Look At A Book: Cicerone

Since we’ve already looked at Lighter Fluid, it made sense to me to come to my second novella, quite a different one. This is my darkest fantasy work to date, in my opinion, and it’s got a completely opposite ‘structure’ to Lighter Fluid – instead of a lot of short scenes, this novella contains six longer chapters with an approximately similar wordcount, and it’s my only long-form work that is in second person, which is always interesting. But anyway, let’s get into looking closer at Cicerone!

CiceroneThe Essentials

A dark fantasy novella.

Genre: Dark Fantasy

Age Range: Adult

Length: Novella

Main Character: January, they/them (you – second-person POV)

Themes: Mystery, Insanity/Madness, Crime, Murder, Reality vs Dreams

Excerpt

The uneven hem of her dress swished a little as she turned away, practically skipping over the cobbles in those plain, shape-less shoes – if you were going to wear shoes at all, you could at least put some effort into choosing a decent pair – not even looking to see if there was any traffic she should’ve been aware of. It irked you.

So, all of a sudden, with the scream of an alarmed horse and a sort of muffled, thudding crash, a coach appeared with the steed in a canter which was brutally interrupted by its trampling of Fleur. Her awful dress got caught under its hooves and ripped from her stout body, just as the animal kicked her backwards and her spine met the wooden frame of the coach with a beautiful cracking noise. Her limbs splayed out as breath left her lungs and dark crimson roses blossomed on her skin, reminiscent of a particularly dark wine which was hiding away in the back of your cupboard somewhere, you were sure.

The driver tumbled from his position, perched on his wooden seat, and fell to the cobbles, shouting and flailing his arms about as if that was going to do anything. With a final tug of its head, the horse came loose from the coach and galloped off down the street, forcing several pedestrians to leap out of the way in order to save themselves from the fate which Fleur had fallen foul to.

As a quiet sigh escaped from between your parted lips, you blinked, and all was gone – coach, driver and Fleur, whose true situation was betrayed by the swinging of a door directly opposite you – the building which your agency boss had told you to take her to. It was more than likely that you’d be called on whenever she had to go anywhere important, or even just return to the building which you had escorted her to.

Newcomers found the city particularly daunting, and with good reason. It wasn’t only the towering, monotonous buildings they feared, but the rumours that it wasn’t quite as lifeless as it first seemed. There was a reason why cartography was a forgotten art – even your rooms seemed to wander a little every so often, although they mostly remained close to their neighbours, thankfully. Coach drivers always seemed able to find them with little more than an address – there were more whispers than you cared to mention about the coach drivers themselves, but you did not partake in such a useless hobby as gossiping. Separating truth from fiction was far too time-consuming, and the rewards were often too scarce for it to even be considered as worthwhile.

With the ghost of a smile playing on your lips, and only the slightest hint of disappointment at the fictitious nature of the thoughts lingering in the back of your mind, you turned away from the road and began your journey home. It was only a short way and, without the baggage of Fleur keeping you back, you managed to keep up a good pace. Your lanky legs served their purpose and allowed you to keep said pace without looking entirely ridiculous – you wouldn’t be caught dead jogging or running, especially not in such fine clothes, but a strong walk was entirely respectable.

It even put a sort of formidable aura about you, which you didn’t mind at all. Urchins scurried out of the way and rats scampered from beneath your bare feet as you reached the end of one rain-drizzled street and turned, raising your head for a moment as you paused your walk.

Although the rain muted your senses somewhat, you could still make out the faint calling of must and ink which identified your rooms so clearly, as they were above a used-book shop. They were also usually close to an art gallery badly plagued by damp which itself was beside a quill shop that claimed to have feathers from the most exotic of birds. Most of the names of those avian creatures would make the eyebrows of an ancient scholar shoot upwards, but that was none of your business.

Your feet started forwards of their own accord and your eyes, made close-to-useless by the combination of murky conditions and miserable weather, closed a little contemplatively. Maybe these streets moved about more often than you changed outfits, but you were no ordinary citizen. You were a cicerone.

Strangers, both from outside and inside the city walls, trusted you with, practically, their lives, letting you guide them from place to place without even the burden of having to tip you. The agency trusted your sense of direction enough to give you a small regular salary alongside a generous percentage of your fees. More than anything, you trusted you. Considering all this, the rain and dead hour darkness could go and kiss a certain area of your body – they were not stopping you getting home.

The Background

Cicerone is an odd one for me. It remained half-finished for quite a few years, hiding away on my laptop and waiting for me to rediscover it. I also considered including a poem alongside the chapters of the manuscript which I eventually decided against, but the poem can still be read on my blog here. I’m really glad that I took the time to finish this novella, because I think it’s such an interesting read and one of my more complex works. Although it can be a little head-scratching at times, it’s definitely one to try and sink your teeth into. It’s also my only book – as of now – which I published through KDP rather than Blurb for the print edition, which is an interesting little fact!

Is It Right For You?

As opposed to Lighter Fluid and Everything Under The Rainbow – YA – and The Cats Collection – Middle-Grade – this is a firmly adult-orientated book, in my opinion. It’s dark and it’s got some eerie, almost gothic vibes to it, so if that sounds like your sort of book, then you’ll almost definitely enjoy Cicerone. If you’re not a fan of second-person perspective, then this might not be the book for you, and it does have somewhat of a fragmented narrative, so if you prefer your books to be completely straightforward and going from A to B to C, then this also might not be the best pick. But if you’re looking for some mind-bending, experimental fantasy, then Cicerone could be right for you!

You can check out the eBook for free and let me know what you think!

Cicerone can be read for free here or purchased here, if you’d like to support me!

(You can also tip me on my Ko-Fi page if you’d like to help out more directly!)