My review:
Wicked Gentlemen is an extraordinary, vivid work of imagination, drawing on the seamy atmosphere of Jack the Ripper's London and the terrors of the Inquisition, describing a fin de siècle theocratic 'Britain' that Hieronymous Bosch might have created. A world where demons and magic and religious persecution create Hell on earth, hundreds of years after the denizens of the hell below were supposedly drawn up and into the light. A squalid, dangerous, frightening world, where, it seems, no one escapes their hereditary destiny. This books is about two men who try to do just that.
The two protagonists are deliberate opposites. Belimai Sykes is a Prodigal – a fallen angel, a demon, and drug addict, living in the world of men but hated and feared by them. William Harper is an Inquisitor – an upper class priest, privileged and pure, but also, at heart, an honest copper. Together they are not unlike the two side of that other honest copper, Samuel Vimes, just as the world of this novel is like Ankh Morpork without the whimsy. The two books of this novel explore the beginnings of their partnership as they struggle against corruption, brutality, and the demons of their past which haunt them, figuratively, and in some cases, literally.
In the first book, 'Mr Sykes and the Firefly', Harper and his brother-in-law come to Belimai for help in finding Harper's sister, a sympathiser of the demon underclass – and perhaps more. They are all quickly plunged into a murder mystery which threatens Belimai and his kin, and reveals the dangerous and dark secrets of Harper's family history.
The mystery is sufficiently involved to command interest, but what really demands our attention is Belimai himself – a broken man, someone who's lost all hope, but who yet retains more humanity than many of the humans who despise him. Harper is less well revealed by the end of this story, but we see the growing bond between them, based, though it seems to be, on nothing more than a few casual encounters.
It's Harper's turn to be on show in the next book, 'Captain Harper and the Sixty Second Circle', which takes place some months after the first. Here, there is no mystery about the crime Harper finds himself involved in, but instead, a desperate cat and mouse game with an innocent Belimai one of the hunted. Harper must confront the nature of his employers – and himself – to save those who mean the most to him. While he must admit to his own baseness, Belimai reveals the innate nobility that no amount of cruelty has driven from him. In the end, we are left to ponder just who are the real demons in this world.
The two books are tantalisingly fascinating, as are the two main characters, but by the end, I was left with a slight feeling of being cheated. Much of the growth in the relationship, the interactions between Belimai and Sykes, take place 'off camera' so we don't see for ourselves how these two very different men have come to an understanding, though that understanding is moving and powerful for what it is. Similarly, the details of the villains, their motivations, are only sketched – they are simply cruel and villainous, without any explanation, and their crimes seem rather pointless exercises in sadism. Which, indeed, they may well be, but a mystery is less involving when the bad guys do bad things for no apparent reason. I was also less than convinced by the central event of Belimai's past, the thing that brought him low and broke him. The motivation is consistent with his later actions – but the excuse for such heroism seemed rather trivial, a point which several characters note throughout the novel. I felt there was much more that the author had in mind as backstory, but which never made its way into the final book, and it left me feeling vaguely unsatisfied.
However, part of the feeling of being left unsatisfied is simply greed on my part – the author has created such a rich and complex world that one can only wish to spend more time there. Had the books been twice the length, I would not have complained, and if the author writes more about these characters, I would be the first to snap the book up. She has an evocative, powerful way with words, and we are placed very firmly in this dystopia, with no lapses of authorial control over mood or atmosphere. I enjoyed the pacing, and the fact that, dark though it was, the reader is given relief at necessary points from the hellishness. Belimai's tale, in his point of view, was the most real to my mind, but both books were compelling.
My only criticism of the writing style is that the author tends to use rather short sentences, which in places became annoyingly jerky to read. Yet that very same style can create the most wonderful poetic effect, and overall, it's the poetry of this novel which remains with the reader, not transitory irritation. I could nitpick and instance of two of distinctly American phraseology here and there, which jars a tad with the England-like setting, but this truly is nitpicking, and I mention it only for completeness.
After reading so many e-novels, I was surprised at the quality and beauty of the physical product I was sent to review. The cover art by Dawn Kimberling is utterly exquisite, and the book, though a paperback, is printed on good quality paper which is simply a delight to read from.
I thoroughly recommend this novel, and I eagerly anticipate Ms Hale's next offering. I hope she will feel moved to write more in this universe, and give us more of Belimai and Harper, dark knights of their satanic world.
