RATS AND GARGOYLES

Churning power struggle set in a Renaissance world where alchemy, magic and science all work, and squares are pentagons; winged, immortal, devil-like Decans rule through their Gargoyle acolytes, and bipedal Rats lord it over fearful and oppressed human slaves and artisans. From the author of Golden Witchbreed and Ancient Light. Having gathered evidence that the Decans have discovered how to kill immortal souls, and thus end or amend creation, White Crow, Scholar-Soldier of the Invisible College, magically summons help, and so draws together various knowing or unknowing conspirators: young prince Lucas, a student at the University of Crime; his friend Zari, a non-human Katayan Kings' Memory, whose function is to remember all that she witnesses; the Hyena, a crippled woman warrior and leader of a ragged revolutionary army; Plessiez, the Rat priest, whose tortuous schemes involve the eight-bodied Rats-King; Casaubon the Lord-Architect, another secret Scholar-Soldier; and Tree-Bishop Theodoret, whose bodiless head is tormented by Gargoyles. Since their plan involves plague, magic, and force of arms, the conspirators' problem is not only to remove the Decan overlords but ensure that the various other species survive the conflict. Bewilderingly detailed work, far too dense for ordinary comprehension, with characters that get lost in the shuffle, and, despite the seething complications, curiously lifeless and repellent. Probably of more interest to students of Renaissance Hermetic magia than fantasy-lovers hoping for an agreeable diversion.