Low Town - Daniel Polansky (Giveaway & Review)

U.S. Cover and Title

Tell me if you've heard this one before, ok?  Joe Abercrombie walks into a bar, sits down and orders a whiskey.  He takes a shot and looks down the bar where he sees fellow fantasy author Brandon Sanderson sitting at a table.  Sanderson is laying out a Magic: The Gathering deck and drinking a glass of milk.  Abercrombie, seeing his comrade in arms, stands up and walks over.  They get to talking about this and that, of course Abercrombie tries his best not to swear or talk about sex, an admittedly difficult bit of conversationlism.

Before you know it, the two of them start writing.  Sanderson is handling the outline, plotting things just so and building the world.  Meanwhile Abercrombie is writing the scenes, adding his grit and authentic dialogue to Sanderson's framework.  He decides to try first person this time, change is a good thing, right?  Somewhere along the way Sanderson wins the sexytime argument.  They finish the novel and agree on the pseudonym Daniel Polansky.  And so, Low Town was born.

That's just a legend.  To the best of my knowledge Daniel Polansky is a real person, and not some amalgamation of two bestselling fantasy authors.  But it could be true because Low Town is the love child that Abercrombie and Sanderson (probably) will never have.  It's well paced, richly textured, and demonstrates all the rawness that the genre has come to expect from the modern fantasy writer.

Polansky's protagonist is Warden, a 30-something drug dealer, and user, with a checkered past. He used to be more, but now he haunts the streets of Low Town peddling his product and trying to stay alive (sort of).  Low Town reads like crime fiction that wouldn't be at all out of place shelved among James Ellroy and Ellmore Leonard.  There's an urban feel to it all, and Warden is very much a noir protagonist, past his prime and world weary, but committed to doing what needs doing.  In this case, that's solving the mystery of a murdered girl which the powers that be have no interest in doing.

He doesn't look like Joe

or Brandon!

It didn't surprise me to learn that Polansky is a Baltimore native.  Anyone who's watched HBO's The Wire will find some familiarity. Warden is reminiscent of Stringer Bell (Idris Elba), a drug dealer with intelligence, ambition, and a desire to see less violence on the streets, if only for the sake of profit.  Themes from The Wire like corruption, institutional dysfunction (or disinterest), and poverty are also reflected in the novel through Warden's colored perceptions.

Beyond the Mystery Machine (overt Scooby Doo reference), Low Town is also a second world fantasy that provides a mystery of its own, heightened by the limitations of a first person narrative.  Unable to provide any direct exposition, Polansky dribbles out the world through Warden's encounters, memories, and dreams.  He creates a mystery within a mystery within a mystery.  Who killed the girl?  Who is Warden and where does he come from?  How does all this fit into the larger world?  In choosing the first person, Polansky gave himself free reign to control the reader's perception.  Carefully choosing the order of encounters, and the types of encounters, he creates a perfectly paced novel that kept urging me forward without frustrating me (always a risk when the narrator has knowledge the reader does not).

It's not all roses though.  I think there's a fair criticism to be levied related to one-note characters that are archetypal for the genre.  Gregarious and burly innkeeper, go-getter gutter rat, malicious police chief, and kindly wizard are a few of them that are recycled here.  Additionally, I saw the 'twist' coming from early on (although there were enough red herrings throughout that I questioned my confidence) and given the tradition of intricately plotted fantasy novels, this one is fairly mundane (more like urban fantasy in that regard).  Polansky does leave enough dangling about Warden's past to warrant a sequel, but there's nothing epic about the plot itself that would call for future volumes.

Stringer Bell will mess you up, mofo!

That said, when asked, what did you think of Low Town, Justin?  I'm going to gush.  It isn't the best novel I've read this year.  It's not even the best debut.  It is, however, the most entertaining.  Polansky grabbed me in the first chapter and never let go.  Last I checked authors are in the story telling business and Polansky tells a great story.  Much darker than Sanderson, and not as authentic or well put together as Abercrombie, Low Town takes elements from each of them, turning out a debut novel that will appeal to fans of both.  I hope to see a lot more of Daniel Polansky in the future.

You can find Daniel Polansky on Twitter (@danielpolansky) or at his website.  He's currently working on the sequel to Low Town (when he's not bumming around foreign countries).  Check back next week for an interview with the author.

*********Giveaway*********

Low Town by Daniel Polansky

1 book to 5 winners courtesy of Doubleday.

Giveaway Details:

This giveaway is open to North American residents only (alas).  You must be 18 years of age or older to participate. Void where prohibited by law. Giveaway rules are subject to change.  

How to participate:

• To enter the giveaway, just place a comment in this post and declare intention to participate.
• One entry per person, or face disqualification.
• Make sure to provide an email address or Twitter username at which I can contact you.
• Entries accepted until 11:59pm ET on November 25, 2011
• Winners will be chosen by random sorting entries, and then using a random number generator.
• There will be 5  winners, who will receive 1 book each.
• Winner will have to confirm by email/DM to be considered a winner within a week after November 17, 2011.

ONE additional entry may be had by doing the following:

• Follow me on my blog publicly so that you appear on Google Friend Connect.
• Follow me on twitter, @jdiddyesquire. Make sure to provide your twitter username in your entry.

If you do either of the steps above, or you are already following me, you'll receive ONE additional entry.

Thanks, and good luck!