Lye Street ~Alan Campbell
–published 2008
–135 pages, Subterranean Press
–3.75/5 stars

The Greene family is cursed. Every fifty years Deepgate’s scarred angel, Carnival, returns to murder another descendant. Now, five hundred years after the first victim’s death, Sal Greene is facing his own doom. His time has almost run out. In a desperate attempt to break the chain of violence and save his family, he summons a demon to the chained city: a warrior he hopes is powerful enough to stand against the angel.

Yet the creature which arrives in Deepgate is not quite the legendary mercenary Sal Greene was expecting.

Lye Street is a novella written exclusively for distribution by Subterranean Press that acts as a prequel to Campbell’s fantasy debut novel, Scar Night. I originally became interested in picking up this reasonably priced tome because of the fantastic Dave McKean cover when Chris mentioned it on his website. Since the first time I laid eyes on a Sandman comic cover the work of Dave McKean has had a powerful effect on my pocketbook. He is one of those artists whose work I simply want to own regardless of the product. But I digress…

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Lye Street. Chris also mentioned not long after tempting me to order this book (and ordering it himself) that he was not impressed with Scar Night and in fact did not finish it. However I was in the mood for a fantasy appetizer over the weekend and a 135 page novella fit the bill. Overall I am happy to say that I really enjoyed the story and having finished it I find that I am more inclined to give Scar Night a try if only to see where the story goes from here.

Alan Campbell is creating a series called The Deepgate Codex, Scar Night being the first of the series. Deepgate as a fascinating world of the kind which I would love to see detailed illustrations. It is a world suspended by chains over a mysterious abyss. The world by many aspects resembles a dark ages/medieval one replete with its own versions of heaven and hell, angels and demons. It is the dark fantasy nature of this story that appealed to me as I began reading as it brought to mind images of Tim Burton landscapes and worlds. What I found was a tale that indeed feels like the novella it is rather than a complete novel but my hope is that the mood that the story sets translates into my experience with the first novel.

Campbell tells a very efficient story, introducing the characters and alternating between the two storylines: the angel Carnival’s arrival at the city and subsequent flight from a series of cryptic messages left for her indicating her need to go to Lye Street and the story of Sal Greene, descendant of the man upon whom the death curse was originally laid and his attempts to summon a demon who can protect his family from harm. I certainly felt that Campbell did a good job describing the world in the midst of the action of the story rather than spending a significant amount of time telling the reader the nuts and bolts of the place. I liked being able to experience the city along with the various characters in the tale. Something else I found particularly enjoyable was a bit of Gaimanesque/Pratchetttesque humor ala’ Good Omens in a young child’s treatment of the miniature dog that is the aspect of the demon. Very fun. The images her brief appearances in the story conjured up made me chuckle.

The only complaint I can level at this novel is Campbell’s seeming need to include the word ‘fuck’ as many times as possible in the dialogue. One character in particular, Laccus Ravencrag, has a few chapters in which he uses the work in almost every sentence of dialogue. Far from being a prude–I think a well placed ‘fuck’ in literature or in life to be nothing short of an art form–I felt like the relentless use of the word did more to take me out of the story than it did to serve the character. In what was an otherwise engaging and interesting tale this dialogue felt artificial and forced. No doubt were I to find myself in an evil forest inhabited by man-sized vicious fleas I too would be dropping ‘f bombs’ liberally, but it just felt out of place here.

I would tell you to give this book a try but unfortunately the first run of 200 has been sold out. At $25 for a signed hardback with a Dave McKean cover that is hardly surprising. And this is a nice book with some great Bob Eggleton illustrations inside as well:

(sorry about the less than stellar pics)

If the sequel to Scar Night does well I suspect that Subterranean will be tempted to print another run. I have read several praising and less-than-enthusiastic criticisms of Scar Night and I look forward to giving it a try, and rendering my own verdict, once the chance arises….maybe during the upcoming fantasy challenge.