Yzabel / February 3, 2015

The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

My rating: [rating=5]

Summary:

“The body you are wearing used to be mine.”

So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.

She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own.

In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.

Review:

This is one large doorstopper I picked from the library, but that I didn’t regret lugging around in my bag for two days.

I really liked how the author wove past-Myfanwy and present-Myfanwy story lines using letters, a device that could’ve been cumbersome and artificial, yet that wasn’t in my eyes: sure, lots of “exposition”… done in a believable way that didn’t intrude upon the plot, on the contrary. Reading about the Checquy was both amusing and fascinating, and the cast of powers gathered by the organisation was interesting. I especially liked the idea behind Gestalt—one mind controlling four bodies.

The humour, too, factored in big, as it was just the kind of light, tongue-in-cheek touch I tend to easily appreciate. It happened in dialogues and in characters’ thoughts, as well as in how the plot unfurled. For instance, right after Myfanwy wonders how the oganisation works, we’re treated to a “Title: How the organisation works” letter from her past self. This may or may not work for everybody; it sure did for me. Bonus points for Ingrid the Terrific Assistant, who was very professional and funny at the same time.

I pondered about a few things at first, thinking they were just a wee bit too convenient: how amnesiac!Myfanwy still managed to be very efficient at her job, and how she discovered how to use her powers so quickly, as well as differently. However, thinking back upon it, and on how her present state of being came to be, it made sense. (Explaining why would be a spoiler, so let’s just say that reading about it between the lines in the resolution chapters made sense to me, and that having a new personality start over, with an almost blank slate, helps in not letting the past hamper one’s abilities.)

I’ll definitely pick the next installment once it’s finally out.