Nathan Burrage

Putting my cards on the table I’ll say outright that speculative fiction is not my favourite reading genre. The main reason is the penchant the genre’s authors have for length. I have often been intrigued by a plot or storyline I’ve heard about only to discover there are nine books in the series and you have to read them all, in order, if you’ve a snowball’s chance in hell of understanding the story and I just don’t have that kind of energy these days. But I was interested to see in this debut fantasy novel from a young Australian author, especially one who has completed the prestigious Clarion Workshop (for science fiction and fantasy writers).

Fivevold is set (mostly) in present day Britain and tells the story of James Steepleton and the four friends who bail him out of the financial hole he’s in due to a drink-driving charge. The friends take a trip to Yorkshire and stumble upon a ruined cathedral which begins their descent into another world all together. Although they briefly head back to their normal lives in London the group’s members have been changed forever as they discover new powers and learn about the ancient traditions they have been chosen to continue.

The book certainly has all the traditional elements of the genre including a logical (if fantastic) world with its own rules and language. Also as is usual for the genre (and my other reason for not reading more of it) the book draws on a whole range of religious and non-religious traditions then mixes them together almost randomly which can be exasperating. However Burrage does an above-average job of incorporating these disparate elements into a sensible narrative.

Each short chapter of this book is told from a different character’s point of view with the members of the cabal appearing most often but villains and others having their turn in the spotlight too. While this makes for a fast-paced read it is a bit disjointed and has resulted in the lack of a focal point. I’d have liked to see a standout main character.

Which might have helped with the big problem I had when reading this book: there were no characters to love. Or hate. They were all a bit too earnest and dull to generate much of an emotional reaction at all which, for me, is the key thing that keeps me reading. I want to find out whether my favourite characters will survive and if the villains will come to a suitably grizzly end. Here however the cabal of five are the most accepting, homogenous group of fictional people I’ve met in a long time and none of them really engaged me. A humorous or slightly cynical voice for one of the characters would have grabbed my attention more than the very grave young folk that appeared.

For a debut novel in a fairly specialised genre I think this is a promising start and I will look to read more of Burrage’s work, especially standalone novels.
… (altro)