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Loading... Pandaemonium (Daemonomicon) (edition 2012)by Ben Macallan
Work InformationPandaemonium by Ben Macallan
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Belongs to SeriesDesdaemona (2)
Desdaemona has done a thing so so terrible that she has to run away from the consequences. Again. Where better to look for shelter than with the boy she was running from before? Deep under London, among the lost and rejected of two worlds, answers begin to emerge from Desi's hidden past. Answers that send her north in a flight that turns to a hunt, with strange companions and stranger prey. Desdaemona has done a thing so so terrible that she has to run away from the consequences. Again. Where better to look for shelter than with the boy she was running from before? But trouble follows. And if it's not Jacey's parents who sent the deadly crow-men, the Twa Corbies, in chase of her, then who is it? Deep under London, among the lost and rejected of two worlds, answers begin to emerge from Desi's hidden past. Answers that send her north in a flight that turns to a hunt, with strange companions and stranger prey. Dangers lie ahead and behind; inconvenient passion lays traps for her just when she needs a clear head; at the last even Desi has to beg for help. From one who has more cause than most to want her dead... No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.92Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 2000-RatingAverage:
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So, we've had Desdæmona from Jordan's point of view, powerful, self-possessed and irresistible, and now Desdæmona herself picks up the story. She's as fast talking as she's fast moving, a geek girl with a quick wit and an answer for everything, but sometimes those answers come just a bit too fast to be entirely convincing: whenever she says no, nothing like that, I think oh, maybe... "Desdæmona's done a bad, bad thing. Again." says the cover copy - and it's true, but she had the best of reasons, she just didn't expect it to turn out like this.
So now someone - but who, of the many powerful people she has dcrossed? - is out to get her, and she is pursued by a fine selection of menaces, from the Twa Corbies in the sky to the the great wyrm ("our home-grown, English dragon[s]", so much less splendid than the legendary kind) in the underground. Some of her allies are almost as alarming - Reno, for example, protector of the Stranded - others are sheer joy. There's that horse, for example, the one on the cover:
"You could make a horse of the rain on the wind, all chill and bitter motion. You could make a horse of moonlight on a millpond, bright stillness over depth. You could make a horse of stone and grass, or of ink on paper, or..."
The writing's beautiful, of course (Ben Macallan is our very own Chaz Brenchley, and he's found a voice for his heroine which allows him to have serious geek fun) and the invention magnificent. The action's fast and furious, with plenty of roller derby to balance the abundance of boyfriend: there's a midnight ride to the north, there's a motorbike rescue, there's even some fancy roller-blading through the streets of London. I do occasionally want to shake Desdæmona, to tell her to stop running and think, but surely this is intentional. There's a hint in the conclusion that there may be some learning in store, as well as some hugging.
It's a good conclusion, but it doesn't quite feel like an ending. It's a teasing equilibrium, rather than the shock twist of 'Desdæmona', but it leaves me feeling there is more to know about these people. And since the dedication calls it "this second half of a still unfinished story", I can hope that I may get to find it out.