The Next Big Thing?

Another year, another “big hit” from the Gollancz . It all seems so familiar, doesn’t it? Two years ago they brought us such débuts as “The Lies of Locke Lamora” by Scott Lynch and “The Blade Itself” by Joe Abercrombie, and a whole host of other authors to boot. Last year wasn’t maybe as diverse as the previous in terms of débuts, but it did bring with it one of the biggest hits of the Epic Fantasy genre for quite some time. I’m of course talking about “The Name of the Wind” by Patrick Rothfuss; maybe not the high-brow critics’ favourite, but certainly one that the crowd could cheer for. I’m happy to report that I stand applauding in the midst of these supporters, and by this time we’re all waiting for the next act to appear on stage. The question remains:

Can the “The Red Wolf Conspiracy” be this year’s big fantasy hit?

(The cover art sure is lovely. Edward Miller has once again outdone himself with this one.)

“The Red Wolf Conspiracy” is the first instalment in a trilogy, and it’s set in the fictional world of ‘Alifros’. The main parts of the story takes place on “the Chathrand” - the last remaining Great Ship in all the world. It’s so gigantic that it dwarfs even the largest of warship and can without much trouble hold nearly a thousand living souls. The Chathrand leaves the harbour of ‘Etherhorde’, the capital of mighty ‘Arqual’ (a huge empire), on an important mission; she is to negotiate a final peace between ‘Arqual’ and the ‘Mzithrin’ empire in the west. No longer shall these two nations shed each others blood.

Well, that’s the idea of it. Too bad there’s a bloody conspiracy going on that may ruin the entire affair!

This is a YA novel, so those of you looking for a grimy, gritty read will have to look elsewhere. I was fully aware of this fact when I cracked it upon, but since I am most certainly a pretty young adult (in fact I’m turning eighteen in a matter of weeks), I didn’t think it’d hurt too much. Especially since I read a few YA novels last year, including the exceptionally well-written “The Inferior” by Peadar Ó Guilín, and I liked those fair enough.

But this book whimpers and crawls unhappily away if you compare it to “The Inferior” (which is ironic), or any of the other authors I mentioned at the start of this review. And I’m not complaining about Redick’s style - you don’t have to be gritty to be cool - but rather his characterization, dialogue and prose. While I’m at it I should also add that I didn’t think he managed to make the plot flow in any satisfying way, either, and the ending of the book was downright disappointing on all too many levels.

First thing first: The characterization. Redick deploys a whole host of characters in this book, and so it’s natural that the tempo drags to begin with while he’s struggling to introduce them all properly. However, I found that he spread his efforts out so widely that the characters became very thin and may even be better described as archetypes. Here you have the mad captain, the tempting seductress, the beautiful yet clever princess and a poor, young boy who by chance has some really fierce magic locked up inside him. Seen it before? I dare say you have, though Redick redeems himself somewhat by his excellent ideas and world-building. You don’t care a shit for what happens to the characters (why would you when you already know it after reading the first hundred pages. I haven’t read more heavy-handed foreshadowing in a very long time), but it’s kinda entertaining to watch the author move them around in his picturesque play-pen.

As for the dialogue, well… Have you ever joked around with your friends, trying to mimic the accents and unfamiliar phrasings of an historical British era? I know I have, and while it does sound pretty posh to my ears, I’m sure it sounds nothing but ridiculous to those unfortunate souls that have to listen. Which was the point to begin with, but Redick hasn’t quite gotten off the mimicking horse; he hangs on barely while it desperately tries to kick him the hell away. The result is a weird mis-match between normal sounding English and a few weird words that seemingly appear at random intervals, throwing the pace out of gear.

I might as well wrap up this sordid affair by boiling it down to the bare bones. “The Red Wolf Conspiracy” might be a very entertaining read for a younger audience than myself, but I can’t willingly recommend it to anyone when I know in my heart that there are so many other great books out there that should take priority. Redick’s got a few nice ideas and I’m sure this series will find an audience, but I’ll have to settle for being the odd-man-out on this one. You can’t love ‘em all, and this one wasn’t anything near ‘my thing’. Which is sad, ’cause I thought this might be the Next Big Thing, but the I’ll have to conclude with that it doesn’t come anywhere near such an accomplishment.

Right now I just feel like I wasted a week of precious reading time that could’ve been put to better use.

5,0/10