WolfHound Century By Peter Higgins: Delightfully Original
WolfHound Century is a debut that defies any genre and thus
manages to be delightfully original, free of the trappings of existing fantasy
sub-genres. Gollancz comes up with yet another winner in Peter Higgins who has
woven a magical tale set in alternate Russia where folklores come alive, hunger
and revolution is still the language the poor understand, giants live amongst humans
and a totalitarian regime has plunged the state into a hopeless endless war. It’s
beautiful, it’s grim and dark as the starless black of the night and yet so
starkly fascinating. A noir- thriller that twists into a surreal dark horror introducing
us to darker corners of the mind we never thought existed. That quote from
Richard Morgan definitely captures the feel for the book. Definitely among my top
reads for 2013.
The book starts off like any typical noire– introducing us
to Vissarion LomMagical, an investigator down on his luck being summoned to the
Capital state of Mirgorod to apprehend a terrorist. But the city of Mirgorod is
not your average city. A city that is the central point of a bubbling volcano in
the form of an anarchist revolution led by the most dangerous man alive in the
world. Josef Kantor is a ruthless brutal fanatic who would stop at nothing to
get to his goals. In a dying world being slowly poisoned by a fallen angel, Lom
squares off to stop his shadowy adversary whose reach seems endless.
Seems like a straightforward mystery/thriller, huh? Oh wait –
Fallen Angel? Poisoning the world? WTF? Welcome to the twisted imaginary world
of Peter Higgins. He populates a grim and dirty 1940’s Soviet Russia bordering
on revolution with fantastical elements that include an archangel and deep dark
secrets that could change the world’s course.
As the story unfolds,
layers are slowly peeled off to reveal a surprising depth of worldbuilding – a
seamless blend of the historical accounts and the fantastical mythologies from
Russia. The chase takes Lom to dark corners of a world that is a grim and darker
re-imagining of the erstwhile soviet Russia with its totalitarian regime – human
life is worthless, the gendarmes are worked by a KGB-like secret police society
which itself has secrets, technology is a throwback to early twentieth century.
Josef Kantor, the anti-hero, Marraussia the girl with the mysterious past, Vishkin
Raku the disgruntled official historian of Mirgorod– bring in the other point
of views in the story that is fuelled on by short and punchy chapters. It works.
The excellent prose of Higgins helped keep the pace up; the plot that is even
more twisted than your wildest nightmare keeps things fresh and unpredictable
for a while.
Then again, this debut is not without its faults. A lot of
elements thrown into the narrative are unexplained, it keeps the suspense up
but it might get trying if you as a reader have to constantly fend off inexplicable
elements lifted from Russian folklores thrown at you. The pacing is furious but
slows down in the second half. After the breathless frenetic first half of the story
that takes us deep into a completely surreal city of Mirgorod where buildings
grow overnight, windows and doors disappear and realign and the doorways lead
to dead-ends, the second half action moves away from the city deep into the
northern wastes. Make no mistake, it’s still pulse-pounding edge of your seat
action, but the brilliance with which Higgins constructs the plot in the first
half is somehow missing from the narrative. For me, the city of Mirgorod with its myriad
levels of secrets and mysteries was as real as any other protagonist.
Beautiful, evocative and atmospheric, Higgins’ writing brings alive the slushy
treacherous settings of this alternate Russian city.
Higgins writings seems similar to the slipstream/weird dystopia
king China Mieville’s. Beings of the forest, giants, Archangels, evil
experimentations, fascism, revolution, disgruntled artists. Wolfhound Century
is an odd-ball alright, but this delightfully original mix of noire, fantasy
and horror brings alive a sordidly dark and grim tale
set in Russia you have never imagined.
Richly recommended. Four stars for a
splendid debut from Gollancz.
Comments