"THE ORDER OF THE CIRCLE" – Urban Dark Fantasy By The Book (REVIEW)
Image: Dead Sky Publishing
Dead Sky Publishing is bringing out the new Urban Fantasy, The Order of the Circle, which will be the debut graphic novel by Levi Cory. Based in 1950s London, The Order of the Circle is the story of a lone woman, Dorothy Schafer, who is hellbent on vengeance against the titular Order. The powerful magical authority framed Dorothy’s husband for murder and literally condemned him to be dragged to Hell. When Dorothy initially rallied against them, they cursed her with muteness, magically stitching her mouth shut (though leaving enough room to eat through a straw). Thinking Dorothy has been sufficiently cowed, they then turn their attention to increasing their political influence. However, Dorothy is only driven to madness and has an intense focus on taking revenge for everything the Order took from her.
Image: Dead Sky Publishing
Levi’s dialogue and characterisation are exceptional. Everyone, even small or side characters, has depth and individual personality. The dialogue has nice, period-appropriate nuances and the exchanges flow nicely. Even the more dialogue-heavy portions do a good job of remaining relevant without getting bogged down or dragged out. The exposition and world-building are done well, with all the little background effects and implications in people’s actions and words. All these elements come together adding to the feeling of a living, breathing world.
Artist Elisabeth Mkheidze (Breakneck Anthology, Tales of Ruination), and colourist Eva De La Cruz, bring Levi’s vision to life. Their style captures the gritty and grimy environment of the period, the subtlety of everyone’s expression, and the visceral details of the drama, magic, and violence.
The list of influences that The Order of the Circle draws from feels long, but nothing feels like it was directly copied or referenced specifically. While it is easily compared to works like Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Carnival Row, or even China Mieville’s work, for their social commentary and political intrigue, it can also be comparable to the more modern urban fantasy genre like Supernatural or the Jim Butcher series. It tries to come into its niche by specifically setting in a lesser-used time period, the 1950’s. Coincidentally, it is about halfway between the two most common periods for urban fantasy (that being the late 1800s and the early 2000s). So there is a distinct difference in both technology and social attitudes.
Image: Dead Sky Publishing
The only thing the story is lacking is something that really makes use of the time period in a narrative sense. It does make a big point of the actual historical event of the time, the Great Smog of London, and in passing shows indications of curfews and health problems. However, none of it has much impact on the plot itself. It feels like a lot of window dressing for what could have easily been a thick fog conveniently at the times the plot requires it. A lot of the political intrigue is also something that could happen in any time of the last 100 years and the story would play out much the same (albeit with different names for the historical figures), as the Order is trying to gain direct political power by being given a seat in parliament. Consequently, by the time I finished the story, I realised that I’d forgotten when it was based, but equally realised it didn’t make any difference. It would be good if they could find more notable events or qualities of the time period that would specifically ground it in the 1950’s, rather than just a single event of severe air pollution.
Image: Dead Sky Publishing
Overall, this is an exceptional debut title. It has all the enjoyable hallmarks of an urban fantasy without feeling stale or cliched. There are some exceptionally gruesome moments that show they aren’t pulling any punches, but don’t go so far as to become gratuitous. There are some great moments of grounded drama and character interplay, mixed in with good supernatural and magical events that get the right esoteric balance without coming off cheesy or cringeworthy.
Levi Cory is definitely a name to keep an eye out for, especially if he intends to continue Dorothy’s story and expand on the world of The Order of the Circle.
The Order of the Circle will be available on February 18, 2025.
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