Review: Strange Fortune by Josh Lanyon

I've got to admit, this has been a very difficult review to write. I've written bits; stopped writing; left it for a while; come back to it; written a bit more; struggled with the phrasing, the words, the construction. I just hope that, in the end, this review manages to express adequately how I felt whilst reading this book!

Strange Fortune is rather different from Josh Lanyon's usual novels in that this is a fantasy set in a quasi-Indian country. It is written in the third person mostly from the viewpoint of Major Valentine Strange an ex-military man who now works as "someone who can find things". Strange is commissioned by the religious establishment to seek out and bring back a religious artifact, Priya's Diadem, which is rumoured to be held at a monastery in the distant White Mountains. Strange is reluctantly accompanied by one of the temple witches, Aleistar Grimshaw, who believes that retrieving the Diadem will only bring disaster. As they journey through the mountains, witchcraft, superstition, greed, religion and betrayal all combine to thwart the men from their goal.

I had mixed feelings about this book but I'll begin by telling you what I felt worked really well.

The strength of a fantasy novel is often judged by how well an author has created his or her world. In the case of Strange Fortune the world building was beautifully done. Josh Lanyon has created a world similar to that of the last days of the Indian Raj. His country Hidush is under the strict rule of the Albans and yet it is also a seething mass of mutterings of revolution and mutiny. The political machinations of the ruling religion cast a shadow over the events of the book, but never impinge too greatly on the adventure storyline. It is in the minor characters, such as Lady Isabella Hyde and even the ancestry of Grimshaw which drive these political ideas, but once out of the city, politics is set aside and the adventure begins as the two heroes cope with nervous servants, strange masked monks, bandits, mercenaries and the fickle hand of the natural elements. This part of the book reminded me greatly of the books by H Rider Haggard and as a result added a feel of the glories of the British empire, with the good guys battling with the superstitious natives in order to plunder their wealth.

In fact, world building aside, it was the adventure plot which I enjoyed the most out of the book. There were several breathtaking action sequences involving shoot outs, where the steady hand and calm manner of Valentine, coupled with the plucky Grimshaw outmanoeuvered even the most dedicated and skilled fighter. This was interspersed with quieter scenes where we find out more about Grimshaw and his magic, plus are told stories of Hindush's past which built upon the already complex worldbuilding. It all combines to give the reader a rollicking ride, whilst maintaining the depth of setting necessary for a fantasy story. Wonderful.

There were a couple of areas which I felt didn't work as well. The first of those is in the relationship between Strange and Grimshaw. If this had been a book about two very different men who have initial antagonistic feelings towards each other, and yet through circumstance and getting to know one another better, these feelings change to respect and comradeship so that by the end of the book they become good friends, then this book would have been so much better in my opinion. However, this is essentially a m/m romance as well as a fantasy and yet I felt that the romance aspect of the book was flat and lifeless. Apart from one exquisite scene in a pool on the way to the monastery, their relationship seemed completely lacking in sexual tension. There are feelings between the men, don't get me wrong, but these feelings tended to consist of friendship and a sort of brotherly care and compassion which never seemed to ignite into passion. We are told, many times, that both men find each other physically attractive and although that attraction develops into a sexual relationship, we only get one very short sex scene (where one of the men is practically unconscious) and the rest of the sex scenes are fade to black.  This may partly be responsible for my feelings about their romance. Josh Lanyon's sex scenes from his other books have always been instrumental at showing the reader the passionate, tender emotions of his characters and because those types of scenes weren't represented in this book I felt that connection was missing. It doesn't help that, on the whole, Strange keeps a tight lid on his feelings. He's so afraid of admitting to himself that he may be falling in love with Grimshaw, that that any emotional feelings were squashed. Even the way Strange protects Grimshaw and promises never to leave him, can still be read as the bond of friendship or comrades in arms, rather than romantic love, especially given the military background of Strange. There are many of you who may disagree with me about this aspect, who probably thought that the romance worked well, but I got to the end of the book and saw only two men who had become great friends, not two men falling in love.

The second aspect which didn't work so well is only minor really and is to do with the pacing of the story. There were a couple of parts of the book where the pacing slowed down to almost a crawl, when very little actually happened. I understand that the author was probably trying to show the tediousness of a long journey or the feeling of time passing slowly during the two men's stay at the monastery, but this made the story drag and I found myself getting a bit bored - something I've never experienced with a Josh Lanyon book before. There were a couple of times where I had to force myself to keep reading and had it been any other author, I may have even given up on the book at that point. Having said that, once the two men leave the monastery the pace picks up and continues swiftly right to the end of the book, so I would urge you not to give up on the book, but keep going, as I did!

I'm sorry to have had to focus so much on the negatives in this review, but I wanted to make sure I explained myself thoroughly.

Although the romance didn't work for me and there were a couple of slow spots, this was still a great book. Josh Lanyon has shown that he can move from the comfort and familiarity of the contemporary mystery into a fantasy adventure setting with ease. I would recommend Strange Fortune for those, like me, who love fantasy books and it gets a grade of 'Very Good'.