Wolfhound Century

Starred review from January 14, 2013
Higgins’s strong and darkly weird debut relates the difficult life of Investigator Vissarion Lom in an alternate 1940s Russia where the stone bodies of dead angels are harvested and repurposed. Lom, who bears a sliver of angel stone in his forehead that keeps him well behaved, is summoned from his provincial beat to the capital and ordered to find a revolutionary terrorist, one Josef Kantor. Kantor is also sought by his daughter, Maroussia Shaumian, who is one of the people perceiving the slips in reality between nature and the industrialized, and between the past and possible futures. The machinations of the humans and their organizations are reflections of a larger conflict between the alien fantastic entities known as the Archangel and the Pollandore. Sentient water, censored artists, mechanical constructs, old-fashioned detective work, and the secret police are all woven together in this rich and fascinating tapestry. Agent: Ian Drury, Sheil Land Associates.

October 15, 2012

Inspector Vissarion Lom has been ordered to Mirgorod, the corrupt capital of his totalitarian country, to ensnare a terrorist. He's chosen for the job not simply because he's an outsider amid the city's secret police, cabaret girls, and rabid party loyalists--not to mention golems and giants--but because he has a bit of angel stone in his head. Lots of excitement about this debut, crossover potential envisioned, and how cool (and how challenging) is setting a work in an alternate Stalinist Russia?

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