Wolf Tide
Catherine Fox
CreateSpace £7.99
(978-149090458-0)
Church Times Bookshop £7.20 (Use code
CT522 )
THE genre of "Young Adult" (YA) fantasy writing continues to
expand. It attracts new and established authors who create
imaginative worlds that hold up mirrors to the mundane reality of
life shaped by 21st century "celebrity" capitalism. Catherine Fox
is a recognised writer whose novels have addressed such weighty
matters as life, death, forgiveness, complex relationships, and the
Church. This is her first venture into YA fantasy.
It is the story of 17-year-old Anabara Nolio and her work as an
investigator on the city isle of Laridy. Nolio is called in by the
city's university, ostensibly to investigate the loss of books from
its library, but, as she delves into the library's stacks and the
university's underbelly, a trail of secrets, deceit, and violence
emerges. Fox's fantasy world is populated by people with superhuman
abilities, fairies, and magical charms, as well as marked by the
politics and power struggles found in all societies. Fairies are a
subjugated minority.
As a story, it is well-written, and, as an act of imagination,
it works on a number of levels - for its intended YA readership,
but for older readers as well. Her wit remains sharp: take the
observation that "She'd flirt with a temple door if it had a knob
on it" - one of my personal favourites.
There will be many (and I count myself among them) who miss
Fox's keen and humorous perspective on various dynamics in the
Church, but, as the author notes about this book on her blog, "I
suspect that at one remove I was still writing about the Church of
England." Some characters could be in many congregations, and one
explanation of university politics to Nolio will sound familiar to
anyone conversant with churches and cathedrals: "Everybody knows
there's got to be a huge fundraising drive to finance proper
heritage-standard Fairy artisans. Chapter has kept on leaving it
for the next generation and hoping the problem will go away. The
new scholasticus has finally grasped the nettle. He needs the
report quickly, then he can get on applying for grants before the
deadline."
Wolf Tide is an intelligent and entertaining addition
to the genre.
The Revd Dr Vaughan S. Roberts is the Team Rector of
Warwick.