Feast and Famine by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Published by NewCon Press (Review copy received.), August 2013
ISBN: 978-1-907069-54-3
125 pages
From www.newconpress.com
Review by Mark Yon
When a writer becomes established for writing a particular type of novel, it can sometimes be difficult for readers to accept anything else they’ve done. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I understand, got rather frustrated with his creation Sherlock Holmes for that reason.
Personally I’m always reminded of Isaac Asimov’s alleged response to the acclaim for the Foundation series, even 50 years later, which, if I remember correctly, basically said “It’s good, but it’s not my best.”
My reason for bringing this up here is that this collection of ten stories is written by an acclaimed Epic Fantasy writer (creator of the Shadows of the Apt series, now in its ninth hefty tome, with one more to follow) and whilst there are some Fantasy tales as you might expect, it is the rest of the collection that grabbed my attention. Of the ten tales, five are new to this collection.
The range is impressive, and so too the different tones of each tale. We have some Fantasy tales (The Artificial Man, The Roar of the Crowd, The Son of the Morning), some horror (The Dissipation Club and Care), some SF (Feast and Famine, 2144 and all that), and some funny stories (Good Taste, Rapture). The cover is a great SF painting by the ever-reliable Jim Burns, too.
My personal favourite is The Dissipation Club, Adrian’s first ever professionally published short story, published in the anthology Dead But Dreaming 2, which is Adrian’s take on a world these days often inhabited by Christopher Fowler in his Bryant and May series or perhaps Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Green / Rivers of London series. It is a tale of Lovecraft-ian goings on underneath London with two ‘ghost hunters’, Walther Cohen and his sidekick Michael Liupowiktz. Really liked this one, and would love to read more.
Almost as enjoyable, and if the title didn’t give it away, 2144 and all that is an entertaining time-travel romp, with a touch of Sprague de Camp’s Lest Darkness Fall mixed in with the knowing humour of Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat series. Short, but impressive on the ‘What-if’s?’ Great fun.
The Roar of the Crowd is a travelling theatre show tale that reminded me a little of Robert Silverberg’s Lord Valentine, or perhaps Daniel Abraham’s Dagger and the Coin series, in that the love of theatre and the romance of the travelling lifestyle are shown here, with a nice twist on Adrian’s part. Adrian in his Afterword says that the story is a tribute to Peter S. Beagle, and this is reflected in the story’s use of language.
The God-Shark is one of those ‘weird ideas’ tales that reads like something from myth but is clearly about something else. (Why was I thinking ‘bankers’ when I read this?)
Good Taste is also like that, a contemporary tale, self-admitted one-shot idea (be careful of what you wish for) that doesn’t outstay its welcome. (It’s also the first time I’ve come across the TV show Bargain Hunt referenced in a genre collection.)
For many though the highlight will be the last tale in the collection, The Sun of the Morning. A longer tale, and one from the Shadow of the Apt world, originally featured in the sadly-missed Deathray magazine. You don’t have to know the Apt series to like this one, but many fans of the series will look forward to this story most. It is a tale of capture and escape, of loyalty and deception. I enjoyed it but found that for me it seems to get going but then ends, leaving the reader wanting more. Adrian says that he hopes to write more with these characters in the future, so here’s hoping.
What Feast and Famine does most of all is show Adrian’s repertoire outside of the Apt world. Based on what I’ve read here, (and adapting the Asimov adage I mentioned at the beginning, with apologies to Adrian and Isaac), ‘The Shadow of the Apt series is good, but it may not be his best.’
This is a very pleasing collection that shows a writer who can write a much broader gamut than many would perhaps usually give him credit for. The great thing here is that there’s not a bad one amongst them. I enjoyed it very much and it is therefore recommended.
Mark Yon, July/August 2013
