Narrated by Gary Furlong
The Jackal’s House is book two in Anna Butler’s Lancaster’s Luck steampunk trilogy featuring aeronaut-turned-coffee-house-owner Rafe Lancaster and his lover, Ned Winter, renowned Aegyptologist and heir to the head of Britain’s most powerful political House. All the things I enjoyed about book one (The Gilded Scarab) – the fabulous worldbuilding and Rafe’s distinctive voice and wonderful sense of irony among them – are all very much in evidence, together with a compelling mystery, well-realised setting and some likeable (and not-so-likeable) well drawn secondary characters.
It’s the summer of 1900 and all Rafe wants to do is make the best coffee in Londinium, spend as much time as he can with the man he loves and keep as far away from house politics as is humanly possible. As a younger son of one of the minor Houses (in this universe, Britain is ruled, under the monarch, by the eight Convocation Houses) Rafe doesn’t have too much trouble doing that; he’s always been something of the black sheep of House Stravaigor, and is happy to keep it that way.
But when he receives an unexpected visit from the Stravaigor himself, it becomes clear that however much Rafe wants to escape the tangled webs of intrigue woven by the Houses, he’s not going to be able to. The Stravaigor is pleasant and surprisingly good-humoured, which only makes Rafe more suspicious as to his motives; and he’s surprised when in the end, all the Stravaigor asks is for him to maintain his friendship with Ned which, given Ned’s status as heir to House Gallowglass, could prove valuable to House Stravaigor. Rafe isn’t pleased that his relationship with Ned is seen as something to be exploited, and his relief at being asked for so little is tempered by the knowledge that that is unlikely to be the end of the matter.
Rafe is distracted from dwelling on the Stravaigor’s motives too deeply when Ned tells him that he’s due to leave for Aegypt at the beginning of November, and that he’ll be away for several months. Rafe had known this was coming, but having it confirmed and an actual date attached just makes it that much more real. Still, Rafe is not one to let life get him down; he’s very much in love and doesn’t want to be separated from Ned for months, but there’s no alternative – Ned’s work is in Aegypt, he loves what he does and Rafe would never want him to be unhappy. Rafe’s got plenty going on in Londinium; the business is going well and with any luck he’ll be able to pay off the loan he had to grit his teeth to ask the Stravaigor for sooner rather than later, so that bit of good news on the horizon will just have to do. But then, with just a couple of weeks to go before Ned is due to leave, his pilot is killed, and finding someone else with the knowledge and skills to take his place in such a short time is going to be impossible… isn’t it? Well, of course, the obvious solution is staring us all in the face, but Rafe turns down the request. He has a business to run and people who depend on him; he can’t just up and bugger off to Aegypt for months, no matter that he longs to be with Ned. That appears to be that – Ned will have to delay the expedition until he can find another pilot – until Rafe is summoned by the Stravaigor who basically blackmails him into going.
As was the case with the previous book, the bulk of the action takes place in the second half and there’s a lot of set-up, but the worldbuilding is so strong, Rafe is such an entertaining, fully-rounded character and Gary Furlong’s portrayal captures his wryly ironic voice so perfectly, that it’s never dull. Once settled in at the dig at the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, Rafe is surprised to find himself becoming caught up in Ned’s enthusiasm and excitement over the dig – but then, things start to go wrong. Local tensions over the excavation and removal of artefacts flare up, and another excavation team in the area tries to make trouble. It appears someone is out to sabotage the dig, especially when strange ‘accidents’ begin to happen – sightings of a large, jackal-headed figure on the outskirts of the village, a farmer’s entire crop destroyed – and rumours start to fly about ancient legends and curses. The tension mounts as the various plot-threads are drawn together, and then the action/adventure plot kicks into high gear with a few high-stakes set pieces that ultimately lead into a cracking, nail-biting climax in which all is revealed – and in addition to threats to life and limb, Rafe receives some most unwelcome news.
The Jackal’s House is a terrific follow up to The Gilded Scarab; there’s more action and adventure this time around, plenty of political intrigue and plotty shenanigans and Rafe continues to be a thoroughly endearing narrator. There’s a real sense of the elegance and formality of the nineteenth century to the writing, which is full of vivid imagery; the plotting is complex and clever and I’m impressed with the way Anna Butler connects the steampunk AU she has created with our own world, referring to real people and events in a way that is entirely believable and consistent with the way Rafe’s world works, and I loved spotting the references to steampunk versions of current technology – computers, tablets etc. (Bonus points for the Howard Carter cameo!)
This really is Rafe’s show. He’s a bit of a maverick who just wants to be left alone to live his life his own way, and isn’t one to bow to authority, but he’s deeply honourable and will always try to do the right thing, even if he doesn’t like it. But the problem with Rafe being such a strong and captivating character is that Ned comes off as a bit colourless by comparison. Getting to see Ned doing what he loves in this story brings home the fact that he’s constantly having to balance out his love for archaeology and his responsibilities as Gallowglass First Heir – but he’s a little bland and at times, I struggled to see why Rafe loves him so much. That said, their devotion to each other is obvious, and everything they go through in this story further cements their romantic bond, even though they can never be open about what they are to each other.
I enjoyed seeing two recurring secondary characters – Ned’s bodyguard Sam and Rafe’s former batman Hugh – playing large parts in the story (I have a real soft spot for Sam!) although I wasn’t too fond of the inclusion of Ned’s seven-year-old son, Harry. I found him irritating to start with, but I’m not a big fan of children in romances as a rule, so YMMV, and there were times where his presence meant Ned and Rafe had to maintain distance and formality instead of showing warmth or affection for one another, which put a damper on the development of their relationship. I suppose Harry gives us a chance to see Ned as a doting father, and for Rafe to interact with the boy, but I’m not sure that he added much to the story.
Gary Furlong is a wonderful voice actor and one of the best romance narrators around; his ability to convey the gamut of emotions and to bring a large cast to life (his range of character voices and accents seems almost boundless) is always impressive and he’s an absolute joy to listen to. As in The Gilded Scarab, his portrayal of Rafe is a real high point; he nails every aspect of the character, his self-deprecating humour and his dry wit as well as his determination and courage, and there’s genuine affection and tenderness in the playful, more thoughtful side he shows to Ned. Of the recurring characters, I particularly enjoy his interpretations of Sam Hawkins – all gruff grouchiness with a heart of gold beneath – and Hugh, whose easy-going light Welsh lilt belies his steel backbone. My one real criticism – which I also levelled in my review of the previous book – is that I heard quite a few mispronunciations, the main one being the word “column” pronounced as “col-YOU-mm”, which happened quite a few times. Perhaps, because Mr. Furlong is just so good at everything else, mistakes like this stand out more than they might otherwise do, but they really should have been picked up and fixed before release.
On the whole, however, The Jackal’s House is a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining listen, and I’m happy to recommend it – although I strongly suggest listening to The Gilded Scarab first. I definitely plan on picking up the audio of book three, The God’s Eye, as soon as it’s available.
Caz
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I loved this book. It was 5 stars all the way. The narrator is amazing and I didn’t hear the supposed mispronunciation you said you heard, which comes across as nit-picking. I took his pronunciation of this word as an affectation of a posh accent – which Gary does so well. He is one of the best narrators in the business.
First of all – yes, I agree that Gary Furlong is a brilliant narrator, but that excellence does make his occastional errors that bit more noticeable.
But – that wasn’t a “supposed” mispronunciation – it was an outright mispronunciation that occurs several times and wasn’t corrected in post production. There are some words where there may be more than one acceptable pronunciation, but I know no native English speaker who pronounces the word “column” as colYOUm. I’m English and nobody, even with a posh accent, says it that way,
I work as an audiobook proofer, so spotting mispronunciations is something I do as a job as well as a listener. Had I been proofing this title, there’s no way I’d have let that through. And as a reviewer, not pointing out such an obvious mistake would make it seem as though I hadn’t paid close enough attention to the audiobook I was reviewing – and that is not the case.
To reiterate – Gary is a wonderful narrator, and I’m a massive fan. But even the best of us makes mistakes, and it’s a shame it wasn’t corrected in post.
I really enjoyed The Gilded Scarab, so I’m glad to hear this one is a worthy follow up. Thanks for the review!
It’s a great follow-up and I’m looking forward to the next one!
He said “marital” for “ martial” at one point, and there was another one that jarred me at the time but that I can’t now remember.
I’ve listened to it several times now and really liked it. I keep looking at audible to see if there’s a release date for book three. I found the cover for it on the Decent Fellows Press website so it does exist! I wonder if the series is complete or if the author has plans to write more in this world.
As far as characters, I liked George Todd and was hoping he’d get added to Rafe’s permanent circle like Alan did. I actually enjoyed Harry even though, like you, I don’t normally like kids in romance. I thought Rafe’s interactions with him gave us additional insight into Rafe’s character with his willingness to care for his lover’s child. At one point, when he’s buying Christmas gifts, he realizes that Hugh, Ned, Sam, and Harry are his family. Until the unwelcome news at the end, I thought Rafe might end up as Harry’s tutor so he and Ned would have an excuse to be together more.
I believe its a trilogy and I haven’t seen that there are plans for any more books, which is a shame.
And yes, I noticed “marital” and quite a few others – more than usual, actually. I know DFP is a small outfit, but there is sometimes a benefit to having a fresh pair of ears on board, especially when you’re familiar with the material and there’s a danger you’ll hear what you expect to hear instead of what is actually said.