Synopsis:
For centuries, vampires freely roamed the land until the Grays came out of nowhere, wiping out half the population in a night. The survivors fled to the last vampire city of First Light, where the rules are simple. If you’re poor, you drink weak blood. If you’re nobility, you get the good stuff. And you can never, ever leave.
Palace maid Sam has had enough of these rules, and she’s definitely had enough of cleaning the bedpans of the lords who enforce them. When the son of the city’s ruler is murdered and she finds the only clue to his death, she seizes the chance to blackmail her way into a better class and better blood. She falls in with the Leeches, a group of rebel maids who rein in the worst of the Lords. Soon she’s in league with a sorcerer whose deductive skills make up for his lack of magic, a deadly werewolf assassin and a countess who knows a city’s worth of secrets.
There’s just one problem. What began as a murder investigation has uncovered a vast conspiracy by the ruling elite, and now Sam must find the truth before she becomes another victim. If she can avoid getting murdered, she might just live forever.
Review:
I should start by saying that this review may somehow be even more incomprehensible and disjointed than usual, with the fantasy genre being an unfamiliar… realm? The prospect of fantasy horror is one that intimidates me (despite me generally enjoying it) but when the balance tips, and a book is (insert gulp) dark fantasy, I simply won’t do it. Unless it’s for Ed Crocker. I know the guy can string a sentence together from his superb reviews, and considering he sent me the book (thanks again Ed) I decided I should get over myself and give it a whirl. I figured I’d enjoy it, if only for Crocker’s hilarious narrative voice, but ended up binge reading about 200 pages last night, much to my amazement, and regret this morning. This, regardless of whether you read fantasy or horror or really anything else, is undeniably epic. An anti-capitalist, coming of age story, with werewolf-vampire politics, betrayals and bluffs galore, and enough blood to satiate even I, I recommend this to everybody. This one is releasing from St Martin’s Press on January 14th. Whilst it is absolutely true that Ed and I are the best of pals, I assure you even he is not safe from my wrath, and my thoughts and feelings are unfiltered. I am a genuine, card-carrying Crock-head. Crock-pot? Crock-star? Crock-roach? The possibilities are endless. A sword-swinging, fang-baring, blood-soaked odyssey, with a cast of characters that can only be described as *chef’s kiss* – I’d mark my calendar if I were you.
We follow Sam Ingle, who following the death of literally everybody she knows, has become a maid for the First Lord Azzuri. Unlike her room-mate Beth, she is not content, confined to the vampire city of First Light. She is not content to be ruled over by the elite. She is not content to get by on weak cow-blood, whilst her superiors keep the good stuff for themselves. And she’s certainly not content when Vermillion Azzuri, the First Lord’s youngest son, turns up deader than usual, his demise chalked up to the mysterious “Grays.” Whilst clearing out his bed chambers, she stumbles across a cryptic letter, a small act of curiosity which catapults her into a machiavellian world of treachery, crossing, and double crossing. With the help of Lady Hocquard and her “leeches,” (think a vampiric Lady Whistledown), two Quantas sorcerers, and notorious wolf assassin Raven Ansbach, will book-worm and palace maid Sam Ingle be able to a) solve the murder of Vermillion Azzuri, b) uncover whatever conspiracy the city’s ruling class seem to have orchestrated, and c) topple the egalitarian vampire class system without being staked, shredded or sun-burst in the process.
Now, what would somebody who reads almost exclusively horror enjoy most about the coming of age werewolf-vampire novel? The anti-capitalist messaging of course. There are some books where dissecting just how the author is commenting on class and elitism takes paragraphs, if not pages. Mercifully for us all, Lightfall is not one of those books, wielding its messaging with the delicacy of a sledge-hammer to Lord Azzuri’s glass ceiling, and the subtlety of a werewolf howling at his gates. Jokes aside, the sharp class-divide is not just some sub-textual footnote, but a driving force, determining every decision made by the characters throughout, and highlighting not just the (metaphorical) monsters, but the systems that breed them. The stark divide between the “Worns,” and the blood-wine guzzling Lords is painted in rather broad-strokes,red and unmistakable. Gone is the glossy, romanticised veneer normally applied to the vampire elite, with Crocker instead adopting a scathing, unflinching portrayal of the corruption, excessiveness and self-importance the 1% have, something which seems eerily poignant.
There is literally nothing I can tell you about the ending without spoiling everything, and writing a whole lot more, but I would just like to briefly note that Ed Crocker is a devious bastard, and now I will not be able to sleep until I get my hands on book #2. Moving on.
Let’s touch on the characters. Bluntly, Alanna, first maid to Lady Hocquard is my favourite. She is one of many unhinged bad-asses, but she is the most unhinged and bad-ass-est of the lot. Her ruthless efficiency, unorthodox methods, and the pure chaos that seems to follow her around pretty much encapsulate the raw defiance simmering beneath the surface of a system designed to crush individuality. On the complete other end of the spectrum, Rufous Azzuri, the first (now only) son of the First Lord is utterly detestable, and I hate him… that is all. Our main protagonist Sam is the one who is most food for thought however. Lightfall is a coming-of-age novel in that it follows a palace maid, albeit a very smart one, make friends, make enemies, and ultimately start a full-blown rebellion. She finds agency in a society in which odious elites, like the aforementioned Rufous Azzuri, are determined to take it away- the core conflict of the novel. She is astutely aware of her societal standing, and so determined to change that system that she might just topple an empire to do so.
Ed Crocker’s “Lightfall,” is a dark and funny, original, and… biting master-stroke, that ran absolute rings around me, and (as you may have deduced already) left my brain frazzled. Equal parts teeth-baring rebellion and tender introspection, with prose as sharp as a freshly-honed stake, and a plot with more twists and turns than an octopus doing yoga on a roller coaster… Crocker, take a bow, and now get back to work.
Read Sean’s review here (he actually knows what he’s talking about).
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