John Whitbourn

'Gods with no worshippers,' commented Slovo. 'How terribly sad.'
'We aim to change all that, Admiral,' said the condottiere with quiet confidence. 'We may ally ourselves with atheists and Elves, radical humanists and Roman-Empire nostalgists - in fact anyone who rests uneasy under the present dispensation. However, we never for one moment lose sight of our ancient objective.'

Usually I prefer alternate history to be realistic, but this one is definitely on the fantasy side, featuring revenants, elves, vengeful ghosts, and a new regime in hell, as well as both past and future gods (in the manner of Neil Gaiman's "American Gods"). It's the story of Admiral Slovo, a former pirate turned papal troubleshooter, who is really working for a far-reaching and highly-connected secret society called the Vehme (i.e. the Illuminati). When I read "The Dragon Waiting", an alternate history that is set at a similar date, I found the vampires and magic irritating and off-putting, but strangely the fantasy elements didn't jar at all this time.

"Popes and Phantoms" reminded me of Julian Rathbone's historical novel "Kings of Albion", as both authors seemed to be playing games with the text to amuse themselves. There was a similar use of anachronism, and a lot of wordplay, including a particularly good pun on Te Deum/tedium, and the author also slipped in some film titles; I noticed "Death in Venice" and "Apocalypse Now" but there may well have been others. Maybe that's why the fantasy elements didn't jar - the sheer amount of puns and anachronisms meant that there was no way you could kid yourself that this was an account of events that could have actually happened.… (més)

Thomas Blades, a seventeenth-century English curate living in the North Downs, finds a portal to another world in the grandfather clock that he inherits from his father. He finds a landscape that matches the geography of the North Downs, but seems completely empty, without houses, roads or agriculture. There are humans there, but living in primitive conditions in underground burrow complexes, as the savage eight feet tall purple humanoids known as the Null are the top predator, hunting humans for meat and tearing them apart when they catch them. Blades rationalises the presence of the Null, saying that they must be biblical giants who never made it into Noah's Ark in our world

He resolves to help the humans fight back against the Null, with the help of seventeenth-century weaponry. Gradually the humans build an above ground society, helped by slaves from our world, who are kidnapped to order for their skills. Blades becomes their Emperor, the Downs-Lord, but his many wives and children are jockeying for power and his is not the only portal into this world.

I hadn't heard of this author before selecting this book for a ReadItSwapIt exchange, but I enjoyed it and will try to get hold of the sequels. I prefer alternate history stories that don't include fantasy elements, and "Downs-Lord Dawn" just made it, as the Null seemed more like aliens or the result of alternate evolution than fantasy creatures.… (més)