Thaniel Fox
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| Author | Chris Wooding |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Steampunk |
| Publisher | Scholastic |
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Publication date
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23 January 2006 |
| Media type | Paperback |
| Pages | 400 |
| ISBN | |
| 823.92 | |
The Haunting Of Alaizabel Cray (2001) is a Gothic steampunk horror/alternate history novel by Chris Wooding about a Victorian London overrun by the wych-kin, demonic creatures that have rendered the city uninhabitable south of the river, and which stalk the streets after dark. When Thaniel Fox, a young wych-hunter, finds a mad girl wandering the streets in the middle of the night, he is moved by pity to take her home; and in doing so, he becomes embroiled in a plot that reaches into the highest levels of government, and into the darkest depths of the wych-kin's world.
The story takes place in a setting reminiscent of Victorian London. However, it is not the London of our history, but a London that might have been.
The Wych-kin (see the book cover) are monsters that attack and kill humans. They live in every major city. They come in a large variety of types, each with its own power and weaknesses although all are vulnerable to sunlight.
The Wych-kin first appeared in the aftermath of the British/Prussian war. At first no one believed they existed, convinced that they were delusions brought about by shell-shock. By the time the British Government finally took action they had spread to other cities and had become too diverse and numerous to exterminate.
The name "wych-kin" came about because similar things had been thought to be summoned by the wyches a long time ago. Wyches were people who dealt with the supernatural. They were believed to be evil and some people hunted them - back then, these hunters were called Wych-hunters.
Eventually a new breed of human developed who could detect the presence of the Wych-kin. These were a new kind of Wych-hunters, who unlike their predecessors, did not hunt wyches, but the wych-kin, and developed means of fighting them back. Soon these people were in high demand. Corporeal, Non-corporeal and Greater. Non-Corporeal Wych-kin are the most common and deadliest type of Wych-kin. They are made of energy or ectoplasm and can defy the laws of physics.
Many corporeal Wych-kin are contained within the body or bodies of living people or animals. Some, like Cradlejacks, reproduce via bites and scratches; anyone cut or scraped by one of these Wych-kin will turn into one himself. What they really look like before they possess the body is unknown as they have never been seen without their shell. These are also the rarest type of Wych-kin and the easiest to defeat as they can be killed in conventional battle. Other corporeal Wych-kin are not parasitic, but often exhibit strange powers, such as Rawhead.
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Wikipedia