Tue 3 Feb 2015
A Horror-Fantasy Review by Barry Gardner: BRIAN STABLEFORD – The Werewolves of London.
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Science Fiction & Fantasy[2] Comments
BRIAN STABLEFORD – The Werewolves of London. Carrol & Graf, hardcover, 1992; paperback, 1994. First published by Simon & Schuster, UK, hardcover, 1990.
I don’t read too much fantasy that I like any more, and much less that impresses me. This did. Stableford has been around awhile, and wrote a good bit of stuff I liked for Ace and DAW many years back, but this is quite different from his early work.
It’s set in 19th century London, in the main, and involves the Werewolves of London, demons, angels, the Sphinx, aspiring saints, and any number of other interesting characters. It really isn’t a werewolf story, though. It deals with the conflict of evolution and creationism, how we look at the world, and what it’s really all about, Alfie.
It presents a view of creation that’s a bit different and wholly intriguing. The characters are quite believable, even the non-human ones, and Stableford tells his story in a sometimes leisurely, sometimes rapid-paced, always entertaining way.
It’s a big book, and I was sorry to see it end. Though the first in a trilogy, it‘s quite self contained. Unless period fiction and/or fantasy really turn you off, you ought to give this one a try. It’s good.
The David Lydyard (Werewolves) trilogy —
The Werewolves of London. Simon & Schuster, UK, July 1990.
The Angel of Pain. Simon & Schuster, UK, August 1991.
The Carnival of Destruction. Pocke, UK, October 1994.
February 3rd, 2015 at 6:15 pm
I enjoyed this and much of Stableford’s work. He is currently involved translating many works from the French pulps and writing. I’m honored to have appeared in several TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN anthologies with him at Black Coats Press.
It’s a good trilogy and I would love to see it in print again.
February 3rd, 2015 at 8:23 pm
I’ve looked elsewhere for reviews of this book, and while they’re all favorable, I don’t think it’s meant for me. I never was a fan of fantasy, especially not dark fantasy, which it seems to be.
I remember Stableford very well, though, for those science fictions novels he wrote for Ace and Daw in the 1970s, the ones Barry refers to early on in his review. There were three series that I remember, all very good stuff:
Dies Irae
The Days of Glory, (Ace 1971)
In the Kingdom of the Beasts, (Ace 1971)
Day of Wrath, (Ace 1971)
Hooded Swan
The Halcyon Drift, (DAW)
Rhapsody in Black, (DAW)
Promised Land, (DAW)
The Paradise Game, (DAW)
The Fenris Device, (DAW)
Swan Song, (DAW)
Daedalus Mission
The Florians, (DAW September 1976)
Critical Threshold, (DAW February 1977)
Wildeblood’s Empire, (DAW October 1977)
The City of the Sun, (DAW May 1978)
Balance of Power, (DAW January 1979)
The Paradox of the Sets, (DAW October 1979)
This was back in the days when Science Fiction was good, and I gobbled these books up like popcorn.
I admire what Stableford is doing now with those translations of old French novels, but I’ve had to decide to draw another line of restraint. I can’t read everything, or even collect it all.