7.2 /10 1 Votes
Cover artist Emma Wallace Language English Publication date April 2004 Originally published April 2004 Genre Fantasy Fiction Publisher Victor Gollancz Ltd | 3.6/5 Goodreads Country United Kingdom Series The Castle books Media type Print (Hardcover) Followed by No Present Like Time Awards Crawford Award | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The fantasy novel The Year of Our War (2004) is the first book by British author Steph Swainston. It is often given as an example of the New Weird literary genre.
Contents
Plot summary
The novel is set in the Fourlands, a country in danger of being overrun by large hostile Insects, and follows the exploits of Jant, also called "the Messenger" or "Comet". As a half-breed of two humanoid species Jant is the only person who can fly, which makes him an indispensable part of the Emperor's Circle of about 50 immortals, an elite group of (mostly) warriors who do not age (but, despite the name, are capable of being killed).
Swainston spins an intricate story which covers, among other things, the intrigues among mortals and immortals from the various humanoid races of the Fourlands, a full-scale assault by the Insects (previously held at bay behind an Insect wall), and Jant's exploits in the "Shift", an alternate world which he enters as a side effect of his addiction to a lethal drug.
So far, three sequels has been published: No Present Like Time (2005), The Modern World (2007) and Above the Snowline (2010).
Awards and nominations
The book won the 2005 Crawford Award and the author was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.