There’s no-one does fantasy quite like K.J.Parker. In fact, I don’t think there’s anyone doing anything even close. The Engineer Trilogy has contained very few of the recognisable features of fantastical fiction: no magic, no heroic square-jawed swordsmen, dwarfs, elves, evil sorcerors, quests or dragons. What is does feature are morally complex characters, almost none of who can be pigeon-holed in to the hero or villain categories, and an extremely clever plot.

The darkness and moral ambiguity of Parker’s storytelling have been a central feature of all three of his / her fantasy trilogies (very little is known about the author, although a now defunct version of the official K.J.Parker website suggested Parker was a woman). That darkness has not necessarily become more pronounced in the Engineer novels – after all, the first trilogy featured a central character who killed his own nephew and made him in to a bow! However, it has become more mundane and everyday – the evils that are perpetrated are those of characters who are only trying to do the right thing for themselves and those they care about. While Parker’s characters recognise that some of their actions are evil, they can always rationalise them as ‘a necessary evil’ (a key recurring theme). There are no characters in Parker’s world who think of themselves as baddies. By the same token, none of them really think of themselves as goodies, either – just as people who are doing the best they can with the tools at hand.

Of course, if you have read any of Parker’s work you will know that tools are absolutely central – the author’s apparently boundless knowledge of mechanical engineering, of weaponry, of siegecraft, is another way in which these books are unique, and the detailed explanations of casting, forging, designing, engineering, are not just exercises in showmanship, but rather central to the plot, often taking on a metaphorical dimension that’s hard to ignore.

In The Escapement, the complex machinery of revenge set in train by the engineer Ziani Vaatzes reaches its conclusion. It’s worth looking at the definition for an escapement:

The part of the movement, which controls the release of the motive power. The escapement both controls the release of the driving force and also imparts energy (impulses) to the balance to maintain it in oscillation.

The escapement for Vaatzes’ plan is a full-blown war, and all of the surviving characters from the first two books have their parts to play: Duke Valens, Miel Ducas, Secretary Psellus, and many others. The intricate mechanism of Parker’s plot, with its wheels within wheels, grinds towards its fulfillment, and there is a suitably grand conclusion. The satisfying end to the storyline, coupled with Parker’s unique style of storytelling and dialogue, made this book a fitting end to probably the best trilogy yet. There’s already another in the pipeline, and I look forward to it immensely.

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