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Jump to navigationJump to searchBitter Seeds (The Milkweed Triptych) by Ian Tregillis (view source)
Revision as of 14:40, 5 October 2012
, 14:40, 5 October 2012no edit summary
It's 1939 and Lt Commander Raybould 'Pip' Marsh of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service travels to Portugal to smuggle out Krasnopolsky, a fascist with a secret. However things don't go to plan. Krasnopolsky nerves are justified as, in the time it takes to order drinks, he spontaneously combusts. Marsh is too late to extinguish him but manages to retrieve Krasnopolsky's case to take back home. He finds the surprises keep on coming: it contains film footage of people becoming 'insubstantial' whilst walking through walls, others absorbing bullets and some bursting into flames with no apparent side-effects (unlike poor Mr Krasnopolsky). Marsh realises the Nazis' unconventional weapons need an unconventional response and so calls on Lord William Beauclerk who happens to be a warlock. Operation Milkweed is on so let other-worldly battle commence.
Ian Tregillis is an American who ''consorts with writers, scientists and other unsavoury types'' and, let's be honest, it's paid off incredibly well. ''Bitter Seeds'' is not only the author's first novel; it's the first of a 'triptych' (trilogy to the rest of us). Why is this noteworthy? First books in series are generally 'set up' books where possible story time is diverted to character/setting introductions and are therefore often not as good as those that follow. E.g. [[Fated : An Alex Verus Novel by Benedict Jacka|Benedict Jacka's Fated]] and [[Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera) by Jim Butcher|Jim Butcher's Furies of Calderon]] are both first books that get ultimately excellent series off to a shaky start. Now, using this theory, ''Bitter Seeds'' is so good already, how great will the next two be? (No pressure on the author there at all!)
The story rips along at a rate that not only drags you to the edge of your seat but almost knocks you out of it as action scene follows revelation follows supernatural happening. We being reading thinking we know how it will end; after all, this is our history. Then gradually, in a Stephen Baxter's ''Time's Tapestry Series'' way, historical timelines deviate from any recognisable sequence and we often have no idea what's ahead. That's not all that deviates. Some of the vocabulary isn't 1940s English but the adventure's so intense that you'll just raise an eyebrow and carry on. You may even smile at the use of words like 'minger' as you hurtle past to the next page.
