An urban fantasy of a different flavor, Gareth Hanrahan’s The Gutter Prayer is set not in our world, but in a dark city where ghouls roam the streets, where Lovecraftian monsters absorb you into their being, and where ancient gods are imprisoned in iron. Part heist, part urban fantasy, part horror, with a creeping epic fantasy vibe, this is Hanrahan’s debut.
A group of three young thieves are pulled into a centuries old magical war between ancient beings, mages, and humanity in this wildly original debut epic fantasy.
Enter a city of saints and thieves . . .
The city of Guerdon stands eternal. A refuge from the war that rages beyond its borders. But in the ancient tunnels deep beneath its streets, a malevolent power has begun to stir.
The fate of the city rests in the hands of three thieves. They alone stand against the coming darkness. As conspiracies unfold and secrets are revealed, their friendship will be tested to the limit. If they fail, all will be lost, and the streets of Guerdon will run with blood.
The Gutter Prayer is an epic tale of sorcerers and thieves, treachery and revenge, from a remarkable new voice in fantasy.
When what is supposed to a simple heist for Carillion (Cari), Rat, and Spar at the House of Law is actually a big frame-up to split them apart and use them for what they really are. Slab is the son of the former leader of the Thieves guild, Rat is a ghoul, a race frowned upon by most, and Cari has powerful secrets about her lineage she is unaware exist. As the trio of characters are divided, Hanrahan also divides the narrative between them, with a slightly greater focus on Cari. Hanrahan does a nice job with the characters, especially Cari, since it becomes clear a lot is on her shoulders. She sees visions, has dreams, and is forced to make seemingly impossible choices. You know, typical chosen-one things.
The setting; however, may be the overall strength for the novel. Hanrahan gives us a dark city with the weight of a history; deep, recent, and forgotten. The alleys and dark buildings are populated by Lovecraftian Tallowmen, the self-explanatory Stone Men, and the creepy Crawling ones. As if that weren’t enough, the specter of the once great Black Iron Gods (those old gods who gave the name to the series) hang over everything. What’s more impressive is that Hanrhanan only really focuses this story on one city and there’s enough inventiveness to layer over an entire world.
With this novel, Hanrahan pulls off a fairly balanced blend of elements of both Urban Fantasy and Epic Fantasy. There are dark warrens of the city, where monsters lurk. Through many of these scenes, Hanrahan evokes some creepy, horror-like elements. The intimacy of the city atmosphere is almost like Sword & Sorcery, too. But then the themes of returning Gods widens the canvas beyond the borders of the city. Look, these are just labels to give an idea to frame what’s going on in the story because Hanrahan seems too look at the borders of those “categories” as dares. He dares to move beyond the confines and he succeeds very well at taking those dares.
I’ll admit it took me a bit to get a full handle on the novel and fully immerse myself in the rich world Hanrahan reveals. Granted, I read much of the book while on a flight and I felt more fully sucked in when I was on the plane. With a deep foundation of the world laid down in this novel, I’d like to see a little more focus on the characters surrounding Cari.
Since I tend to make comparisons to other authors and their works, I felt a great deal of resonance between what Hanrahan is doing here in The Gutter Prayer and what Scott Lynch is doing in his Gentlemen Bastard books and Doug Hulick did in his criminally under-read Tales of the Kin novels, and some of the early novels in Robin Hobb’s uber-saga, the Realm of the Elderlings (specifically some of what’s happening in Assassin’s Apprentice).
Bottom line, Gareth Hanrhan has created a darkly fascinating world and unleashed a very impressive debut novel into the world. This is one to read.
© 2019 Rob H. Bedford
January 2019 | Trade Paperback | 560 Pages
Excerpt: https://www.orbitbooks.net/orbit-excerpts/the-gutter-prayer/
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Review copy courtesy of the publisher, Orbit Books
