Torc, it’s what’s for Dinner; a review of “The Man with the Golden Torc”
The Wal-Mart fantasy/sci-fi book selection, in general, blows. Sure, you can often find the major novels there, like Shannara novels or the Wheel of Time, but finding something worthwhile takes rolling a natural 20. Imagine my surprise when, futilely browsing it, I come across a novel which looks not only decent, but is written by someone who has actual experience, but isn’t a huge author like Brooks or Jordan. I like new authors as much as the next guy, but there’s something to say about a fellow that’s been writing for a decade.
The Man with the Golden Torc, by Simon R. Green, is a part of one of my favorite trends sweeping fantasy; the idea that you can incorporate magic into any genre or setting. Call me weird, but I’m a sucker for the Dresden Files and the WebMage series precisely because they mix something awesome (Magic and Mythology) with different genres to create entirely untapped worlds and markets. More, after I bind the summoned break to my will.
Whereas the Dresden Files focuses on Detective work, and WebMage has its’ hacker/cyberpunk groove on, The Man with the Golden Torc is focused on the spy genre; specifically, of the James Bond variety. It’s also the first in the Secret History series.
The main character of the novel is Eddie Drood, who goes by the alias Shamus Bond when he’s mingling with the laymen of the supernatural world. See, Eddie is a member of the Drood family; supernatural troubleshooters of a sort, who dispatch agents all over the world to fix problems. Sometimes those problems are minor; sometimes they kill people. The fact that they stick their noses into business that isn’t theirs’ makes them unpopular in the supernatural community, to say the least. Being a huge family, there’s also a large amount of internal strife from various factions.
This’s accomplished through the use of their golden armor, which not only protects them, but gives them various superhuman abilities when activated. When it isn’t “on”, the armor takes the form of a golden torc around the neck of the person. Only Droods have these torcs, and removing them causes the person to die.
The story begins with Eddie Drood, having distanced himself from his family, being given a mission to return an artifact to a certain site. Eddie still works for the family, but he’s done what he could to distance himself from them. Being a Drood, however, he’s never going to be fully separated from them, despite what he’d like. The mission shortly breaks down, with him being ambushed on a freeway and forced to flee, declared rogue by the family.
What follows is nothing short of a narrative marvel. While many of the twists and turns wouldn’t work in other fantasy settings, Greens’ “Everything and the Kitchen Sink” world, combining fantasy with science fiction with science fantasy, where androids travel from the 23rd century to modern day, aliens wander London, trolls live under bridges, and fairies frequent pubs, supports all of it marvelously.
The greater achievement, to me, is the tight storytelling. While Eddie has his share of gadgets, the story has only smatterings of sci-fi, being mostly fantasy, through and through. While the background details show us a world where a mage can have a showdown with a man in a flying saucer, the story stays true to its’ fantasy roots.
Greens’ talent for creating interesting and three-dimensional characters is equally showcased. Near the beginning of the story, Eddie is forced to begin asking supernatural organizations that’re considered enemies of his family whether they have any information on why he was declared rogue. What follows is a handful of one-shot organizations which would be at place having a larger role in almost any other novel. From a floating personification of sexuality to a group that alters reality to suit its’ own whims(The Scene-Shifters, my personal favorites), the book is positively loaded with both characters and organizations that make you want to know more about them. They read more like cameos then fleeting extras, operating with a background that you just don’t often find in otherwise throwaway encounters.
The biggest detriment I could give The Man with the Golden Torc is that, all too often, it adheres too closely to the spy genre; many of the twists and turns, even if they aren’t outright known, can easily be guessed at. For people who’ve never been interested in the genre, or people who hate predictable books, that would be a downside. I’ll read anything decent, so I don’t take an issue with it.
In the end, while The Man with the Golden Torc is far from the perfect book ever, and it doesn’t quite live up to the same quality of, say, The Dresden Files, it’s a more-then-fine romp through the world of Modern Gonzo Sci-Fi-Fantasy, and I’m certainly looking forward to the next book in the series being released in paperback.
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