A Madness of Angels; Or, The Resurrection of Matthew Swift
Kate Griffin
And so it begins.
Matthew Swift is a sorcerer in London, but it is immediately apparent that he is more than that. He has been resurrected after having been dead for approximately two years.
Before the night is out, Matthew is attacked by a "litterbug" (a summoned monster composed of, you guessed it, garbage. Which, for the record, he defeats with a dustbin. Not to ruin it. It's a marvelous scene.
Newly resurrected, Swift's sole missions are to (a) find his murderer and return the favor, and (b) find who resurrected him, find out why, and then, quite likely, kill them as well.
So the novel progresses and you learn more and more peculiar things about this Swift, but things are still left unsaid, left in the dark and unexplained, leaving an air of mystery and suspense until finally the truth is spilled--but not all of it. Only one set of truths. The rest take the entire duration of the novel to be uncovered, but that's a large part of what moves it.
The prose is marvelous and intriguing; Griffin doesn't write in chapters. Sections are broken up with white space or " * * * "; larger sections are broken up as "Part One: [Title]", "The First Interlude: [Title]". It's fascinating. I love it--partially because it proves to me that I am perfectly capable of publishing material that isn't in the typical, structured format, and that makes me happy. hahaha. But there's also a number of places where the writing totally breaks into stream of consciousness style, which is also terribly moving in-context. (Also because I know things you don't. hahaha.) It just fits in the way that she does it. Some of the paragraphs are these great, barely-connected run-on sentences (one or two sentences total in the paragraph) and it's just... magnetic. It really keeps you moving through the material because it's different, because it keeps switching up the style of prose. Besides the fact that it's just intriguing and fun material.
The Midnight Mayor; Or, The Inauguration of Matthew Swift
Kate Griffin
And so it continues.
Surprise! Swift survived the first novel. It got a bit hairy back there what with all the fighting and the murderous intentions. Secret societies, organizations pitted against magic (for "religious reasons"), psychotic colleagues, etc.
This novel opens just as suddenly as the last one did.
Matthew answered a public phone (because he will always answer the phone when it rings; it's part of who he is) and was blasted back down the street. And now he's being attacked by spectres, which are particularly rare for London. All I'll tell you is that the tools for their demise include beer and a cigarette. Happy imaginings. =]
Let me give you a visual of a spectre:
You've ever been strolling around a city and you see that kid shuffling along in a hoodie with the hood up and headphones going in, bobbing along to a beat that only they can hear? Now imagine said kid without a face. Just a gaseous space holding clothes in the proper shape. Now you've got a spectre--but you can hear their beats, and not all spectres bob to the same rhythm.
It's been said that, should the Ravens ever leave the Tower of London, should the Stone ever break, should the Wall be defaced, the city of London shall be damned. The Midnight Mayor's job is to protect the city--provided the Midnight Mayor actually exists, since Swift seems terribly skeptical--but if the city requires a protector, clearly there are things it requires protection from. Correct?
I am sure you have already deduced a few things with the help of the above paragraph coupled with the title. Namely, that the Midnight Mayor has died, that the position has been transferred to Matthew Swift, and that the city is in pretty deep shit.
Suddenly, the phrase "GIVE ME BACK MY HAT" is graffitti'ed across the city, written on the London Wall, on the wall where the Ravens were killed, on the window of the business housing the broken Stone--everywhere. Significant? You bet your ass.
Griffin does such a marvelous job creating suspense and then systematically untying knots that tie more knots until finally the whole thing comes undone at the end. You can't help but be drawn in, but be captivated by her vivid imagery and intense, peculiar descriptions of things. She uses such unexpected language that catches you off guard but gives you a perfectly exact picture of what it is you're looking at and it's amazing. She has swiftly (hahahaha) become one of my very favorite and most inspiring authors--and it only took two novels. (One, actually, but we'll say two.)
I do not have possession of book three, pictured below. I can't afford to go buy it right now either. Yay being broke. hahaha.
I have enough other books that I should read first anyway. But, if you read books, you should know just exactly how well THAT goes. That's the problem with series. I think I'll try to read the rest of my current Laurell K Hamilton book first, anyway. I need to catch up, preferably before the next one comes out. I think she's working on 21 now? Oi. But I'm on 15! And I have the next one. So once I start 16 I'll go buy the next two. Because I have to keep up that way.
I'm really excited to start reading The Neon Court though, even if the subtitle is "Or, The Betrayal of Matthew Swift". Because "Betrayal" makes me terribly worried, indeed. I am afraid of book 3's events but too intrigued to avoid it. Go figure.
Kate Griffin
And so it begins.
Matthew Swift is a sorcerer in London, but it is immediately apparent that he is more than that. He has been resurrected after having been dead for approximately two years.
Before the night is out, Matthew is attacked by a "litterbug" (a summoned monster composed of, you guessed it, garbage. Which, for the record, he defeats with a dustbin. Not to ruin it. It's a marvelous scene.
Newly resurrected, Swift's sole missions are to (a) find his murderer and return the favor, and (b) find who resurrected him, find out why, and then, quite likely, kill them as well.
So the novel progresses and you learn more and more peculiar things about this Swift, but things are still left unsaid, left in the dark and unexplained, leaving an air of mystery and suspense until finally the truth is spilled--but not all of it. Only one set of truths. The rest take the entire duration of the novel to be uncovered, but that's a large part of what moves it.
The prose is marvelous and intriguing; Griffin doesn't write in chapters. Sections are broken up with white space or " * * * "; larger sections are broken up as "Part One: [Title]", "The First Interlude: [Title]". It's fascinating. I love it--partially because it proves to me that I am perfectly capable of publishing material that isn't in the typical, structured format, and that makes me happy. hahaha. But there's also a number of places where the writing totally breaks into stream of consciousness style, which is also terribly moving in-context. (Also because I know things you don't. hahaha.) It just fits in the way that she does it. Some of the paragraphs are these great, barely-connected run-on sentences (one or two sentences total in the paragraph) and it's just... magnetic. It really keeps you moving through the material because it's different, because it keeps switching up the style of prose. Besides the fact that it's just intriguing and fun material.
Kate Griffin
And so it continues.
Surprise! Swift survived the first novel. It got a bit hairy back there what with all the fighting and the murderous intentions. Secret societies, organizations pitted against magic (for "religious reasons"), psychotic colleagues, etc.
This novel opens just as suddenly as the last one did.
Matthew answered a public phone (because he will always answer the phone when it rings; it's part of who he is) and was blasted back down the street. And now he's being attacked by spectres, which are particularly rare for London. All I'll tell you is that the tools for their demise include beer and a cigarette. Happy imaginings. =]
Let me give you a visual of a spectre:
You've ever been strolling around a city and you see that kid shuffling along in a hoodie with the hood up and headphones going in, bobbing along to a beat that only they can hear? Now imagine said kid without a face. Just a gaseous space holding clothes in the proper shape. Now you've got a spectre--but you can hear their beats, and not all spectres bob to the same rhythm.
It's been said that, should the Ravens ever leave the Tower of London, should the Stone ever break, should the Wall be defaced, the city of London shall be damned. The Midnight Mayor's job is to protect the city--provided the Midnight Mayor actually exists, since Swift seems terribly skeptical--but if the city requires a protector, clearly there are things it requires protection from. Correct?
I am sure you have already deduced a few things with the help of the above paragraph coupled with the title. Namely, that the Midnight Mayor has died, that the position has been transferred to Matthew Swift, and that the city is in pretty deep shit.
Suddenly, the phrase "GIVE ME BACK MY HAT" is graffitti'ed across the city, written on the London Wall, on the wall where the Ravens were killed, on the window of the business housing the broken Stone--everywhere. Significant? You bet your ass.
Griffin does such a marvelous job creating suspense and then systematically untying knots that tie more knots until finally the whole thing comes undone at the end. You can't help but be drawn in, but be captivated by her vivid imagery and intense, peculiar descriptions of things. She uses such unexpected language that catches you off guard but gives you a perfectly exact picture of what it is you're looking at and it's amazing. She has swiftly (hahahaha) become one of my very favorite and most inspiring authors--and it only took two novels. (One, actually, but we'll say two.)
I do not have possession of book three, pictured below. I can't afford to go buy it right now either. Yay being broke. hahaha.
I'm really excited to start reading The Neon Court though, even if the subtitle is "Or, The Betrayal of Matthew Swift". Because "Betrayal" makes me terribly worried, indeed. I am afraid of book 3's events but too intrigued to avoid it. Go figure.
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