The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan
May. 28th, 2009 07:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back::
Sixteen-year-old Nick knows that demons are real.
Magicians call up demons in exchange for their power. The demons can appear in any shape, show you marvels, promise you anything – until you invite them in and receive their mark. What happens next? First you get possessed. Then you die.
Nick’s been on the run his whole life, ever since his mother stole a charm from the most feared magician of them all, and the only person he trusts is his brother Alan. Alan’s just been marked by a demon. Only Nick can save him, but to do so he must face the magicians – and kill them. The hunt is on, and Nick’s going to discover things he never dreamed were out there ...
This debut novel is an urban fantasy whose dark heart distinguishes it from others in the young adult genre.
Nick and Alan have spent most of their lives on the run from a circle of magicians led by Black Arthur who seeks a charm stolen by their mother. While fending off an attack from Black Arthur’s circle they meet Mae and Jamie, a brother and sister with a problem of their own – Jamie has been visited by demons and they have marked him, a mark that will inevitably lead to his death. Alan persuades a reluctant Nick that they have to help but doing so leads Nick to uncover secrets about his own life, secrets that will make him question everything he knows, including his relationship with his own brother.
Nick is a wonderful character – morally ambiguous, the only two emotions he understands are anger and his devotion to his brother. As the secrets spill out, his confusion and sense of betrayal is very real, as is his clear attraction to Mae, a girl who he knows his brother likes but who he knows is attracted to him. Some of the best scenes are those where Nick seeks to manipulate that triangle to his advantage. Alan is more shadowy and although it may have been better to highlight some of his own moral ambiguity highlighted earlier in the plot, his devotion to both his mother and his brother is strongly conveyed as is a ruthless streak.
Mae thankfully rises above the female cliché of being only a love interest and Brennan allows her to recognise what is happening between the brothers while having her fight for her own sibling. She appears to play a bigger role in the sequel and I look forward to seeing her development. Unfortunately Jamie is the biggest weakness in the book. He isn’t given a lot to do in his own right and although he is intended to be witty, his lines are self-conscious and deaden scenes instead of lifting them. A key revelation about him comes late in the novel and while setting up the scenario for the next book, stops the reader from caring about him now.
There are some nitpicks – a reference to “blueberry scones” seems more aimed at the American market and issue could be taken with the fact that concerns about a 16-year-old driving underage aren’t consistent - and there’s an episodic feel to some of the early chapters. However the set piece action scenes are well handled – particularly those involving the Goblin’s Market and a type of asylum on the Isle of Wight.
The Verdict:
The originality of the concept and the strong characterisation of Nick make this book an interesting read and although I am less convinced about one of the key supporting characters (and suspect I’ll be in a minority there), I look forward to reading the next in this trilogy.
Magicians call up demons in exchange for their power. The demons can appear in any shape, show you marvels, promise you anything – until you invite them in and receive their mark. What happens next? First you get possessed. Then you die.
Nick’s been on the run his whole life, ever since his mother stole a charm from the most feared magician of them all, and the only person he trusts is his brother Alan. Alan’s just been marked by a demon. Only Nick can save him, but to do so he must face the magicians – and kill them. The hunt is on, and Nick’s going to discover things he never dreamed were out there ...
This debut novel is an urban fantasy whose dark heart distinguishes it from others in the young adult genre.
Nick and Alan have spent most of their lives on the run from a circle of magicians led by Black Arthur who seeks a charm stolen by their mother. While fending off an attack from Black Arthur’s circle they meet Mae and Jamie, a brother and sister with a problem of their own – Jamie has been visited by demons and they have marked him, a mark that will inevitably lead to his death. Alan persuades a reluctant Nick that they have to help but doing so leads Nick to uncover secrets about his own life, secrets that will make him question everything he knows, including his relationship with his own brother.
Nick is a wonderful character – morally ambiguous, the only two emotions he understands are anger and his devotion to his brother. As the secrets spill out, his confusion and sense of betrayal is very real, as is his clear attraction to Mae, a girl who he knows his brother likes but who he knows is attracted to him. Some of the best scenes are those where Nick seeks to manipulate that triangle to his advantage. Alan is more shadowy and although it may have been better to highlight some of his own moral ambiguity highlighted earlier in the plot, his devotion to both his mother and his brother is strongly conveyed as is a ruthless streak.
Mae thankfully rises above the female cliché of being only a love interest and Brennan allows her to recognise what is happening between the brothers while having her fight for her own sibling. She appears to play a bigger role in the sequel and I look forward to seeing her development. Unfortunately Jamie is the biggest weakness in the book. He isn’t given a lot to do in his own right and although he is intended to be witty, his lines are self-conscious and deaden scenes instead of lifting them. A key revelation about him comes late in the novel and while setting up the scenario for the next book, stops the reader from caring about him now.
There are some nitpicks – a reference to “blueberry scones” seems more aimed at the American market and issue could be taken with the fact that concerns about a 16-year-old driving underage aren’t consistent - and there’s an episodic feel to some of the early chapters. However the set piece action scenes are well handled – particularly those involving the Goblin’s Market and a type of asylum on the Isle of Wight.
The Verdict:
The originality of the concept and the strong characterisation of Nick make this book an interesting read and although I am less convinced about one of the key supporting characters (and suspect I’ll be in a minority there), I look forward to reading the next in this trilogy.
