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Phoenix Court #1
Marked for Life
Welcome to Phoenix Court! It’s a weird mix of people round here on this housing scheme, but everyone’s reasonably friendly. Everyone’s got their secrets, though, and sometimes there’s magic waiting just around the corner…
Mark Kelly – a man tattooed with glorious designs over every inch of his body. He’s married to the slightly unhinged Sam and has a young daughter who’s about to be kidnapped at Christmas by an escaped convict and old flame of our hero’s. Over one snowy festive season the whole family sets off in perilous pursuit… accompanied by Sam’s mother, who’s become a nudist lesbian and her girlfriend, who claims to be a time-transcending novelist known as Iris Wildthyme…
Paul Magrs's first novel, Marked for Life, returns to print with a new introduction by the author, alongside the other titles in the Phoenix Court series of contemporary wry fantasy novels.
Mark Kelly – a man tattooed with glorious designs over every inch of his body. He’s married to the slightly unhinged Sam and has a young daughter who’s about to be kidnapped at Christmas by an escaped convict and old flame of our hero’s. Over one snowy festive season the whole family sets off in perilous pursuit… accompanied by Sam’s mother, who’s become a nudist lesbian and her girlfriend, who claims to be a time-transcending novelist known as Iris Wildthyme…
Paul Magrs's first novel, Marked for Life, returns to print with a new introduction by the author, alongside the other titles in the Phoenix Court series of contemporary wry fantasy novels.
- GenresFiction
ebook
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 8, 2012
Loved this. It's a bizarro tale featuring a cast of eccentrics and everyday sorts thrown together/torn apart one crazy Christmas Eve. Magical realism, the world through a child's eyes, the lies grown ups tell each other, jealousy, infidelity, a kidnapping, a blizzard, and a road trip through hell.
Oh, and it's also got the (sort of) origin story of Iris Wildthyme. Bloody eck!
I woke up today looking forward to seeing what was up next for these characters, then realised I had finished the book. Devastation. Also, the mark of a fantastic read. 6 stars if I could.
Oh, and it's also got the (sort of) origin story of Iris Wildthyme. Bloody eck!
I woke up today looking forward to seeing what was up next for these characters, then realised I had finished the book. Devastation. Also, the mark of a fantastic read. 6 stars if I could.
April 21, 2023
Would really give it 3.5 stars but Goodreads doesn’t play like that. The best stuff is the dynamic queerness of the whole book, its willingness to shrug off normal familial structures and clear denotations between identities. There’s a lot of really nice prose too. Unfortunately the book doesn’t really stick the emotional landing, and the climax of the book, despite a lot happening, ends up feeling kind of staid and flat. Still a nice read though.
March 23, 2021
2 weeks to read a 200 page novel is testament enough to how I felt about this book
August 5, 2014
I wouldn't want to spend time with any of these people. And that's not necessarily a bad thing - a character doesn't have to be fun to hang out with in real life to be fun to read about, and even if I didn't like these characters, that doesn't mean that there aren't people who would.
But the problem is that these people - and especially the two main viewpoint characters, Mark and Sam, and the instigator of the plot, Tony - are too fucked-up to actually fit the roles they have in the narrative. Especially Sam; we're told, near the end, that she's a person who lashes out when she feels threatened, but is protective of the people close to her, trying to keep their happiness safe even when she's angry at them. The problem is, she's written as a genuinely awful person, saying things that do real emotional harm to exactly the people she's supposed to be "protecting", defaulting to being petty and judgmental and just nasty.
And this nastiness is dwelt on. Every character (bar one, which we'll get to) gets multiple scenes where they go round and round inside their own heads, wallowing languorously in their own pain, flaws, and tragic pasts. Characterization is good, but this goes beyond that, into something that feels more like an unsatisfying bout of masturbation.
The thing is, this is a bad book by a good writer. There are good parts; Iris is the one character whose head I actually like spending time in, the eventual conclusion is surprisingly satisfying (except for ), and the overall idea of the story is entirely workable. And these good parts are the things Paul Magrs brings to his later novels, including the Doctor Who tie-ins that Iris irrepressibly pushes her way into. Therefore, go seek those out, and read this one only if you've satisfied yourself with those and are feeling especially completist.
But the problem is that these people - and especially the two main viewpoint characters, Mark and Sam, and the instigator of the plot, Tony - are too fucked-up to actually fit the roles they have in the narrative. Especially Sam; we're told, near the end, that she's a person who lashes out when she feels threatened, but is protective of the people close to her, trying to keep their happiness safe even when she's angry at them. The problem is, she's written as a genuinely awful person, saying things that do real emotional harm to exactly the people she's supposed to be "protecting", defaulting to being petty and judgmental and just nasty.
And this nastiness is dwelt on. Every character (bar one, which we'll get to) gets multiple scenes where they go round and round inside their own heads, wallowing languorously in their own pain, flaws, and tragic pasts. Characterization is good, but this goes beyond that, into something that feels more like an unsatisfying bout of masturbation.
The thing is, this is a bad book by a good writer. There are good parts; Iris is the one character whose head I actually like spending time in, the eventual conclusion is surprisingly satisfying (except for ), and the overall idea of the story is entirely workable. And these good parts are the things Paul Magrs brings to his later novels, including the Doctor Who tie-ins that Iris irrepressibly pushes her way into. Therefore, go seek those out, and read this one only if you've satisfied yourself with those and are feeling especially completist.
April 1, 2013
I re-read this just before Christmas, and I thought it was fantastic, especially the ending. I loved the magic in it - the atmosphere Magrs creates. If you like reading Paul's books, you should definitely check out his first.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews