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Low Town stakes a narrow turf—then completely owns every inch of it—The A.V. Club (The Onion)
First 7 chapters and more available here. LOW TOWN is in stores now!
DANIEL POLANSKY was born near Baltimore, Maryland. Low Town is his first novel.
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LOW TOWN
Doubleday (US) – August 16, 2011 Drug dealers, hustlers, brothels, dirty politics, corrupt cops…and sorcery. Welcome to Low Town. In the forgotten back alleys and flop houses that lie in the shadows of Rigus, the finest city of the Thirteen Lands, you will find Low Town. It is an ugly place, and its champion is an ugly man. Disgraced intelligence agent. Forgotten war hero. Independent drug dealer. After a fall from grace five years ago, a man known as the Warden leads a life of crime, addicted to cheap violence and expensive drugs. Each day is a constant hustle for new customers and to protect his turf from low-life competition like Tancrid the Harelip and Ling, the enigmatic crime lord of the heathens. The Warden’s life of narcotized iniquity is shaken by his discovery of a murdered child down a dead end street…setting him on a collision with the life he left behind. As a former agent at Black House—the secret police—he knows better than anyone that murder in Low Town is an everyday thing—the kind of crime that doesn’t get investigated. To protect his home, he will play a dangerous game of deception between underworld bosses and the psychotic head of Black House. But the truth is darker than he imagines, and in discovering it, Warden may very well lose the tattered remains of his soul. Because In Low Town, no one can be trusted. Daniel Polansky has crafted a fantastic thriller full of noir sensibilities set in a new world of stunning imagination, leading to a gut-wrenching, unforeseeable conclusion. LOW TOWN is an attention-grabbing debut that will leave readers riveted…and hungry for more. Praise for LOW TOWN Polansky hits all the right notes in his intelligent first novel, a blend of dystopian fantasy and hard-boiled crime…Sharp, noir-tinged dialogue and astute insights into class struggle mark Polansky as a writer with a future.—Publishers Weekly A strong debut novel with a hero who doesn’t waste time worrying about the moral implications of cutting someone’s throat.—Kirkus Reviews When you think of Low Town, picture the Baltimore of The Wire: a city where the criminal subculture has evolved not just into a shadow economy, but a shadow society, flourishing under the surface of official “law and order.” Polansky’s imaginary city is richly layered in history and diverse cultures, but with obvious resonances to our world. Those similarities help to hook the reader into the story, which gradually turns into the type of noir narrative where everything and everyone is tainted by corruption, the elite even more so than the so-called underclasses. Polansky ties all these threads together with a steadfast commitment to the downbeat noir sensibility. Fantasy fans may be more likely than mystery fans to give Polansky’s mashup a try, but both genres benefit from his carefully calibrated integration of their tropes and themes.—Shelf Awareness (Ron Hogan) I loved Low Town. I loved the setting. I loved the characters. I loved the noir. And when the sequel is ready, I will love coming back to Low Town and continuing Warden’s tale… What impressed me the most about Low Town was the setting. Of the noir fantasy that I’ve read, the majority of them—urban fantasy novels in particular—take place in an alternate version of our world where magic and the paranormal are real. Not Low Town. Low Town is set in a fully realized secondary world. I also loved the tone of the book. A lot of authors have tried to emulate Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, but not everyone can pull it off. Daniel Polansky does so with ease, with the characters, story and milieu of Low Town all delightfully drenched in hard-boiled noir.—Fantasy Book Critic (Robert Thompson) Noir lovers you’ve found your new favorite series. Low Town is Polansky’s debut, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it as it’s a very self assured first effort…a rough and tumble novel that keeps a quick pace and never loses its edge.—Mad Hatter Review Polansky’s writing is confident and punchy from the offset. The action rips along at a brilliant pace allowing us to experience this gritty world through the eyes of a thrilling, dangerous, flawed, yet strangely endearing protagonist. This is modern, dark fantasy at its best and a debut to be envied.—The British Fantasy Society (Elloise Hopkins) It’s a superb debut novel—the most exciting and original fantasy I’ve read for decades—absolutely stunning. I couldn’t put it down! I can’t remember when I last enjoyed a fantasy book this much.—Books Monthly (Paul Norman) Brilliant…a phenomenal first novel from a young American author with enough raw talent to make washed-up wretches of us all. With The Straight Razor Cure, Polansky steps straight up to the plate – and with such style! It is practically masterful. The darkest, most disturbing and unflinching fantasy novel focusing on the criminal underworld that I’ve read. This was definitely a unique fantasy read, and I would recommend this novel to people who like fantasy novels without alien races, and those who prefer a more adult story, or a crime fan who wants to foray into fantasy for the first time but is afraid it’s all going to be elves and dragons.—Walker of Worlds (Steve Aryan) I give this novel a resounding 9 / 10 – it’s dark, brilliant, boundary-pushing, and unique, with incredible characters and a thought-provoking plot, and it doesn’t read like a debut at all. Daniel is definitely and assuredly a damned good writer and storyteller.—DaveBrendon’s Fantasy & Sci-Fi Weblog It’s a murder mystery wrapped in a cloak of magic, warfare, and swords. Polansky can definitely write. Every page is an opportunity to enjoy his witty, dark prose.—Shlok Vaidya I have been a huge fan of both Sin City (Frank Miller) and The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher… In my humble opinion the writing of Low Town stands out just as well as those and more. It was a real effort on my part not to devour this one in one sitting.—Writing Ex Libris (Travis Bingaman) Sharply written and a ton of fun. Really strong noir sensibilities and world building.—The Bookrageous Podcast Along with the standard fantasy novel trappings of wise men and wizards-gone-wrong, there are also healthy sprinklings of Chandler and even Lovecraft, making this a novel that spans genres.—The Book Goat |
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