For his entire life, Charley Sutherland has concealed a magical ability he can’t quite control: he can bring characters from books into the real world. His older brother, Rob — a young lawyer with a normal house, a normal fiancee, and an utterly normal life — hopes that this strange family secret will disappear with disuse, and he will be discharged from his life’s duty of protecting Charley and the real world from each other. But then, literary characters start causing trouble in their city, making threats about destroying the world… and for once, it isn’t Charley’s doing.
There’s someone else who shares his powers. It’s up to Charley and a reluctant Rob to stop them, before these characters tear apart the fabric of reality.
As nonsensical as the following statement may sound: The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep is a book for those who love books.
I’d like to think that most of us have found a book that we were able to get lost in. Where we’ve immersed ourselves in another world. Formed bonds with the characters. Felt as though we were participating in their journey rather than just reading about it. Those special books that feel real. That are real to us, because we’ve connected with them on such a deep and personal level. H.G Parry’s debut explores that reader/book relationship with a care and fondness that could only come from someone who has their own loving relationship with reading.
Charley Sutherland is this books main character in all but name. He has the magical ability to summon forth book characters into the real world, and his readings of them are so detailed and three-dimensional that these characters can (for the most part) pass as real people. This causes his brother, Rob, no end of stress. Rob seems to have an almost Aunt Petunia esque relationship with his sibling (or at least that’s how it looks on the outside), but there is a great depth of fondness behind this bitter facade.
Rob knows that Charley is brilliant. The contemptuous way in which he treats his brother, however, means that Charley has no idea that this is how Rob feels. Rob only wishes to protect his little brother. Mostly from himself. But this infuriatingly true-to-life dynamic means their relationship can be anything from tense to wholesome to abusive at any given moment. The way that Parry navigates this emotional minefield of brotherly love was my favourite part of the book.
In terms of plot, the brothers soon discover that there are fictional characters running around town that aren’t Charley’s doing. There is another summoner out there, and they are making noise about destroying the world.
As someone who hasn’t read too many classic books, I feel like there may have been a lot of references that flew over my head. But characters such as Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Darcy, Dr. Frankenstein, and Dorian Grey all make an appearance, as well as the titular Uriah Heep. Unlikely Escape is written in a modern, accessible style, so there’s no need to fret for those of you who might worry that the prose might be a barrier to entry.
The plot has a bit of a mystery feel to it, though to be honest I enjoyed the revelations and action scenes a whole let less than I did the dynamic between the two siblings. It is their relationship, rather than the overarching mystery, that drives the story. By the climax, much of my investment came from worrying over how their relationship would be affected by the happenings of the story, rather than the intricacies of those happenings themselves.
If you’re looking for a book about brotherly love and growth, then The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep is the book for you. It’s a delightful exploration of the joy of reading. I look forward to seeing what else H.G. Parry comes up with in the future.
The paperback for The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep releases on the 23rd of January!
We received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you to Orbit Books for the review copy!
