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Lucan Drakenfeld is an Officer of the Sun Chamber; a vast network that oversees the peaceful unity of the kingdoms it polices. Called back to his home city of Tryum after the death of his father, Drakenfeld is quickly given his father’s old post of Officer based in the city. He is quickly drawn into his first case � to investigate the mysterious death of the king’s sister. Conspiracies, murder and treason are just a few of the things he comes up against in his search for the truth about what happened. I don’t want to delve much deeper into the events of Drakenfeld for fear of spoiling the intricate plot that Mark Charan Newton has created here. Be assured, though, that this is a satisfying blend of crime, fantasy and historical fantasy that never short changes and lives up to the mysteries promised at the beginning.

I’ve never read anything by Mark Charan Newton before (although he has been hovering around my pile for quite some time) but Drakenfeld is the perfect place to start. Heavily influenced by the classical world � immediately giving it an edge of originality � Newton pulls from epic fantasy and crime fiction to give something truly different. Written in 1st person from the POV of Lucan Drakenfeld himself, it still manages to feel like epic fantasy � despite the crime thriller plot and historically influenced setting. Beyond the main narrative, we learn about Drakenfeld’s past and the wider world, lending the book a much bigger scope than might be expected. 1st Person Detective Fantasy, to me, is immediately associated with Urban Fantasy, like the Dresden Files or the Iron Druid Chronicles � but here, Newton has managed to create a crime narrative that feels every bit as seedy and sinister as the best crime thrillers, and yet every bit as involved and complex as some of the best epic fantasy. It’s a testament to his skill that the worldbuilding never felt superfluous, but rather something I was eager to read about.

The plot is always going to be absolutely core to any crime novel, and in this Newton does not disappoint. Centred around a locked-room mystery, the central case around the death of the king’s sister will have you constantly second-guessing yourself as layers are peeled away from the mystery and new ones are piled on top. Drakenfeld’s own sub-narrative is weaved in beautifully, giving depth to his character as we learn about what really happened. The resolution is satisfying and well-constructed whilst also leaving an element of mystery going forward. There are no cliff-hangers here, but elements are certainly in place for the continuation of Drakenfeld’s story.

The main setting is Tryum, a city that loosely grabs elements from Ancient Rome and the social, political and cultural make-up of the classical world, whilst also maintaining more progressive elements of the modern world. The city itself is a fantastic creation � one that feels as deep in its creation as Camorr and as pivotal as King’s Landing. The setting allows for much of Newton’s originality, feeling genuinely different to anything else I’ve really read in fantasy and showing a thoughtful writer, not afraid to take risks in exploring a progressive culture within a fantasy world, when it may have been much easier to simply use the medieval framework seen in so many other epic fantasies.

But central to my enjoyment of Drakenfeld were its characters. In Lucan Drakenfeld himself, Newton has created a man with a history. He is not the chosen one, nor a warrior. A man of mental tenacity, but who has seen a lot in his life already. He has flaws, both historically, mentally and physically. He feels real, and being inside his head for the entire novel feels right. Alongside Drakenfeld is his…assistant, Leana. A black foreign woman in a city that sneers at those different to themselves, she doesn’t have the easiest prospects in Tryum. But Leana IS a warrior, and she could take on fifty of the city’s best and still be home in time for dinner. Leana, quite easily, is my favourite character in fiction this year. A progressive, intelligent take on a character who, in the hands of a lesser writer, could have been hackneyed and cliché, Leana is wonderful. I defy anyone not to smile every time she has a line of dialogue. The host of senators, generals and royalty round out a colourful cast that fill out a novel where no one is as simple as they may seem.

Drakenfeld is a progressive, intelligent fantasy that provides a thrilling story alongside its more thoughtful elements that serve to create something truly unique. In a market saturated with books about thieves, assassins and grit, Mark Charan Newton has written a novel that takes the elements of crime thrillers and epic fantasy and created something that transcends the boundaries normally set by either of those genres. Regardless of the fact that it must adhere to the expectations of its narrative in solving the central mystery, Drakenfeld remains a forward-looking and genuine read from an author determined to do something original and progressive. He’s succeeded. It is quite easily one of the best novels of 2013.