Yesterday, on a hot summer night, I went to the launch of
Geoffrey Gudgion’s fabulous debut novel, Saxon’s Bane at Forbidden Planet on
Shaftsbury Avenue in London.
Walking in, I felt I had surely found the
UK spiritual home of Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj from the Big Bang Theory! Upstairs was stocked with comic books and sci-fi merchandise goodies.
Downstairs I found a regular bookstore and a warm book launch – actually the welcome (and the room) were very warm indeed - but the wine was chilled!
I should declare that I was given an advance copy of this book by the author, who I know through the Historical Novel Society. Jenny Barden, (author of Mistress of the Sea and doyenne of the HNS) and I were greeted by a charming woman, as "Ah! You'll be the HistFict massive then?" Gosh! Best to admit it then!
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| With Jenny Barden |
So what about the book?
Saxon’s Bane is an action-packed page-turner
shaped by elements of horror, fantasy, history, thriller and the ghost story. As debut novels go, Saxon’s Bane is pretty impressive.
The catalyst for the story is the simultaneous discovery of
a bog body and a car crash in an unspoilt valley, which brings together a plausible
set of characters in an environment of convincing solidity. Just as the
landscape visibly preserves the memory of ancient ploughshares, so other
fragments of the past colour the lives of the living. Legend, history, memory, folklore,
magical practice - ancient and modern - and religion impinge
on the present and serve to fuel the interactions between well-drawn characters,
all of whom have been touched by the shadow world in different ways. Gudgion
deftly uses a well-observed, surprisingly broad spectrum of belief in a quintessentially
traditional British rural community, to develop tension and suspense that hold
the reader’s engagement without recourse to sensationalism.
Dream interactions and flashbacks allow Gudgion to share a
vivid experience of ancient lives and battles, with both character and reader
alike. An emotional literacy underpins much of the writing which is further enlivened by tangential
but witty observations by the characters - a smug post-coital pigeon or a
failed clinch that results in the near-embrace of a rucksack - which diffuse any suggestion
of sentimentality. Mythical motifs are woven elegantly into a fast paced split-time
story.
Saxon’s Bane reads very well indeed – give me more, Mr Gudgion! Five
stars.
Publisher’s Description
Fergus's world changes forever the day his car crashes near the remote village of Allingley. Traumatised by his near-death experience, he stays to work at the local stables as he recovers from his injuries. He will discover a gentler pace of life, fall in love and be targeted for human sacrifice.
Clare Harvey's life will never be the same either. The young archaeologist's dream find the peat-preserved body of a Saxon warrior is giving her nightmares. She can tell that the warrior was ritually murdered, and that the partial skeleton lying nearby is that of a young woman. And their tragic story is unfolding in her head every time she goes to sleep.
Fergus discovers that his crash is linked to the excavation, and that the countryside harbours some dark secrets.
As Clare's investigation reveals the full horror of a Dark Age war crime, Fergus and Clare seem destined to share the Saxon couple's bloody fate.
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