Review - The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard

It's not often you get given a book to review that wraps you in a sense of looming dark legacy of the past. That is the world of this first book in the Dominion of the Fallen series by Aliette de Bodard, originally published in 2015 but which seems to be getting a new edition released this year.  It fits the mold of a gaslamp fantasy story but the overwhelming sense is of a dark, gothic fantasy, which is unrelenting in its bleak and emotional mood.

In the city of Paris, France of roughly the 1920s an alternative history has unfolded; the recent catastrophic war that people are recovering from was actually a deadly, magical one fought between great houses lead by Fallen angels. The war has damaged everything: the people, the houses themselves and especially the environment. Inside the aged, decaying environs of the formerly great Silverspires house its new leader, Selene, struggles with her own limitations to protect her followers. She takes in two new members of the house: Isabelle, a newly fallen angel, and Philippe, a stranger from the colonies of Indochina with a mysterious background.

After Philippe accidentally triggers a magical occurrence, the house of Silverspires finds itself under threat from unknown sources. We see Selene's blind and unquestioned superiority, callousness and casual arrogance, along with that of the other house leaders who are drawn into the house's troubles. The question of what happened to the missing former head of the house, Morningstar, and the forces he vengefully brought down on them is constantly in everyone's minds and becomes central to the story.

I found the writing itself to be mostly superb, and the scenes of magical and paranormal happenings were either impressively slightly understated, or gripping  for the battles. The plot revelation with the fate that occurred to Morningstar is pivotal to what follows and is deeply linked to the world building. Madeleine is the character that stood out for me; she is a flawed, tragic character dealing with trauma unsuccessfully in an attempt to escape from her past. But the elements that I enjoyed most were the unusual fantasy ones: the sinister, initially elusive creatures unleashed on the house; the idea of a giant, threatening supernatural banyan tree; and the unearthly but sadly degenerating east Asian dragons. While I found the relentless dark tone of the story something I almost had to push through, other readers may find it suits them more.

Thanks to Netgalley and JAB Books for an ARC of this book.

 

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

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