Margaret Atwood - The Robber BrideA novel about three female friends whose lives have all been in some way overturned by a friend who recently died. A woman named Zenia who is incredibly manipulative, who's sole goal in life appears to be messing up other people's. It tells the story of each of these three women, how they met Zenia, how she tries to wreck their lives and how they deal with her apparent return from the dead. A completely fascinating novel filled with detail and complexity and wonderfully fleshed out characters, easily one of the best I have ever read.
[in print - UK / US]
R. Scott Bakker - The Darkness That Comes Before
The brilliant opening novel to a dark and gritty trilogy fantasy trilogy, where a character comes in from the wilderness to manipulate and dominate all he encounters.
[in print - UK / US]
R. Scott Bakker - The Warrior-Prophet This one is the perfect middle book in a trilogy, building on the first and gradually ratcheting up towards the crescendo. A wonderful interplay of characters as the manipulative Warrior-Prophet continues his ascension.
[in print - UK / US]
Iain M. Banks - Inversions Secret plots and manipulation are an essential part of Machiavellian novels and this has at least two of each in two interleaving stories. One with a physician with unusually forward thinking ideas finds herself at odds with the orthadoxy, another a bodyguard trying to protect an usurper against hidden plots. [in print - UK / US]
Mervyn Peake - Titus Groan This is an incredible novel, all taking place within the limits of a gargantuan castle which seems to stretch on forever yet is unbearably claustraphobic. It features some of the best characters I have ever read, and features Fuschia my own all-time favourite female character. The writing is consistantly beautiful and the build up to the eventual climax is slow and powerful, showing the infant Titus growing up into the world of a horribly twisted aristocracy.
[in print - UK / US]
Mervyn Peake - GormenghastThe second in the series and once again an astoundingly powerful novel, darkness and foul plots haunt the halls of Gormeghast and Titus is in the centre of it. Steerpike is an utterly even character who exploits and uses everyone in a plot to become master of Gormenghast. It leads to tradgedy and turmoil and another incredible ending.
[in print - UK / US]
Michael Moorcock - Gloriana
A homage to Mervyn Peake, this novel takes place inside a castle like
Gormenghast with it's own secret world. Gloriana is Queen of Albion, an
empire which is built on a series of lies and deceptions with the Queen
as a figurehead untouched by the lies which hold her in place. Throughout
the novel, this fragile state of affairs begins to unravel, as the lies
begin to undermine the society. There is a battle between those wishing to
maintain the illusion and those that want to destroy it, with some excellent
amoral characters manipulating events to their advantage. An excellent
intense novel.
[in print - UK]
Wendy Walker - The Secret Service
Tremendous and inspiring book, a mere description of which will not do it justice. Fifteen years in construction and every bit as intricate as that might suggest. It follows a group of spies with an unique ability to disguise themselves who trying to uncover a complicated plot against the British Crown. [in print - UK / US]