The novel “The Kings of Eternity” by Eric Brown was published for the first time in 2011.
In 1999 the writer Daniel Langham lives in Kallithea, on a Greek island, as a recluse. The meeting with Caroline Platt changes things but for him the problem goes far beyond the sentimental issue. Some old secrets he’s hiding must remain concealed to avoid endangering himself and other people.
In 1935 the writer Jonathon Langham and his colleague Edward Vaughan are urgently called by their friend Jasper Carnegie. Something strange is going on in the English countryside and when they go to investigate they discover something that will change their lives in an unpredictable way.
In its first part, “The Kings of Eternity” doesn’t even seem a science fiction novel. Eric Brown has always been an author who focused on his characters’ issues rather than on technical-scientific elements but at least other of his stories are set in the future. In this case, the story spans through the 20th century and the first impression is that it’s the story of a family of writers.
Eric Brown’s approach is certainly unusual, as well as the style choice of the narrative partly in the first person and partly in the third person. The result is a novel that is a mix of genres in which the science fiction element is sometimes in the background. This can leave the reader puzzled but going forward it becomes clear that this element is crucial.
In “The Kings of Eternity”, Eric Brown develops the story in some ways that generally I don’t like, yet he manages to do so in a way that overall makes me appreciate this novel. Sometimes it seems almost a mix-up that includes heterogeneous elements but in the end I think it works.
For “The Kings of Eternity” labels can be mostly harmful exactly because there are various elements mixed-up. Earlier, Eric Brown develops a lot the romantic part of the story with the meeting between Daniel Langham and Caroline Platt in 1999 and the problems between Jonathon Langham and his girlfriend in 1935.
Generally, a start like that would make my interest in the novel drop down very quickly. The author, however, manages to develop two parallel stories in an evocative manner, going far beyond the romantic element only, thus maintaining my attention.
The science fiction element is also developed in a way I generally don’t like. Eric Brown got inspired by a very classic science fiction that may seem outdated. In some parts of “The Kings of Eternity” the really science fiction events are reported rather than lived. The author also takes the sense-of-wonder from the golden age of this genre so again he kept my attention.
In the second part of the novel, Jonathon Langham tells the story of the years after 1935 and the meeting that changed his life and that of his friends. Again there are romantic elements but it’s also the part where you really understand why “The Kings of Eternity” is actually a science fiction story, not one that just contains some vague science fiction element.
In the end, the originality of “The Kings of Eternity” is the way Eric Brown mixed the different elements in the story. Taken individually, these elements are far from original so sometimes the plot is predictable. In my opinion this is the real flaw in this novel.
In “The Kings of Eternity” there are moments of action but the story tends to introspection. The consequence is that the pace is often quite slow but has moments in which greatly accelerates with some very intense peaks. It’s a character-oriented novel with not many characters who are generally well developed.
In my opinion, because of the way it’s structured, “The Kings of Eternity” can cause very different reactions depending on personal tastes. It’s not a masterpiece but I found it very enjoyable so if you think you can like that mix of genres I think it’s worth reading it.
