I’ve been waiting to read A Madness of Angels for some time. I won a contest for it back in February but it never arrived. Once the people at orbit books learned about it they sent me another copy immediately. After finishing the book I’m glad they did.
Mathew Swift was a sorcerer living in London, after having an argument with the man who trained him and storming in off in a huff he is attacked and presumably killed. Two years later he wakes up, now sharing his body with a mysterious entity know as the blue angels, sparks life left over from the emotions poured into the telephone. Mathew begins gathering allies and plotting his revenge but does he really know what he’s dealing with?
The opening of Madness of Angels was confusing. The reader is thrust right into the middle of the story, no gentle introduction here. However I think this is rather well done, the protagonist is clearly disorientated and confused, not sure how his resurrection took place. The magic system is rather clever and I enjoyed it. Life exits everywhere and since life in modern day London centers on the city that is where sorcerer’s draw the magic from. Everything from the buzz of rush hour to the vermin that scuttle about unseen provide the life for magic. I have never seen a city portrayed so convincingly in any book before. Griffin really brings London and all it’s idiosyncrasy’s to life, it’s almost like the city is another character. If you are actually familiar with the city I’m sure you will get even more out of this.
Overall Kate Griffin’s first foray into grownup novels is a good one. I’m glad I chose Madness of Angels as my first venture into urban fantasy outside of the Dresden files and I can’t wait to see what she does next. 8.25/10
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