A hard departure into my other love, queer science fiction with Medieval themes! Sometimes I feel a bit self-conscious, torn as I am between melancholy, homoerotic, midcentury European fiction and underground urban fantasy. I have a weak sense of my own taste, torn as it is between “high brow” and “low brow.” Terms that make me grouchy anyhow.
Blackheart Knights follows the rise of the Arturian kingship in London alongside its main system of justice, a circuit of battles fought by motorcycle-riding public service knights. Who are often queer and always very, very cool. This one is split into two timelines, which both progress forward to meet in the present day: one, the crowning of Art as king when his father, Uther, dies by a mysterious hand. The other, the rise of a godchild knight, torn between the worlds of magic and the streets vs. the worlds of battle and the crown.
This book certainly had its fair share of tropes. One of which being the cover, which pushes Blackheart Knights soundly into the science fiction/fantasy genre category, more akin to 1980s pulp faves than the blurred literary re-worked covers of LeGuin, Delany, or even contemporary YA science fiction. I was surprised by the cover, considering this book’s strong relationship to queerness, contemporary political plotlines, and clever writing. And yet I love it. The “not like other girls” part of me that grouches about another gender-swap historical fantasy appreciates the hard genre party line. That is a complex for me to parse out another day.
On the other hand, I really enjoyed the twists and turns of this book. I was audibly gasping at every event. The plot was truly thrilling. And the tender, thoughtfully fleshed-out characters absolutely pleased me. I loved the thoughtful, surprisingly submissive characterization of Art, and the tough, fierce knight-in-training Red. And most of all, I LOVED the portrayal of London, maybe my favorite character in the whole book. Split into seven sectors, each named after a past “saint” (non-magical ruler of the city), London’s landscape is varied and lush in Laure Eve’s reimagining. It reminds me so much of Slow River, the way Griffith draws past and present ties to the River Thames, to major cultural movements of the city alongside tiny details of the plant growth and wild animals.
The eBook for the sequel was on sale for $2.99, so I’ve already purchased. There are a couple others on my TBR between now and then (I started The Gallery since my last post, am still reading Confidences/Majority, and also started Bryher’s Beowulf in a fit of Anglophilic pique).
Booklots! 