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The Court of the Air

by Stephen Hunt



      On a planet far away, which seems like a twisted echo of our own during the early 19th century, is the Land of Jackals, and at its heart the great capital city of Middlesteel. Here live Molly Templar, an orphan at the Sun Gate Workhouse, and Oliver Brooks, another orphan who lives with his uncle. They sound ordinary enough, but there is something about both of them that has assassins and hired guns out to catch them. When everybody in the orphanage is found butchered, and Oliver comes home to find both his uncle and servant dead, it is time to go on the run. And what adventures they are going to have before the final page...

If this isn’t the best fantasy novel I will read this year I will count myself lucky indeed to have more than one such treat. An aerial navy, a kingdom ruled by sentient machines (surely the most appealing characters in this book, too), an alternative court floating high above the city, ancient ruins, forgotten gods and adventures on every page. It’s quite a big book too, but when I came to the end of it I felt as if I was saying goodbye to a friend. Hunt has made a very well-realized world which although not ground breakingly original, gives the reader more the feeling that it stands on the shoulders of giants rather than that any appropriating has gone on. If you were a fan of Joan Aiken, thrilled to Philip Pullman or Jonathan Stroud and want something with a bit more blood and thunder than Susannah Clarke then this is surely it, an adult fantasy which is the current culmination of this type of setting. Loveable (and hissable) characters, thrilling chases and battle scenes, endless imaginative imagery and a clever ending make this five star stuff. Dare I say it? Hugely enjoyable!

The Book

Voyager (Harper Collins UK)
March 2007
Hardback
9780007232178
Fantasy
More at Amazon.com US|| UK
Excerpt
NOTE: Fantasy style violence

The Reviewer

Rachel A Hyde
Reviewed 2007
NOTE:
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