By: Alan Campbell Publisher: Subterranean Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Subterranean Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 136 Publication Date: January 28, 2008 Release Date: January 08, 2008
Product Description: Alan Campbell has graced us with a 26,000 word novella, a prequel to his stunning fantasy debut, Scar Night, the first novel of the Deepgate Codex. Lye Street ends just where the novel picks up!
The Greene family is cursed. Every fifty years Deepgate s scarred angel, Carnival, returns to murder another descendant. Now, five hundred years after the first victim s death, Sal Greene is facing his own doom. His time has almost run out. In a desperate attempt to break the chain of violence and save his family, he summons a demon to the chained city: a warrior he hopes is powerful enough to stand against the angel.
Yet the creature which arrives in Deepgate is not quite the legendary mercenary Sal Greene was expecting.
A quick and fulfilling prologue to a great series Alan Campbell's Lye Street is an interesting and satiating prelude to his two other novels Scar Night and Iron Angel. The story tells us the beginnings of that horribly delicious fallen angel Carnival. We are supplied with detailed insight about how she came to be and why she has started that game called "scar night." If you haven't read any of his books, I suggest you read Scar Night first, followed by Lye Street and than Iron Angel. If you are into intricate details and plots that involve anti-heroes, than this series is for you. A great read. And being a long time fan of Dave McKean, I was happy with his art work in the novella.
A dark, humorous, wildly entertaining novella To be honest, I am completely addicted to the limited editions published by Subterranean Press. They are absolutely beautiful, well-crafted books that make my inner book collector very happy. So with great anticipation, I tackled Alan Campbell's "Lye Street", a novella of the Deepgate Codex exclusively published by Subterranean Press.
"Lye Street" is my first introduction to the work of Alan Campbell and his Deepgate Codex series, which consists of the first installment, "Scar Night", and the forthcoming "Iron Angel" . The Subterranean novella is meant to be a prelude to Campbell's series.
Sal Greene lives under a curse. His ancestor, Henry Bucklestrappe, committed acts which not only lead to Bucklestrappe's own brutal murder, but to the murders of Bucklestrappe's descendents every subsequent half-century by the scarred and murderous angel, Carnival. Now some five hundred years after Bucklestrappe's murder, Sal finds himself the next target of Carnival's crusade against his family, his time dwindling down to a remaining few days. With the help of the phantasmacist Ravencrag, Sal summons the demon Basilis to kill Carnival. Meanwhile, Carnival must unravel the mystery of the cryptic messages that are being left for her. Who is leaving the messages for her? Will Carnival figure out their meaning in time? Will Sal be able to survive the wrath of Carnival and the family curse?
The world of Deepgate, a city suspended by a huge network of chains over a vast abyss, is well-imagined by Campbell, vivid in its presentation, and a rather unique take on urban fantasy. All the characters are interesting and entertaining, prominently defined, even though the novella is only 135 pages. Sal's motivations to avoid the curse are greater than mercenary self-interest; he is a man seeking to save his daughter and granddaughter, and will attempt anything to accomplish this task. Carnival is a mystery to herself, full of forgotten memories, which ultimately drives her to seek out answers. But where are these answers to come from, and can she trust the source? Campbell also injects a nice sense of humor into the characters (excluding Carnival) which generally livens up the dialogue, and makes the novella fun to read.
The novella is a capable story, interesting and fun, but nothing really spectacular that will make it stand apart, pedestrian but not clichéd. My guess is that for those who have read "Scar Night", the experience of "Lye Street" will be richer.
Last Word: Alan Campbell's well-executed novella, "Lye Street", presents some great visualization along with memorable characters. Furthermore, the story is humorous, witty, and possesses a satisfying conclusion. Couple this with the usual brilliant treatment by the folks at Subterranean Press, and you have yourself a winner.
A dark world ripe with all manners of mischief Lye Street is a very good novella that introduces an interesting, if somewhat overly-dark, world. As with any novella there are only two paths available: to either develop one or two characters thus ending up with a mostly uneventful story, or tell a complete story and in doing so somewhat neglecting character development. Campbell chooses the latter; he provides enough foundations to truly admire his imaginative world and its numerous denizens but focuses mostly on the plight of one man under a curse and his would-be angelic executioner. We know the motivations of most of the characters, well maybe not Carnival's, but not much else. Despite this, many mysterious and fascinating events are described in a short span, raising many questions and probably setting the stage for the novels that follow. Despite its predominantly morbid surroundings, Campbell provides enough humor and irony to the story and succeeds to create an enjoyable reading experience. The only drawback to the story is the unbelievable power and raw vigor of Carnival, which makes mere humans incapable of disposing of her, even when they carefully plan a trap and clearly have her at a disadvantage. Of course, this is my first venture into Deepgate, and I have not yet read Scar Night, but I think there is real potential in this series.
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