Book Review: Relics, by Tim Lebbon
An urban fantasy/dark horror about nasty people and monsters.
Titan Books, 2017, 382 pages
There's an underground black market for arcane things. Akin to the trade in rhino horns or tiger bones, this network traffics in remains of gryphons, faeries, goblins, and other fantastic creatures.
When her fiance Vince goes missing, Angela Gough, an American criminology student, discovers he was a part of this secretive trade. It's a big-money business-shadowy, brutal, and sometimes fatal. As the trail leads her deeper into London's dark side, she crosses paths with a crime lord whose life is dedicated to collecting such relics.
Then Angela discovers that some of these objects aren't as ancient as they seem. Some of them are fresh.
Relics could be considered "urban fantasy" since it features the familiar theme of mythological monsters hiding in a modern urban setting. The tone is much more dark fantasy, edging into horror. There is a lot of violence and gore. To me that made it more enjoyable than your typical "paranormal-romance-pretending-to-be-fantasy."
Angela Gough is an American gal living in London with a hot British boyfriend. She became enamored of true crime thrillers, which led her to majoring in criminology. She and her boyfriend Vince are deeply in love but haven't really discussed getting married yet, and Angela has been happily child-free for years but with her biological clock ticking she's starting to want all the things modern strong independent women aren't supposed to care about. So she's kind of a stereotype, and unsurprisingly was the least interesting character in the book.
Somehow she's been living with Vince for years, even as he maintains a separate apartment, and she's had no real idea of what he does for a living. Something finance-trade mumble mumble.
A normal person would think this is all kinds of red flags, but when Vince disappears, leaving a note saying "Don't look for me," Angela is absolutely certain it couldn't be that Vince just decided to leave her, or had a side chick somewhere.
To be fair, she is right, but come on now.
Eventually, Angela discovers that Vince has actually been working "freelance" for a couple of a London crime lords who collect "relics": the ancient remains of mythological creatures. Satyrs, goblins, nymphs, angels, fairies; they all existed once, and there are people willing to pay big money for their parts. Except it turns out, the creatures aren't all dead, and the buyers for these relics aren't just interested in the preserved remains of the long-dead. They want fresh parts.
Aside from the eye-rolling obtuseness of one of the POV characters, I enjoyed the book. Relics has a familiar cosmology; legendary creatures who faded into myth as humans multiplied and industrial civilization took over, but they're still hiding there in the shadows. Some of them are friendly, and some are pretty nasty, but the worst characters in the book are humans. Angela and Vince are caught up in a three-way conflict between a mad satyr, two rival sociopathic crime bosses, and the Kin they are helping defend. The book is quite contemporary (when Angela asks one of the Kin "What can you do?", Vince tells her "They're not the Avengers."). It's also quite bloody and gruesome in places.
Relics stands on its own, but it's the first book in a trilogy. I'm interested to see if the following books hold the theme well or just become an ever-expanding monster manual.
My complete list of book reviews.
Titan Books, 2017, 382 pages
There's an underground black market for arcane things. Akin to the trade in rhino horns or tiger bones, this network traffics in remains of gryphons, faeries, goblins, and other fantastic creatures.
When her fiance Vince goes missing, Angela Gough, an American criminology student, discovers he was a part of this secretive trade. It's a big-money business-shadowy, brutal, and sometimes fatal. As the trail leads her deeper into London's dark side, she crosses paths with a crime lord whose life is dedicated to collecting such relics.
Then Angela discovers that some of these objects aren't as ancient as they seem. Some of them are fresh.
Relics could be considered "urban fantasy" since it features the familiar theme of mythological monsters hiding in a modern urban setting. The tone is much more dark fantasy, edging into horror. There is a lot of violence and gore. To me that made it more enjoyable than your typical "paranormal-romance-pretending-to-be-fantasy."
Angela Gough is an American gal living in London with a hot British boyfriend. She became enamored of true crime thrillers, which led her to majoring in criminology. She and her boyfriend Vince are deeply in love but haven't really discussed getting married yet, and Angela has been happily child-free for years but with her biological clock ticking she's starting to want all the things modern strong independent women aren't supposed to care about. So she's kind of a stereotype, and unsurprisingly was the least interesting character in the book.
Somehow she's been living with Vince for years, even as he maintains a separate apartment, and she's had no real idea of what he does for a living. Something finance-trade mumble mumble.
A normal person would think this is all kinds of red flags, but when Vince disappears, leaving a note saying "Don't look for me," Angela is absolutely certain it couldn't be that Vince just decided to leave her, or had a side chick somewhere.
To be fair, she is right, but come on now.
Eventually, Angela discovers that Vince has actually been working "freelance" for a couple of a London crime lords who collect "relics": the ancient remains of mythological creatures. Satyrs, goblins, nymphs, angels, fairies; they all existed once, and there are people willing to pay big money for their parts. Except it turns out, the creatures aren't all dead, and the buyers for these relics aren't just interested in the preserved remains of the long-dead. They want fresh parts.
Aside from the eye-rolling obtuseness of one of the POV characters, I enjoyed the book. Relics has a familiar cosmology; legendary creatures who faded into myth as humans multiplied and industrial civilization took over, but they're still hiding there in the shadows. Some of them are friendly, and some are pretty nasty, but the worst characters in the book are humans. Angela and Vince are caught up in a three-way conflict between a mad satyr, two rival sociopathic crime bosses, and the Kin they are helping defend. The book is quite contemporary (when Angela asks one of the Kin "What can you do?", Vince tells her "They're not the Avengers."). It's also quite bloody and gruesome in places.
Relics stands on its own, but it's the first book in a trilogy. I'm interested to see if the following books hold the theme well or just become an ever-expanding monster manual.
My complete list of book reviews.