I admit loving The City’s Son. Inventive, joyfully snarky, compelling and fun – and a Kitschies nominee. The Glass Republic is by degrees darker and several steps more grown-up, and shows Pollock’s maturation as a writer. Principal attention shifts to Pen, the neglected, fascinating character. She goes to London Under Glass: the London that exists behind every mirror, trapping inhabitants in stolen glances, reflecting the best – and the worst – about London, Londoners, class, and race. She wrestles with internal and external demons. The book is hard to talk about without spoilers, but is is a more-than-worthy follow-up to fine first effort.
n.b. Tom Pollock is a personal friend of mine, and I sat and watched him write probably 1/5 of this book. That being said, I’m also terribly jealous of his talent for worldbuilding and structure and compelling page-turning narrative, not to mention his powerful brainbox. I’d give this review even without those things.
Get it on Kindle here (UK) or in the US in the autumn, sometime.