cover image The Paradox

The Paradox

Charlie Fletcher. Orbit, $15.99 trade paper (432p) ISBN 978-0-316-27954-3

The members of the Oversight, London’s only defense against black magic and evil forces, must band together to defeat multiple threats of the supernatural sort in Fletcher’s thrilling follow-up to 2014’s The Oversight. Sara Falk is a Glint, someone who experiences the history of objects she touches. She steps into a mirror world to search for missing Oversight member Jack Sharp. Hodge, a guardian of the Tower of London, must train his new apprentice, Charlie, in catching rats and other matters, and the reclusive, long-lived Smith, their teammate, has his hands full with new recruit Lucy Harker, another Glint. Fletcher builds on the considerable appeal and magical menace of the first novel and raises the stakes for his characters, while adding new evildoers and allies to the mix. Fletcher’s Victorian London is an atmospheric, creepily delicious concoction of alleyways and dark magic, mirror worlds where danger dwells at every turn, and nuanced, complex characters, all with their own story. Those already familiar with this world will be delighted, and newcomers will eagerly lose themselves in this utterly imaginative fantasy. (Aug.)