A Long Day In Lychford by Paul Cornell (book review).
It’s a really long day in Lychford and it’s very close to ending badly. The three village witches have a bit of a task ahead of them.
Autumn Bluntstone has a bad head and a bad conscience. She attempts to piece together what she did the night before after waking in her magic shop. She remembers the row with mentor, Judith Mawson, especially after their discussion of who voted for what in the EU referendum. She remembers the problems in the pub later. Her feeling of isolation and a sense of change in England since the vote makes her super-sensitive to an old man’s jibes.
Judith has her own concerns. Hurt by Autumn’s attitude and recently released from a curse herself, she is conscious there is something wrong in her life but cannot pin point it.
The Reverend Lizzie Blackmore also has a difficult start to the day as there is some incessant thumping music in the distance sounding like an interminable rave. With the additional irritant of a visit from Finn, Prince of Fairy, who is convinced that her actions on their previous problem/adventure has caused gates between the worlds of fairy and the human world to fail.
It’s about to get worse. When the three women get together, they discover just what and who is causing the problems and for a change it’s not the politicians.
This short novel, ‘A Long Day In Lychford’, from the prolific pen of Paul Cornell is the third one to feature the three witches and they are all highly readable. The scenarios all take place in the Cotswold village of Lychford with only a small cast who are easy to empathise with. The shortness of the novel is refreshing in a world of epic never-ending stories and the pace is good with each of the three leads taking the stage and coming together to solve the knotty problem at the heart of the story. The dialogue feels natural and the quickly drawn supporting cast recognisable. All in all, I just love this Cornell series. His easy style flows along nicely. He provides plenty of thrills and entertainment along the way along with a real affection for his characters. The novels are complete within themselves but they are worth seeking out along with his other series, ‘The Severed Streets’.
Sue Davies
October 2017
(pub: TOR/Forge. 144 page enlarged paperback. Price: $14.99 (US), $20.99 (CAN), £10.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-0-76539-318-0. Ebook: Price: £ 2.93 (US), £ 2.22 (UK))
check out website: www.tor-forge.com
