Alan Campbell (1) (1971–)

In a city suspended over the void by chains of steel, angels hunt in the night…

The decaying city of Deepgate hangs suspended over the abyss by a mass of chains. It is ruled by a theocracy supported by the mythology of a god who will eventually return with a host of dead souls to kill his brother and save the world. The reality is somewhat darker, and this gritty fantasy is as blood-soaked as it is compelling.

The story starts as a dark mystery, attempting to find a soul thief in the city who murders innocents and bleeds them dry. Every eye is aimed at a mad angel named Carnival who stalks the city streets once a month for a victim to sustain herself, but the murders just don’t fit her pattern.

I’ve read – or attempted to read – this book twice. Both times, I’ve ended up quitting halfway through. I really loved the worldbuilding – this world is easily one of the most unique I’ve ever experienced, but also deeply flawed. The one thing I couldn’t get past in this book was, “Why?” Why on earth did these guys suspend their city over a giant pit? Where do the chains connect to? Why not build on the edge and just kick the dead over? I just kept yearning for an explanation, any explanation at all, no matter what it was, and it was a need that was never fulfilled.

I loved some of the characters – Dill, the innocent, hapless angel who has been brought up by the church to be an armed defender of the church but who spends most of his time pretending to be his ancestor, an angel who saved the world. I loved the story (and the backstory) of Deepgate’s resident poisoner. I appreciated the conflicted character of the head of the church, who is protecting a secret that would throw the entire world into question. I really appreciated some of the elements of steampunk that were occasionally included – the zeppelins, the war with a distant enemy fought with poisons and gas, the decaying city with parts that occasionally fell into the deeps, the scroungers… And I really liked elements of the story itself – betrayal, a social mythology built on a lie, and a lie that’s about to bite back… But somehow the execution fell a little flat.

If you’re up for a truly unique, gritty and bloody read, this is definitely a good book. But in a lot of ways, I think this would work better as a tv series, a movie, or a video game, instead of a novel.… (meer)

Interesting series as a whole. Campbell is really good at imagining and describing these fantastic worlds, but I think that it's also his weakness. He seems to be more interested in developing the world and his vivid descriptions at the expense of the plot. As things start to get interesting, he pauses to describe everything around the characters, and it causes the story to slow down and break up.

Still, it's a worthwhile and interesting read, but you do need have some patience to get through the whole thing.… (meer)

This book blew me away, mostly thanks to its excellent worldbuilding. In this world, humanity was formerly enslaved by the Unmer, a race of evil sorcerer types. When the Unmer were overthrown by the Haurstaf, an order of human telepaths, the Unmer threw millions of magic bottles into the ocean, enchanted to constantly spray out poisonous brine that turns human skin into "sharkskin," and ultimately renders those fully immersed in it into the Drowned, a sort of aquatic mindless zombie.

It's a bleak world that the author portrays, and bleaker still since it's apparent that everybody is too busy caught up in their own agenda to do anything about it. Aside from that, it feels like a complete world, full of interesting tidbits. Everything from the mysterious magical Unmer artifacts to the use of dragon/monster bones in construction, right down to the way people dress or cook their food, feels like it was carefully considered and makes perfect sense for the world they live in. That, and these nifty details come hard and fast, so I was enthralled by the worldbuilding throughout.

The characters are kind of a mixed bag. Granger is a super badass and capable of McGuyver-ing his way out of tough scrapes, but I don't really get why he risks so much to save Ianthe. Speaking of Ianthe, she's another major POV character, but aside from her unusual powers, doesn't offer much beyond the typical endangered child protagonist. My favorite character was the sadistic Ethan Maskelyne, a sort of scientist/wizard/antiquarian who's also quite the psychopath.

The plot is a real masterwork. The pacing may be a bit slow right before the middle, but overall it moves at a good clip and never left me bored. Like the worldbuilding, everything about the plot fits together perfectly. No scenes are wasted. Everything serves a purpose, and everything happens for an established reason, more often than not as the result of another character's actions.

Overall, I think I like this book in particular because it has many of the elements of the New Weird, i.e. weird magic, extensive, anti-Tolkienesque worldbuilding, a sick, dirty world in the hands of irresponsbile sadists, etc. without being yet another urban steampunk fantasy. Sea of Ghosts fits right in with the New Weird, but very much carves its own niche. If you like China Mieville's Bas-Lag series or Jeff VanderMeer's Ambergris series, you need to read this.… (meer)

Fantastic first half with Alan Campbells' typical rich world building and jaw dropping visual set pieces. It seemed to suffer in the middle sections, as some of the previous novels, with directionless sub plots seemingly designed just to move characters around for the end game. Much like Deepgate, in Scar Night he creates a mesmerising and exciting setting - the half drowned prison city of Euthugra in this case - and then abandons it half way through. However; a brilliant climax which I wish he had dwelt on a little longer and automatically 4 stars for having a bad guy with a secret trapdoor, scene. Fabulous!… (meer)