LitPick Review
D. M. Cornish starts his latest novel in the Monster Blood Tattoo series (a planned trilogy), Lamplighter, where his first book, Monster Blood Tattoo, left off. Lamplighter follows a Foundling (orphan) boy, Rossamünd, who has been summoned to train under the military branch of the Lamplighters, soldiers who walk the Empire's monster- plagued streets and light the Great Lamps for the safety of travelers. Rossamünd arrives at the Lamplighters' barracks, Winstermill Manse, and begins his training as a prentice. Not extremely long after his beginning at Winstermill, Rossamünd's military prentice quarto (that is, the group he is assigned to) heads out on a prentice- watch to light and dowse the Great Lamps from Winstermill to the Wellnigh House, along the Wormway, but after the overnight stay at the Wellnigh House, on the way back to Winstermill, a carriage comes racing headlong down the Wormway -- a carriage with vicious horn-ed nickers attacking it! Will Rossamünd survive his first theroscade, or monster encounter, as a Lamplighter? Who is in the carriage? Read Lamplighter by D. M. Cornish to find out!
Opinion:
I absolutely loved Lamplighter. I was excited when I saw that D. M. Cornish had come out with a sequel to Monster Blood Tattoo. The book matches, if not outmatches, the creativeness of its predecessor. I thought that the characters all showed their personality well, and you could see Rossamünd transform from a weak Foundling boy into a courageous adventurer. Like the first book in this series, the text is filled with words that you would never find in Mr. Webster's dictionary terms like "gretchen-globe," "enkle," and "slot and drag." But not to fear both books include their own glossary, and it's a whopper at nearly 100 pages. (By the way, you'll also find a few of Mr. Webster's odder words in there too: "pledgets" and "sillibub" make an appearance.
I recommend this book to readers who liked Monster Blood Tattoo as well as anyone who enjoys intricate plots and detailed descriptions of the fictional world that a story is set in.
