The Rook (The Checquy Files, #1)

by Daniel O'Malley

'The body you are wearing used to be mine.' So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.

She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Checquy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare and deadly supernatural ability of her own.

Filled with characters both fascinating and fantastical, The Rook is a richly inventive, suspenseful fantasy. An astonishing debut from a brilliant new voice.

• ISBN10: 1908800372
• ISBN13: 9781908800374
• Publish Date: 1 January 2013 (first published 11 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 25 May 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Head of Zeus
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 496
• Language: English
• URL: http://wardmccandlish.co.uk/SampleChapters/HeadOfZeus/Rook.htm

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

Ok, I did as Darth Pendant suggested; I read the book then I watched the trailer for the new Starz series.  She's right - the trailer makes absolutely no sense.  Or, at least, based on what I saw in the trailer, has very little to do with the book itself.    I also agree with DP that the book was good overall, but omg, the rambling backstory.  I swapped back and forth between the printed book and the audio, checked out from the library, and the audio made the rambling backstory feel, at times, interminable.  The narrator was good though.   Overall, I enjoyed it enough* that I immediately checked out the follow up, Stiletto.   *Imagine my surprise when I discovered Daniel O'Malley is an Australian author.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Myfanwy Thomas died when her personality was erased. The woman who wakes up is not Myfanwy Thomas, but she has inherited Myfanwy's body, assets, job, and enemies. Challenged with finding out who tried to kill her when she doesn't even remember who she used to be, Myfanwy (pronouced "Mih-fan-nee") dives into Thomas's old life and does her best to run the Rookery the way her predecessor did. Can Myfanwy run part of the British secret supernatural branch, all while learning who she is and pretending she is Thomas? She is sure gonna try.

I liked this book, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a masterpiece of fantasy fiction. The Rook is fun. There's a lot of storytelling within the novel itself, choosing to give background information via a dossier left for Myfanwy after her memory is completely wiped. There are points where this really drags, but I liked the world-building, and Myfanwy's voice is a blast. She's witty and sarcastic, if a little clueless at times (forgivable).

Generally speaking, I think that this book will be hit or miss depending on the reader. It has the feel of something by Jasper Fforde or Jodi Taylor, and the characters are a blast. Some of the powered individuals are positively fascinating. I don't think it's a series I'd re-read, but I'm glad I read this book and I intend to read the sequel.

[liz089]

Check out my blog for more reviews ! Freyja Eats Books

I’ve had this one on my shelve for quite some time, and of course did I plan to read it… but I just never got to it. So when I asked my husband to pick my next read and he grasped this one, I knew it was time.

I had NO IDEA what to expect from this one, before I came across it on a book fair, I never even heard of it ! This one got so little hype, or well, maybe I started getting into English novels after the hype of this one ? But either way, I had no idea what to think of this one and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it.

What I Liked.
The main character was such a laugh ! Mayfanwy was so much fun !! I loved her as our narrator and her humour was great !! She was a very likable character, and since we start at the beginning with her losing her memory, it feels like you walk through the story along with her, that you discover this world with her. She made me snort and smile along with her :)

I also really enjoyed the wide array of characters. Even though there were a couple we got kind of attached to, there were so many people we got to know (and got weary of, because we did not know who to trust) and who well, left us again XD It had some GoT in there with all the slayed characters. Just when we got to know some new ones after the previous got killed, they died too XD But well, it was all part of it and no senseless killing.
And don’t get me wrong, this is not a tear jerker, but it is just part of the story to make it more believable and less James Bond like.

I really enjoyed how we got more and more paranoid throughout the story, who could we trust ? Who was the traitor ? How many traitors are there !? I got really into it and the further I got in the story, the more invested I got.

I just LOVED this world. So many supernatural being with awesome powers ! He created an awesome world. So complex and well-thought. Very different from anything I've ever came across. It was very interesting and entertaining. Loved the whole Checquy system and rules. He also got really creative with all the powers and creatures, very interesting.

And you know what is even more awesome in this novel ? No romance ! We finally have female character who cares more about saving the world then falling head over heels in love !
It fitted much better this way, and I think a romance would have been unnecessary here.
It did have some female friendships in there that I enjoyed though.

What I Disliked.
Mostly the info dump.. SO MUCH INFORMATION. I get that there is a lot to know, a whole organization filled with supernatural beings, and with the amnesia you have a good excuse to write a lot of it down. We kind of need that information to understand the world… But still, it was too much. I had to stop every couple of chapters at the beginning, I could not continue with so much info thrown at me all at the same time. It took me longer to finish this one because of the info dump.

At the beginning it did not bother me much, since we were just getting into the story.. but later on I got really annoyed with the letters/flashbacks. (Can I call it flashbacks?? It did happen in the past..) It got more and more exciting the closer I came to the end and when she is in the middle of finding out who the traitor is I do NOT want a flashback !! It kind of got me out of it and I did not think it added any value to the story to throw that in.

[lisacee]

An interesting idea for a story. I could have used a little less correspondence and a bit more gradual resolution.

[wyvernfriend]

Almost a 4 star read. Just not quite, maybe 3.75 stars for me. Shows a lot of potential but I found it too easy to put it down.

In a Jason Bourne meets Torchwood meets urban fantasy-esque scenario, a woman wakes up in a London Park, dripping wet, badly bruised but alive, unlike the corpses surrounding her, in her coat pocket is a letter from herself, Myfanwy Thomas who is a senior member (Rook) in a supernatural agency that keeps the Supernatural from invading the lives of too many of it's citizens. She discovers that she knew she was going to lose her memory so she prepared for this, with her best skills, organisation. She is given a choice, run or play with the cards she's dealt and she has to learn, fast, what's going on.

Best excuse for some of the infodumps you get in the form of lletters., also best excuse for having to explain the organisation to the audience, because she doesn't know anything more than she uncovers.

What kinda lost me was the way the bad guys didn't seem to have a motive beyond "because they want to". No mention of what happened to a shadowy organisation during the conflicts of the 20th century Huge potential lost in where the shadowy organisations would possibly have had to work together against Nazis); if you poke the plot hard enough it starts to crumble a bit. There's a lot of history of now, but before that has a lot of handwaving and you can't do that when you root a story in the known world.

It's interesting, shows potential and the main character is growing an interesting backbone.

[elvinagb]

Amazing. A great story that weaves reality and fantasy into a very interesting world, like you mixed Harry Potter with Hellboy. Worth the read.