Daughter of Hounds by

29 February 2008


Genre:

ISBN: 9780451461254
See also: Author’s blog ; Synchronicity swirls and other foolishness

The ghoul lady takes out her white linen handkerchief and uses one corner to dab at her watering left eye. It’s an old wound, a relic of her spent and reckless youth, but it still bothers her sometimes, especially when the weather Above is wet.

I bought this on impulse. I vaguely recalled seeing the author’s name mentioned on Neil Gaiman’s blog. And it has an interesting title. Then again I was put off by the cover, and the fact that it seems to be the third in a ‘verse of books. Not a series though, so in the end I decided what the hell and shelled out the cash.

I’m not quite sure how to go about writing a summary about this book. It’s about those that live Below, the Children of the Cuckoo, who take babies to live among the hounds. These changlings, when grown, then work for the hounds in the world Above. As you may have guessed the world Above is ours.

And it is also about Emmy, a young girl whose father Deacon was once a psychic for the police[1] and her discovery of this world below.

But enough of that, on to the review. I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well written, believable and most definitely not all good guys. I like me a bit of confusion.

And the world Kiernan creates is great. Plenty of darkness and mystery, but always grounded in some sort of believable nature. Gothic horror meets urban fantasy is probably an accurate description.

All in all I really enjoyed this novel, enough that I’ll be looking for more by Kiernan, although not enough that I’d rush out and buy everything she has written. Her characters, while well-written and interesting don’t make me want to learn everything about them. The mood and atmosphere of the book is really where this book excels.

Linknotes:

  1. and the main protagonist of earlier books I gather

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6 Responses

  1. red says:

    phew! I thought you were gone gone. glad to see you're still around.

  2. Fence says:

    Still around red, for reviews. Giving up the other sort of blogging for a while. I'm sure I'll make a spectacular comeback at some stage.

    Still definitely reading and commenting on other blogs though

  3. jean pierre says:

    ah, looks nice and dark. fun dark, of course, not dark-dark.

  4. Randall says:

    Just surfin around in thhe digital void. Thought I would stop on by and say hello. keep with the good literary work!!

  5. Fence says:

    It is good JP, and yes, it is dark, in a good way :)

    Hi yourself Randall

  6. anne says:

    hello darling. You mind if i call you darling? I thought not.

    Talking of 'verse, changlings and all… where is Cara? Kara? See, i can't even spell her name anymore. Where??? Where???