I just finished

another interesting book, A Madness of Angels: Or The Resurrection of Matthew Swift

This was an enjoyable book, with some new and original ideas in the realm of fantasy fiction. The language is terrific. The author requires you to read every word, glossing over things to get the general sense just doesn't work, but that's not a bad thing. In the first chapter she grabs you with her discriptive powers. I caught myself staring at this paragraph:

"In the heart of London, in the area defined by Wigmore Street to the north and Oxford Street to the south, there is a network of little weaving, half-hearted roads and tiny, crabbed alleyways, the remnants of a time when almost every street in the city snuggled up to its neighbours, like fleas to skin, compressing the people between its walls into every tighter and darker corners."

By itself, not great literature, but it evokes an imaginative vision that is real and tangible. It makes itself substantial. I like her language in this book a great deal.

There are a few plot holes, and things that appear out of nowhere that leave you thinking 'how did he know to do that?' and it was odd to leave most of the backstory to almost the end of the book, but these things didn't make the book any less enjoyable. This is, apparently, the author's first book for adults, she has previously written for a young adult audience. I think she's make a really good transition to her new readership...

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