‘Principles of Angels’ – Jaine Fenn (Gollancz)

The other day someone mentioned to me that the blog was showing a bit of a bias towards fantasy (and some horror), where were the science fiction reviews? Looking back at the last time I read some science fiction, about a month ago, I had to admit that he was right (as much as it galled me) and I have been neglecting my reading in that area. The thing is that it’s not often that I seem to be able to find science fiction that doesn’t scare me off with overly technical talk of faster than light travel, la grange points etc. I much prefer my science fiction to be of the space opera variety with dark lords, galactic heroes and big laser guns!
I didn’t get any of this with Jaine Fenn’s debut novel but I didn’t mind too much as the story was great just the way it was…

Chesh City is a city of two halves; topside is the last word in extravagance and opulence but downside is dark, twisted and dangerous with not much at all between you and a lethal drop. It’s also a democracy of sorts where voting can result in a person’s assassination, these are carried out by the ‘Angels’ who answer only to the enigmatic Minister. Taro lived with his Angel aunt until the day she was murdered; now he’s on the downside streets looking for revenge but also just trying to stay alive. A timely intervention from the Minister gives Taro a sense of purpose and a job spying on the reclusive Angel Nual. However this job is about to lead Taro into a tricky spot where he will be caught between being marked for death and being the potential saviour of Chesh City…

‘Principles of Angels’ is a fast moving tale packed with incident and intrigue, I had to keep reading as not only did I want to know what was really going on (this seemed to change quite a lot!) but I also had to know how it all ended. This is the first in a series so as far as closure goes you do get some but a lot is left open for the next instalment.
Like I said, there is a lot going on in ‘Principles of Angels’ but it never feels like the book is getting overcrowded, everything happens for a very good reason that ties in with the plot. The emphasis isn’t so much on spectacle but more on the intensity of any given situation which means everything is very up close and in your face. As far as I was concerned this just made it easier for me to keep turning the pages!

‘Principles of Angels’ is a very character driven novel and I have to say that this made the book very hit and miss in places. The focus on characters really helped me get a feel for what was making people tick, the ‘up close’ approach also put me in a ringside seat for all the action that was taking place and this is the best place to sit as far as I’m concerned! However, for me this kind of approach can mean that if I’m not really that interested in a certain character then I find myself with large chunks of book that I’m not that bothered by. While the characters of Taro and Nual worked for me I found myself glossing over large chunks of the book that were about Elarn Reen, she may be a character that you want to know more about but she never really engaged me…
The other problem I had with the novel being character driven was that it seemed to come at the expense of me finding out more about the city of Chesh itself. I knew that ‘topside’ was lavish and ‘downside’ was slum ridden (it says so in the blurb) but there was nothing in the book itself that made me feel this stuff I’d been told. It almost felt like an amazing play was being acted out against a half finished set…

Despite these issues though, I found myself really enjoying this slice of ‘low-tech’ sci-fi and its hints of further developments in the future have got me looking forward to what Jaine Fenn comes up with next. Maybe I should be reading more sci-fi after all…

Seven and a Half out of Ten