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4.0 out of 5 stars
An epic alternative future, Jun 7 2004
Five years after its first publication I finally get round to reading Chadbourn's opener in the 'Age of Misrule' and find I should have read it back then. However, the bonus is that I can read the other two immediately after.
Opening in a London pea-souper, Jack Churchill and Ruth Gallagher arrive at the scene of a scuffle which rapidly becomes a murder that leaves them firstly unconscious then traumatised. On waking and then undergoing hypnotherapy they come to realise that the duality that is the world is about to end, that science is shortly to die and magic to regain it's place in the world. What follows is a manic car chase down the M4 as they are hunted by a dragon, one of the Fabulous beasts and then stalked by the Baobhan Sith.
Over the course of the next hundred or so pages we learn that Ruth and Church are two of the Five Brothers and Sisters of the Dragon, fated to save the world from the return of the Fomorii, the fantastically evil enemies of the Tuatha De Danann.After meeting the third sister, the overly cynical Laura and being tasked by one of the remaining Tuatha De Danann to find the four objects of power (Stone of Fal, Sword of Nuada, Spear of Lugh, Cauldron of Dagda) by Beltane they find themselves being hunted across Southern England as a lantern of power directs them to each object. After quickly gaining the stone in Avebury, Church and Tom (an aging hippy who has visited the Otherlands and has become the five's mentor) are caught by the Formorri leader and tortured, before they escape with new brother Dragon, Veitch. Laura and Ruth meet up with the fifth brother, Shavri and narrowly escape capture by the Wild Hunt. All the while science continues to fail and the countryside is beginning to realise that the stuff of fairy tales is coming true, whilst the great cities slumber unprepared.
The chase truly begins as they move to Glastonbury Tor for the cauldron, or Graal, to Tintagel for the Sword and deepest Wales for the final spear before hurtling northwards through the Lake District. During the events each experiences their own personal odyssey as we are introduced to the special skills that make up the quintet. However, the sum is always greater than the parts. Having recovered all then losing the artefacts they defeat the Erle King and bring the objects together for Beltane and free the Danann who drive off the Formorri. The victory comes at price as the Danann claim an intent to stay on Earth and claim it for themselves and we conclude with the British government finally broadcasting to a nation the darkness that lies ahead.
Chadbourn's first of three is a sparkling read, weaving multiple Celtic myths together to reopen a Britain that has much of its folklore in mistier times. Providing a new future for the island nation and bringing together some peculiarly British characters (who do need some more work to become more rounded) it is a magisterial tour de force from this author that any fantasy fan will enjoy.
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