The House of Storms

by Ian MacLeod

Ace Books, 457 pp, $24.95

Mr. MacLeod is also the author of the Great Wheel and The Light Ages. Alice Maynell has climbed to the exalted rank of Greatgrandmistress of the Guild of Telegraphers. Her only son, Ralph, is dying of consumption. No medicine will cure him. Alice takes him to Invercombe for the benefits of clean sea air. But she also hopes for healing from the home of the changelings, Einfell.

Now healed, ignorant of how, Ralph finds love in the arms of a servant girl, Marion Price. As they plan for their future, Alice sets events in motion, events that threaten to not only tear lovers apart but also end the Age of Light.

The book features not only perfect world-building (though not a perfect world) and complex plotting, it also features characters that grow before your eyes into complex protagonists. MacLeod leaves no character unfleshed, no matter how minor.

This is a keeper. The language is exquisite, drawing the reader into the story and holding them spellbound. Urban Fantasy at its best - Pam Allan