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A review by ianbanks
Fade to Black by Francis Knight
3.0
Fade To Black is Francis Knight’s first novel. It is also the first volume of a series about the private detective/ bounty hunter/ soldier of misfortune Rojan Dizon. In this introductory volume, Rojan has just “recovered” the daughter of a prominent citizen of the towering city of Mahala when he is approached by his brother who wants him to rescue his daughter, recently taken by the mysterious agents of the Ministry for some nefarious purpose of their own…
As it is the first volume of an eponymous series I can tell you safely that things do not end badly for Rojan. However the status quo of life in Mahala changes significantly over the course of this book so that future volumes will be quite interesting.
Which is good because this is quite a promising series: Rojan is a dark character, with a history of sadness and bad things and magical talents that he has barely begun to plumb due to the societal mistrust of things magical. And the setting has loads of potential as well: Mahala is a city state crushed between two larger nations and it has had to resort to some fearsome practices in order to stay alive. And due to the increasing population and lack of space they have grown up rather than out. The result is a city that wants to remind you of Blade Runner, Lankhmar, New Crobuzon and every New York mean street you ever walked down but more often than not – at least for this reader – brings to mind the setting of Marvel’s 2099 series from many years back. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
It has a lot to offer a reader who is interested in genre mash-ups. It is a soap opera, a fantasy saga about magic being passed genetically down a line, a war story, a detective novel, a thriller and it contains enough mindbending concepts that could be the basis of novels or stories all on their ownsome, which is what you should be getting when inspiration strikes true.
But for me, it felt a little samey compared to what other writers have achieved with similar stories. However, I wouldn’t say no to picking up future volumes because Knight tells a cracking story and keeps those pages turning.
(This review is also published at http://stuffianlikes.aussieblogs.com.au/2013/04/06/34/
As it is the first volume of an eponymous series I can tell you safely that things do not end badly for Rojan. However the status quo of life in Mahala changes significantly over the course of this book so that future volumes will be quite interesting.
Which is good because this is quite a promising series: Rojan is a dark character, with a history of sadness and bad things and magical talents that he has barely begun to plumb due to the societal mistrust of things magical. And the setting has loads of potential as well: Mahala is a city state crushed between two larger nations and it has had to resort to some fearsome practices in order to stay alive. And due to the increasing population and lack of space they have grown up rather than out. The result is a city that wants to remind you of Blade Runner, Lankhmar, New Crobuzon and every New York mean street you ever walked down but more often than not – at least for this reader – brings to mind the setting of Marvel’s 2099 series from many years back. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
It has a lot to offer a reader who is interested in genre mash-ups. It is a soap opera, a fantasy saga about magic being passed genetically down a line, a war story, a detective novel, a thriller and it contains enough mindbending concepts that could be the basis of novels or stories all on their ownsome, which is what you should be getting when inspiration strikes true.
But for me, it felt a little samey compared to what other writers have achieved with similar stories. However, I wouldn’t say no to picking up future volumes because Knight tells a cracking story and keeps those pages turning.
(This review is also published at http://stuffianlikes.aussieblogs.com.au/2013/04/06/34/