Aliette De Bodard’s debut novel, House of Shattered Wings,
is an urban fantasy, set in the Paris of the 1920’s. But not the 1920’s we know
– the war here was just as great, but one fought between rival houses of fallen
angels, whose wrath has shattered the city, and – it is implied – the world.
Now, after staggering away from seemingly unending conflict, the survivors,
settled in rival factions, have to deal with a darker issue – and each other.
As alluded to above, De Bodard’s Paris is not a particularly
pleasant place. It’s a shattered remnant of itself. The Seine is a swamp,
seething with war magic, detritus, and vicious living weapons. The grand
monuments of the city are broken, and mostly uninhabitable – a few remnants
being used as housing, with variable success. It’s mentioned that the city was
very different before a magical war essentially smashed it into barely functional rubble – and De
Bodard precisely captures this in an atmosphere of decline. The residents of
the city seem broken and tired, and even those in the confines of the Houses
seem exhausted in their safety.
The Houses, incidentally, are the remains of the net of
social cohesion that tied De Bodard’s Paris together. They’re inhabited by
Fallen. These are literal fallen angels, whose arrival on earth allows them
access to frightening levels of seemingly magical power – whilst also removing
their memory of how and why they fell to earth. Here, however, they set up
their bastions, come together in factions, plot, scheme, and occasionally
murder each other. There are other,
non-Judeo-Christian mythos types mentioned through the text, and one, that of
Vietnam, plays a central role – but the story of the Fallen is perhaps the
strongest – their arrogance, certainty, charisma and raw power hammering at the
reader through the page.
De Bodard’s city may not live, but it certainly dies well,
seeping into the reader like the turgid waters of the Seine. It’s not a place
that feels living, but remains vividly the end of something greater than
itself. It’s not a world anyone wants to
live in, but it does seem real, if horribly unpleasant.
At the same time, there are sparks of humanity and divinity
amongst the Fallen, their followers, and their enemies. Our central view of the
narrative comes from Phillipe, a Vietnamese individual, conscripted into the
war by the Fallen, and at least
initially running with a desperate gang in the dark heart of Paris, and
Isabelle, a new Fallen. Both are surprisingly sympathetic. Phillipe, seemingly
older and more self-contained, is a study in doubt and certainty, a man defined
by his experiences and his hatreds, and also by loss. His thoughts seem to
almost drown in melancholy, but he has a stark humanity, in a world filled with
lethal supernatural predators, which is refreshing to read. By contrast,
Isabelle is a font of naiveté, taking on faith the pronouncements of others
about duty, honour and sacrifice, whilst their own thoughts reveal those to be
merely realpolitik at work. Watching her descent into the cool selfishness of
the other Fallen is agonising, for Phillipe and for the reader, and her desire
to be better than those she is surrounded by, to become herself, is both
terrifying and delightful.
There are side characters of course – for example the heads
of several of the Houses are a delight to read; their venal, potentially fatal
bickering is intriguing and horrifying in equal measure. Then there’s the alchemist of one of the Houses – old,
tired, and looking to take several secrets to the grave with her. De Bodard’s
cast is large, but those with time on the page feel…if not human, then fully
realised. The Fallen are cold, remote, dangerous creatures, predators in a
world that they’ve destroyed. The people around them are drawn like moths to
the metaphorical flame – used up, burned out, but unable to resist, in a world
where safety and total obliteration are separated by a razor’s edge of
goodwill.
From a plot standpoint…well, as ever, I shall avoid
spoilers. Still, this one is a slow burn. Phillipe and Isabelle are drawn into
the orbit of the House Silver Spires, which begins to suffer from a dark curse.
The investigation into this, how to resolve it, and how it came about is the
narrative spine of the text. It’s relentless, compelling, and intriguing – it’s
also quite a slow burner, but it does reward sticking with it.
Is it worth reading? It’s a fresh take on urban fantasy, in
a wonderfully drawn setting. The characters are a little remote for my taste,
but that’s part of the atmosphere. The plot takes a while to get running, but
grips on and doesn’t let go once it picks up a head of steam – so yes, I’d say
this one is worth the read.
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