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BooksFantasy

Equinox by David Towsey (book review).

Ever wanted to have an alternate night life without sleep getting in the way? How about being somebody else entirely when you are just a sleeping passenger. Such is the premise of ‘Equinox’ where each 12 hours in 24 is taken up by a different person. In an extension of the knowledge that birds can sleep half a brain at a time when they fly long distances in this book, all humans have a day and a night personality.

Christophor Morden is a king’s special inspector and only operates at night. His duty is to find witches and suppress all magic. His day brother Alesander is an altogether more relaxed personality, a musician with a nice quiet daytime life. Called out to prison to witness what is obviously a use of very dark magic on a person, Christophor realises he will have to travel out of the city to a distant village. It’s out of his comfort zone and Alesander probably won’t be impressed neither. His body-sharing twin will also be far from his friends and means of income might be harder to find. Christophor packs Alesander’s favourite instrument to help a little with the transition.

Once arrived, Christophor has to negotiate the complex night/day relationships and identities. There is a secret at the heart of the village but he feels he is being held back by his day brother who may have got attached to the wrong person.

This novel make you think about who we are and how we differ from others in this case those that share the use of body and brain. Every time the narration changes from day to night brother and back again, we consider what information we are sharing with every persons being two completely individual humans there is a lot to digest.

This is definitely a conscious or unconscious variation on Sherlock and Watson but there is a cheeky comparison to be made as apparently unwittingly Christophor and Alesander do more together than simply share skin and brain.

As a concept, it’s intriguing, the idea of having two almost separate lives where one sleeps when the other parties. This idea has been used before notably in Stephenson’s Jekyll and Hyde and the idea of the subconscious or ego being separate is long established. I like the concept of sharing rather than resisting the other body inhabitant. It reminds me of how neighbours must get along to avoid destructive wars even if they don’t share all the same beliefs. If only real life was a simple as that. It certainly makes you think as you piece together the experience of the day/night brothers.

Sue Davies

June 2022

(pub: Head Of Zeus – an AdAstra Book, 2022. 336 page hardback. Price: £12.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-80110-164-6)

check out website: https://headofzeus.com/

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