The Brackenford Cycle
Trevor ‘Trev’ Irwin has possibly the dullest name ever for a lead character, he’s also an estate agent, which as we all know means he’s probably a bit of a prick, don’t worry though, cause it turns out that he’s actually a bit of a prick, at least to begin with. Almost immediately, Trev starts to see things that he really shouldn’t be seeing, in this case it’s a ghost, rather than a tastelessly decorated living room, worse still, he sees a lot more of them in quick succession. Trev is a rational type of guy so he suspects the root cause is hallucinations brought on by illness rather than supernatural phenomenon, sensible thinking but unfortunately for Trev, wrong.
Luckily Trev’s Grandad is on hand to explain a few things, it turns out that Trev has a hitherto untapped power (known as the sight, which tends to lie dormant in the holder until their early thirties and develop slowly over a period of time, Trev on the other hand effectively goes from 0-60 in a few seconds), and that Brackenford, otherwise a fairly typical midlands town, is for all sorts of historical reasons actually a hive of supernatural activity (the bad sort obviously, or what would be the point). Trev’s Grandad is a member of a group called the Custodians, a kind of supernatural policing agency, who have associates posted throughout the country, particularly in hotspots such as Brackenford. Luckily for Trev, his Grandad is a popular guy, he’s mates with a ghost called Agatha and, erm, a talking cat, called Oscar. Despite Trev’s best attempts to alienate them both with his laddish humour, sheer ignorance, and refusal to accept the inevitable, they recognise his need for their help coming to terms with his new powers. Somewhat reluctantly, Trev is dragged further and further away from his comfort zone of mundane daily reality, due to the power of his sight he becomes something of a beacon for some of the more undesirable spiritual elements.
Trev develops and grows quite a lot during the course of the first book, a somewhat arrogant, self-centred individual to begin with, he soon comes to rely on the help and guidance he receives from his grandad and friends, this precipitates a distinct improvement in his character and the relationship of the small group in later books is one of the most charming aspects of the Brackenford Cycle.
The Brackenford Cycle quickly became essential reading for me, alongside the 4 main books there’s also a few novellas, which add to the back story and build on the world Nick Moseley has created. Taken as a whole, these are books that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone who enjoys urban fantasy, they’d be well within my favourites of the genre. They’re definitely my favourite self-published fantasy books, and I’d go as far as to suggest that once I get around to compiling my top 25 fantasy reads, the Brackenford Cycle will be safely ensconced in that list.
- Location, Location, Damnation (2014) – Amazon – Book Depository
- Hangman’s Pond (2014) – Amazon – Book Depository
- Spectre’s Rest (2015) – Amazon – Book Depository
- Grindhelm’s Key (2019) – Amazon – Book Depository
Novellas
