Review: The Hallows H.L. Tinsley
Blurb:
The Hallow serum was once sacred to the Auld Bloods. Used to gain access to their lost ancestral powers, now it is regulated and administered by the powerful Providence Company. Evolved from the echelons of the Auld Church, the company exists to maintain the balance between faith, science and politics.
But keeping the peace between humans and Auld Bloods isn’t easy. Taking Hallow comes at a price. Providence Company Assessor Cam must deal with backstreet bootleggers, burnt-out addicts and floating nuns that won’t stay on the ground.
When a string of Auld Blood deaths appear to have been caused by a corrupted batch of Hallow, Cam begins to suspect all may not be as it seems. Bodies are piling up. Someone is hiding something, and the consequences are becoming monstrous.
A grim noir fantasy with elements of horror and a dash of dark humour, The Hallows is an adult fantasy novel and as such, contains adult themes and language which may be distressing to some readers.
Review:
Recently, Holly and I talked about the issues surrounding an author who writes (what she called) ‘niche’ fantasy. Content that is different to the traditional tropes, stories without a dragon, a wizard and a grizzled warrior in sight. I mention this here, at the start of my review, because I want to emphasize one concept. Holly used the wrong word. Her story isn’t niche.
It’s incredibly original. It’s inventive, in that it doesn’t fit the usual parameters of fantasy tales. This is because its basic premise is so different, it could almost qualify as science fiction. “Magical” abilities are generated by a chemical cocktail, called the Hallows serum. It enables those who are Auld Bloods (rather than human) to develop specific talents. Stouts are immensely strong, Dashers are really fast, Feathers can fly and so on. The story is told from the point of view of a character who is a Sixer – able to perceive all the senses in incredible detail.
So far, so different. But the inventiveness doesn’t stop there. These qualities, linked to a powerful being called the Auld God, need to be respected. Worshipped even. It requires Faith. Enter the authority figures who maintain this respect, who police the Auld Bloods and their abilities. Who better to do this? Of course. Nuns. Gun toting, belligerent, combat ready nuns.
See what I mean about originality? I can’t remember which writer said it, I have a feeling it might have been Gaiman but I could be wrong, but the point was that the best writers take a really unusual idea and distil it down to a powerful essence, like essential oils. They aren’t satisfied by inventing a fascinating premise. They dig down and explore all of the implications that premise throws up. All of them. It leads them to invent a world underpinned by the premise, the characters too. It takes place gradually, a slow immersion where the differences gradually become the new normal. You cannot conceive of how life could be any different. The world and its people MUST be that way.
H.L. Tinsley is such an author and The Hallows is such a book. It left me reeling at the end. Reeling because my engagement with the characters had me so emotionally wrapped up in their plight, the outcomes so dramatic, I read the last pages with a lump in my throat. Despite the unusual premise, the rather whimsical tone in places, the characters have so much heart. You invest in them and when bad things happen to them (and they do), then it hurts! Even the names have whimsical elements. The assessment teams are defined by the team names, the Weeklies are called after the days of the week. The team we follow, they’re named after flowers. The tough guy is Daffodil, the team leader is Lavender, the empathic guy who can influence other’s emotions, Forget-Me-Not. The main character, Camellia or just Cam. I loved this idea and the originality it brought.
Cam is broken. He’s lost everything and will never be able to regain it. Some elements of redemption lie just beyond his reach the whole time, with tantalising moments when you hope, beyond hope, he may find just a little happiness. His ending? That was the bit I mentioned about the lump in the throat.
Beneath this story, the undercurrent that drives the narrative forward, are themes which resonate with our world now. Once again, it’s the distillation of a premise which provokes ethical quandaries, echoes within our society that leaves you feeling uneasy. This world may be very different, but the way we treat people who may be different, it’s not so different after all. It jars you into finding parallels, uncomfortable ones and I like a book that can do that. As well as all the other things I’ve listed here.
You may get the impression I enjoyed this book. I loved it. It will stay with me for some time as I consider its meaning and the impact it’s had on me. More than anything, it is yet more evidence of the power self-publishing is having on the fantasy writing industry. It is enabling amazing writers like H.L. Tinsley to produce innovative, thought-inducing, challenging stories like The Hallows. Her novel, We Men of Ash and Shadow, was a finalist in the 2021 Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog Off, deservedly so. The Hallows is even better.
I cannot recommend The Hallows highly enough. It is at the cutting edge of top class, innovative fantasy and has few rivals.
