Steven Brust & Emma Bull, Freedom & Necessity

Freedom & Necessity

Steven Brust & Emma Bull

Tor Orb, Apr 2007, $15.95

ISBN: 0765316803

In 1849, his family assumes that Chartist revolutionary James Cobham died in a boating accident. Two months after his alleged death, James finds himself at a Portsmouth, England, inn with no idea how he got there or where he has been for the last few weeks. His body is wracked with relatively fresh scars and he still has some injuries that have not completely healed.

He writes to his cousin Richard informing him that he lives, but he is not sure what happened. His affluent, feisty cousin Susan Voight decides to investigate. Her premise is that James was not in an accident, but instead someone wanted him dead, most likely for his political and social reforms. Even more mysterious is why hold him prisoner and eventually release him with the possibility he will recall all that happened? She begins to unravel a convoluted plot to destroy James and his fervent revolutionaries through the arcane and the mundane.

The extremely complex plot is not an easy read as the storyline is told through an exchange of letters and journal entries. Adding to the difficulty is that the tale has a distinct Victorian feel to it as the Dickensian style of using a zillion players to provide a social period piece is employed. Still, this is a fascinating, historical thriller that brings to life Europe reacting to the previous year's major revolutionary activity. Susan steals the show from the bewildered James and others with her amateur sleuthing. Though there are some fantasy elements with the occult involved, FREEDOM & NECESSITY is a Victorian mystery thriller that will need plenty of time to complete.

Harriet Klausner