ISBN: 0-451-45666-1 Order from: Amazon.com
An action fantasy with lots of action, implausible heroes and two-dimensional villains.
Reviewed by David on June 20, 1998
Genre: Fantasy (Elfpunk, Urban Fantasy)
Synopsis: Ilarion, a powerful member of the Unseelie Court fleeing the cruelty and political struggles inherent in his society crosses into our world and settles in New York City as an art dealer. One of his enemies discovers his whereabouts, and enlists a Mesopotamian demon to pursue the refugee lord. The struggle of Ilarion, and his human friend, the curator of the Mesopotamian department at the city museum, against the enemy and the demon escalates into a fight for the safety of the entire city.
Full Review: Ilarion Highborn, the owner of a chic art boutique becomes a friend of the overworked and underappreciated curator Dr. Denis Sheridan. However, it is only when one of his former compatriots comes into Manhattan with the help of the Mesopotamian demon of death and pestilence, that she finds that Ilarion is a magic-wielding refugee from a world ruled by his kind: the beautiful, cruel and treacherous aristocracy.
Together, they form an impromptu team trying to banish the Mesopotamian demon, while trying to escape the ruthless pursuit of Ilarion's erstwhile fellow aristocrat who considers Ilarion a dangerous heretic.
The city of New York (Manhattan) is described with considerable skill, as is the atmosphere in the fictional American Museum of Art, the slightly nostalgic and bitingly sarcastic portrayal of the Met. There is some amount of self-conscious humor, mostly related to fantasy-reading Denise's perception of the cliché-like situations into which the plot forces her (I wonder if this could be considered deconstruction?).
However, these positive elements cannot salvage the implausible plot, or the flat characters. The bad guys are all uniformly evil, with or without the help of psychosis. The main villain appears to be obsessed by what appeared to me a far-fetched threat of Ilarion's escape. Given the back-stabbing atmosphere of the Dark Court, and unbounded treachery of its members, the villain's perception of Ilarion's vague insult seems out of proportion to his own risk of another coup de'etat.
Ilarion seems flat and improbable as well. A beautiful, humanoid magical being, allergic to iron, he insists that he is not a Dark Elf. Just as there no background given to the Unseelie court's penchant for torture and murder, there is no basis for Ilarion's sudden conversion to rectitude. Ilarion's portrayal as a debonair, magnetic, strong silent type, occasionally fighting off fits of blood lust is unconvincing and gives no explanations for his motivations.
Denise, the perky curator whose affection teaches Ilarion about friendship and love, and whose pluckiness, intelligence and moral strength saves the Dark Lord and helps to preserve the city (I wonder if Denise's middle names are Mary Sue?), seems utterly flat in all interactions outside the museum. Even the budding romance between Denise and Ilarion has neither suspense nor intensity.
I fear this book contributes little to the already crowded field of mediocre Urban Fantasy.
Overall: 4; Plot: 5; Characters: 4; Style: 4; World-building: 5; Originality: 3;
Copyright date 1998, Penguin Group (ROC), May 1998, Mass-market, 300 pages
ISBN: 0-451-45666-1 Order from: Amazon.com