep the order intact and their enemies have seen the opportunity to steal a powerful item they guard.
This book reminded me of a historical Neverwhere more than anything else. The world is permeated by a magical, dreamlike quality, and yet individual people have a matter-of-fact, natural quality that makes it seem perfectly normal in a way that I associate with Neil Gaiman. There were a few characters whose stories seemed underexamined to the point that I wondered what they were doing in the book, but in the last couple of chapters it became clear that this is intended to be the beginning of a series. (That was not apparent from the cover text or any publicity that I've seen.) Most likely those threads will be picked up at another time.
Overall Grade: A
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