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In 'Malignos', Richard Calder introduced us to his particular blend of parallel universe. It concluded with a distant universe collided with the Earth, creating a Netherworld which in turn gave birth to a race of hybrid 'perverse' creatures.

In 'Lord Soho', we re-enter that world. We meet first the third Richard Pike, the second Lord Soho and are told of his family's curse and mission. The first Richard Pike mated with an orc-woman, succeeding in tainting the family line forever more. He had been a great orc hunter until then and left his legacy in his sacred sword, Espiritu Santo, as well as in his sons' genes.

Richard Pike the Third has his title taken from him and goes into hiding. So begins a long line of desperate Pikes working to re-gain the title of Lord Soho and the power of Espiritu Santo. The Fifth Richard Pike is born an Incunabulum, a human with the ability to create living works of fiction.

A being who can create a new present and recreate the past. This is a glimpse into the darker, more surreal world of the Netherworld and this alternative Earth. It also gives the Pike family a sense of something darker even than their mixed genetic heritage within both their past and future.

As more generations of Richard Pikes attempt to reverse the effects of tainted blood, this feeling of something bigger and more sinister - something relating to the initial creation of the Netherworld and its inhabitants - grows.

Could there be a larger mission than just the re-establishment of Lord Soho within parliament? Is there something more important than the reputation of the Pike family?

When more and more surreal and 'perverse' characters come to meet with various Richard Pikes a sense of a bigger picture is gained and the part that the last Richard Pike and the finally recovered Espiritu Santo play in the very evolution and rescue of the world begins to become clear.

Calder moves quickly through his characters and the years they live in, creating several generations in just under 400 pages. He provides almost a snapshot of each successive Richard Pike, his life and how it relates to the generations gone before.

The legacy of the Pike family is rich and morbid and one that is clearly and cleverly painted by Calder. His descriptions of both people and places are as rich and colourful as the world they inhabit. The touch of the Netherworld and what Calder calls 'the perverse' invades every chapter and creates a great sense of darkness and tension.

Here is a world like ours but somehow warped. There are such things as Cockroach girls, fox-people and specially-bred slaves. Yet by the close of 'Lord Soho' this world will come to be almost as real to readers as our own.

A time opera in the truest sense, 'Lord Soho' traverses time and melodramatic events and beings to create a fast-paced, all-encompassing, enjoyable tale of magic and mayhem.

A unique treat.

Laura Kane