Mini-Review: Always Forever by Mark Chadbourn

Always Forever is the final book in the Age of Misrule trilogy by Mark Chadbourn (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon), tells the story of f a Faerie apocalypse where the modern world is invaded by the magic and magical creatures of Faerie and other similar worlds. It’s set in Britain and I really enjoyed the first two books in the series World’s End (my review, Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon) and Darkest Hour (my review, Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon).

 

The trilogy follows 5 people who are destined to have the power to save humanity from both the Tuatha de Danaan and undeniable evil of the Fomorii and their gods. Their reluctant leader is Church (Jack Churchill) as they struggle to overcome death and despair with the lost of their world as they knew it and the events of Darkest Hour.

 

I’ve enjoyed this series primarily because it’s both a different sort of apocalypse and the infusion of Celtic myth into the modern world. The way Chadbourn writes the series makes it read sort of like a travel guide of ancient sites of power throughout Britain. I must admit that this really appealed to me as it almost became a sort of bucket list for my next trip to the British Isles (I’ve visited some of these sites, but certainly not all). As such, I often would have my British atlas open as I read. Seeing this fantasized version of how history, myth and legend combine at these historic/pre-historic sites is fascinating, and probably the thing I enjoyed most about the series.

 

The personal struggles of the 5 ‘Brothers and Sisters of Dragons’ bring an authenticity to events as each person has strengths, weaknesses, and flaws in their character. The contrast of humanity and all its flaws presented against the evil of the Fomorii and lack of humanity of the Tuatha de Danaan brings an interesting depth to much of what happens through the series. The result is a different way to look at the Celtic fantasy that comes in and out of fashion – it’s not romanticized though sticks to typical fantasy format. This balance works quite well and always keeps things interesting.

 

In retrospect, the end of the series seems obvious and appropriate. It was one that I think I would have figured out had I tried. But the truth is that I would simply dive in and enjoy the writing so much that I never bothered to – and I suppose that little bit says more about the series than just about anything else I can say.

 

Review: Darkest Hour by Mark Chadbourn

Darkest Hour by Mark Chadbourn (US, UK, Canada, Indiebound) is the second book of the Age of Misrule Trilogy. In this trilogy, Chadbourn shows us a world where magic returns, along with all the nasty, indifferent beasts of legend. The modern world fails, the evil Formorii seek to destroy humanity, the Tuatha de Danaan stand apart, and the five human Brothers and Sisters of Dragons fight desperately for the sake of humanity.

Being the second book, too much of a plot summary will spoil events from the first book, World’s End (US, UK, Canada, IndieBound). Having said that, Darkest Hour continues from events in World’s End. A new threat emerges and the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons set out to prevent something very bad from happening. Things don’t go as planned, and the group finds even more desperation and despair than they have seen yet, while their personal relationships continue to erode what little moral remains.

Bad things happen in Darkest Hour. After World’s End, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise, but Darkest Hour is a truly dark book with an apt title. Hope is fading, yet our decidedly not intrepid band of heroes perceivers and signs of adaptation to the new world of magic appear.

Darkest Hour is clearly the middle-book of a trilogy but doesn’t suffer as a result. Rather than bridging events from book 1 to book 3, Darkest Hour has a complete story-arc with clear beginnings and endings. The wonder I vividly describe in my review of World’s End is still present, and Darkest Hour retains the feel of a wild tour through Britain’s magical sites, but everything is darker, more ominous as hope fades.

In the Age of Misrule, Chadbourn doesn’t fall back on the genre trope of having young, idealistic, and inexperienced people chosen to save the world. Chadbourn’s heroes are older and already well beaten-down by the world. And the five Brothers and Sisters of Dragons don’t immediately become best mates who always doe the right thing. We see realism – sexual tension, jealousy, hatred, apathy, biting insults, selfishness, etc. In Chadbourn’s band of heroes, people get fed up and decide they need to go out and get rip-roaring drunk rather than ‘take one for the team’. And yet these obviously flawed individuals do continue on, doing their best to do what is right – only their best isn’t always enough or even the right move.

The Age of Misrule is proving to be a fantastic read. Adding a bit to what is explored in a fantastic review at rob will review, in the Age of Misrule Chadbourn presents something of the anti-Tolkien fantasy, while embracing many of its standards. Tolkien explores Britain’s mythology by creating a world where magic is leaving, and humanity in all its imperfection is rising. Chadbourn explores Britain’s mythology by taking our world and bringing back the magic, myths and legend – a world where humanity may be on the way out. All at once, humanity looses science, technology, and religion. Chadbourn shows us a world where all humanity has is each other as they fight for survival and they slowly understand what they may have gained through their loss. This is an exploration of humanity – the reality of humanity rather than its ideals, what has been lost through science, technology, and dogmatic religion, and what just might be gained. This is a series that has completely captured me and I can’t wait to see how it finishes in Always Forever (US, UK, Canada, Indiebound). 8.5/10

Related Posts: Review of World’s End, Interview with Mark Chadbourn

Mark Chadbourn Answers Qustions Five

Mark Chadbourn is a well-known SFF author in Britain who is being introduced (or perhaps re-introduced) to an American audience by Pyr. Over the years he’s been both a journalist and writer, leading to incredibly varied experiences in life, though he has settled down to an active writer’s living in the heart of a forest, indulging his passions for environmental campaigning and magic. World’s End (US, UK, Canada, IndieBound) is the first book in the Age of Misrule Trilogy with Darkest Hour (US, UK, Canada, IndieBound) and Always Forever (US, UK, Canada, IndieBound) completing the trilogy. Two related trilogies have followed – The Dark Age and The Kingdom of the Serpent in a style that Chadbourn refers to as mytho-fantasy. I really enjoyed World’s End and look forward to reading much more of Chadbourn’s writing in the future.

Thanks to Mark for taking the time to answers Questions Five.


If I were going on holiday through the Midlands and I could only visit once pub, which pub do you recommend and why?

MC: I would certainly recommend going to The Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham - you not only get good beer and food and good company, you also get great atmosphere and an unforgettable history lesson. The Trip is the oldest pub in Britain. You can tell that the moment you stoop through the tiny medieval doors into a maze of small rooms where you could lose yourself for quite a while. The rear part of the pub is actually carved out of the rock and there is a tunnel leading to an underground labyrinth that links vast sandstone caves running beneath Nottingham. Right overhead, Nottingham Castle towers. The Trip was founded in 1189, when King Richard the Lionheart announced the crusade against the Saracens in the Holy Land - hence the pub name. If you're looking for ghosts, there are supposed to be several here. But watch out for the locals - they may try to entice you into one of the medieval pub games, particularly swinging a small hoop on a rope on to a horn fixed to the wall. It looks simple, but is fiendishly hard - and the locals ensure a constant supply of free beer betting against unwitting visitors. It's also one of the favourite watering holes of Britain's fantasy authors, and when the annual Fantasycon is in town (usually September) you can find many of them propping up the bar. You can find out more here: http://www.triptojerusalem.com/

If World’s End were a fortune cookie, what would its fortune be?

MC: 'Do not trust what you see. Nothing is as it seems'.

If this were your own fortune, how would you interpret it?

MC: That the world appears to be one way, but it's only an illusion, a collection of rules established by other people for their own benefit. If you spend your life conforming to other people's rules, you will never find good fortune. You make your own rules. Then you build a base in an extinct volcano, hire a private army and plot to impose those rules on everyone else.

Please describe one reason World’s End would inspire a reader to strip naked and run screaming into the forest?

MC: Looking at John Picacio's amazing cover alone can instill such a heightened sense of erotic delight it would have that effect on the viewer. However, as this is all about me-me-me I'll concentrate my mind on the words: World's End is all about the power of ancient days. It's about prehistoric stone circles, old gods and archetypes that still affect the modern mind, old beliefs, old mysteries, and the power at the heart of nature. It's about finding something meaningful away from the illusory attractions of the modern world. It actually really is all about stripping naked and running screaming into the forest.

Why should World’s End be the next book that everyone reads?

MC: Because if you don't read it, the powers that secretly rule our world will win. It might seem to be a fantasy story about the ancient Celtic gods returning, but it's really about the here and now and what's going on around us. Or if 'they' are listening, it's a fast-paced, high adventure with sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll...or Frank Sinatra, at least. It's a quest for meaning in a secular world. It's a tour around the mystical and prehistoric sites of Britain. It's a codebook of magic. It's a quest for meaning in a secular world. It's a commentary on the abiding influence of the ancient Celts. It's not for jaded people - it's a celebration of that time in life when emotion is acutely felt: love, friendship, betrayal, fear, yearning. It's fun. Really. (But if you do read it, you'll know who really controls the world, and why, and you'll be able to beat them. Even without a secret base and a private army.)

Review: World's End by Mark Chadbourn

It turns out that I’m that sort of American who holds a fascination with the old Pagan religions of Europe where the majority of my ancestors came from, and particularly for the Celtic traditions of Britain and Ireland. This has resulted in an affinity for Celtic music (especially from Scotland and Ireland) and a wonderful trip through England, Wales and Scotland that included stops at places like Stonehenge and Avebury. Over time I’ve come to realize that this goes beyond fascination to some sort of deeper connection that the rational, scientific part of my brain cannot explain. I feel an honest emotional connection the ancient land and lore of Britain.

I’m not the sort of guy to go out of my way to explore such a connection, but I do naturally gravitate toward SFF fiction that utilizes Celtic traditions as inspiration. While I’ve found that Arthurian fiction typically does nothing for me, some books such as Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock (review) bring this connection to life. The Age of Misrule book 1, World’s End, by Mark Chadbourn (US, UK, Canada, IndieBound) almost perfectly resonates – actually it may be the book that has had the strongest impact to my Celtic longings of any that I’ve read to date.

Jack, ‘Church’ Churchill aimlessly tolerates life as he mourns the years earlier loss of a special relationship. On an early morning walk through the streets of London he witnesses something that his mind simply can’t handle, leading him and another witness on a quest to figure out exactly what happened while opening them up to the truth that reality as they know it is ending. The old Celtic legends seem to be coming alive – the magic and wonder as well as horrifying beasts from the Otherworld. Church finds himself the leader of a motley band of survivors tied the ancient magic of the land who inherit a quest to find lost talismans of great power in an attempt to save the world as they know it.

The US is generally rootless. The ground we walk on simply doesn’t have the long-time habitation of places like Europe. If I dig down in my yard, I’ll only find dirt and rock – maybe some sign of Native Americans, but those generally have limited longevity and it isn’t something of ‘my’ people (though I do have a splash Native American ancestry). In places like Britain, the works of ancestors are under every foot and all around to see in every day life. A 13th century abbey next to a modern building, old Roman walls visible in central London, the castle on the hill, standing stones, or even the simple rock wall that has divided a field for countless generations. These things are a novelty to me, yet presumably are largely taken for granted by those who see them every day. In World’s End, Chadbourn uses this largely dormant connection to prehistory and lore and literally brings it to life. Rather than and idealized land of plenty, the world that Chadbourn brings back is one of nightmares acting as a mirror turned on our modern sensibilities while questioning the human condition.

Chadbourn takes the reader on a wild ride through lands where modern Britain connects with the ancient past. While it’s both a tour and nightmare come to life, the quest engaged becomes equally internal. The five modern saviors under Church’s reluctant leadership with a mysterious hippie guide are a far cry from an expected group of champions. Each person is haunted by their past and fundamentally flawed. The quest becomes internalized for each as they face their past and wrestle with the present. This powerful struggle for each adds an extra dimension to Chadbourn’s story, however, this aspect in inconsistently addressed with the six people at the center of the book. Some are well presented while others lack adequate screen time and development.

Originally published in 1999 in the UK, World’s End by Mark Chadbourn begins the Age of Misrule trilogy and a series of books that follow. Simply put: it completely blew me away. I was sucked into the fascinating tale of Celtic magic in conflict the modern world, where evil seeks the end of the world, where ‘good’ may be little better, and those charged with saving us all have their own problems to deal with. Highly recommended. 8.5/10

Related Post: Interview with Mark Chadbourn