Down Station

I came into this one pretty blind, but one thing is clear: Starting out in modern London, it pretty much finishes as far away as you can get from there, at least in terms of being grounded in the normal.There was a slight hint of SF, but all in all, it's a fantasy more reminiscent of a blend of Donaldson and Palladium Rifts, with a heavy blend of Ley-Line Geomancy and deep-core transformation magic. I was worried, at first, that the appearance of werewolves might turn it into something a little [...]

While the premise of the book was quite interesting and the story was generally decent, I just never found the characters engaging. They just always felt a little under developed and shallow most of them being pretty much walking cliches. On the other hand the magic system and setup was very interesting with the world reshaping those who have crossed over and the magic linked to the geographic linesThe plotting was generally good but the pace between POV changes was a bit uneven and abrupt.There [...]

Reviewed on my blog - Books by Proxy I received this book through Netgalley in return for an honest review.3.5 Stars Initially I requested this book because well it has a pretty cover! However, after attending the Gollancz Book Festival in Manchester and seeing a very funny Simon Morden on the panel, I couldn’t wait to crack this book open. Down Station is a novel about fresh starts and new beginnings, about bravery and loyalty and the nightmares that haunt us, and the determination of the hum [...]

[I received a copy of this novel through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]A group of survivors from different areas of the city find themselves running in the Underground tunnels at night as a mysterious, overwhelming fire rages through London. When a portal opening on a mysterious sea opens, they quickly jump through it, knowing it's the only salvation they're going to find—that, or a painful death. Stranded in this new world, without anything to help them save for their clothes a [...]

Originally posted at Geek of Oz here.---Part of the problem I've always had with Star Wars: Episode I is its inability to live up to its potential. It'd be easy to love or hate a film that's entirely awesome or terrible, but dealing with one which lies somewhere in the middle is a little tougher. The trailers and marketing made it seem like a spellbinding sojourn into the prehistory of popular culture's most beloved space opera franchise, showing a vibrant world before Darth Vader's Empire. Then [...]

Here's the link to my video review:youtube/watch?v=g-irREnjoy! :)

Une histoire gentillette de monde parallèle où la magie joue un rôle révélateur pour le groupe d'individus ayant échappés à la destruction de Londres La première partie (sorte de tableau sous terrain d'apocalypse façon Daylight) m'a plus intéressé que la suite qui a un goût de déjà lu (j'ai pensé par ex à cs LEWIS avec adultes au lieu d'enfants ) Le groupe est suffisamment disparate entre Dalip le jeune Sikh, Mary la délinquante, Marna la matrone, Crowns et les autres aux perso [...]

koeur.wordpress/2016/07/1Publisher: OrionPublishing Date: August 2016ISBN: 9781473211469Genre: FantasyRating: 3.3/5Publishers Description: A small group of commuters and tube workers witness a fiery apocalypse overtaking London. They make their escape through a service tunnel. Reaching a door they step through…and find themselves on a wild shore backed by cliffs and rolling grassland. The way back is blocked. Making their way inland they meet a man dressed in a wolf’s cloak and with wolves b [...]

It starts with a normal nightshift, as workers on the London Underground carry out thier tasks. It very quickly becomes a scene of chaos & an escape into another world. Morden creates some good characters & their new world becomes as believable as the one they left. The only decision left is whether I continue by reading The White City, the next novel in the series, or leave it here. Down Station is a good book, but I may have to sleep on whether it's good enough to keep up with these ch [...]

Really liked this. Have a weakness for 'culture shock' fiction anyway (funnily enough) and enjoyed the absolute precision with which the characters were drawn, the compelling simplicity of the world of Down, and Mary's constant usage of the word 'fuck'. No fat on this book at all, charming story with just enough moments of horror to keep you on your toes. Highly recommended.

*copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review*Down Station is a new fantasy novel by Simon Morden, perhaps best known for his Metrozone series. It follows a small group of people flung through a portal from London, and into a strange new world, as they come to terms with their situation, and each other.The world of Down is an interesting one. Our group of characters are cast onto it, as if onto a foreign shore, and with a similar lack of understanding. Morden makes Down feel like a large space, [...]

Reading this book there was one constant question in my head - what the fuck is going on? I had no idea what was going to happen next and the events that unfolded were just completely unexpected. I had no idea who to trust and even the world itself was untrustworthy.In other words, I really liked this book. It brought me on an adventure, and even though opening a door and finding a new world isn't very new in itself, it felt like it had something I hadn't read before. Maybe a reason for that was [...]

I received this from Netgalley in return for an honest review.(Vague spoilers)I wrote a lengthy review of this but it boiled down to the same points so here are the points:The first half of this book is really strong. Great POV characters (POC! Awesome!), secondary characters with potential, super interesting world that presents many opportunities for conflict, and generally a grand old time.The second half was far more generic. The POVs lose many of their defining characteristics as they morph [...]

DNF @ 52% after a good old slog of an effort…I started reading this book a while ago, and at first the premise seemed really interesting. A ragtag group of survivors flee Armageddon through a door in the London tube network to a strange new world. But very quickly it lost its magic, mostly due to just being a little bit predictable.The new world just wasn’t that interesting…which still baffles me because how can a world filled with strange monsters be boring? Yet somehow it was. For a book [...]

Down Station is an original fantasy which adds a contemporary feel to a myth-like story. One of the strengths of Down Station is the way the author takes time to introduce us to the characters; their history, dreams, flaws and emotions. It makes their journey all the more meaningful (and in the case of the character who was originally my favourite, completely heartbreaking).The two main protagonists, Mary and Dalip, provided very interesting and refreshing points of view. Mary is a hard edged, o [...]

I really enjoyed this book and then made the fatal mistake of reading chapter 1 of book 2 Would definitely recommend!Starting in modern day London it very quickly moves away from that stealing characters who work on the tube and bringing them to a different world known only as 'Down' to save them from a fire. The main three characters Mary, Dalip and Stanislav are written really well and all feel real. Mary swears all the time, Dalip forces himself to fight and do acts against his religion (Sihk [...]

I really can't rate this book highly enough, and I also think it is nicest to go in without any ideas of what you are in for! Just read it, honestly.If you really want more information than that it reminded me of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman except darker; Perdido Street Station by China Miéville but gentler; and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel only more magical (the station-related names probably help, yes). The chapters alternate between two main characters, who both escape a burning Lon [...]

Entertaining, atmospheric and rather magical look at what lies on the other side of the door

A fascinating portal fantasy with some very cool elements. Full review to come.

There's three workers in the London Underground: a hotheaded girl in and out of social services, a young Sikh man taking an elective for his engineering degree, and a hard-edged Slav laying new track. While they're at work, London explodes, and these three, along with a few others, take a most unlikely escape.A lost, unassuming door deep in the service tunnels leads to a vast, untouched landscape. They eventually learn it's a place called Down, a wild, pliable place, which they will change, and [...]

Mary is a teenaged black girl, on probation for theft, working in a cleaning crew on the London Underground in 2012. Dalip is a young man studious Sikh man, training to become an engineer working on replacing train track nearby with Stanislav, a middle aged man who doesn’t talk about his past. When the underground erupts in a firestorm, these three along with four other women from the cleaning crew, become trapped with the only way out being a door that leads to a sea. And from the sea leads t [...]

If you want a diverse book, this may be your book. Down Station is about two Londoners, Dalip, and Mary, who have stumbled upon the Down a whole new world that defies's the logic of physics as they know it. Mary is an orphan with a foul mouth, anger issues. She's gotten trouble with the law, has been placed on probation. Basically, Mary has had a rough go at life and London hasn't given her any breaks. Dalip is a budding engineer from a Sikh family. He's loyal and honest and strives to do the ri [...]

Fleeing from a raging fire in the London underground the characters find themselves trapped in an alien land. With no way to return to their world they have to adapt to the strangeness around them. Who or what can they trust? Even those who seem to want to help them have treacherous motives. The three main characters develop slowly as we learn more of their background stories. Dalip is very unsure of himself, forced to do things that go against his upbringing, his knowledge of right and wrong. S [...]

I was excited to start the book due to the premise of being thrust into an unknown land and having to figure out the how and why. That being said I was drawn in to the shallowest level due to its overt leftist ideas and hints that seemed to be thrust into the middle of the dialog and story. The immigrant leaving the destruction of their homeland only to be assaulted and arrested and feared as foreigners. The only white people in the book (aside from the two pointless French sisters) go insane ki [...]

Down Station has surprised me very much. I expected something different, but in a good way. It's been a while that I read such a complex, thrilling and deep book, full of magic, interesting characters and only a bit of love, but many mischievous plans.The world Down is mostly made up of people coming from London - London in different times that experienced different catastrophes. Down is a world of magic and Simon Morden has done an excellent job in explaining how this world is developing and wh [...]

This book breaks two of my cardinal rules for what I'll spend time reading: it's set (mostly) in a fantasy world populated by sea serpents and dragons, and its the first of a multi-part series. Either of those alone usually guarantees a book goes right back on the shelf unread. But: it was also written by Simon Morden, so I gave it a chance.And I'm glad I did. I have no patience for tales of mythical lands, princesses, geomancers and the like; but Morden begins in modern-day London. The cast of [...]

I hate this 5 stars rating! I would have give this book a 6 out of 10.Loved the first part, not that much the second.The story is very new and imaginative, with a lot of absurdities and oddities that made me want to know more about it! Unfortunately the second bit did not keep up with my expectations. It does not explain or go into depth, characters, beside maybe the main two are quite bidymentional. Absurdity is, especially towards the end use as cheap escamotage to develop the plot without tak [...]

c2015: FWFTB: Burning, London, Crows, group, future. Unable to agree with the description 'sweeping science fantasy'. I really tried to like this one as I thought the idea reminded me of some early 1970 type fantasy tropes. But, sadly, I didn't like any of the characters, did not get a sense of the differing world, and a next-to-nothing plot. Accordingly, unable to recommend to the normal crew. "The rattle of falling stones like rain marked the end of her resistance. She was alone in the world t [...]

It was ok - alright, somewhat better than just okay, in that the writing is clear, fresh and evocative, and the story and world-building quite different. Its hard to distinguish yourself in today's crowded fantasy landscape, and Morden does, with a hard-edged distinction between modern London and the alternative universe that his characters find themselves. But I kept expecting more - more character development, more depth, more interest - it felt like a sketch rather than a painting, and ultima [...]

After loving the Petrovitch / Metrozone novels I was eager to read this - and it doesnt disappoint! Sitting squarely in the fantasy genre, the world of Down is beautifully rendered, reminding me of Ursula Le Guin (no bad thing) with a history and unique set of rules to the created universe. I was instantly drawn to the characters (a disparate group of Londoners) each one a rounded, flawed person that adds a maturity to a story that could have easily seemed to childish. A real treat of a book and [...]