Ring the Bells by CK McDonnell

Ring the Bells is the fifth book in Ck McDonnell’s always enjoyable urban fantasy Stranger Times series. McDonnell uses this book to dive deeper into the lives of some of his main characters, visit some key recurring characters, consolidate an ongoing storyline and add more layers to his fantasy world. Set in the world of a newspaper for the uncanny and occult that operates out of a rundown church in Manchester, the Stranger Times series has always had a delightfully grimy, street level quality to it. This central driver of this fifth tale combines the “magic of Christmas” with dangerous dark magic with some interesting, and amusing, results.

Ring the Bells opens with the summoning of a malicious ancient god, the newspaper being taken hostage by a hacker and a standoff between two of the weirdly-powered staff of the Stranger Times. And things go downhill from there. Once again McDonnell manages to run a number of equally compelling concurrent plots which give star turns to all of the Stranger Times crew while slowly upping the pressure. Along the way he takes on issues around the power of belief, goes to a nightclub for ghosts, delves into the traumatic backstory of one of the Stranger Times employees and touches on the ongoing war between the Folk and the Founders.

There are plenty of properties that are like The Stranger Times series. Fans of Ben Arronovitch’s Rivers of London series will feel right at home (if possibly a little more industrial) although this series is more chaotic than procedural. But there are also hints of Welcome to Nightvale, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series and a smattering (in this instalment anyway) of Ghostbusters. But these are really just comparators that exhibit similar flavours. The Stranger Times series is very much its own thing. Drawing on McDonnell’s wry sense of humour, a unique cosmology that riffs on traditional lore and a fantastically weird but loveable cast of characters, the Manchester of The Stranger Times is a world complete in itself. And Ring the Bells is another page turning, occasionally laugh out loud, thought provoking and enjoyable instalment in this series with, once again, the promise of more to come.

Ring the Bells by CK McDonnell

9

9.0/10