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Scar Night (Deepgate Codex #1)

3.54 of 5 stars 3.54 · rating details · 1,968 ratings · 232 reviews

Suspended by chains over a seemingly bottomless abyss, the ancient city of Deepgate is home to a young angel, an assassin, and a psychotic murderer hungry for revenge—or redemption. But soon a shocking betrayal will unite all three in a desperate quest....

The last of his line, Dill is descended from legendary Battle-archons who once defended the city. Forbidden to fly and...more

Hardcover, 421 pages

Published December 26th 2006 by Bantam Spectra

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Apr 03, 2011 Amanda rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: meh

I desperately wanted to love this book, but to quote Gregory House quoting the philosopher Jagger, "You can't always get what you want." There are so many amazing concepts in this book, but that's part of the problem--there are so many potentially engaging ideas brewing in here that it's like Campbell couldn't decide on just one so decided to toss them all in at once. The result is that no one idea or character receives the full attention it deserves. For instance, the most compelling character...more

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Oct 26, 2011 Mark Lawrence rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've been reading Scar Night for 8 whole weeks! I don't get a lot of time to read but the 8 weeks is only partly a reflection of that.

For whatever reason, the first half of Scar Night didn't grip me. On the other hand I've given up on a fair number of best selling fantasy books between page 50 & 100 when they've not worked for me - and I didn't give up on Scar Night. What kept me in the game were the facts that Scar Night has excellent prose, good description, good dialogue, and tremendous i...more

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Jun 20, 2012 Alice rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: steampunk

This is a good introductory novel for the fantasy/sci-fi sub genre, Steampunk. It's a Victorian setting with technology based on steam power and Babbage's Difference Engine . The gadgets are often Rube Goldbergian as a result. The transport is often zeppelins or balloons. It's no surprise that Jules Verne is a patron saint of sorts for this literary category.

The debut novel by Alan Campbell not only has echoes of Verne, but Mary Shelly with the darkest of Dickens thrown in for good measure. The...more

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Sep 15, 2009 Dan Schwent added it · review of another edition

Shelves: steampunk

Deepgate is a city hanging by chains over a nigh-bottomless abyss. There is an organization of assassins called the Adepts of the Spine that works for the church of Ulcis. One adept, Rachel, is charged with two tasks; training Dill, the last archon of his line, and hunting down Carnival, a rogue angel who claims a soul every Scar Night. Only someone else has begun claiming souls and Carnival is taking the blame...

Sounds good, right? So what's not to like? A lot, as it turns out. The writing scre...more

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Jul 18, 2008 Dhuaine rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: readers tired of cliches

Shelves: fantasy, dark-fantasy

City of Deepgate, suspended above bottomless chasm by huge chains, provides shelter for pilgrims of all sort and is the capital of religious power - the Church of Ulcis. Existence is hard and painful, especially with devilish Scar Night looming over the city every month - and now even more so, with new, unexpected threat rivaling even the demons.
The setting is gritty and dark, and even though the world looks like traditional fantasy with its lone city surrounded by hordes of barbarians (other ci...more

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May 27, 2008 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2007

Scottish author Alan Campbell - best known for his "involvement" in designing the popular game Grand Theft Auto - spent ten years, on and off, working on his debut novel Scar Night, the first book in the Deepgate Codex. For fans of "steampunk" fantasy writer China Mieville (Perdido Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council), Scar Night is a solid, original addition to the subgenre.

The city of Deepgate hangs suspended by chains abovethe Abyss, its foundations built by Callis, the angel Herald of th...more Scottish author Alan Campbell - best known for his "involvement" in designing the popular game Grand Theft Auto - spent ten years, on and off, working on his debut novel Scar Night, the first book in the Deepgate Codex. For fans of "steampunk" fantasy writer China Mieville (Perdido Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council), Scar Night is a solid, original addition to the subgenre.

The city of Deepgate hangs suspended by chains above the Abyss, its foundations built by Callis, the angel Herald of the god Ulcis who was cast out of heaven by God (his mother Ayen), who sealed it against him, and the Ninety-Nine, his angel companions. Deepgate is a creaking city of iron and steel and brick, of grime and mould and ash. The city is more-or-less ruled by the Church, and has nearly succeeded in squashing the heathen races who live in the desert lands around the Abyss. But there are only two angels left: an untested boy, Dill, the last of his line, forbidden even to fly; and a half-mad woman three thousand years old called Carnival who drinks the souls of the citizens of Deepgate every Scar Night (full moon).

Someone else is murdering citizens now, though. Someone else is draining the bodies dry of blood, so that they cannot be blessed by the church and cast into the Abyss to live in the city of Deep with their God, Ulcis. Carnival is suspected by most who know about it, but Presbyter Sypes, the old man who runs the Church, knows the truth.

The mystery of who is stealing souls is revealed about a third of the way through, but it's not the crux of the story. It's not a mystery novel, after all, and the truth of what lies at the bottom of the Abyss is what really drove me on to finish the book. There are elements here that remind me of Mervin Peake's Gormenghast, spliced with His Dark Materials blimps and Perdido Street Station thaumaturgy. The hideous god Ulcis, consuming the flesh of the corpses thrown into the Abyss, reminded me strongly of the lard-like cannibal in Ian M. Banks' Consider Phlebus. I liked the less-than-angelic angels, surviving off the souls of mortals, and I loved the strength and fighting spirit of Carnival and Rachael, an untempered Spine assassin (a group of emotionless killers who hunt Carnival through the millennia - unsuccessfully). I thought at first Dill was a little boy - from the initial description of him and a reference to 6 years being "almost half his age" made me think he was about 12. But he's actually 16. He has promise, though. I was pleased that Adjunct Fogwill Crumb was not a typically horrid administrator; despite his perfumes and silks he was not petty in the slightest. The poisoner Devon's motives were understandable. None of this I had a problem with.

My main complaint, and the reason why it took me a surprisingly long time to read this book, is with the descriptions of Deepgate. I just can't picture it. I don't get the mechanics. The foundation chains hang vertically, but are secured to the lip of the Abyss. Why do they not then just hang down the sides of the abyss, how do the hang down the middle of it? Millions of smaller chains create a kind of net between them all. But I just can't see it. How are stone and brick and tin houses, some of them huge like the Church's temple, held up? How are cobbled streets kept together? Gardens and trees and fountains - and layers? The city is in layers, is it not? I'm sure it was described thus, but how do you get from one level to another? Is it above ground level or beneath the rim? How deep does it go, how wide? Are there roads leading onto solid ground? Even when sunlight is included in the descriptions, all I see is darkness. And when I can't satisfactorily picture the landscape a fantasy is set in, I struggle with the story because it has no solid backdrop against which to play out. It's like there are details missing that would have given me the key I needed to visualise it properly - details perhaps lost between drafts. Very frustrating.

The writing could have done with some tighter editing, especially on comma placement, which too often threw me off. (I thought I had an example of this but now I can't find it, sorry.) But there's a lot of potential here, with Campbell still finding his feet a bit, and I do want to read the following books.(less)

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Nov 25, 2008 Sharon rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: weird-fiction

Interesting setting and characters with a lot of potential, but it ultimately fell flat in terms of plot and writing. I had to make myself finish it. Campbell has some good ideas, but he's just not a great writer. I don't think I'll be reading the sequel.

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May 03, 2011 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

While this book isn't "wonderful" it has a unique flavor. I would not (as some have) call this a "traditional" fantasy. It has bits of "post apocalypse", a touch of Science fiction, some overt fantasy, a little flavor of steam punk....I'd call it sort of it's own "thing".

I'm not enamored with this book, I don't plan to re-read it, but it is worth a read to try this world out. It's a world of dry dusty want and blood smeared violence...but that's not the whole of it. Building it's own mythos and...more

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Feb 20, 2009 Morgan rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: to any one who likes dark fantasy / steam punk

Shelves: fantasy, steam-punk

Story:

The city of deepgate hangs suspended over a deep chasm by 99 chains . Legend says that at the bottom of this chasm lies the sleeping god ulcis, gathering a army of souls to take back the heaven that he and his followers were cast out of. Though not is all that it seems with this sleeping god. Three fates will intersect during the dreaded scar night to reveal the true nature and plans of the sleeping god ulcis.

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This is a great start to a new fantasy serie...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Jacqueline rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've read Scar Night... twice now, I think, and it makes much more sense the second time I've read it. I've read a lot of conflicting reviews regarding this book, and for good reason too. There is a lot, a truly massive amount of events, going on in this book, and it does make for some complicated reading. There's a massive amount of interconnected plotlines (what with Devon's vendetta against Deepgate connecting with the walking tragedy that's Carnival whose plot connects with the untempered Sp...more I've read Scar Night... twice now, I think, and it makes much more sense the second time I've read it. I've read a lot of conflicting reviews regarding this book, and for good reason too. There is a lot, a truly massive amount of events, going on in this book, and it does make for some complicated reading. There's a massive amount of interconnected plotlines (what with Devon's vendetta against Deepgate connecting with the walking tragedy that's Carnival whose plot connects with the untempered Spine assassin that is Rachel and the last angel of his line, Dill) that aren't really resolved by the novel's end, but this a trilogy, and will hopefully begin resolved in Iron Angel (book two) and ended in God of Clocks (book 3). This book really hops all over the place, but I personally found that it kept me on my toes, even if I couldn't find all the characters in my head. I would recommend this book because it is a fantastically imagined universe and it catches the eye: a city held by chains over a pit that supposedly has no bottom? An angel in this industrial city, cooped away in a temple and basically imprisoned by overprotective, overzealous Presbyters? Another angel who kills once a month by draining the blood of mortals to sustain herself, and then who wounds herself afterwards in guilt? The Spine, the temple's military arm, made emotionless by chemistry and mindbreaking torture?

The mythology created for this series, I think, is one of its redeeming points. It's well-crafted and definitely invokes images of the Christian religion (I remember that it does so, but not specifically how) to an interested, invested reader, and becomes a key component of the overarching plot itself (it's very difficult to tell what the main plot is, because there are so many subplots that the main plot is kind of lost). It's basically about an oncoming war between Ayen, the goddess of light and life who barred the doors to heaven, and her seven cast out sons (a probable reference to the fall of Lucifer from heaven, and the number seven). Ulcis, one of Ayen's sons, is the god of chains and of Deepgate, and is worshiped by the temple, of which Dill is the last living archon, the last living descendant of Callis, Ulcis's Herald. Iril is both god and Maze, the god of Hell, who claims the unblessed blood. The Maze is made of the actual souls of those in the realm, and is said to be conscious and looking for ways to break in to our world. It's a fantastic example of a universe and a religion built from the ground up, and is probably the most fascinating and intriguing aspect of the entire series. It's rather like a family drama met steampunk met religiously overtoned apocalypse. It's very fascinating.

While we're on the subject of family drama, the most heartrending moment in the book, to me, was the revelation of Carnival's (guilty vampiric angel) origins. Her backstory was heartbreaking, and reveals much about both her character and Ulcis's (who is eventually shown to be her father). The emotional and physical torture, her attempted murder by him, and the all-but-stated gang rape give her a story that relates her to the reader, and demonstrates that she exists (or existed) outside of her image as an amoral killer.

To simplify: there is a lot of potential here, much of which appears to be wasted, but with this potential comes an exciting read. I will say that you have to approach this book with a focused, invested mind, because if you're not invested in it, it'll go over your head and you'll find yourself wondering why exactly you should care or how any of it relates to anything else or what exactly something is. There aren't a lot of answers, but there's also two more books. To me, it seems to boil down to a matter of taste. Still recommended. (less)

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Jan 11, 2013 alice rated it 2 of 5 stars

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Dec 07, 2012 Alden rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

The one thing that can be said for Scar Night: it does not retread paths already turned into six-lane super-highways. The Tower of Shadows, for instance (a worse book, and one I read right after this one) takes place in Fantasy Kingdom 17, and features a pirate cove, an enchanted port city, and a genuine, do-gooding knight, for God's sake. Where does Scar Night take place?

On top of a bottomless chasm, in a city which dangles down on a series of thick iron chains. Which is a dark, kinda cool imag...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Ithlilian rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

A city wrapped in chains, suspended above a huge pit where a god and his army of dead live is where this novel takes place. Add in a blood thirsty angel that drains one human's blood every scar night, an angel in training, and an outcast assassin and you have Scar Night. The setup is brilliant, and the city is described beautifully, but the presentation is a bit strange. We bounce between characters every few paragraphs or every few pages, never stopping with one long enough to read anything imp...more

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Aug 31, 2010 CScott Morris rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of Steampunk, Horror, Dark Fantasy

lan Campbell is a designer and programmer for Grand Theft Auto, not exactly the type of person you would expect to write a Dark Fantasy/Steampunk novel like this.

But man, this guy is multi-talented.

Scar Night takes place in a wonderfully dark world, where blood is the currency of both heaven, and hell. Long ago, God closed the gates of hell, in a fit of anger at the evilness of mankind. Her sons rose up with an army of angels, but lost, and were cast down to earth and imprisoned. On such son was...more lan Campbell is a designer and programmer for Grand Theft Auto, not exactly the type of person you would expect to write a Dark Fantasy/Steampunk novel like this.

But man, this guy is multi-talented.

Scar Night takes place in a wonderfully dark world, where blood is the currency of both heaven, and hell. Long ago, God closed the gates of hell, in a fit of anger at the evilness of mankind. Her sons rose up with an army of angels, but lost, and were cast down to earth and imprisoned. On such son was Ulcis, god of chains, bound in a deep abyss. Humans have built the city of Deepgate, above their god's prison, suspended above the abyss by chains. Ulcis collects the souls of the faithful, lest they be consumed by the Maze of Hell, and once he has enough, plans on ascending once again to wage war upon his mother. Deep Gate, once no more than a shrine and source of pilgrimages, is now a military might thanks to their Airships and Poisons.

Thousands of years later, the city sags in it's tired chains, decadent and corrupt. Dill, last of the Angels descended from Ulcis' herald, is about to reach the age of manhood. He is kept locked in a tower by priests, where he can do no harm, and he is forbidden from flying.

There is one other angel in Deepgate, Carnival. Thousands of years old and entirely mad, Carnival hunts the city of Deepgate one night a month, Scar Night, when the moon is no more than a thin scar in the night sky. She kills, then consumes the blood of her victims. And the Spine(the tempered assassins of the Church) have hunted her for a millennia.

This book is lushly dark and a terrific read. Campbell's imaginative world is full of devious characters that you cannot help but love to hate(or hate to love), like the charismatic yet creepy Master Poisoner Devon, the determined Mr Nettle, the foppish priest Fogwill Crumb, the ancient Presbyter Sypes and even the earnest yet young Dill.

I highly recommend this book, if you enjoy horror or dark fantasy or steampunk. The sequel, Iron Angel, was not nearly so enjoyable for me. Iron Angel took place in Hell, which was incredibly detailed and I loved Campbell's twists, but it simply did not hold nearly as much interest to me as Scar Night did. Most of the characters in Iron Angel were gods, the brothers of Ulcis, or powerful beings in the Maze of Hell, or even men trained to fight deamons. They were all to powerful, in my opinion. Part of what made Scar Night so good, were the nobody characters, Dill and Nettle and Sypes even Devon, who turned out to be a right bastard(but at least you understood his motivations, and even cant help rooting for him).

Five of Five stars, four stars for sequel.(less)

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Aug 01, 2010 Teemu rated it 2 of 5 stars

Alku lupaa, pari kohtausta lunastaa, mutta kokonaisuus on tylsä kun mikä. Päähahmo on söpöstelevä pökkelö, tylsä murrosikäinen poju, eli klassinen "samaistumishahmo", josta todellisuudessa kukaan ei voi innostua, eikä ainoa mielenkiintoinen sivuhahmo (sopivan bitch vampyyrienkeli) saa läheskään tarpeeksi huomiota. Konsepti on sinänsä jees: tapahtumapaikkana on taivaasta pudonneiden ja rotkoon vajonneiden "enkelien" palvojien rakentama ränsistynyt kaupunki, joka roikkuu valtavien ketjujen päällä...more

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Jul 31, 2009 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: stem-punk, action-adventure, epic, fantasy, neof

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 02, 2009 Lily rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fantasy fans, esp. if you like it dark

I was first draw to Scar Night because of its cover (I know, what a sin). But how could I resist a dark angel rising in front of a moon, AND Publisher's Weekly's claim that Campbell writes like Neil Gaiman. "That's a lot to live up to," I thought.

Campbell doesn't write like Neil Gaiman. He has none of Gaiman's humor or light-heartedness. Instead, his writing is thickly dark, with his own brand of situational humor to help lighten the mood.

Scar Night was difficult for me to get into at first, bec...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Jayaprakash Satyamurthy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I'm a fantasy fan, but I've gone off the genre in general. Too much heavy, overblown writing masquerading as epic style, too much Sopranos-style soap opera, too little magic and strangeness.

Despite the steampunk tag (which means nothing to me - I refuse to accept that steampunk is a genre, it's just a bit of window dressing to help focus target markets) this is a pretty good fantasy debut. Lots of dark magic and some weird technology and a healthy dose of the macabre. A great city setting and a...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dark-fantasy, fantasy

In a city suspended over the void by chains of steel, angels hunt in the night…

The decaying city of Deepgate hangs suspended over the abyss by a mass of chains. It is ruled by a theocracy supported by the mythology of a god who will eventually return with a host of dead souls to kill his brother and save the world. The reality is somewhat darker, and this gritty fantasy is as blood-soaked as it is compelling.

The story starts as a dark mystery, attempting to find a soul thief in the city who murd...more In a city suspended over the void by chains of steel, angels hunt in the night…

The decaying city of Deepgate hangs suspended over the abyss by a mass of chains. It is ruled by a theocracy supported by the mythology of a god who will eventually return with a host of dead souls to kill his brother and save the world. The reality is somewhat darker, and this gritty fantasy is as blood-soaked as it is compelling.

The story starts as a dark mystery, attempting to find a soul thief in the city who murders innocents and bleeds them dry. Every eye is aimed at a mad angel named Carnival who stalks the city streets once a month for a victim to sustain herself, but the murders just don’t fit her pattern.

I’ve read – or attempted to read – this book twice. Both times, I’ve ended up quitting halfway through. I really loved the worldbuilding – this world is easily one of the most unique I’ve ever experienced, but also deeply flawed. The one thing I couldn’t get past in this book was, “Why?” Why on earth did these guys suspend their city over a giant pit? Where do the chains connect to? Why not build on the edge and just kick the dead over? I just kept yearning for an explanation, any explanation at all, no matter what it was, and it was a need that was never fulfilled.

I loved some of the characters – Dill, the innocent, hapless angel who has been brought up by the church to be an armed defender of the church but who spends most of his time pretending to be his ancestor, an angel who saved the world. I loved the story (and the backstory) of Deepgate’s resident poisoner. I appreciated the conflicted character of the head of the church, who is protecting a secret that would throw the entire world into question. I really appreciated some of the elements of steampunk that were occasionally included – the zeppelins, the war with a distant enemy fought with poisons and gas, the decaying city with parts that occasionally fell into the deeps, the scroungers… And I really liked elements of the story itself – betrayal, a social mythology built on a lie, and a lie that’s about to bite back… But somehow the execution fell a little flat.

If you’re up for a truly unique, gritty and bloody read, this is definitely a good book. But in a lot of ways, I think this would work better as a tv series, a movie, or a video game, instead of a novel.(less)

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Jul 30, 2011 Chris Lynch rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A good, solid work, strongly influenced I think by Mervyn Peake, seasoned with something of a contemporary fantasy RPG flavour with a bit of steampunk thrown in.

I enjoyed the plot development through the book as gradually more and more of the author's vision of Deepgate and its culture and inhabitants are revealed and people's motivations start to fit into place.

But the book did suffer from the problem that many works of fantasy have - how to end the story in a way that does justice to the tensi...more

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May 17, 2011 Jenny Delandro rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: angels-fantasy

Dill is a young angel...
the last of living angels guarding the city of Deepgate

Deepgate hovers over an abyss - held in place by chains
(view spoiler)...more Dill is a young angel...
the last of living angels guarding the city of Deepgate

Deepgate hovers over an abyss - held in place by chains
(view spoiler)(less)

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May 05, 2011 Tina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Tina by: I don't remember

What a great read! It was a good combination of serious and fun. I can't say I loved it, as there were things about the novel that were a little off to me, like I didn't find that the characters were completely flushed out, and there were little background bits that were never fully explained. I guess the book was already 550 pages, but I'd rather have an extra 50 pages worth of character development than be left wondering. I mean, the characters were well done - their motives and actions made s...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Nico Macdougall rated it 3 of 5 stars

Scar Night by Alan Campbell takes place in Deepgate, a city hanging over a gaping abyss, supported by huge chains. It was built to honor the god Ulcis, God of Chains, Hoarder of Souls. The main characters are Carnival, a psychotic scar-covered angel, Rachel, an assassin of the Temple of Ulcis, and Dill, the last descendant of Ulcis' angels.
Let me just say that this setting sounds incredibly ominous. I don't care how massive those chains are, I would not trust them if I was living over a gaping h...more

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May 14, 2008 J. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: in-new-york, permanent-collection

Significantly better than I thought it would be. A combination of imagistic and epic fantasy that reads a bit like a cross between China Mieville and Neil Gaiman. Not quite as good as either at their best, but then again, this *is* a debut. Had a few scenes which made me simply vibrate with glee at their coolness. Generally well-written and absolutely worth reading for someone interested in new, current fantasy fiction.

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Jan 15, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: I have no idea

Recommended to Elizabeth by: One of my students

Shelves: 2012-books-read

One of my students recommended this book to me. He is what we call a "reluctant reader" so I was excited to read it. I don't know how to tell him that I did not really like it much. The fact that it took me ten days to read is a testament to how I had to drag myself through it. He kept on telling me that it would get better, but I never found that the case.

The world of Deepgate is a dark one. I'm all for dystopian societies. Usually they are the settings for my favorite books. The description of...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Bookmarks Magazine added it

Scottish author Alan Campbell was previously a software designer best known for bringing to life the controversial Grand Theft Auto series. Scar Night, more than a decade in the making and the opening salvo in The Deepgate Codex trilogy, has tongues wagging in sci-fi/fantasy circles. The novel evokes comparisons to the work of Mervyn Peake (Gormenghast), George R. R. Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire), China Mi_

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Apr 28, 2010 Trace rated it 4 of 5 stars

A young angel growing up as a temple member, finds a new friend in a member of the Spline. Assasins, loathed for their lack of empathy. However Rachel isnt like the others, she still feels and is bitter about the choices her government have asked of her. The Poisoner looks to make angelwine, by taking souls from others. The father of one his victims hunts him, looking to save his daughters soul. And the only other angel - Carnival - hunts for the angelwine, to free her from the killing she requi...more

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May 05, 2013 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-books, read-2013

4 Stars

I scored this a bit higher than I probably should have as I love these types of books. The cover compares Campbell to Neil Gaiman and I must say that I did not see any similarities at all. What I did see was an urban fantasy that would have fit right in with Hal Duncan's Book of all Hours series. The stories, characters, and setting are,all similar, not their writing style.(Duncan is a difficult read).

This is a fast read that is dark and dirty. The cast is diverse and we get many POV's....more

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Jun 19, 2009 Ty-real rated it 3 of 5 stars

Two immediate comparison come to mind when talking of this book: the setting is a blend of Dickensian and Gormenghast. The latter's influence can also be seen in the characters, most obviously the naming of them, although the eccentricity many act with do seem to be of the Gormenghast mould.

The book, on the whole, is uneven though. The plot feels a bit messy, and could use more focus. Good, albeit with a bit of an unpolished feel, writing overall-very nice imagery especially. The fast pace made...more

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Jun 19, 2011 Katy rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I have to start by saying that, although the ideas presented in this book are intriguing, it feels like a video game. The characters are mostly one-dimensional, the action is uneven and the dialogue is stiff. That said, the idea is quite interesting and I hold hope that future books in the series will help Campbell's vision to come clear.

The city in chains, on chains, over the abyss, is a bold statement and the story feels very dark. I can imagine the many buildings - all crowding together and...more I have to start by saying that, although the ideas presented in this book are intriguing, it feels like a video game. The characters are mostly one-dimensional, the action is uneven and the dialogue is stiff. That said, the idea is quite interesting and I hold hope that future books in the series will help Campbell's vision to come clear.

The city in chains, on chains, over the abyss, is a bold statement and the story feels very dark. I can imagine the many buildings - all crowding together and continually building up and up so the richer people can be up in the sun - the constant creaking of the chains, the rust and decay everywhere . . . it is a richly imagined world.

Dill, the last angel in a long line going back to the great angel and battle Archon Callis who first helped drive the barbarians away from the city 2000 years ago, chafes against his duties in the temple and longs to be a battle Archon, as his ancesters were. However, the priests of Ulcis, the god of chains and the Soul hoarder - especially the head priest, Presbyter Sypes - claim that the barbarians would never dare attack the city again and that they are kept under control with the constant barrage of poisons and toxins the people of Deepgate keep dumping on them using the city's airships (similar to dirigibles) as created by Devon (the head poisoner); plus they fear the loss of their last angel - so they keep Dill in isolation to "protect" him, keeping him innocent and naive.

Devon is slowly dying from the constant exposure to the toxins he is responsible for creating, and bitterly mourns the wife he lost to the same type of lingering death (from the sound of it, she may have been the former Head Poisoner). On the surface, he appears to be the same gentle, charming man he always was (only with most of his skin turned to blisters and oozing), while under the surface he seeths; and murders people by draining their blood (thus rendering them unfit to be blessed, as blood is the soul and once it is drained the soul is lost) in his quest to create Angelwine, which will not only heal him, but make him immortal (he believes). He was sent the journals of the Soft Men, containing the formula, anonymously, but he believes the Presbyter sent it. One of the people he murdered turns out to be the daughter of a man called - always and only - Mr. Nettle.

Mr. Nettle is a bear of a man whose sole purpose in life has narrowed to avenging his daughter. At first he thinks she was killed by Carnival - an ancient, insane angel who stalks the streets of Deepgate and at the dark of every moon, takes a single victim, who she drains of blood, thus relegating their souls to Uril and the Maze since they cannot be blessed by the church. Carnival is heavily scarred so the dark of the moon is now called Scar Night. However, after the next Scar Night - when Mr. Nettle hunts Carnival but is passed over by her - he discovers that the murderer is Devon. He then turns his attention to Devon. Scar Night also sees another unsuccessful attempt by the Spine (the church's assassins) - using untempered Adept and Dill's overseer, Rachel, as bait (almost getting her killed) - to destroy Carnival. Carnival's revenge when she is injured is often extreme. . .

I could go on for ages giving you JUST the basic plot without spoiling this book for you. It is INCREDIBLY dense and I had a difficult time plowing through it. However, I remind myself that I also had difficulty getting through both "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" series the first time and I now love both, so I will hold on to this book and hope that future books in this series will assist in bringing the first book more into focus. If you are a fan of dark fantasy or horror, you would likely find this book of interest. You may want to wait at least until the 2nd book comes out if you don't have the patience to wait to discover just where Campbell is going with this, but then again, you must make up your own mind. I know I will be waiting for the next book with interest.(less)

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About Alan Campbell

I was born in Falkirk, Scotland, and grew up there, before moving on to to study Computer Science at Edinburgh University. After graduating, I worked for DMA Design, Visual Sciences and Rockstar, developing video games: Body Harvest for the Nintendo 64, Formula One 2000 for the Playstation, and the Grand Theft Auto series on the PC and PS2. After we'd finished Vice City, I left to pursue a career...more

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Scar Night (Deepgate Codex #1)

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