The Music of Razors

In 19th-century Boston, a brilliant medical student falls in with a group of young spiritualists, only to see his hopes and plans go terribly awry as a result of their experimentations. A century and a half later, he walks the earth weary and immortal, wielding instruments made from the bones of a murdered angel, and seeking to discharge the task that he took upon himself at the height of his despair. Finally seeing a candidate worthy of becoming his successor, he enters the dreams of a boy named Walter. The young and frightened Walter learns that all he needs to do to banish his bad dreams is tell the monster in his closet to go away - only to learn too late that it was the monster who stood between him and a force banished from the universe at the beginning of time. If the above summary sounds complicated, it doesn't even begin to represent the full depths of the mythology of The Music of Razors. This is a universe big enough for fallen angels, closet monsters, and a clockwork ballerina to coexist over several centuries and in the same 300 pages. The novel's pace and complexity are undeniably demanding, especially in the beginning chapters - Rogers does not patronize his reader's intelligence - but the reward is that every time the page is turned, you uncover a new secret of this strange mythology, and your mind constantly stretches to keep up with the narrative's wicked twists and hinted truths. All of these elements are satisfyingly and convincingly intertwined, and the ending of the novel delivers a volley of heavy emotional punches before leaving the reader with that perfect combination of feeling fulfilled, yet still wanting more. Rogers' writing is briskly dark, his brief sentences filled with a subtle, glancing menace, capable of both brutality and a wistful, fairy-tale loveliness. He seems to write with a grim kind of exhilaration, as aware of the emotional and spiritual weight of the story and its characters as he is of the breathtaking leaps of imagination employed in fully animating it. This is a novel that offers immediate, visceral pleasure and sorrow, as well as food for later thought - in particular, Rogers has fascinating things to say about the role of our fears in shaping our selves. The panoply of fantastical elements also means that there is something here for all tastes, from historical fantasy to horror. All in all, I could not recommend this novel more; this is the best and most memorable fantasy novel I have read in recent years, and I know that many of its denizens will be staying with me for the rest of my life.

Sadly, this GREAT piece of literature has not gotten the recognition it rightfully deserves. A lot of reviewers have compared "Music of Razors" by Cameron Rogers to the works of Neil Gaiman . . . there are, indeed, similarities in tone and style, but frankly this is better than anything Gaiman has ever written (and I really like Gaiman's novels). How can I spew such blasphemy? Well, try as I might, I could never fully immerse myself in Gaiman's books -- they read like modern day fairy tales and his protagonists are mildly annoying and only somewhat sympathetic. When something dreadful happens to one of them, I find it difficult to care. Conversely, I actually lost myself in "Music of Razors" . . . absolutely brilliant characterization and an amazing story. I genuinely felt for these characters -- even the "constructs" -- and actually wept over several scenes (that is a first for me -- only two other books, "Straydog" and "Blood Meridian" have brought me to tears: and only for one scene in each). The fate of the Closet Monster and the White Tiger are heartrending and profoundly moving. "Music of Razors" by Cameron Rogers is the BEST novel ever written in the "Dark Urban Fantasy" genre. Deep, dark, literary, and profound. An obscure gem. Read it and weep.

The best writing convinces you that what you have believed is totally wrong. Writers like Rogers take your neatly ordered world and reshuffle the deck til you're not sure of the values or reality. In the case of "Music of Razors", the reason the monster under the bed is so fiercely ugly is to protect the child--and there is a place that's not Heaven or Hell--and far worse than anyone ever thought. Rogers' writing is like good chocolate: strong, bitter, and dark. Especially fascinating is the counterpoint between the child Walter, stuck in his body and forced to combine with a former foe to save his sister, and Dorian, wanting to wield the power of immortality. I deducted half a star from the book's review because I did get lost more than once in time and place and had to re-read to pick up the thread. Overall, this is a very good dark mystery that will leave you haunted and wondering for days.

Seventy two angels fell with Samael and a seventy third wanted to make a deal with him. However knowing how dangerous Samael is he aged the bones of another angel and used them to infuse each one with his own form and then scattered the pieces all over the world. Samuel rejected the Angel and; while an angel can neither be killed nor unmade, God stripped the angel of everything that made him unique. Now nobody knows the angel exists including himself. That is the punishment God meted out to the angel who was rejected by heaven and hell. In the nineteenth century, Henry a man who desperately wants to be a surgeon needs Dorian who knows something about the angel. He and Henry as well as a few others create a coven to summon someone who can tell him about the instruments that was made form the angel's bones. That séance turns deadly and Dorian disappears collecting the instruments in his travels until he meets Henry again in a small Arizona town and takes his place. He collects souls to barter with the winner of the war between heaven and hell but he is getting tired now and wants to find his replacement. He thinks he found that person in the child Walter but he escapes s by merging with that of the monster in the closet that was guarding him. Henry has set his sights on Walter's sister Hope and Walter will do anything to prevent it. Fans of cutting edge fantasy will enjoy this book as it spans a century of time that to beings that are more than mortal is like the blink of the eye. Reminiscent of the works of Neal Gaiman, THE MUSIC OF RAZORS has a surrealistic feel to it which makes the different times very easy to follow and understand. Cameron Rogers richly deserves the nomination for the Aureoles Award for Best fantasy in Australia that he received. Harriet Klausner

Not that it is particularly relevant for a fictional book to get historical detail perfect, but let's correct the Publishers Weekly's falsehoods before reviewing the beauty, uniqueness and brilliance of Rogers' writing. First Publishers Weekly claim that it is an anachronism that 1840s Boston had gas-lighting. They're wrong: "In 1820 Paris took up the problem of using gas for her public street lighting. As soon as the two leading cities of the old world, London and Paris, had discovered this method of lighting their publicc ways and bridges, we find that the City of Boston, in the new world, through some of its public-spirited citizens, carefully began the study of the subject. Boston was one of the pioneers in using gas in America... in 1822 the Boston Gas Light Company was formed." Richards, J.L. Richards. (1908) 'The Boston Consolidated Gas Company: Its Relation to the Public, Its Employees and Investors' in Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 31, Control of Municipal Public Service Corporations, pp. 59-65. It is accurate to discuss gas lighting in Boston in 1840. Now, let's discuss bacteria. Bacteria was discovered around 1700 by Antony van Leeuwenhoek. Since then it was known that little animals were visible under microscope and that it was likely that they had something to do with human health. It is reasonable that doctors of the 19th century discussed bacteria, regardless of exactly how much information they knew at the time. So, The Publishers Weekly have got THEIR facts wrong. They have also decided that the only way to write a wondrous, fantastical Neil Gaiman-style plot is be Neil Gaiman. Thank goodness Rogers does not read like Gaiman. I am awe-struck by this new writer's energy and unique voice. Read this book, it will change the way you think and open you to ideas you barely knew you were capable of. I eagerly await his next novel.