The City's Son: The Skyscraper Throne: Book One [Hardcover]

It's always a real treat to read a debut novelist that can write so well and has a superb imagination. Pollack's view of an alternate London `that is all around us' might be gritty, dark, and tough, but it's bursting with positivity, too. The inhabitants of this alternate London-- even those whose deaths have been stolen from them--are generally upbeat and prepared to do their bit to save their city when it is threatened. With a little push, of course.

Other reviewers have already outlined the plot so I won't go into details. In some places the prose positively sparkles, while in other places you forget about the words and just allow their rhythm to carry you down into some very deep and very dark places. I thought the characters could have benefitted from some more `deep penetration' pov in places. Apart from this, and some mildly explanatory passages near the end, I would highly recommend this book for its pace, originality, and honesty. The ending isn't happy, but left me satisfied and looking forward to the next book in the series, The Glass Republic.

I will never walk through Stoke Newington cemetery again without looking at the headstones and statues and wondering what might lie behind them. As for the Docklands, well . . .

London City is alive. When Beth and her best friend Pen are caught spraying graffiti at their school, Pen turns Beth in. Reeling from the betrayal, Beth stumbles into another London, one where railwraiths transport memories of passengers, where the lights are living glass people who dance at night, where the statues are imprisoned men, repaying their debts to their absent goddess, and where a danger threatens the very essence of the city that no one sees. And that city has a son.

Wow, I'm not sure how much I can express my love of Tom Pollock's hidden London without spoiling the discovery for others. It reminds me of how children's imaginations create worlds out of the incredibly mundane environment that surrounds them, street lights can be beautiful and exotic women that dance and flirt and real dangers such as trains and barbed wire can be turned into monsters.

After Beth's ride on the railwraith she meets Filius, son of Mater Viae, the goddess who the creatures of London worship. At first, she takes him for a dirty street urchin but she saves his life and he hers and she finds herself following him further into his world, where Reach threatens the existence of those who have called the streets home for centuries. Reach is the god of cranes; they appear on the horizon wherever he is erecting his mirrored skyscrapers, something residents of London will know well. Reach represents progress destroying the character and essence of London.

Meanwhile, Pen has her reasons for her betrayal to Beth and her story is a sad one. She sees Beth's paintings on the walls and follows her, with no inclination of the danger she could be in. Amongst the story of the city there are some very real themes threaded throughout and I think Pen's parting words sums things up perfectly. Beth's father is also suffering from deep depression after the loss of his wife and Beth's mother and now he must face the idea that his daughter is lost too. There are some incredibly touching moments amongst the fantastical.

There is also a spattering of humour, mostly from the wonderful character of Victor, a homeless Russian who offers his translation services and whose friendly manner evolves into a sort of surrogate father figure for Beth. This lightens what is otherwise a dark, yet utterly brilliant tale.

There's no denying that The City's Son put's the urban into urban fantasy, the setting being crucial. Scenes may be a little disturbing for younger readers although I'm not sure it's being marketed towards young adults despite the teenage characters.

When Beth Bradley takes artistic revenge on the teacher making life hell for her best friend Pen Khan, the last thing she expects is for Pen to grass her up. Expelled from school and with her father grief-consumed by her mother's death, she turns to the streets where she meets Filius Viae who shows her a world filled with rail wraiths, Sodiumites, pylon spiders and pavement priests.

But Filius's world is a dangerous one. Reach, the god of demolition, wants Filius dead and has been extending his control of London since Filius's mother, the Lady of the Streets, disappeared years earlier. To stop him, Filius must raise an army and he needs Beth to help him. But Pen needs Beth too. And when she goes to make things right with her friend, Beth finds both her worlds coming apart ...

Tom Pollock's debut YA novel, the first in a trilogy is a stunningly creative tale filled with wonderful imagery and fascinating characters.

Filius has a strong, original first person voice and the linguistic flourishes to his speech helped to ground him. I liked how his cockiness hides the insecurity caused by his mother's abandonment and how grows into his own skin. I actually wanted more of his point of view because he is so interesting.

Beth's character arc is well handled and I liked how her mix of pragmatism and fierce loyalty. Her friendship with Pen is strongly depicted and while I'd have liked to see more of her relationship with her dad, there's enough there to give a good sense of it.

The imagination in this book is astounding. Pollock takes the familiar elements of London and makes them magical such that you can't walk around the city and not see it as Filius does.

It's a fast paced read, perhaps a little too fast-paced towards the end as I needed time to breathe and reflect (but this is a petty gripe). If I've got any criticism it's that I didn't quite buy Pen's backstory, which is a shame because she's a fascinating character and it's great to see a Muslim character who isn't defined by her faith and whose journey is emotionally painful.

This is one of the best YA fantasies I've read in years and one of the best debuts I've read in 2012. I'd definitely recommend checking it out.