Read An Excerpt
HERE
Watch a Video
Interview with Tom Pollock HERE
INTRODUCTION: Earlier this year, I had a chance to read The City’s Son by Tom
Pollock as I was working as a literary scout for Quercus, and this book is definitely one of the highlights of Jo Fletcher’s 2012 catalog. As for Tom Pollock,
he is for me one of the year’s debut authors worth discovering…
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Tom Pollock is a graduate of
the Sussex University Creative Writing
Programme, and a member of the London-based writers' group The T-Party. He has lived everywhere from
Scotland to Sumatra, but the peculiar magic of London has always drawn him
back. The City’s Son is his first
novel.
FORMAT/INFO: The City’s Son is 422 pages long and is the first volume
of The Skyscraper Throne YA series. August 2, 2012 marks the UK Hardcover
publication of The City’s Son via Jo Fletcher Books. The US version (see
below) will be published on September 8,
2012 via Flux.
When a devastating betrayal drives her from her home,
graffiti artist Beth Bradley stumbles
into the secret city, where she finds Filius
Viae, London's ragged crown prince, just when he needs someone most. An
ancient enemy has returned to the darkness under St Paul's Cathedral, bent on
reigniting a centuries-old war, and Beth
and Fil find themselves in a
desperate race through a bizarre urban wonderland, searching for a way to save
the city they both love.
The City's Son is the first book of The
Skyscraper Throne trilogy: a story about family, friends and monsters, and
how you can't always tell which is which…
ANALYSIS: The City’s Son is a dark,
compelling urban fantasy highlighted by very rich prose—especially for a YA
novel—and mythology that is sophisticated and well thought through. For
instance, the metaphorical fight against the expansion of capitalism without a
conscience is subtle enough not to be sanctimonious, yet is coherent and gives the
book a wide impact—I personally like fantasy literature that possesses a strong
symbolic meaning, such as the books by J.R.R.
Tolkien or China Mieville, and
from that perspective I was delighted by The
City’s Son.
Of the story, The
City’s Son reminded me of Un Lun Dun
by China Mieville—an ordinary girl
finding herself entangled with a not so ordinary boy, in a parallel urban world
made out of rubbish, fighting against the effects of capitalism, etc.—yet no
simple answers are provided. The plot is cleverly set up and carefully
constructed, with an exciting twist in the ending that made this reader very
keen to see volume two of the trilogy. Pollock’s
world also works well, with a number of creative, well thought out fantasy
characters, such as Glas, a spirit
who can reassemble his body from any available rubbish.
Characterization is good in general. The male
protagonist, Filius Viae, is cheeky
yet touching, noble but not too self-sufficient, and overall is a really good
hero aided by a first-person narrative that conveys the book’s reflection on
death and sacrifice. I found Beth
Bradley slightly annoying at first, even though she evolves well enough and
is credible in her role—it takes a strong-headed character to survive through
this kind of an adventure. Unfortunately, the relationship between Flilius & Beth is clumsy—what is I presume an attempt to represent the
turmoil of first teenage love simply does not work, as it happens too fast and
seems somehow irrelevant and predictable at the same time!
CONCLUSION: As a (fairly) new Londoner myself, I must say that I have been stricken
by the brilliant, original, and poetic vision of London captured in The City’s Son by Tom Pollock. As every good urban fantasy should, this book transforms
London into a magical experience, where you will find yourselves looking out for
Whiteys and Railwraiths and so on… I won’t reveal more, but I strongly
recommend you go run to your favourite bookshop and pick up a copy of The City’s Son…
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