The Devil's Looking Glass

Swords of Albion #3

by Mark Chadbourn

The third swashbuckling, supernatural adventure featuring Elizabethan England's answer to James Bond, the dashing swordsman and spy, WIll Swyfte.
 
1593: The dreaded alchemist, black magician and spy Dr John Dee is missing... Terror sweeps through the court of Queen Elizabeth, for in Dee's possession is an obsidian mirror, a mysterious object of great power which legend says could set the world afire. And so the call goes out to celebrated swordsman, adventurer and rake Will Swyfte -- find Dee and his feared looking-glass and return them to London before disaster strikes. But when Will discovers the mirror may help him solve the mystery that has haunted him for years -- the fate of his lost love, Jenny -- the stakes become acutely personal. With a frozen London under siege by supernatural powers, the sands of time are running out. Will is left with no choice but to pursue the alchemist to the devil-haunted lands of the New World -- in the very shadow of the terrifying fortress home of England's hidden enemy, the Unseelie Court.
 
Surrounded by an army of these unearthly fiends, with only his sword and a few brave friends at his back, the realm's greatest spy must be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice -- or see all he loves destroyed.

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Alternate History, Historical Fantasy, Historical, Fiction

420 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2012

About the author

A two-time winner of the prestigious British Fantasy Award, Mark has published his epic, imaginative novels in many countries around the world. He grew up in the mining community of the English Midlands, and was the first person in his family to go to university. After studying Economic History at Leeds, he became a successful journalist, writing for several of the UK's renowned national newspapers as well as contributing to magazines and TV.

When his first short story won Fear magazine's Best New Author award, he was snapped up by an agent and subsequently published his first novel, Underground, a supernatural thriller set in the coalfields of his youth. Quitting journalism to become a full-time author, he has written stories which have transcended genre boundaries, but is perhaps best known in the fantasy field.

Mark has also forged a parallel career as a screenwriter with many hours of produced work for British television. He is a writer for BBC Drama, and is also developing new shows for the UK and US.

An expert on British folklore and mythology, he has held several varied and colourful jobs, including independent record company boss, band manager, production line worker, engineer's 'mate', and media consultant.

Having travelled extensively around the world, he has now settled in a rambling house in the middle of a forest not far from where he was born.

Reviews

[LemontreeLime · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this to finish the series. Although I enjoyed Doctor Dee turning into a badass, I was vaguely disappointed with the rest of the book. Felt a bit hackneyed like a 70s superfriends comic book plot.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of Chadbourns's best, but he is still fantastic with myth and faerie lore.

[marcin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as previous books, and the ending feels quite rushed.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

C2012. FWFTB: 1593, mirror, ocean, fortress, Unseelie. Keeping up the exploits of Will Swyfte, this is the next in the Swords of Albion adventure. I felt this this was much better than the previous book in that there was a little more understandable action and some of the holes in the backstory filled in. “England lurches from crisis to crisis, as always, but we stand and we abide. This will pass.”Mr Chadbourn has a really interesting website and provides quite a bit of the background regarding his research. Realms of Fantasy thought “Smart, fun, at times surprisingly moving and occasionally downright shocking..impossible to put down”..close enough.Cover photograph by Jonathan Ring who does not seem to have a huge website presence. Recommended?Yes – as long as the normal crew can remember the previous 2 books. FCN: Will Swyfte (spy extraordinaire), Doctor John Dee, Earl of Launceston, Carpenter, Jenny. 'And then it will be too late,' Carpenter snapped. 'We will never see Dee again, and this land will be overrun by the things that walk with printless feet and cast no shadows on this earth. And then you, you red-headed puttock, will know what it is like to thrash in the throes of a nightmare from which you can never wake.'

[David Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an adventure story this is quite good so long as you don't think about it too hard. It works well as an alternate history with a supernatural element but fails to describe or explain the magic properly.

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[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swyfte and his fellow spies head off to rescue Dr Dee from the duplicitous Red Meg. More scuffles with the Fay and some resolutions to the problems plaguing our intrepid hero. Fun and entertaining.

[Jack Beauchamp-stansfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing after how much I enjoyed the previous two.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it borrows heavily from "the Tempest," but still a decent read