The Seagull Drovers
Legends of the Land Book III
By Steve Cockayne

   If somebody asked me to name the most imaginative book I have read recently, I would have no hesitation in naming this one, or its two predecessors: Wanderers & Islanders and The Iron Chain (also reviewed on this site). Fantasy fans will surely all agree that too much of this genre is Tolkein-derived, and therefore to find a novel that is patently nothing of the kind is something of a treat. It is never easy to say in a nutshell what these books are actually about. Set in a land only slightly removed from our own, they weave a tapestry of the linked lives of a number of people. They see their world, a place of magicians and kings akin to the fantasy lands beloved of children’s writers turned into a clever satire of modern Britain.

   Leonardo Pegasus still tinkers with his Multiple Empathy Engine, but now his dream is to destroy the evil entity Lee. Corrupt King Matthew is in custody of the frightful High Master Fang and his Wolf Boys, while Charles and Sally Bannister plot to free him and find an alternative fuel for the cars they manufacture. Threaded through all this is the diary of lively teenager Ashleigh Brown, daughter of Rusty--Cat Girl cadet and Girl Detective. Roaming across the land is the growing band of Seagull Drovers, who believe that the only way to cure the ills that beset their world is to drive the seagulls back to the sea.

   After the rather grim tale of Tom Slater and his chain, the final part of the trilogy is rather lighter, and there are some delightfully tongue-in-cheek moments in here. A peddler who has stopped carrying her wares and now carries around a large mail order catalog, the joys and woes of the Internet (complete with imps) and the capital-lettered teenage observations of Ashleigh. I particularly enjoyed the way the story was told by a number of different voices: Ahsleigh’s diary, the pedantic school textbook telling the tale of the history of the Land and the third person narrative that eavesdrops on Leonardo. I keep scanning catalogs and bookshelves, waiting for people to start copying this remarkably original trilogy, but as yet they haven’t. Will this be the best fantasy of 2004? I wouldn’t be at all surprised. This truly is (my highest praise phrase) hugely enjoyable.