Craig's review - 14 september 2008
BONE SONG
John Meaney
Gollancz, April 2008 Reissue
Straight off the bat, I'm going to say the biggest thing this novel, ‘Bone Song' (the first part in a series), has going for it is its vision. Author John Meaney has created a magnificent world that combines most of the speculative fiction range, from fantasy to sci-fi, with a dash of gothic horror. There are so many nuances here, so many little touches, that you cannot help but become drawn in to the story, which is also somewhat of a hardboiled crime affair.
I'll try my best to explain. In the city of Tristopolis, where references to God, the afterlife and profanities have been largely reclaimed from Greek mythology (Oh Hades! Thanatos! Death!), where magic is applied to almost everything and concepts such as spirits and the undead have been embraced as scientific rationale to run the world, our hero, Lieutenant Donal Riordan, is on a case that still has the ability to feel bizarre. You see, the city's power is generated by bones of the deceased (each necroflux generator require the bones of two thousand bodies), but some of these bones have a different use. Those people who showed a unique creative flair in life (such as performers) have a ‘song' in their bones, which allows a possessor of their remains to escape into realms beyond description. These bones are hunted down on the black market, but someone is being a bit more conspicuous. Four stage performers have died in State capitals, and a legendary diva is about to arrive in Tristopolis. She is believed to be the next target, and Riordan must lead a team to make sure nothing happens to her.
And that's just the start of the novel. Because Riordan is not meant to succeed. And when all goes wrong, he is left to expose a secret sect, a path of corruption in the police force, and the shady dealings of another country/city, Illurium, where their power is generated by something much worse than bones (think ‘The Matrix'), all in the name of revenge.
I'll give you a preview of the novel's many wonderful dark combinations from the speculative realm: Enormous Lycaon werewolves keep sentry over the police tower; bats and dinosaur-like creatures fly over the city and scan it as a means of security surveillance; wraiths are used for almost every slave-like chore imaginable – from opening doors and drawers to taking the place of a lift and carrying passengers to their destination (there's no reprieve for most of the dead); to vehicles that are powered by spirits and are therefore alive, that mould with their rider, change shape and defend themselves. And let's not forget zombies – not the Romero kind but corpses reanimated via an internal system that is recharged much like a mobile phone (just plug it in), corpses that are still intelligent and blend in with the rest of society's fabric, their skin just a little paler. Riordan happens to fall in love with one of these zombies – Commander Laura Steele, who leads the team out for revenge.
There are even tiny details embedded in the text, which feel so natural you just skim over – for example, having purple taxis instead of yellow/white. They're not needed, but they add to the genuine feel of being in the city of Tristopolis. I could vividly picture many of the dark scenes.
If there were to be any complaints, I would start by saying that at times I felt overloaded with the bizarre concepts in Tristopolis to the point where some passages were a little awkward to read until I understood exactly what was happening (though I must say that I am currently reading the second instalment of the series, ‘Dark Blood', and the concepts feel a lot more natural). Some of the descriptive prose should have been cut to lead into the tense scenes, which are handled a lot better. I was also disappointed with the cheesy union of Riordan and his zombie love-interest, Commander Steele. It is typical of too many sci-fi laced stories – where man meets woman, falls in love with her because, hey, she's the only woman who has, to that point, been given enough depth in the story (and didn't die). They spend one night together and they're already professing love and, well… I guess this is fiction. The believability of their union does strengthen towards the end of the novel, though, but Steele's character is just a little too flat for it to matter. And of course, the dialogue… Snappy, basic, reminiscent of bad action movies, comic books and pulp fiction. At times, that's a good thing – and it certainly fits with the style of story. However, I was often left wanting more natural responses – that's just my preference.
I recommend this novel to anyone interested in absorbing a highly-imaginative mix of all things speculative, or a crime story with a unique angle. I won't give the ending away, of course, but the pace becomes frantic, with red herrings aplenty, giving hints that this series will be getting a lot better.
the novel
'Bone Song' - by John Meaney (Gollancz, 2008) - Noir Spec-Fic (a touch of crime, sci-fi, fantasy and horror)
