When a terrifying fire seems to envelop London, a group of maintenance workers on the Underground make their escape through an access tunnel and find themselves in a seemingly uninhabited, possibly mythical world. Portal fantasy has been a staple of modern fantasy from C.S. Lewis to Stephen Donaldson but Simon Morden’s clever and engaging novel keeps the reader guessing as to exactly what sort of portal and what sort of world we have here.
This is a very personal world and it seems to offer the (pleasingly diverse and vividly portrayed) characters very particular challenges and opportunities. Not to mention extraordinary changes to their own nature. Making things this personal means the characters are key and from a girl trying to escape her criminal past to a young Sikh man looking to escape family expectations Morden’s characters are consistently real and surprising. As we follow them we learn more about their lives and the true nature of the strange world they are in – this land is neither as empty or as simple as it first appears. This is a wonderfully original novel with real psychological depth and a canny way with fantasy archetypes. Fans of Ursula le Guin will enjoy mapping Morden’s world. ~ Simon Spanton
Maxim Jakubowski's view...
Modern fantasy at its best, far from the shadow of Tolkien and nearer to the more fertile literary lands of Michael Moorcock and China Mieville. After an apocalypse devastates London, a group of survivors enter the Underground tunnels in a quest for salvation. Wonderfully delineated characters populate this modern saga, the first in a new series, and we see them reach an impossible portal into another reality as well as realise they are not the only denizens populating the darkness. Morden is fast becoming a master at evoking shattered urban landscapes as he proved in his earlier pyrotechnic and highly original science fictional 'Metrozone' series, and this could well become a major addition to the fantasy cannon. A word of warning, the book ends on a major cliffhanger and you'll be rather impatient to wait for the next instalment! ~ Maxim Jakubowski
| Primary Genre | Science Fiction |
| Recommendations: |
A small group of commuters and tube workers witness a fiery apocalypse overtaking London. They make their escape through a service tunnel. Reaching a door they step through...and find themselves on a wild shore backed by cliffs and rolling grassland. The way back is blocked. Making their way inland they meet a man dressed in a wolf's cloak and with wolves by his side. He speaks English and has heard of a place called London - other people have arrived here down the ages - all escaping from a London that is burning. None of them have returned. Except one - who travels between the two worlds at will. The group begin a quest to find this one survivor; the one who holds the key to their return and to the safety of London. And as they travel this world, meeting mythical and legendary creatures,split between North and South by a mighty river and bordered by The White City and The Crystal Palace they realise they are in a world defined by all the London's there have ever been. Reminiscent of Michael Moorcock and Julian May this is a grand and sweeping science fantasy built on the ideas, the legends, the memories of every London there has ever been.
Down Station features in the following genres: Science Fiction, eBooks of the Month, Fiction, Recommendations
Down Station is available in Paperback
Down Station was written by Simon Morden and published by Gollancz an imprint of Orion Publishing Co
Down Station has 368 pages
Yes it is part of Down series
£9.89
