Talonsister by Jen Williams

I would like to thank Titan Books for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for fair and honest review

Publisher – Titan

Published – Out Now

Price – £16.99 hardback £7.99 Kindle eBook

When soldier Leven was transformed into a Herald - a magical killing machine in the Imperium's brutal conquests - her mind was wiped clean. But strange visions still show her glimpses of the ancient and mysterious island of Brittletain. Now, with the war won and the Imperium satisfied, she wants to find out who she really is.

Envoy Kaeto has done a number of important little jobs for the Imperium, most of them nasty, all of them in the shadows. His newest assignment is to escort the bone-crafter Gynid Tyleigh as she travels across the Imperium. But Tyleigh's ambition alarms even Kaeto, and her conviction that she has found a new source of Titan bones, buried deep in the earth, could lead to another, even bloodier war.

Ynis was raised by the griffins and has never seen another human face. She lives wild on Brittletain with her talonsister, T'rook. By choosing not to kill Ynis when she was just a baby, the griffins may have doomed themselves - because the girl's past is coming for her, and it carries a lethal blade...

One of the joys of fantasy is the way it can play with myth and history. There are so many interesting periods where the two get blurred as any debate on King Arthur usually goes. What I find fascinating is when authors take ideas from myth and evolve then. More than a simple refresh but a new approach that creates something really interesting. Jen Williams has achieved just that in their new epic fantasy novel Talonsister that creates new version of the ancient world and adds it to William’s now traditional blend of great characters, inventive plotting and delicious adventure.

The Star Imperium is rightly respected and feared across the world as it absorbs (some would say conquers) it’s blessed new outposts. A key part to that are the Heralds an elite group of fighting soldiers who use ancient magic to give them immense strength, weaponry and the ability to fly. Leven though after eight years has come to the end of their tour of duty. The warrior is now wondering what to do next when she gets a strange vision of a place that she does not recognise but she knows she is seeing in her vision a Griffin. Who now only live in one part of the world – the mysterious and dangerous isle of Brittletain.

In the Imperium the Empress seeks more power and strength to keep it going. Her best alchemist/technician the eccentric Tyleigh believes that there is a new source of the infamous Titan bone that fuels the Heralds – in a far-off place even the locals fear entering known as The Black City. The Empress assigns her Envoy Kaeto. A man just as skilled with spying and gaining knowledge as he is with blades and poison. He and his eternally cheeky assistant Belise head with Tyleigh into the unknown.

Meanwhile in Brittletain a young rebellious Druin named Cillian, who is learning the magical ways of the Wild Wood is summoned by one of it’s ancient guardians and told he must accompany a Herald called Leven around the various Queens of the Isles and is warned danger is coming. In the far North though in the mysterious Kingdom of the Griffins where humans are not welcome (and often eaten) the young human foundling Ynnis who two Griffins mercifully saved as a babe is finding she is never accepted as a true Griffin and she is banished but finds another hidden part of Griffin life is calling to her.

What strikes me about this first half of the Talon Duology is how wide this world is and how many characters and plots are being followed. We are very used to fantasy leading quickly to the ‘quest team’ being formed early on and adventures ensue. What I liked here is largely we have three core plotlines and only towards the end do the characters start to cross paths; but we see in advance of that the many links between the stories emerge organically. Williams gives each of the characters a tone and a small supporting cast that could very easily have been one of two books themselves. The confidence Williams has in letting these develop and breathe is a sign of a skilled fantasy author who knows how to keep our attentions even as we jump around the world and dangles cliffhangers we want to return to.

Williams is always very good with playing with the archetypes we find in fantasy and seeking new dimensions to them. With Leven we get an initially standard fierce and bolshy warrior but rather than being the one to take charge of events, by plunging Leven into Brittletain where she knows little of the culture, politics or magic she is soon more the vulnerable fish out of water getting into constant trouble and starting to perhaps regret her military past. Leven is charming but we are aware she has been following orders and done terrible things – yet totally wins us over. In Kaeto we get with his initial appearance as a sinister all-knowing spy for an Empire and yet he is in own way honourable, funny and particularly with his chirpy assistance Belise (how can anyone not like a well-armed intelligent spy who calls her boss ‘Chief’ all the time) are a double act that we first admire and then really pull for as they move from an all powerful Empire into a world of thieves, intelligent and dangerous Beetles, mysterious cities and just possibly lost gods. Their plotline moves into all sorts of interesting directions that will drive the main story with the impatient and science focused Tyleigh endlessly wanting to know more about the world regardless of what is in the way.

At the more magical end of the spectrum are Cillian. Rather than the traditional meditative chilled magicians linked to nature we often get he is impatient, anti-social and just wants his tour of Brittletain to end tomorrow so he can go back to the forest. Mixing him up with Leven makes a dynamic double act that allows for conflict and a gradual understanding of each other develops that keeps the story well balanced while the most unusual strand is Ynnis who rather than our traditional teenage rebel we have seen so often (and initially appears to follow that path) turns into a much more unusual direction of exploring the spiritual and magical elements of the world.

The worldbuilding choices here are a highpoint. Williams has taken familiar elements in particular of British mythology and as this is a secondary world with its own history gone riot with them. For example, the concept of the Wild Wood is not unusual in fantasy and is based on the ancient large forests of pre-Norman times but here Williams fills it with all sorts of magical creatures and intriguingly hidden dimensions and areas where the dead can be spoken to and ancient spirits and guardians hide. It’s a mix of the old and the new and with Cillian we have the concept of almost portal like travelling across the ancient land and each part of the forest has its own wonders and dangers. I loved seeing how this part of the tale evolved.

For Ynnis’ plotline Williams gives us another highlight – the Griffins. This is not a race ell known or used in fantasy, so Williams gets free reign to create a unique non-human race. They live apart from humans; have their own bonds (Ynnis has two stepfathers) and initially appear more interested in hunting and violence but Ynnis finds the other half of the culture focused on a mysterious area known as the Bone Fell  - the graveyard of the Griffins and that has a lot of unusual surprises in store for the reader and open up a more mystical element to the book as Ynnis starts to find her story is entwined with the bigger cast. The Griffin scenes are always fascinating; and you want to know more of them.

Finally there is the overall linking concept of Titans and this time not in Godzilla form but the idea that all the magical races from Unicorns to Giant Bears were once real but have for various reasons died out and left their heavy metallic like bones hidden in the earth. Bones that if used correctly have magical properties. Ones that drive the Imperium and those seeking more power. The biology and history of this world is a common theme in all the plotlines and we starts to see as it reaches a dramatic conclusion what struggles on it are to come. The overall tone here is more sombre than in some other Williams trilogies as the stakes for the characters are high and yet in this part of the tale often very personal rather than simply stopping the ‘End of the World’. It’s the kind of fantasy world you’ll very happily get pulled in full of new things to find.

From warring monarchs, ambitious proto-scientists and giant monsters there are a host of things going on in this tale all at once, but Williams skilfully uses this mix to create a beautiful fantasy symphony of a book. Full of wonder, adventure, characters to love and some to intensely dislike. It is never boring; feels a wonderful blend of the old and new fantasy traditions and further cements Jen Williams as one of the UK’s most interesting fantasy authors around. Strongly recommended!