Tim Hardie’s low fantasy novel A Quiet Vengeance brings all the exotic flavour of the Middle East to life. Hardie is an expert at showing rather than telling when laying out the back story of a novel and depicting the scenes in which the main action transpires. Local flavours, smells and sounds are described all around and it leads to an immersive reading experience. The small details are immaculate and give a cinematic quality to his world building.
This novel is written in the form of a dual timeline, the earlier of which is a coming of age story for the young street urchin, Nimsah. Sometimes this form of storytelling can be confusing, but I did not find it so in this case. Instead, this structure helps to fill in some of Nimsah’s history and her previous childhood encounters with the Crown Prince, Dojan, one of which gives them an important shared secret.
“She ran forwards, springing over bodies, feet splashing through puddles of congealing blood. Half the dockside was on fire and thick smoke swirled through the air, moving with a will of its own as the wind changed its course, eddying around the quayside. Nimsah reached the boy and hauled him to his feet, looking up, heart hammering when she saw the man in black had retrieved his knife and was staring straight at them.”
Eventually, in the latter part of the novel, the earlier timeline catches up with the later one, and Nimsah and Dojan’s encounters involve them in a tangled web of court intrigue, diplomacy and danger. The court politics are interesting and easy to follow, with enough detail to deepen the story without ever becoming tedious. Both characters are developed well as the story continues, with the innocent, coddled prince becoming a little more worldly and Nimsah showing that her character has been influenced by some of the harsher lessons she has been forced to learn living among gangsters in the tent city.
Moorish palaces, bustling markets, a tent city populated by street rat thieves and gangsters, prideful royalty, a beautiful heroine – what more could you ask for in a Summer “getaway” read? Maybe some romance? That you will not find in this story, but it feels like it was intentionally left out, thus showing that a man and woman from different backgrounds can have a meaningful business relationship and remain friends without romance entering the picture. Whether they continue to be friends following the shocking final events of the novel remains to be seen in the next instalment of this gripping story, which is yet to be published.
This sounds intriguing!
Yes it is – I think you would like it, Jodie!