'The rain had ceased at last, leaving the night air scrubbed and cool. Fresh wind from the north gusted and dragged rags of cloud across the stars. Snake-scale tenement roofs glistened faintly, but the streets between were dark. Every shutter had been drawn against the night, every brand smothered, and every gas lamp left unlit. Very few were abroad in the city now. No one but herself and those who hunted her.
With ragged wings folded tight against her back, she squatted on the roof of the Ivygarths watchtower, bracing herself against the chill wind, savouring its force. Tall stone falcons perched at each of the eight corners of the octagonal watchtower, blindly observing the city with grim determination. Carnival's face was expressionless. Her long black hair whipped around countless scars: scars across her cheeks and forehead, scars across her nose, her neck; scars beneath her moondark eyes. All of them knife cuts, except one.'
Scar Night:
Volume One of The Deepgate Codex
(Page 156-157)
Scar Night's a funny one.
It has everything i could ever want in a fantasy novel:
Gothic architecture.
Fallen gods and angels.
Misunderstood, violent characters.
Rich scenic descriptions of grim and barren lands.
Double-crosses and unlikely alliances.
Descents and battles.
Gore!
What more could i ask for really?
It feels written for me.
And yet...
Something was missing.
Something integral.
That little spark in the writing that makes it near impossible for the reader to stop turning pages and get some goddamn sleep.
That little something that Mervyn Peake put into the Gormenghast Trilogy with such lyrical ease.
And J.K. Rowling did much the same years later with Harry Potter.
It's an important 'something', especially when embarking on a series of books within the same world.
You have to keep the reader interested and even though i very much intend on reading the next in The Deepgate Codex, i'm not itching to do so and that makes me somewhat sad.
All the groundwork is there for a gut-wrenching, heart-stopping, breathtaking story within Scar Night but the writing just doesn't quite live up to its potential and when that happens to a story that i can see myself being engrossed in and it doesn't end up that way, the disappointment is crushing.
However, towards the end of Scar Night i did find myself more invested in the characters and their plight, so i will happily continue with the next in the series and hopefully Alan Campbell will have taken the story to new depths.
Very dark and grimy depths i hope.
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