This Is Where The Future Bleeds by Mike Brooks
Publisher – Titan
Published – Out Now
Price – £9.99 paperback £7.99 ebook
Kitt Carver is one of the best diviners in the business at finding destinies for the rich and powerful. When she’s nearly killed, and her regular broker is murdered, it becomes clear someone has an issue with the last destiny she found.
Determined not to let anyone else die, Kitt gathers a mismatched group – including Two Tongue Derna, her childhood friend and now a renowned street duellist, and Sulian the Swallowmage, powerful but plagued with intrusive visions of futures – and sets off across the Timeless Lands to warn the destiny’s recipient.
However, unbeknownst to Kitt, she has her own destiny; one which might spell disaster for everyone.
I think one of the trickiest things to get right in fantasy is a book that can be funny, warm and smart. Humour is of course difficult and varies with the reader, warm can sometimes mean the stakes do not quite grab me as they’re often perhaps pulling away from too much danger for my tastes and a book that has something to argue for can sometimes lose its punch. There are not too many authors who can do all three at the same time but reading Mike Brook’s excellent new fantasy novel This Is Where The Future Bleeds I was relieved to know there are authors still capable of delivering this kind of reading experience.
One of the gods of the world saw the future and did not like what they saw. They decided then to destroy it and so the future was shattered. All that is to come was broken up and as consequence actual parts of that future now exist in an unusual form of energy and crystal known as destinies that can change someone’s life. If you’re brave, foolhardy or perhaps desperate for cash you can go to the Timeless parts of the world find a destiny and make a fortune provided you don’t fall into one of the world’s many traps or be eaten by the immense blue slydewasps that lurk around. Kitt Carver is a diviner, and she has a unique ability to sense destinies. But now someone has very nearly killed her; has definitely killed harmless destiny broker and looks set to cause trouble for someone who she recently got a destiny for. Someone she decides to stop with her ‘complicated’ best friend and fighter Two Tongue Derna, the ever-drunk mage Sulian and a few others and they are totally unaware the fate of the world depends upon them.
This was a delight to read. It’s a fast paced and intelligently written standalone fantasy that in brings back the idea of the heroic quest with a twenty first century flourish to make you smile and think at the same time. That works on multiple levels. Brooks takes the standard quest idea and makes all the heroes just slightly more flawed than normal. Kitt is less focused on saving the world usually but more getting paid and yet delights in taking risks. Derna is much more the skilled fighter but also hides under that bravado intelligence and heart – these two also very rarely ever really share their true feelings for one another which increases the tension between them. All groups need a wizard, but Sulian has to address the pain of her prophetic visions by being blind drunk all the time. These are not who you’d immediately think of for going into Mordor but stopping someone causing harm inspires them to go and try and stop them – particularly as the world may end if they do not. Brooks powers the group with wit, banter, creative insults and yet deep down they’re a group who cares.
The wider world they inhabit is both strange and incredibly dangerous. The high moors where destinies can be found are wonderfully weird and intriguing. A place where time is shattered and you can easily get stuck forever. Add to that immense blue wasps that can bite your head off or fatally sting you it’s a place that importantly has a sense of tension and danger. Brooks knows that the wider world needs something for our group to face up to and that can be in the form of incredibly strange monsters that appear when your shadows are long, assassins, gangs and once incredibly strange person who you sense is very dangerous and yet has the simple name of Plainsong (keep all eyes on that one). Brooks moves the story at pace throwing dangers at the group that test them as individuals and as people who must work together. Also keep an eye out for two additional characters in the form of Arkony a noble heir to a rich family who has a desire to do more with his life and Gra’al a furry warrior who is part of a people who have ingenious tunnels everywhere (it is hard not to like a mercenary that sounds like a womble). This group sparkle and the shifting dynamics really paid off. We get adventures, danger, thrills and even people admitting their feelings for one another. But it also sparkles with humour
And yet underneath all of this is the intelligence of the plot making a point. The idea of th future being something only the rich have access to in order ensure their families thrive at the cost of others is spot on for the times we live in and yes capitalism is very much in this book’s sights. But it is also a diverse group taking the powerful people of the world on and has one moment of revealing a character’s past that will totally annoy all the right people.
This story is a standalone wrapping up all the main plotlines, but Brooks has certainly created a world and its characters with plenty of potential for more adventures; so I very much hope one day we visit this place again. A fast-paced fantasy adventure that has intricate plot, characters, humour, intelligence and warmth is not that common and yet Brooks delivers. In the afterword a tribute to Pratchett can be found but I think I can say this book shines very well in comparison. It is very strongly recommended!
