Book Review - The Oversight

Charlie Fletcher’s novel about a mysterious organisation tasked with preserving the divide between the magical and the mundane hits many of the right notes, but leaves you feeling a little flat.

The plot of The Oversight focuses upon the balance that the titular group must strike between protecting the population of 1800s London from the encroaching magical forces and preserving their own numbers. Once the group dwindles below five – which happens to be the exact number of them left – their ability to protect powerful magical artifacts and secrets becomes compromised. However, there are other forces that seek to dismantle them.

This is a description that can be gleaned from a cursory glance of the book’s cover, and it is an intriguing concept, but the question remains how the book delivers on this promised intrigue.

Firstly, I must admit to being somewhat of a sucker for historical fantasies like The Oversight. The way in which writers weave magical lore through historical events is a joy, and this book does not seek to disappoint. It is only the first installment of the series, it must be noted, so many references and mysteries remain only remarked upon and never fully explored, but the magical lore leaves plenty to become immersed in.

The characters – in particularly Mr Sharp and Sara Falk – feel vibrant right from the first few pages. The world feels dark with crooked edges behind which any sort of creature could strike. The prose dances, and imbues the story with a magic of its own. The story begins like any good story does, with something breaking the trajectory of normality. In this case it is a man arriving at Sara Falk’s door with a girl in a bag. Unfortunately all of these elements – which drew me immediately in – begin to fade.

The first point was the Lucy Harker – the girl in the bag – is clearly a very English name, and yet she only speaks French. When it is revealed that she actually speaks English, there is no explanation as to why she was only speaking French before, and when the characters who thought she was French hear her speak English, nothing is remarked upon it. This is a small, nit-picking note, but it was the first thing that began to throw me.

The prose began to feel a little sloppy and unedited as the book progressed, but where this book really felt it needed editing work was in the pacing and the progression. Everything happens very slowly. The first night takes two hundred pages. This is not the problem in itself, but the chapters constantly change from one perspective to the other, including one character thread that didn’t even resolve in any way in this installment. It was difficult to follow one particular character line with much commitment because after seven pages it would cut completely away and not return for a number of chapters. I understand the appeal and power of multiple POVs (I even write with them) but I felt this story would have benefited from giving each story threat its own chunk of the book. It is written in parts, so perhaps part three could have focused entirely on Lucy’s adventure, while you are left worrying about the other characters. Instead the story feels a little shambolic and non cohesive.

The characters, while feeling interesting to begin with, become a little dry. There are some gender imbalances here* but the characters feel a little stiff, a little dry. Their abilities and roles are interesting, however, but I would have appreciated some more clarity as to the strengths and limitations of each of the members. The only character element that I found actually diminished my reading experience was the non-romance romance between Sharp and Sara. It’s obvious enough that the two young and attractive people will fall in love. Readers can infer quite subtle signals of attraction, but I felt needlessly condescended my narrative illustration and even remarks from other characters. It felt forced and clumsy and – as the narrative drove onwards – any romantic revelations were eye-rolling and did not feel narratively earned. Oh, and there is a favorably written, important character with the same first name as the author. Charlie is not an uncommon name, but when it’s written on the front of the book people tend to notice the character has the same name, and it is off-putting.

*Of the two female members of The Oversight, one is relegated from kick-ass to the withering violet role and the other is simply called Cook. Make of that what you will.

Often when I would put the book down I did feel somewhat negative. Partially it was disappointment after the strong start, but more so I felt frustrated that this wasn’t book I was deeply enjoying, when it felt like I really should have been. But something in it kept me reading. The lore, the dynamic characters who become introduced, the intrigue, all kept me reading and suddenly – despite it feeling slow at the time – I was finished and looking to see if and when the next installment was coming out. Perhaps I am geared to look for negatives an not positives, but I find it difficult to put my finger exactly what I enjoyed (though a strong mixture of whimsical prose and deep lore is a sensible option) I enjoyed my time in the book.

I don’t like to give stars, because it is very banal and inaccurate way of judging a piece of art, plus I feel like I do not have the credentials to grade a professional author, I would give this book 3 ½ or 4 stars.