Being that good, dark fantasy does not grow on trees, I will periodically scour the net in hopes of a good "if you liked this author, you might also like" recommendation. It's hardly the most scientific approach, but until I find a website that provides more consistent results to searches for related content, it's the best I have. I discovered Ms. Monette's work by deploying this rather hit-or-miss technique and, though there's a great deal here that fails to go down easy, its novelty kept my interest.
In the city of Melusine, magic and wealth allow a small cadre of noble elites to rule over a substantial lower class. The impoverished are often forced to resort to all manner of desperate acts to stay fed, sheltered and alive in a city that boasts many sinful pleasures and even more sadistic pains. Felix, a wizard of great power, does his best to cover-up his meager beginnings now that he's among his new, noble friends. But when a cruel gossip at court reveals the wizard was an adolescent prostitute, the outing of his secret forces Felix from not only the halls of power but the comfort of his friends and his lover. Shamed, Felix retreats into the abusive arms of his one-time master who tricks him into perpetrating a great crime upon Melusine, a crime for which he will pay dearly.
Prowling the streets into which Felix is cast is Mildmay, known as the Fox. A thief of great skill, he finds himself entangled in the Felix affair after a wronged woman pays him to steal some jewels from a nobleman she knows all too well. The Fox appreciates his anonymity and wants nothing of grand events, but there's something about the shattered Felix which pulls Mildmay into the wounded man's world and the chaos that stalks his step. The two travel to distant lands in hopes of putting right what Felix's one-time master has put wrong, but arrayed against them are the most powerful forces in this world and the next. And with Felix temporarily insane and his powers diminished, they have little hope of finding success.
In this tale of sex and scandal, there are numerous rough patches. Felix's madness is powerful, but overexposed. His surrealistic journey through his own nightmares gives Melusine much of its uniqueness, but it keeps the reader from forming much of an opinion of Felix himself. What's more, there is almost no explanation of why this world is the way it is. Spirits and spiritual states play a prominent role, but how? Why? Without context, without some understanding of their presence, they fail to be more than just tools to move the story forward. Backgrounds for all but Mildmay and Felix are shirked almost entirely, leaving the reader without context to appreciate or despise any of the sizeable cast of secondary characters. But for all this, Ms. Monette's touch with Mildmay is exquisite. He's hardly an original character, but his street-tough hardness mixed with his pessimist's humor works well when wrapped around the heart of a man who is surprisingly and heart-warmingly loyal. Unfortunately, at least for me, Mildmay's greatness failed to make up for the downsides here. Interesting, but flawed. (3/5 Stars)
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