The Grand Dark

April 15, 2019
In this complex standalone, Kadrey (the Sandman Slim series) introduces a sooty world where a Great War is newly won but unrest, hedonism, and the certainty of a new war to come are driving people “a little mad.” Largo Moorden only wants to advance in his courier job and make a life with his girlfriend, Remy, a rising actress at the Grand Dark Theater. But he inadvertently attracts the notice of his city’s puppet masters, who pull him into intrigues that are both feeding and fighting a rising tide of doom. Kadrey’s initial slow pace lulls readers into a false belief that the obvious dangers of Largo’s life are the only ones. When the hammer crashes on Largo and Remy, it comes from plot elements assembled with such devious cunning that they seem obvious only after Largo is trapped. A constant underlying tension makes the city’s powder-keg agitation visceral, and the individual neighborhoods and their residents are well wrought. Any fan of convoluted science fiction will appreciate the sharp twists Largo has to navigate if he and those he loves are going to survive. Agent: Ginger Clark, Curtis Brown Ltd.

Starred review from May 15, 2019
A dope-addicted bike messenger tries to change his stars in a futuristic war-torn republic that reflects some of the best fantasy fiction. Kadrey (Hollywood Dead, 2018, etc.) is a trip most of the time anyway, but here he's deviated from his signature Hellblazer-esque Sandman Slim books and supernatural humor novels to deliver a stand-alone heavy hitter that's more in line with recent deviants like Chuck Wendig's upcoming Wanderers (2019) and Daniel H. Wilson's The Clockwork Dynasty (2017). Tonally, this lush novel is closer to Scott Lynch's pirate fantasy The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006), but technologically it resembles the near-future dystopias of Cory Doctorow or China Miéville. The nominal hero is Largo Moorden, a bike messenger and junkie trying to make his way through the fictional community of Lower Proszawa, which is just emerging from "The Great War" with its northern neighbor. Largo has a girl he loves and a rather mysterious boss in Herr Branca, for whom he delivers anonymous packages. In Blade Runner-esque fashion, there's everything but the kitchen sink in Largo's environment, including a murky dust called the "city silver" that coats the city, a plague that threatens to decimate the population, and "The Drops," a mystery illness that causes citizens to, well, drop dead. Interstitial interludes from fictional histories and documents build out the mythology. Kadrey has also infused his saga with a terrific cast of characters that includes a traumatized soldier; the cast of a bizarre, hedonistic theater that takes its name from the book's title; and Baron Hellswarth, the influential and elite customer who could help lift Largo out of his wretched life or ruin it forever. Throw in radicals using eugenics to create creatures that should never have existed, and the automata--sentient robots whose purposes are probably worse than you imagine--and the odd mix of debauchery and desperation starts to gel into a stark and compelling vision. Wildly ambitious and inventive fantasy from an author who's punching above his weight in terms of worldbuilding--and winning.

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 15, 2019
Kadrey takes a break from his popular ?Sandman Slim' series with a stand-alone, noirish thriller. In Lower Proszawa, everyone wants to forget the devastating war they just won and avoid thinking about the next one. Largo, a bike messenger who managed to escape the fighting, knows the streets and alleys like the back of his hand. A drug addict with a beautiful girlfriend, Largo can hardly believe his luck when his boss offers him a chance for advancement. He has a shot at making a better life for himself and his girl. But that happiness is short-lived as he is awakened to some dark realities?a plague is moving through the city, radicals are protesting the increasing loss of jobs to machines, and people are disappearing. Largo is not political and never wanted to be a soldier, but his new position keeps bringing him closer to both and may force him into a choice he would rather evade. Offer this to readers who like morally complex characters and enjoy their fantasy on the dark side.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)