Beyond the Blue Moon - Simon R. Green

...cutting edge!).

Beyond the Blue Moon tells the story of Hawk and Fisher, two guard captains in the city of Haven. Haven is a truly dreadful place, and Hawk and Fisher are the only two honest policemen left in town. Mind you, how honest are they as they are keeping a big secret, pretending to be two ordinary people living and working in Haven.

This is Simon Green’s thirteenth book, and continues the story of Prince Rupert ...
...Wars) – unfortunately I haven’t read any of his other books, but will do so after reading this one.

Hawk and Fisher are two likeable characters, they don’t take crap from anyone, but they are fair-minded and believe in justice and truth (well to a point, if you don’t count their secret that is). We meet up with them in Haven going about their business (which usually involves doing nasty things to very nasty people), when they are approached ... more

This is a weird book to read, weird but really enjoyable. It’s a mix between Marion Zimmer Bradley (serious fantasy stuff, but very weird) and Terry Prachett (Discworld humour, but with a straighter, more cutting edge!).

Beyond the Blue Moon tells the story of Hawk and Fisher, two guard captains in the city of Haven. Haven is a truly dreadful place, and Hawk and Fisher are the only two honest policemen left in town. Mind you, how honest are they as they are keeping a big secret, pretending to be two ordinary people living and working in Haven.

This is Simon Green’s thirteenth book, and continues the story of Prince Rupert and Princess Julia (heroes of the Forestland during the Demon Wars) – unfortunately I haven’t read any of his other books, but will do so after reading this one.

Hawk and Fisher are two likeable characters, they don’t take crap from anyone, but they are fair-minded and believe in justice and truth (well to a point, if you don’t count their secret that is). We meet up with them in Haven going about their business (which usually involves doing nasty things to very nasty people), when they are approached by the Forestland Questor, Allen Chance and his talking dog Chappie (sounds cute, isn’t – looks like a very big wolf with very big teeth) and told that they must return to the Forestland as the King, Harald has been murdered and only they can solve the murder. This request comes at just the right time, as they are both disillusioned with life in Haven, so they decide to return to the Forestland but not before ‘solving a few more crimes’ (very funny bit as they finally get revenge on all the criminals of Haven who thought they were above the law).

Upon their return to Haven they find the Court in an uproar, with many different factions, none of whom support the Queen Regent, Felicity (Princess Julia’s sister – and most unqueen like!). Plus the Inverted Cathedral has returned, one of the most sinister and evil constructions ever built by man.

As I said earlier, this is a cross between serious fantasy stuff (if there is such a concept), and the wit and humour of Discworld. Simon Green has created a believable world, with very believable characters and some of the one liners are excellent.

If you like Discworld, then try this book on for size.

It is published by Orion Publishing Group and costs £6.99 for the paperback version.
 

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