Wolfhound Century - Brossura

Higgins, Peter

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0575130547 ISBN 13: 9780575130548

Casa editrice: Gollancz, 2013

Riassunto

A thousand miles east of Mirgorod, the great capital city of the Vlast, deep in the ancient forest, lies the most recent fallen angel, its vast stone form half-buried and fused into the rock by the violence of impact. As its dark energy leeches into the crash site, so a circle of death expands around it, slowly - inexorably - killing everything it touches. Alone in the wilderness, it reaches out with its mind.

The endless forest and its antique folklore are no concern to Inspector Vissarion Lom, summoned to the capital in order to catch a terrorist - and ordered to report directly to the head of the secret police. A totalitarian state, worn down by an endless war, must be seen to crush home-grown terrorism with an iron fist. But Lom discovers Mirgorod to be more corrupted than he imagined: a murky world of secret police and revolutionaries, cabaret clubs and doomed artists. Lom has been chosen because he is an outsider, not involved in the struggle for power within the party. And because of the sliver of angel stone implanted in his head at the children's home.

Lom's investigation reveals a conspiracy that extends to the top echelons of the party. When he exposes who - or rather what - is the controlling intelligence behind this, it is time for the detective to change sides. Pursued by rogue police agents and their man-crushing mudjhik, Lom must protect Kantor's step-daughter Maroussia, who has discovered what is hidden beneath police headquarters: a secret so ancient that only the forest remembers. As they try to escape the capital and flee down river, elemental forces are gathering. The earth itself is on the move.

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Recensione:

Well paced action.. This world of a totalitarian state pitted against equally extremist revolutionaries is gripping... a solid page-turner. (John Wyatt The Sun)

We can expect great things of Peter Higgins... his debut novel is uniquely intriguing. (SCI FI NOW)

Wolfhound Century is an extraordinarily accomplished debut from a real master of atmosphere. Peter Higgins has managed to create a completely unique fantasy world with a plot that wouldn't be out of place in a modern day thriller. (Doug Smith FANTASY FACTION)

The surprises keep on coming ... but quietly and subtly, like a dreaded knock on the door of an apartment in a brutalist concrete tower block in the dead of night. [An] excellent debut novel. (David Barnett THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY)

[The] vivid descriptions and pulsing action sequences are very reminiscent of Fleming. Add this to a sci fi mystery, blending an alternate totalitarian state with an ancient mythical world and you have a potent mix. (FANTASY BOOK REVIEW)

There is much to admire in Higgins's writing, and his fantastical inventions are compelling and enjoyable. It's certainly an intriguing thriller. The plot unfolds swiftly and with an engaging clarity. You turn the pages, eager for clues. Events happen. People you were coming to think of as major players get brutally murdered. Still there is a mystery at the heart of things. The world Higgins creates is immersive and often compelling. (Strange Horizons)

With a beautifully descriptive style, this imaginative thriller is impossible to put down. (WE LOVE THIS BOOK)

Whilst Wolfhound Century may be just the first chunk of a bigger story, it is still a finely-written and compelling story. Higgins has created an engrossing fantasy world which is a million miles away from the more played-out ends of the genre and all the better for it. (THE WERTZONE)

Brilliant world-building, great writing, and a pace that challenges you to put it down and then slaps you in the face with a constant niggling itch to return - a truly excellent debut, and Higgins' writing style ensures it just keeps flowing: in merely describing something as simple as a dash through rain-soaked streets, the author leaves you reaching for a towel and shivering from the clinging damp that lingers long after you've moved further down the page. Very highly recommended. (BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY)

Every so often there comes along a book that manages to make you go wow, one that stands out as a book that is destined to become a classic. Last year Osama was such a book; this year Wolfhound Century takes that honour. an incredibly rich, rewarding novel that has an amazing feeling of depth. The use of an alternative noir-tinged Russia complete with the authoritarian, iron-fisted and deeply corrupt bureaucracy works brilliantly with the plodding world-weary gumshoe narrative and bleak, angel-wrought alternative world. The immersion is absolute, carried forward by the rich quality to the prose that borders on the poetic in places. (SFBOOK)

Descrizione del libro:

A gripping SF thriller in a brilliantly realised alternative Russia - a superb debut.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Gollancz
• Data di pubblicazione: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0575130547
• ISBN 13: 9780575130548
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 320