We are not in Dickensian London, though, we are in a strange alternate reality where "Westerners" have conquered the lands that were once homeland to races like the Alari, blonde, attenuated humans like Alix, and the Enteri, mysterious androgynous creatures.

But Alix is not what he seems, a frightened little thing: We soon learn he has a past, that haunts him with nightmares, and that he has hidden dangerous powers. And an Enteri is pursuing Alix, stalkng him, bringing him to the point in which he has to make choices. And while poison falls from the skies on the city, brought by evil flying creatures, and a holy war against the southern Draels is preparing, Alix will make his choice.

I quite like this novel — its bizarre mixing of proto-industrial oppression and medieval witch-hunting appears forboddingly dreary, but there's something else at stake: the clash of religious and socialsystems, the strange, tragic people of the Enteri, represented well in the characters of Twilight and Midnight. There's a flavor of The Prince of Nothing or R.S. Bakker in the construction of the world, with its schools of magic and cruel Gods.

I think Fiona McGavin is making a significant contribution to Dark Fantasy literature with this trilogy of which A Dark God Laughing is the first volume. We eagerly await the next one!