Review: A Song for the Dark Times

A Song for the Dark Times by Ian Rankin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Proof that retirement is not the end. Ian Rankin made the decision many years ago that his central character, John Rebus, would age in real time meaning that he was forced to leave the police force several novels ago, yet the subsequent books have been no less thrilling or entertaining. A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES is no exception.

Rebus heads north having received a call from his daughter, Samantha, whose partner, Keith, has gone missing. Back in Edinburgh, Siobhan Clarke and Malcolm Fox investigate the murder of a James Bond-worshipping Saudi playboy student. The narrative alternates between the two plots connected by the relationship between Rebus and Clarke as they stay in touch by phone. And, when Siobhan's investigation turns up someone from near to the village in which Rebus's daughter lives, the cases become more intertwined.

As always though, it is the characters who drive the story. We enjoy spending time with the cantankerous John Rebus, and we worry about the COPD which has caused him to leave his flat, due to the struggle with stairs. He is getting old and Siobhan worries about him, even as she is exasperated by both Rebus and Fox. I really hope there are many more Rebus mysteries to come but, should the day come, and it will be a sad day, there is great potential in Clarke's and Fox's love/hate relationship.

And what happens after that last chapter? I cannot wait to find out.

View all my reviews

#BlogTour - The Trials of Koli by M.R. Carey

EVERYTHING THAT LIVES HATES US

Beyond the walls of Koli's small village lies a fearsome landscape filled with choker trees, vicious beasts and shunned men. As an exile, Koli's been forced to journey out into this mysterious, hostile world. But he heard a story, once. A story about lost London, and the mysterious tech of the Old Times that may still be there. If Koli can find it, there may still be a way for him to redeem himself - by saving what's left of humankind.

THE TRIALS OF KOLI is the second novel in M R. Carey's breathtakingly original Rampart trilogy, set in a strange and deadly world of our own making.

M. R. Carey has been making up stories for most of his life. His novel The Girl With All the Gifts was a word-of-mouth bestseller and is now a major motion picture based on his own screenplay. Under the name Mike Carey he has written for both DC and Marvel, including critically acclaimed runs on X-Men and Fantastic Four, Marvel's flagship superhero titles. His creator-owned books regularly appear in the New York Times graphic fiction bestseller list. He also has several previous novels, two radio plays and a number of TV and movie screenplays to his credit.

'It was kind of like there was a crowd of people all around me and they was shouting. But they were dead people, gone into the ground a long time before, and their voices did not carry. Only the marks was left, like voices that had froze and fell to the ground.'

In THE BOOK OF KOLI M.R. Carey introduced Koli, a fifteen year-old boy, exiled from his medieval-like village in post-apocalyptic England, several hundred years in our future. In THE TRIALS OF KOLI our titular hero and his new companions continue their journey south, drawn by the 'Signal' which promises London and Koli's dream to bring people together, to increase the 'gene pull' and reverse the decline of healthy human childbirth in the villages. It is fun to fall back into the rhythms of Koli's vernacular, his voice Huckleberry Finn-like but very much his own, as he narrates the travellers' journey to find the source of the Signal by way of places such as Birmagen and encounters with the armies of Half-Ax.

But there is a second voice, Spinner. In the first novel, Koli tells us, “The two sides is this: I went away, and then I come home again.” Spinner's story keeps us up to date with what has happened in Mythen Rood following Koli's expulsion by the Ramparts and how both the actions of the ruling class and external influences have changed the place to which Koli intends to return. This narrative is just as enthralling as Koli's as, in a strangely prescient turn of events, the village is struck by a deadly illness the effects of which the Ramparts are powerless to arrest. In an attempt to end the deaths, Spinner is drawn into a conspiracy which could change the political structure of Mythen Rood forever.

TRIALS picks up immediately after the events of THE BOOK OF KOLI and the plot really speeds up. Along the way Carey touches on many issues which reflect our own society, the tribalism and intolerance, the war on facts and truth, the apparent intention of those in power to keep the population stupid and compliant... Like its predecessor, THE TRIALS OF KOLI is as thought provoking as it is entertaining and thrilling. I can't wait to see where the trilogy goes and how M.R. Carey brings Koli's story to a conclusion.

Thanks to @MsAnnaJackson @michaelcarey191 @orbitbooks and  @Tr4cyF3nt0n for the opportunity to take part in the BlogTour.