Candlenight (Jove Book Jove Horror)

by Phil Rickman

[pamela]

My husband and I have just bought our first home here in Wales, so the theme of Candlenight really resonated with me on a personal level. Rickman absolutely nailed the Welsh phrasing as well. I could hear the accent in the dialogue, which is incredibly hard to do.

One of the things Candlenight did suffer from was the inherent sexism that male thriller writers from the '90s had, but I ended up overlooking that for the most part as I'm a fan of Rickman's and thankfully know he's grown out of that phase.

Where Rickman really excelled in this book was in distinguishing people who are Welsh nationalists from those who are anti-English. The Welsh Independence movement is really trying to bridge that divide at the moment, so it's quite topical. Rickman obviously loves Wales but understands what it feels like to be Sais.

I knew that Candlenight was set in Wales, but I didn't realise it would be quite so Welsh. I really enjoyed that about it, but I suspect I'm a bit biased in that regard, given that I'm married to a Welshman and have chosen to make my home here. I really enjoyed the folklore elements, and really really loved the focus on Owain Glyndwr who has definitely become, not only a real source of historical pride but a folk hero around these parts.

One of the things that I really appreciated being included was a mention of the flooding of the Welsh Valleys for English Reservoirs. It's something that is still very relevant to Welsh identity, and you'll often see Cofiwch Dryweryn (Remember Tryweryn) painted as white writing on a red background all over Wales. The original graffitied stone wall is in Llanrhystud, and it's become a political slogan for Welsh Nationalism.

As far as the narrative was concerned, the pacing was great, the plot was really well developed, and there was just enough ambiguity in it to make the supernatural vs rationalist explanations murky, which I always like. Where the book failed to impress, however, was in its characterisation. I felt the characters were all a little bit flat and underdeveloped - especially the female characters who seemed to be more warm vaginas for the male protagonists to park themselves when things got hectic, rather than real characters in their own right. It was a very male-driven story.

While the story was exciting and really drove me to keep reading, the end got a little...messy. Nothing was fully fleshed-out in an attempt to preserve an air of mystery. Although I did enjoy the slight undercurrent of time travel that the book seemed to have, while simultaneously wishing it had been explored more.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Candlenight. It was really well researched, and sympathetic, which is pretty rare for what is, essentially, a popcorn thriller. And thankfully, Rickman has grown out of his 90's representation of women in the intervening years.