I discovered this author, and this book, while on blog tour for Eagle of the Twelfth. The Outcast Blade was reviewed just above it on the Falcata Times blog… I liked the sound of it, ordered it on the spot (oh, the joys of Amazon) and read it on the way to London for the HWA dinner. Such is the power of internet marketing.
This is the back cover blurb:
As the Byzantine and German emperors plot war against each other, Venice’s future rests in the hands of three unwilling people: The newly knighted Sir Tycho. An ex-slave and trained assassin who defeated the Mamluk navy but cannot make the woman he loves love him back. Tortured by secrets, afraid of the daylight, he sees no reason to save a city he hates. The grieving Lady Giulietta. Impossibly rich, deeply spoilt. A virgin, a mother, a widow …Both emperors want her hand for their sons in marriage. All she wants is to retire from the poisonous world of the Venetian court to mourn her husband in peace. And finally a naked, mud-strewn girl who crawls from a paupers’ grave on an island in the Venetian lagoon and begins by killing the men who buried her.
What this doesn’t tell you, is that ‘The Outcast Blade’ is a vampire/werewolf story, and, because this is the second in a series and I hadn’t read the first one (tho’ will do now), I didn’t realise until a good third of the way through. By then, I’d come to know Tycho as a person and got to grips with the ‘almost-but-not-quite-realistic’ fantasy Venice that is Grimwood’s setting.
On the face of it, it’s not the most obviously attractive of narratives: ex-slave who finds he’s a vampire (or is made into one, I still don’t know that yet), falls in love with a girl who hates him, for the very good reason that he let her (werewolf) husband die in some massive battle when there seems a chance he could have saved him. She loved her late husband, ergo she hates Tycho. Which is a pity, because he’s probably the only one with the wit, forethought, care and sheer reflexes to keep her alive in the poisonous nest of intrigue (I use the word advisedly) that is the Venetian Court, of which she is likely to become Duchess.
But it works. It’s an intriguing story and there are enough plot twists and character developments to keep the reader guessing. There’s a nicely done girl-girl love in the middle (blink and you’ll miss it: so don’t blink) and some touching moments of intimacy amongst all the blood and gore. Tycho’s vampire is still very much human, he just doesn’t like daylight, goes wild at the scent of blood and can tell a man’s history from the taste of a drop.
Vampire lovers will love this - it’s as good as The Discovery of Witches and oddly similar. Those who simply like alternative history of the Guy Gavriel Kay variety will welcome a newcomer to the fold. Those who like Joe Abercrombie will find themselves a soul-brother… and that’s my one niggle. Abercrombie writes good, solid, soldierly stuff, but his English is appalling and JCG seems to have studied from the. Same text with its. Bizarre sentence. Structure and.
Weird paragraphs breaks.
If it wasn’t for that, I’d give this four stars (bearing in mind that five is reserved for the likes of Hilary Mantel and Rob Low.) So it’s three, because I was close to throwing the book across the room at times: 1* for the language, 5* for the story. And I’m heading back to Falcata Times for more book ideas.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, joy of joys, another MCS recommendation! I’m definitely going to start following the Falcata Times blog, some excellent books have come out of it. Unfortunately, before I get my grubby paws on this or any others, I have several essays and two case studies to finish before the first week of July. GAAAAH! Panicking! Up far too late!!! You shouldn’t have made me follow you blog or read your books, they are FAR TOO ADDICTIVE.
Sorry, should read “your” blog not “you” blog. I told you I was panicking.