White Crow:

White Crow: "Rats and Gargoyles" / "The Architecture of Desire" / "Left To His Own Devices"

by
Mary Gentle

Synopsis of White Crow: "Rats and Gargoyles" / "The Architecture of Desire" / "Left To His Own Devices"

The White Crow, one time Soldier Scholar of the Invisible College and a practioner of Hermetic science and magic, and Baltazar Casaubon, architect and lover, a man not too particular about his personal hygiene, are two of Mary Gentle's finest creations. The worlds they stride across range from the Renaissance city where aristocratic rats rule the human servant class, to a near future London where chaos is come again. They are two of the most powerful players in the games of magic and politics, and the most colourful. This volume brings together three brilliantly imaginative, powerful and disturbing tales Rats and Gargoyles, The Architecture of Desire and Left to His Own Devices and the linked short fiction and confirms Mary Gentle as one of the foremost writers of dark and visionary fantasy.

Reviews of White Crow: "Rats and Gargoyles" / "The Architecture of Desire" / "Left To His Own Devices"

83%

A wonderfully evocative vision of an alternate seventeenth century that's truly like no other -- Stephen Palmer, The Alien Online

...Gentle at her very best. -- Jon Courtenay Grimwood, The Guardian

Maybe Gentle was exposed to too many Lit Crit courses during her academic career; but the meta-fictional gimmicks never get in the way of intriguing tales and situations you won't find in run-of-the-mill science fiction, or fantasy, or just plain fiction. -- David Soyka, SF site