A review by nigellicus
Ancient Appetites by Oisin McGann
5.0
Never in all my natural did I imagine that one day I would find myself reading an alternate fantasy historical novel set in Victorian Ireland that incorporated all the stuff of childhood classroom lessons in villainous rackrenting landlords, the Famine, evictions, fields of potatoes, wakes and Dublin slums aong with unique mad-science stuff of machine animals and landed gentry with superhuman powers. But here it is.
Nate Wildenstern returns to the less than tender bosom of his family home, ruled with a detachable claw by his ruthless, heartless, formidable father. Neither he nor his older brother Roberto are made of true Wildenstern stuff, but their brother Marcus does, and it is he that is set to inherit. When Marcus dies in a climbing accident, Roberto is propelled into the unenviable position of heir, but it is Nate who is chosen to take over the task of running the family's vast business interests whether he wants to or not. Nate is determined to discover whether his brother's death was really an accident, murderous power-struggles being a family tradition, but events are complicated when a disastrous explosion unearths the preserved bodies of some distant ancestors, one of whom wears a Patriarch's ring.
With the family seeing conspiracies and rebels in every corner, Nate and his sister-in-law Daisy must endeavour to keep their heads before everything goes horribly wrong. Then everything goes horribly wrong.
What a cracking, thrilling, mind-bending, sly, gothic little saga this is. The place and time are wonderfully constructed and the bizarre elements are fitted seamlessly into the setting, creating a delightfully twisted version of staples of Irish history and fiction. Massively loaded and complex webs of class, race and gender relations are handled effortlessly. I loved it.
Nate Wildenstern returns to the less than tender bosom of his family home, ruled with a detachable claw by his ruthless, heartless, formidable father. Neither he nor his older brother Roberto are made of true Wildenstern stuff, but their brother Marcus does, and it is he that is set to inherit. When Marcus dies in a climbing accident, Roberto is propelled into the unenviable position of heir, but it is Nate who is chosen to take over the task of running the family's vast business interests whether he wants to or not. Nate is determined to discover whether his brother's death was really an accident, murderous power-struggles being a family tradition, but events are complicated when a disastrous explosion unearths the preserved bodies of some distant ancestors, one of whom wears a Patriarch's ring.
With the family seeing conspiracies and rebels in every corner, Nate and his sister-in-law Daisy must endeavour to keep their heads before everything goes horribly wrong. Then everything goes horribly wrong.
What a cracking, thrilling, mind-bending, sly, gothic little saga this is. The place and time are wonderfully constructed and the bizarre elements are fitted seamlessly into the setting, creating a delightfully twisted version of staples of Irish history and fiction. Massively loaded and complex webs of class, race and gender relations are handled effortlessly. I loved it.