Light Errant

Light #2

by Chaz Brenchley

Ben’s back — and this time he means business. Family business...

Benedict Macallan, protagonist of Dead of Light and wonder-worker malgré lui, has travelled the length and breadth of Europe and still discovered no family like his own. Maybe Macallan blood really is a biological sport, a freak of evolution.

What Ben does discover is that he can’t escape his birthright. He can run to the sun and hide among strangers, but he can’t hide his powers from himself, and when a friend asks for help he has to use them. With blood on his hands once more, it’s farewell la dolce vita; he gets on his bike and goes home.

Home is no sweeter than it was before, but it has changed. His gangster relatives have lost control somehow, of themselves and their city; more than one evil is at work here now, and even Ben’s unique talents may not be enough to save the one he loves.

If he can work out who that is...

Genres: Fantasy, Horror

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Chaz Brenchley has been making a living as a writer since he was eighteen. He is the author of nine thrillers, most recently Shelter, and two major fantasy series: The Books of Outremer, based on the world of the Crusades, and Selling Water by the River, set in an alternate Ottoman Istanbul. A winner of the British Fantasy Award, he has also published three books for children and more than 500 short stories in various genres. His time as Crimewriter-in-Residence at the St Peter's Riverside Sculpture Project in Sunderland resulted in the collection Blood Waters. He is a prizewinning ex-poet, and has been writer in residence at the University of Northumbria, as well as tutoring their MA in Creative Writing. His novel Dead of Light is currently in development with an independent film company; Shelter has been optioned by Granada TV. He was Northern Writer of the Year 2000, and lives in Newcastle upon Tyne with a quantum cat and a famous teddy bear.

Also known as author Daniel Fox.

Reviews

[Stonemagpie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has the same unusual stream-of-consciousness style as the first book but unfortunately Ben hasn't grown much, still obsessed with a woman who has no interest in him, which gets tiring to read.

Also what happened with Carol? We never see or hear from her again, she's been swapped out for Janice this time around.

[Mei · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for an urban fantasy. Gritty, with decent characters, and not a vampire or werewolf in sight. I should have started with the first book though.

[Jules Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read of the sequel to the stunning dark urban fantasy Dead of Light. Ben Macallan fled abroad at the end of the first book, away from his gangster family and away from any temptation to use his supernatural abilities. But even so he finds himself in a situation where he has to intervene or watch a friend suffer. His promise to himself broken, he gets on his motorbike and heads for home.[return][return]But home isn't what it was. The city has finally found a way to defy the Macallans and their uncanny powers of life and death. Only the Macallan men have power, and their women are now hostages. Ben is sick of death and destruction, but a rescue, never mind a peace deal, may be beyond even his extraordinary talent.[return][return]It can be read as a standalone if need be, but I think is much better read in sequence with Dead of Light. That way you get a full appreciation of the growth in Ben, as he not only learns to deal with his own newly discovered talent, but convinces key members of his generation of the family to find another way to use theirs. It doesn't have quite the same impact as the first novel, because you don't have the suspense of wondering just how the Macallan clan control the city, but it's still an intense ride with a book that's well out of the usual run of urban fantasy.[return][return]Light Errant is out of print in its original paper editions from NEL, but has been re-released in ebook format by Book View Cafe, along with Dead of Light. You can find samples of both books at the BVC website. And maybe if enough of us buy them, Chaz will write a third...

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is sort of the second half of Dead of Light. It continues the story two years later... while Ben has grown and made a life for himself, his family has been falling apart. He comes home to find himself in the middle of a disaster, and ends up using all his power and moral strength to bring things to an acceptable conclusion. In the process, he discovers he has far more power than he imagined.

Also really good. :)

[Nicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book I found the writing to be refreshing at the time and love the way he conveys his characters. Well written and I have re-read it several times.

[Nessreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Just.. strange. Strange language.

[K.V. Johansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this long ago when it first came out. Reread it again recently and remembered how great it is.