The Silver Skull by Mark Chadbourn – review

The Silver Skull is Mark Chadbourn’s first novel in his new Swords of Albion fantasy series. The backdrop is an Elizabethan England which is engaged in a secret war with the Unseelie Court of the fey folk at the same time they are occupied with the Anglo–Spanish War. Chadbourn starts his novel off strong with a sudden attack by dark and unseen forces on the Tower of London. He then hooks us with a simple mystery: who is the secret prisoner of the Tower?

We are then introduced to Will Swyfte, England’s most famous spy. He is a rakish figure with an attitude of practiced arrogance that is, in a way, charming. The resemblance to James Bond is unmistakable and becomes increasingly pronounced as the novel progresses.

Unfortunately, at this point the story suffers an acute case of exposition poisoning. Chadbourn spends several – thankfully short – chapters where one character or another details the background behind events and explains exactly what is happening to another character. All of the intrigue and dramatic tension I felt in the earliest chapters is gone by the time they finish, and it takes a little while for the story to recover.

Thankfully, once the story gets through this false start, it actually turns into a pretty good book. In its better moments, The Silver Skull reminds me of Lynch’s Locke Lamora or Howard’s Solomon Kane. Swyfte and his cohorts battle a vicious array of cut-throats, Spanish spies, and unholy opponents over land and sea in a storm of shifting allegiances that brings both England and her defenders to the brink of destruction. Chadbourn does an especially good job of balancing the glamour and glory associated with being a spy with the darkness and brutality of their lives.

Those looking for a fast-paced and entertaining swashbuckling story and who are willing to forgive a few lapses will enjoy this book a great deal. Those looking for more may wish to keep looking.