Sorcerers of the Nightwing
Geoffrey Huntington
ReganBooks, 278 pages
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Sorcerers of the Nightwing arrives on the crest of
twin publishing trends: the new craze for children’s and young adult
fantasy, and the production of it by authors who normally write for grownups
(Geoffrey Huntington is a pen name for William J. Mann, author of several
adult works of fiction and nonfiction). If it were put out by a brand-new
YA sf/fantasy imprint, it'd be three for three (YA publishing hasn’t
traditionally segregated science fiction and fantasy by imprint, as in the adult market;
the rush to dedicated imprints is a new development, thanks to the huge success
of you-know-who). Instead, it comes from ReganBooks, an imprint not
known for producing works for young people--proof, as if we needed it, that
no one is immune to trend, especially when the possibility of giant profit
looms.
All of this is quite unfair to this enjoyable book, which has the potential
to be the start of a popular series, but which I fear will be burdened by
both its hyped-up launch and its association with an adult imprint more accustomed
to promoting Jackie Collins and Howard Stern than kid-fiction. Hopefully
these barriers won’t prove insurmountable, and Sorcerers of the Nightwing will find its audience.
Devon March has always known that the monsters in his closet are real--and
that, mysteriously, he has the power to fight them. His Dad knows it
too: “You’re stronger than any of them, Devon,” he tells his son.
But he never explains why the loathsome demons are there, or why Devon can
banish them with a word, or why Devon sometimes manifests other powers, such
as the ability to teleport objects and open doors without touching them.
When Devon is fourteen his father falls ill. Just before he dies, he reveals a shocking secret:
Devon isn’t his real son. But he doesn't say more, and before
Devon knows it he’s on his way to live with a guardian he has never met--Mrs.
Amelia Muir Crandall, mistress of Ravenscliff, a Victorian mansion on a stormy
section of Rhode Island coast known as Misery Point. The inner Voice
that sometimes speaks to Devon tells him that the key to his unknown parentage,
as well as his mysterious powers, lies at Ravenscliff. In the little
cemetery on the cliff, in fact, he finds a tombstone marked with just one
word: Devon. But Mrs. Crandall (who Devon is sure is hiding something),
claims to know nothing about it, and tells Devon not to pry.
Devon settles in, exploring his new environment, getting to know his new
“family”--including Mrs. Crandall’s pretty daughter Cecily and her disturbed
young nephew Alexander--and making friends at school. All the while,
covertly, he continues his search for answers, which brings him at last to
the mysterious Rolfe Montaigne, whose family has long been connected with
the Muirs and with Ravenscliff. Rolfe reveals that Devon is a descendant
of the Nightwing, an ancient order of sorcerers who draw their magic from
the power of demons, via Portals to the underworld known as Hellholes (though
the Nightwing use their power only for good). It just so happens that
Ravenscliff is built above an enormous Hellhole--and that the Muir family
too is Nightwing, though they’ve renounced their magic in an attempt to hold
away the evil of renegade sorcerer Jackson Muir, who attempted to harness
Ravenscliff’s Hellhole for dark purposes. But Devon is beginning to
suspect that even though Jackson Muir is dead, he’s still around--and that
he’s still trying to open the Hellhole. Has Devon’s arrival at Ravenscliff
given him the means he needs?
Sorcerers gets off to
a rather awkward start, with choppy action and stilted dialogue, as well
as a set of stock Gothicisms that recall every low-budget vampire or werewolf
movie you’ve ever seen. This is obviously deliberate, but even so it’s
a bit much--on the bus to Misery Point Devon meets a crone who mutters darkly
about Ravenscliff’s ghosts; the locals he encounters when he arrives
all advise him, with varying degrees of superstitious dread, to turn back;
the only person who’ll give him a ride just may be psychotic; and he
arrives at the mansion in the middle of a crashing thunderstorm (there is
a lot of thunder in this book). Also, Huntington has chosen to tell
the story in present tense, with much distracting tense shifting that suggests
he never quite got comfortable with it. This probably won’t drive kids
crazy the way it did me, but it’s an odd choice for a young adult book, and
I suspect will put at least some readers off.
Once the book gets going,
though, it goes very well, with a fast-moving storyline, exciting supernatural
confrontations, and an effectively spooky atmosphere. Its publicity
materials bill it as “Harry Potter meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, but despite
the sorcery of the Nightwing there isn’t much Harry here, with ghosts, revenants,
and repulsive demons (including a sinister TV clown who’s the fulfillment
of every parent’s nagging suspicion that kids’ shows are Instruments of Evil)
holding center stage. It’s not a subtle treatment; there are
few shades of gray in the novel’s depiction of good and evil, and the reader
is never in any real doubt as to the characters’ allegiances. But not
all kids want to read about Blakean wars in heaven, and plenty will relish
the unambiguous entertainment of this tale, with its many popular culture
references and its superhero-style action scenes in which Devon kicks demon
butt while engaging in Buffy-esque repartee.
Devon is an appealing protagonist, convincing in his questions and doubts
about himself, admirable in his bravery in standing up to forces he’s only
beginning to understand. By the end of the novel he has embraced his
heritage and undergone a crucial test of character, but most of his questions
remain unanswered. No word yet as to how many volumes are planned for
this series; Huntington will need to be careful not to string readers
along too much, and to make each book a self-contained adventure. But
for now the world of Ravenscliff and the Nightwing hold out many prospects
for entertaining exploration.
Copyright © 2002 Victoria Strauss
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