The Last Smile in Sunder City is a dark fantasy noir novel in which the protagonist investigates a disappearance that appears simple on the surface, but as he digs deeper, he becomes embroiled in a complex web of deceit, corruption and violence.
In the classic tradition of noir fiction, the protagonist Fetch Phillips is a deeply flawed and morally ambiguous man in a broken world where nothing makes sense anymore and the lines between right and wrong have been blurred beyond distinction. Sunder City shares traits with the standard noir landscape as Fetch walks its mean streets to visit seedy bars, torch-lit town squares lined with thugs, garish brothels and more. But it’s creatively fused together with fantasy so that this world is also populated with Cyclops bartenders, Ogre bouncers, Elvish and Mermaid ladies of the night plus a hodge-podge of other creatures from myth and folktales.
From the very first page, Fetch is the epitome of the anti-hero, presenting himself as a barely functioning alcoholic whose work life is in shambles and is actively flirting with death to escape from his guilt over a mysterious past. The only thing keeping him from teetering over the brink of self-destruction is the memory of a woman who beseeched him to do good with his life instead. This is what distinguishes him from popular characters like Marvel’s Jessica Jones (a modern fantasy noir example) whose tragic past shapes her into a bitter misanthrope who uses sarcasm to alienate people around her. While Fetch is also cynical and world-weary, he doesn’t typically lash out at others and is more open about his desire to help people while remaining self-aware that he is a trainwreck of a human being and likely to make more of a mess of things.
“‘So, you’re a Man For Hire?’
‘That’s right.’
‘Why not just call yourself a detective?’
‘I was worried that might make me sound intelligent.’ “
The Last Smile in Sunder City (and what a gut-wrenching moment it is when you arrive at the scene which inspired the book title) is both a fantastic character study and a thrilling detective romp. Because of the noir sensibility, these two elements are closely wound together – you can’t separate Fetch’s character from the case he is investigating in the way that you could on the likes of CSI or Law & Order where the investigators are normally consummate professionals whose personality and home life have little impact on their job. The hare-brained manner in which Fetch follows leads regardless (or perhaps because) of the painful consequences for him, the allies or enemies he engages with along the way down the path to the bitter truth and the compromises he agrees to in order to make progress…it all sheds light on who he is as a person. Which is to say, decidedly not heroic, given to indulging his vices and listening to the devil on his shoulder and unfortunately prone to bad judgement.
“I’d been awake for several minutes but didn’t want to admit it to myself. If I admitted that I was awake, I’d also have to accept the fact that I’d screwed up. I was under a bridge in a bad part of town with a broken nose, no shoes, and nobody to blame but myself.”
Sunder City and the world beyond feels utterly convincing and lived-in due to the remarkable level of thought and detail that the author has put into its creation. Magic once existed in this universe, but was lost thanks to the selfish actions of humans who were jealous of other beings with abilities superior to their own. After they broke the world in what came to be known as the ‘Coda’, centuries of living caught up to elves who deteriorated rapidly, banshees lost their voice, wizards became powerless to perform spells, vampires found blood no longer sustained them and on and on, with catastrophe afflicting every single magical race and leaving humans at the top of the food chain. Through flashbacks, the author unspools the series of events that led up to the Coda, detailing how our knight in tarnished armour was involved in the whole sorry mess, and offers a view at the world in its heyday when magic still ruled and the future looked bright.
This is in stark contrast to the grey, rundown state of despair that most people occupy in the present day, aside from some avaricious humans who have profited as a result of the Coda and can assert their superiority now. The shift in politics, impact on daily life and changing dynamics between the species is well-thought out and also very smoothly incorporated into the story. Exposition is often considered a dirty word, but it’s the execution that’s important; here, the author conveys vital information to readers over a couple pages in the first chapter in a manner which makes sense for the story and engages the audience with this new world by showing its effect on Fetch and setting up the mystery of his past. Once this heavy lifting was done, each of the future concepts and locations that are introduced feel like they gracefully fall into place because the overall structure of Fetch’s world is so clearly established. The writing flows easily and is wonderfully evocative, creating vivid impressions of everything Fetch sees and hears – it’s sometimes sad, sometimes distasteful, but never less than truly immersive.
“The Human Army had won their war, but their victory destroyed the spoils. The magic they’d hoped to harness was gone, so they change their name and moved their focus. The generals became managers and the soldiers became salesmen. They only waited a courteous couple of months after breaking the world before offering to sell their products to it.
Of course, no ex-magical business wanted to hand over their savings to the idiots who screwed up the future of existence, but what choice did they have?”
I had no issues with the pacing myself, but because of the focus on character building with intermittent flashbacks, some readers may find the pace a little slow. In addition, the writing sometimes veers over the line from descriptive to confusing flowery prose (the librarian apparently has ‘lips you could throw to a drowning sailor‘).
This is a stunning debut that showcases incredible talent and imagination. If you like the sound of an enjoyable character-driven mystery with amazing world-building, I highly recommend picking this up!
The Last Smile in Sunder City is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of January 28th in Australia, February 6th in the UK, and February 25th in the US.
Will you be picking up The Last Smile in Sunder City? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
I’m Fetch Phillips, just like it says on the window. There are a few things you should know before you hire me:
1. Sobriety costs extra.
2. My services are confidential – the cops can never make me talk.
3. I don’t work for humans.
It’s nothing personal – I’m human myself. But after what happened, Humans don’t need my help. Not like every other creature who had the magic ripped out of them when the Coda came…
I just want one real case. One chance to do something good.
Because it’s my fault the magic is never coming back.
The Last Smile in Sunder City is a brilliantly voiced fantasy for fans of Ben Aaronovitch, Rotherweird or Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, and the debut novel from actor Luke Arnold – known for his lead role in Black Sails!
