The City's Son (Skyscraper Throne Series #1)

by Tom Pollock

Overview

'An impeccably dark parable, endlessly inventive and utterly compelling' M R Carey, author of The Girl with all the Gifts

Beth's world is falling apart. Then she discovers a hidden London, full of marvels, magic . . . and menace. Perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere.

Hidden under the surface of everyday London is a city where wild train spirits stampede over the tracks and glass-skinned dancers with glowing veins light the streets.

When a devastating betrayal drives her from her home, Beth stumbles into the secret city, where she finds Filius Viae, London's ragged crown prince, just when he needs someone the most. For an ancient enemy has returned to the darkness under St Paul's Cathedral, bent on reigniting a centuries-old war. Desperate to find a way to save the city they both love, they find themselves in a desperate race through this bizarre urban wonderland, but when Beth's best friend is captured, she must choose between this wondrous existence and the life she left behind.

The City's Son is the first book of The Skyscraper Throne trilogy: a story about family, friends and monsters, and how you can't always tell which is which.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780870083
Publisher:	Quercus Publishing
Publication date:	08/02/2012
Series:	Skyscraper Throne Series , #1
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	422
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Tom Pollock is a graduate of the Sussex University Creative Writing Programme, and a member of the London-based writers' group The T-Party. He has lived everywhere from Scotland to Sumatra, but the peculiar magic of London has always drawn him back.

Read an Excerpt

Please browse inside this title with the preview below.

Editorial Reviews

In debut author Pollock’s alternately glittering and gritty urban fantasy, first in the Skyscraper Throne trilogy, London is a secret battleground between the forces of the god Reach, “the Crane King,” who would devastate the city with soulless and sterile urban development, and Mater Viae, “Our Lady of the Streets,” goddess of London’s teeming vermin—not just rats and feral cats, but also creatures made from masonry, electricity, and garbage. With the goddess mysteriously absent, her son, Filius, “a skinny boy wearing only a pair of filthy ripped jeans,” must oppose Reach, aided by his faithful trash monster, Gutterglass, and Beth Bradley, a delinquent teenager with a genius for graffiti and the courage to stand up to an angry, sentient locomotive. While there can be an overabundance of detail regarding the inner workings of Pollock’s modern-day London, the overall effect is that of a city transformed by ephemeral, incandescent magic. Gorgeously written and brimming with bizarre urban creatures, this darkly imagined and sometimes painful tale should delight fans of Neil Gaiman, China Miéville, and Holly Black. Ages 12–up. Agent: Amy Boggs, Donald Maass Literary Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Gorgeously written and brimming with bizarre urban creatures, this darkly imagined and sometimes painful tale should delight fans of Neil Gaiman, China Miéville, and Holly Black"—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"An impeccably dark parable, endlessly inventive and utterly compelling"—Mike Carey, author of The Unwritten, Lucifer and X-Men

"I cannot say enough times that you need to read this book. Intelligent, true to its genre, and the most fun thing I've read this fall"—San Francisco Book Review

"Vivid, inventive and truly weird"—Daily Mail

"Gritty, dynamic, and beautiful - I can't wait for more"—Tessa Gratton, author of Blood Magic

"One of the most imaginative pieces of genre fiction I've ever read"—Fantasy-faction.com

"He nails that spot between utterly normal and blood-curdlingly weird perfectly"—Jon Courtenay Grimwood, author of the Assassini novels

"A delicious and truly urban fantasy which makes wonderful use of its setting and explores what cities really are. If you like urban fantasy, you should definitely check this book out!"—Jellyfish Reads

"There's something here for everyone; excitement, adventure, innovation and also depth of narrative, depth of world and, most important, depth of personality and emotion"—Adventures With Words

"The world building and imagination are first class"—Birmingham SF Group

"[Pollock's] a fine stylist who can tell a good yarn. There's an urban energy and feel to this book that is so appropriate to the story it tells."—Fed on Peaches

"a good, fun YA book that feels like a solid start to an interesting series reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere."—Roadside Reader

From the Publisher

Gr 8 Up—London teems with beings that human inhabitants do not see, from smoky Railwraiths that emerge from subways and train yards to metallic Motherweb spiders. Beth Bradley, 16, is a tagger, spending most of her time wandering the city, marking buildings and bridges with impassioned images. Filius Viae is a hunter, "the boy with the city in his skin," protecting unseeing humans from the urban-other that share the streets. He is also son and heir of the goddess Mater Viae, who disappeared years before after defeating the malevolent Reach in the Great Fire. Fil and Beth join forces to destroy the newly resurrected Reach, each filling an empty emotional space for the other; their relationship struggles to evolve in the rocky chaos of an apparently unwinnable conflict. Pollock's urban adventure is steeped in the concrete fantastical, the sentient supernaturals of the London streets emerging fully realized from the asphalt. Compelling language and brisk dialogue add texture and humor to tight prose that speeds through a well-built fantasy world with nothing of the gossamer about it. Beth and Fil are commandos in a violent war for survival, and there are ghastly casualties. A hopeful sign of life renewed from the rubble offers a potent invitation to the promised sequel.Janice M. Del Negro, GSLIS Dominican University, River Forest, IL

School Library Journal

A graffiti artist finds purpose in this most urban of urban fantasies. Beth, 16, flees expulsion, a broken friendship and a dysfunctionally grieving father straight into the arms of a ragged warrior. Filius Viae is the Son of the Streets, the only child of the goddess London. Filius was born into an eternal battle between the spirits of the city and their nemesis, the god of ceaseless growth. Beth joins the battle out of restlessness, but she stays for herself and her growing love for this strange other London of weevils and cockroaches, Pylon Spiders and feuding Lampfolk. The richly drawn setting evokes China Miéville's Un Lun Dun (2007); though Beth isn't as richly drawn as UnLondon's Deeba, she has her own scruffy charm. Her victories come through cocksure bravado, boldfaced cheek and the assurance that she's got nothing to lose. Beth's coming-of-age is presented in uneven, symbolic prose that sometimes overreaches, littering her tale with overwrought metaphor, but it also rises to poetry in its loving affection for London's filth and scars. A slow and dragging buildup is redeemed not just by the well-paced climax, but by the emerging heroism of the most unexpected characters. Ultimately, the density of this series opener pays off; the countless little details culminate in a satisfying resolution with no destined heroes, only individuals struggling along the best they can. (Fantasy. 13-16)

Kirkus Reviews