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Popes and Phantoms
Admiral Slovo, Mr Fix-it for the popes, looks back on his life as a spy, brigand, ghostbuster and emissary to the Borgias in Renaissance Italy; a life where he has always plotted to suit his own Machiavellian ends. The author is the winner of the Gollancz/Bookshelf first fantasy competition.
- GenresFantasyAlternate History
Paperback
First published August 29, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 15, 2020
Popes and Phantoms is John Whitbourn’s second novel, sandwiched in-between the first two books of his excellent Pevensey Trilogy. It chronicles the story of Admiral Slovo, a kind of papal Dirty Harry, who interacts with historical figures, influencing the course of history and speed of progress in an alternative, otherworldly version of sixteenth century Europe.
The book is highly enjoyable and amusing. The humour is slightly more restrained and less quick fire than some of the author’s other works (I had to stop writing down my favourite lines when reading BABYLONdon as I ran out of post-it notes), but that’s no bad thing, as it suits the tone and pacing of this story. Given History is far from my specialist subject, as with some of the author’s other works, it prompted me to turn to Wikipedia to read up on some of the figures and references of the time. Thankfully, I didn't find Revenants and some other characters.
Like most of John Whitbourn’s earlier work, Popes and Phantoms is out of print and I had to pick up a second-hand copy of it. I would strongly recommend it to any fan of alternative fiction, alongside the author’s other work. It is borderline criminal that some are not in print. I am certain that at some point in the future, his work will be properly assessed by someone of greater literary standing than me (insert your own facetious comment here) and deem them to be classics.
On the subject of masterpieces, when the world returns to some level of normality, I would suggest having a holiday in Canada, so you can pick up a copy of the author’s The Age of the Triffids (I’m told the scenery is quite nice too). Thankfully available everywhere else are Binscombe Tales and Altered Englands, two of my favourite short story collections and the Down’s Lord Triptych, which is dark, disturbing and amusing in equal parts.
The book is highly enjoyable and amusing. The humour is slightly more restrained and less quick fire than some of the author’s other works (I had to stop writing down my favourite lines when reading BABYLONdon as I ran out of post-it notes), but that’s no bad thing, as it suits the tone and pacing of this story. Given History is far from my specialist subject, as with some of the author’s other works, it prompted me to turn to Wikipedia to read up on some of the figures and references of the time. Thankfully, I didn't find Revenants and some other characters.
Like most of John Whitbourn’s earlier work, Popes and Phantoms is out of print and I had to pick up a second-hand copy of it. I would strongly recommend it to any fan of alternative fiction, alongside the author’s other work. It is borderline criminal that some are not in print. I am certain that at some point in the future, his work will be properly assessed by someone of greater literary standing than me (insert your own facetious comment here) and deem them to be classics.
On the subject of masterpieces, when the world returns to some level of normality, I would suggest having a holiday in Canada, so you can pick up a copy of the author’s The Age of the Triffids (I’m told the scenery is quite nice too). Thankfully available everywhere else are Binscombe Tales and Altered Englands, two of my favourite short story collections and the Down’s Lord Triptych, which is dark, disturbing and amusing in equal parts.
December 9, 2011
'Gods with no worshippers,' commented Slovo. 'How terribly sad.'
'We aim to change all that, Admiral,' said the condottiere with quiet confidence. 'We may ally ourselves with atheists and Elves, radical humanists and Roman-Empire nostalgists - in fact anyone who rests uneasy under the present dispensation. However, we never for one moment lose sight of our ancient objective.'
Usually I prefer alternate history to be realistic, but this one is definitely on the fantasy side, featuring revenants, elves, vengeful ghosts, and a new regime in hell, as well as both past and future gods (in the manner of Neil Gaiman's "American Gods"). It's the story of Admiral Slovo, a former pirate turned papal troubleshooter, who is really working for a far-reaching and highly-connected secret society called the Vehme (i.e. the Illuminati). When I read "The Dragon Waiting", an alternate history that is set at a similar date, I found the vampires and magic irritating and off-putting, but strangely the fantasy elements didn't jar at all this time.
"Popes and Phantoms" reminded me of Julian Rathbone's historical novel "Kings of Albion", as both authors seemed to be playing games with the text to amuse themselves. There was a similar use of anachronism, and a lot of wordplay, including a particularly good pun on Te Deum/tedium, and the author also slipped in some film titles; I noticed "Death in Venice" and "Apocalypse Now" but there may well have been others. Maybe that's why the fantasy elements didn't jar - the sheer amount of puns and anachronisms meant that there was no way you could kid yourself that this was an account of events that could have actually happened.
'We aim to change all that, Admiral,' said the condottiere with quiet confidence. 'We may ally ourselves with atheists and Elves, radical humanists and Roman-Empire nostalgists - in fact anyone who rests uneasy under the present dispensation. However, we never for one moment lose sight of our ancient objective.'
Usually I prefer alternate history to be realistic, but this one is definitely on the fantasy side, featuring revenants, elves, vengeful ghosts, and a new regime in hell, as well as both past and future gods (in the manner of Neil Gaiman's "American Gods"). It's the story of Admiral Slovo, a former pirate turned papal troubleshooter, who is really working for a far-reaching and highly-connected secret society called the Vehme (i.e. the Illuminati). When I read "The Dragon Waiting", an alternate history that is set at a similar date, I found the vampires and magic irritating and off-putting, but strangely the fantasy elements didn't jar at all this time.
"Popes and Phantoms" reminded me of Julian Rathbone's historical novel "Kings of Albion", as both authors seemed to be playing games with the text to amuse themselves. There was a similar use of anachronism, and a lot of wordplay, including a particularly good pun on Te Deum/tedium, and the author also slipped in some film titles; I noticed "Death in Venice" and "Apocalypse Now" but there may well have been others. Maybe that's why the fantasy elements didn't jar - the sheer amount of puns and anachronisms meant that there was no way you could kid yourself that this was an account of events that could have actually happened.
February 19, 2008
A romp through renaissance Europe, with a lot more style than substance.
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May 1, 2017Edition: New edition
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews