Book Review – Black Blood by John Meaney

Author: John Meaney
Cover Artist: Steve Stone
Published By: Bantam Books
Binding: Hardcover
Publication Date: March 2009

Black Blood is John Meaney’s amazing and much-anticipated sequel to his futuristic noir SF novel Bone Song. It follows the continuing saga of Tristopolitan police lieutenant Danal Riordan, now a zombie, due to having his heart transplanted with a zombie’s black heart. The heart had belonged to the beautiful female zombie and fellow cop Commander Laura Steele, who had been the leader of a task force trying to round up mages belonging to the evil crime organization known as the Black Circle. Laura’s zeal and enhanced strength and other zombie attributes had not been enough to save her life, and in Black Blood Donal seeks revenge on those members of the Black Circle who were not brought to justice by the end of the first book.

The Black Circle are a group of evil power-hungry mages who want to gain political strength and bend everyone in Tristopolis to their rule. Their agenda includes replacing the mayor and police commisioner with members of the Black Circle, and eliminating the rights of non-humans (like wraiths and zombies) – including owning property – and making them the scapegoats of the city’s many problems.

Donal always was sympathetic to and honored the differences and rights of non-humans, even before becoming a zombie himself and inheriting Laura’s multi-story apartment building, Darksan Towers, along with her heart. How can he hope to fight against the Black Circle and get revenge on them when several of their number have left the jurisdiction of Tristopolis, and others have infiltrated the police department and City Hall, after having formed their own political party, the Unity Party?

Much of the novel is spent trying to resolve this difficult question, and it’s done in an extremely interesting manner. I thought while reading the first novel in the series, Bone Song, that it would be hard to top it, because it was so cool and kind of resembled a graphic novel, but with the pictures skillfully painted with the author’s words. I was both pleasantly surprised and blown away by this sequel, though, and if it doesn’t maybe top the first book, it sure comes very close to doing so.

The task force Laura was commander over still exists, but Donal finds he has an uphill battle to bring the mages of the Black Circle to justice, especially after Police Commissioner Vilner gets assassinated right under his nose and the noses of the entire police department. It happens at the very ceremony in which he was supposed to receive an award by the mayor for his police work and heroism exhibited in Bone Song. Police and sharpshooters are stationed everywhere, but the assassin evades them by hiding in a display case under a dark cloth in a sort of state of suspended animation for days, waiting until the time is right to make his move.

Just as in the first book, it’s possible for people and non-humans to fall under the power of mages and be forced to do their bidding. It’s called being ensorcerelled. At approximately the same time the assassin, fastened to the ceiling like a gekko, starts firing, zombie kitchen employees who have been ensorcelled burst through the kitchen doors and also start to fire weapons. They are blown into bits, and the new mayor and police commissioner then have convenient scapegoats to blame for the murders of the old mayor and police commissioner.

It’s a bizarre world Donal lives in. Though it is called Earth, it is an alternative version of ours. It apparently doesn’t rotate on its axis, or not fully, because Donal’s Tristopolis, while having both days and nights, is always a shadowy place at best. Death, and Thanatos, are used as swear words, as in “Death damn it!” and “Thanatos!” spoken at dramatic moments in the action. Death is pervasive, the bones of people are used to power their reactors and bring electricity to the citizens. There are nine days in a week, and each day is longer than ours, among many other differences.

It’s one thing to use the bones of the dead to generate electricity, but Donal is horrified to learn that the inhabitants of Silvex City have been using live children, sacrificing their lives for the sake of the convenience of electricity:

Inside the hollow generator, in slender steel frames, sat packed rows of shaven-headed children with closed eyes. Cables networked their skulls together, passing into an appartaus that formed the container’s floor. The children’s chests moved in slow, shallow synchrony.

Also, a telephone company sets up its operations in Tristopolis, installing indigo colored phones wherever they can, including the Consumer Relationships department within the police department. The cops there deal with the public via telephones, resolving complaints, assisting people with problems. etc. They have an uncanny way of effectively resolving problems, and in a very cheery, smiling, efficient manner.

The indigo phones that have replaced the ones some of the elderly inhabitants of Tristopolis use have a profound effect on them, as well. Their health is improved, as if they had suddenly become twenty-five years younger. They also become more pleasant, less cranky, more sociable – all seemingly good things – but, all of the supposed benefits of the phones come with a heavy price. People who use them (except for Bone Listeners and zombies) become ensorcerelled, and programmed to obey the orders of the dark mages of the Black Circle.

Black Blood is a page-turning, suspenseful fun-to-read novel that’ll make you read late into the night, and want to read the next novel featuring Lieutenant Danal Riordan whenever it comes out. It’s a very unique sort of novel, combining elements of mysteries, horror, and SF, with very well-realized, three-dimensional types of characters that you’ll find yourselves caring about as you read.

It’s probably best enjoyed (and less confusing initially) if you’ve read Bone Song first and gotten some background about Donal, Laura, and the other characters in the novel, but it’s not necessarily a prerequesite to thoroughly getting into and enjoying Black Blood. It’s a great novel in its own right, and I thought even in the small details that it was a polished and cool read. The awesome cover illustration picturing at the top Tristopolis’ Federal Prison is really a nice touch, and reading that the entrance cars drive on to the prison is made of human knuckle bones that crunch under the wheels and peoples’ feet as they walk on them are examples of this attention to detail. I’d highly recommend both Bone Song and Black Blood to anyone who likes noirish, futuristic novels that revel in mixing literary genres. John Meaney, the author, is proving himself a master at doing exactly that, in a very entertaining way, indeed.

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About Professor Crazy

Professor Crazy here! I have obtained degrees from numerous colleges & universities both Major and Minor, with an emphasis on all of the Various & Sundry schools of Thought & Discipline. I majored in Rhetoric at the University of Illinois, obtained a Master's degree in English at Arizona State University In Tempe, AZ., and another Master's in Secondary Education at UALR, in Little Rock, AR. Then, there are the years I spent with the Swedish Bikini Team, touring throughout Europe...fond memories, those...especially that time in Amsterdam....