The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup
The Salt King by by Natasha Pulley (Gollancz, £22)
The latest from the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street blends an apocalyptic end-of-the-world tale with folk horror and two slowly developing love stories. Avelyn Brocken is a trainee priest at the Vatican, sent to check out a possible miracle in the fens of East Anglia. His only qualification for the job is that he was born and raised in Hreodwater, a strange community based around a salt mine with its own language, religion and rituals. But what begins in Hreodwater, involving the mysterious salt light and a sleeping king deep in the mine, threatens civilisations. An original, rich and gripping tale that’s also an interesting exploration of the power of faith.
A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett (Hodderscape, £25)
A new case for Ana and Din, the crime-solving team introduced in the Hugo and World Fantasy award-winning novel The Tainted Cup, focuses on a murder among the cattle-ranching gentry of the Empire of Khanum. The murderer has been caught red-handed, unable to remember what happened. The victim was his lover, and their families were enemies; he is the last of his line, and fears his family is cursed. The detectives suspect a more material and dangerous adversary behind the scenes, with access to a terrifying weapon. This is the sort of other-world fantasy with close ties to speculative fiction, based on natural laws and science rather than any magical system, and some of the issues it raises are of immediate concern in today’s world of shrinking resources. Great world-building and a masterfully conceived mystery make for a compelling cross-genre blend.
Netherwood by Jake Arnott (Titan, £18.99)
London is too expensive, so artist Adam and his partner Justine buy a house in Hastings. The room at the top will make the perfect studio for Adam, whose career has stalled after drink, drugs and quarrels. They’re intrigued by the property’s “special feature” – a cave hidden behind a locked door in the back wall. After they move in they discover a Latin phrase carved into the wall, layers of candle wax, a mysterious sealed bottle: evidence of occult rituals? It turns out the previous owner was a devotee of chaos magic, inspired by the notorious Aleister Crowley, who died in a Hastings boarding house called Netherwood. Justine fears they could be in danger, sensing the ghostly presence of a frightened girl, but at the same time, their new home is inspiring Adam to create his most powerful paintings, winning back the support of his agent and the promise of big money. A wonderfully unnerving, evocative horror in which Hastings looms large as the most uncanny place in England.
Fawn by CN Vair (3AM, £20)
This debut begins with deceptive gentleness, introducing the reader to Tess, a witch in present-day America who sold her soul to the devil in 1935, the price for surviving a murderous attack. She hardly seems to have aged, but is careful to keep the locals from noticing, using spells to turn unwanted attention away and keep herself and her animal sanctuary safe. Things start to go wrong when she rescues a fawn, born at the wrong time of year with teeth and a thirst for blood. She ignores advice to put it down, but when the local cop insists it must be destroyed, and a new preacher arrives in town, seeming to turn her friends against her, she struggles to maintain control. Just when she needs them most, the old spells are failing her. Like a newborn fawn, she’s doomed to be seen as prey. Tess refuses to accept defeat, on any level; she will do whatever it takes to survive in this disturbing, seductively written fiction about power and female rage.
Reporting from The Guardian contributed to this story.
