The Rook and Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley, books #1 and #2 of The Checquy Files
"The body you are wearing used to be mine." So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.
She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own.
In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.
Filled with characters both fascinating and fantastical, The Rook is a richly inventive, suspenseful, and often wry thriller that marks an ambitious debut from a promising young writer
My Feelings
Let us begin with The Rook. I am a sucker for secret societies, it is a weakness of mind but I am just so much more likely to purchase a book I have never heard of if it has a secret society in it. And I LOVE the Checquy. The entire organization is weird and quirky, I mean the whole command structure is based around chess pieces, and there is just something about it that makes it seem so possible yet so ridiculous all at the same time. Also, its kinda funny that the exception to the chess thing is the fact that the top dogs are considered Lord and Lady since they obviously can't compete with the, seemingly immortal, queen herself. But I digress. The organization brings so much to the table by way of never ending unique characters, modern day locals, and talks about just how long this organization (and others) have been around leading to a rich history and depth to the organization. Oh, and this story isn't being held by the bounds of a brooding romance between two lead characters, in fact there is no real romantic pulls within the main plot, just pure bad-ass conspiracy. All of this being said, what really made me fall in love with this book was the main antagonist, the wonderful Rook Myfanwy Thomas.
“You look like Cinderella," said Val in awe.
"Yeah, if she'd been into bondage and had Christian Dior for a godmother.”
So I tend not to be really into stories about people with powers because...well...don't hate me but, I am not a fan of superheros (other than the show The Boys on amazon, but lets be honest, we watch it because of how messed up it is more than anything else). Anyways, I was very interested in Myfanwys character because she is someone who has powers who doesn't just use them for the hell of it, or ever really. This is a girl who rose through the ranks of a secret society within the British government purely on merit (well, mostly). Not only that but she has the cheeky personality that made her both relate-able and made it so hard no to want to cheer her on as she dug through the deep depths of the society she has come to be apart of in an attempt to unravel a tightly bound dark conspiracy. Oh, and one of the best parts, throughout the entire story she is following letters that she wrote herself from before her memories got wiped. You heard me! in case everything else wasn't crazy enough this is also an amnesia story. Nothing like diving head first into the secret world of people with powers and politics and also trying to pretend to be a ranking executive in said society all while trying to pretend like you actually know where your office is located. All in all, Myfanwy, as well as the story itself, as layers to it (yes, like an onion donkey).
“Dear You, The body you are wearing used to be mine.”
The glowing opinions aside, there has to be something said in regards to the negatives of the book, don't worry, this is gonna be real short. The biggest one being that sometimes I would loose track of all the characters within the story. It's nothing compared to the thrown around narratives of vastly different characters like in the Song of Ice and Fire series, but still, I got lost a few times. Also, the pacing was a bit erratic sometimes but hardly enough to distract from the richness of the story.
“Oh, well, thanks an awful lot, Thomas, Myfanwy thought bitterly. It sounds like I'm the Defense Minister of Ghosts and Goblins, but as long as the job is "all fairly self-explanatory," I've no doubt it will be fine. The country might get overrun by brownies and talking trees, but what the hell--there's always Australia!”
I want to say that I would recommend this book to everyone I pass on the street but I am not going to let myself be blinded by my bias. This book however, would definitely bee a great read for those who are fans of urban fantasy, including powers, secret society's and general British humor.
Stiletto
I am not going to add to much about this book for the sake of not spoiling anything for those who haven't read the first one yet so I am going to just link the synopsis of Stiletto
here. But there may be some spoilers ahead.
“The interior of the animal was much as one would expect: close and dark and damp, with an odd smell. It was rather, Odette thought, like trying to enter a really popular nightclub on New Year’s Eve.”
Stiletto primarily takes place from the perspective of two seemingly different people. Badass, people stomping, no bs taking, fearless Pawn Felecity Clements and descendant of one of the original leaders of the Broederschap, and genius behind a scalpel Odette Leliefeld.
I wanted so badly for this book to live up to the first book but I was mildly disappointed. Honestly though, my main thing with this book is that it wasn't a story about Rook Thomas anymore. O'Malley introduces the reader to two new female antagonists, both of which can still kick some ass in their own way, as the story turns from the Checquy and the Broederschap being the biggest of enemies to trying to form an alliance between the two organizations. In general, I truly did enjoy this book, the plot took you outside of London to places all over Britain an through you into so many different battles between the foes they are trying to join with and those that some of them don't even know about. You get to see two people with very different skill sets join together to do what it takes to keep the alliance going so that neither side kills it before it even gets off the ground.
“Plus, anyone who wants to clone himself is usually an asshole. You don’t want any more of those running around than absolutely necessary.”
The few things that made this book not quiet live up to what I wanted it to be was one small side story that I felt was unnecessary and the fact that this book was probably about 150 pages longer than it needed to be. That being said, I would still give this book a 4/4.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to anyone who enjoyed The Rook. oh, and don't worry, Myfanwy is still in it quite a bit, just as more often a supporting character.
P.S. Apparently now there is going to be a third book. I don't know how I feel about it but it sounds like its a side story and not a continuation of the original story. I guess we will just have to wait until next year to find out.
