The Dying Days

R. Gordon Moyles is professor emeritus of English at the University of
Alberta. He is co-author of Imperial Dreams and Colonial Realities:
British Views of Canada, 1880–1914, author of The Salvation Army and
the Public, and editor of “Improved by Cult

The city has a memory. And St. John’s, being the oldest city in North
America, has a memory reaching back for more than 500 years. If you tap
into that memory, which Christopher Prescott does in an accidental sort
of way, there are adventures enough to satisfy even the most demanding
readers of fantasy fiction. For what Prescott encounters is a whole
other culture, existing side-by-side with the city’s modern citizens,
which is perilously close to extinction (internecine fighting, of
course), and which he, with the help of Emma Rawlin, seeks to thwart. It
is a devilishly clever novel, witty and often funny, superbly written,
with a plot that keeps the characters, and reader, always moving towards
an unforeseen climax.

Sullivan knows St. John’s like the back of his hand, and his
depiction of the Clans’ Parliament in Bowring Park, his vivid interior
shots of a George Street tavern, or his description of a pivotal
encounter on Signal Hill will undoubtedly evoke keen memories and a few
chuckles from those who know those places well. There may be a little
too much blood and gore for some people, but the novel is a pure delight
for lovers of fantasy and a great deal of fun for those who just love
that old city.