KT Davies - Breed

Breed by K.T. Davies

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Last weekend (09/05/15) I went to the 3rd York pubmeet at the Brigantes Bar which was a joint get-together of the British Science Fiction Association and the British Fantasy Association. The guests of honour were authors KT Davies and Mark Morris (not forgetting Lee Harris, senior editor of Tor.com). As a result of this I acquired a copy of Breed. It helped that Ms Davies read from it in her strong Yorkshire dialect. I live in Lancashire :-).

Breed (ISBN 978-1-909348-65-3 Fox Spirit Books) is 240pp which I read in two sittings. It's first person and the tone is more cynical mercenary than the grim humour of Howard's Conan. It's reminiscent of Mary Gentle's Grunts¹ and charts the escapades of a thief come thug-for-hire. The opening sequence is a sign of how things will go - the protagonist being chased by an ice dragon; the escape isn't without cost. An occupational hazard of settling old scores is making new enemies which the protagonist does with aplomb. The world is well crafted. However, given the opportunity to do a deeper narrative, Breed invariably shucks this and heads for the next kill. It will be enjoyed by those addicted to reasonably well crafted fantasy / hack n slash.

I'm a jaundiced reader of SF / Fantasy, having read over 100 million words in-genre. Hack n slash is best consigned to the scrivener's midden heap. What maintained my interest is the fact that Ms Davies raided Shakespearean English to spruce up dialog, particularly obscenities. Though I had niggles, they didn't interfere with my enjoyment and would be unlikely to be noticed by the casual reader. The plot twists were plausible and kept me turning the pages and there's enough back-story to tempt me back for another serving.

Similar kinds of work
Robert E Howard's Conan
Fritz Leiber's Swords (Fafhrd & Gray Mouser)

I let a work colleague (a Marine Biologist) have a look at it. The next day he handed it back virtually unread with the comment "I had a quick flick through it. The writing is just up my street but I knew if I read more than a page I'd have to finish it and I can't spare the time right now."

¹ I never finished Grunts as the characters (and the plot) lost my sympathy. It's still knocking around in my locker, part read.



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