By Jonathan Green

Review by Richmond Clements

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I have a confession to make here. I have never read any of the previous books in this series, in fact, for various reasons I haven’t read a fiction book for something like six months.

So, was this book going to be enough to get me back on the fiction boat again, and would it make a difference if I hadn’t read the preceding episodes?

This is the fourth novel in Green’s series starring the character Ulysses Quicksilver - dandy and adventurer by appointment to the Crown. I have to say that Quicksilver is not entirely the character I expected him to be, and this is not a bad thing. I was, I think, expecting an archetypal, clichéd cardboard cut-out somewhere between Sherlock Holmes and Jason King. And while there are elements of this in the character, he’s a lot more interesting than that. I asked the question earlier about possible problems in not reading the previous books. Well, the first time we meet Quicksilver, I immediately identified the need to read the other novels. Not because the plot here was unclear or dependant on it, but because we join Quicksilver in a situation so bizarre that it demands you read the previous book just to see how he got there.

As well as Quicksilver, the novel also follows the exploits of one Thomas Sanctuary, who I assume is a new character. He’s just out of jail and looking for revenge. Meanwhile, Quicksilver encounters a bug problem and investigates a golem on the loose in London. Through all this, a jet pack wearing superhero appears in the skies over London, and there’s a nice running joke as he tries to come up with a good name for himself.

There’s a lot going on then- and Green handles it all with aplomb. The action is clearly written and exciting, characters are well drawn and for the most part the dialogue is spot on. What Green delivers in spades though, is atmosphere. The reader can almost smell the fetid yellow Smog that hangs over London in this book.

That’s not to say the book is without fault. There are a few typos, and they are always distracting. At one point something happens to help the plot along that was maybe a bit too convenient, and the villain’s Big Scheme is a bit familiar to both a certain superhero movie as well as a story from the pages of 2000AD.

As well as the book itself, there is also a short novella at the end, this set in 1797 and featuring a daring lady adventurer by the name of Cassandra Tyrrell. It is, on the face of it, merely an entertaining romp, but ends up adding some intriguing depth to the world that Green is constructing for his characters.

All in all, the good does outweigh the bad- there are some nicely tantalising plot threads left hanging at the end - enough to make me eager for the next in the series. And in the end, leaving the reader wanting more is the ultimate aim of the writer. So job done!

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