Book Review: The Gutter Prayer

The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan, The Black Iron Legacy #1

A group of three young thieves are pulled into a centuries old magical war between ancient beings, mages, and humanity in this wildly original debut epic fantasy.

The city has always been. The city must finally end.

When three thieves - an orphan, a ghoul, and a cursed man - are betrayed by the master of the thieves guild, their quest for revenge uncovers dark truths about their city and exposes a dangerous conspiracy, the seeds of which were sown long before they were born.

Cari is a drifter whose past and future are darker than she can know.

Rat is a Ghoul, whose people haunt the city's underworld.

Spar is a Stone Man, subject to a terrible disease that is slowly petrifying his flesh.

Chance has brought them together, but their friendship could be all that stands in the way of total armageddon. 

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I know I am late to the party (The Gutter Prayer was released just last week) but this is a party still worth going to though! As I am not actively looking for the latest releases in SF/F The Gutter Prayer came as a more then welcomed surprise. Over the last year Orbit has steadily filled the bookshelves with a lot of new talent in the SF/F genre. We had Brian McClellan with his powder mages, Angus Watson with his Age of Iron and of course Nicolas Eames with his Kings of the Wyld. I can happily add Gareth Hanrahan to this list.

At the start of the book we find ourselves following the trio Carillom, Rat and Spar. They have been ordered by the Brotherhood - a thieves guild - to steal important documentation, however little does this trio know that somebody has a different agenda. During the heist somethings or I should say everything goes to hell in a handbasket pretty quickly. In the end only the ruins of the House of Law still stand and well Carillon, Rat and Spar find themselves either locked up or underground hiding. It all turned out that the leader of the Brotherhood did have other plans. As soon as  this is discovered there is not much left to do besides getting your revenge. 

From the start Garteth Hanrahan throws you in the middle of action, only to slowely ebb away after a few pages. What caught my attention early on in the book was the world that was coming to life in the first set of pages. It's dark, sad but also happy and vibrant at times. One that will not bore easy. In the first few scenes you already get introduced to the weird and wonderful world. That of Thaumaturgy. Gareth Hanrahan creates some freakish horrors to go with it. Tallowmen and Gullheads. Take the Tallowmen for example these are living candles and extremely dangerous. When I read the first scene with the Tallowmen I somehow envisioned Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast jumping around with an greatsword. Anyway good stuff for you fantasy. 

These Tallowmen and Gullheads are not where it stops though. Just looking at our thieves trio, there is a Ghoul and a Stone Man. Ghouls begin as small creatures but as they mature they are capable of some powerful magical tricks. Then there is Spar the Stone Man who is suffering from a disease that slowely turns him into stone. He needs to keep moving and take a drug called Alkahest just to keep alive. During the scene where you read about Spar suffering I could not stop and not feel for him. It's not the nicest thing to see happening slowely being locked away inside your own body. Especially on that small island with the thieftaker. Besides these thaumaturgical wonders, There is also a divine world at play here with Ravellers and living Saints. These beings carry immense power for better and for worse

Character-wise The Gutter Prayer hits all the right marks. From the beginning it is a delight to read about Carillon, Rat and Spar. How they work together and how strong their bond is. Carillon is the main protagonist of the story and she goes through quite the transformation. Though she does not realise the extent of her power from the start. Her transformation goes steadily across the story. Spar is also a character to love and root for. As I explained above he is a Stone Man slowely living towards his last breath when the alkahest cannot save him any longer. Rat well what to expect form a Ghoul? You will be in for a surprise. .

With wild ideas that fully come to live and both world and character building on par, Gareth Hanrahan has left his mark on the fantasy world.