17th Century France: When wannabe diva Julie D'Aubigny is summoned to perform in a forest near Paris, she believes it's the opportunity to find a great patron and finally realise her dream of joining the city's Opera. Instead, she finds herself cornered by a secret society of aristocratic satanists, who sacrifice her beautiful voice at the point of a sword. Wronged and refusing to be silenced, Julie makes her own pact with the Devil and begins to hunt
down and slaughter the men who stole her future. But can she find them before the year is
out? Will the Devil keep to their
bargain? Can she save her own soul from
the fires of Hell?
This is a book that defies genre. The nearest I can get to describing it is a
combination of the female leads of Nicola Mostyn, the historic battles of
Bernard Cornwell and the grounded magic of Neil Gaiman, plus the humour and bawdy energy of
Restoration theatre. But that probably
says more about my limited reading pool than anything else!
I think it would appeal to lovers of strong, driven and eccentric female leads, supernatural storylines and bloody and fast-paced action-adventure. Before you try it, you need to know that it's
a Mary Whitehouse nightmare - full of violence, blasphemy and sin - but it's
also very silly, funny and energetic.
'The Devil's Blade' is an action-packed, bawdy, violent,
tongue-in-cheek and over-the-top romp.
If that sounds like your idea of fun, why not give it a try?
'The Devil's Blade' by Mark Alder was published in April 2020 by Gollancz. This review is based on the ebook version, provided free of charge.
