Why this perfectly enjoyable book has been saddled with such a hideous cover I don't know, but it has. A quick glance at the other editions indicates that their covers, at least, are an improvement, but I don't know what Gollancz was thinking with this one. It's awful.

The contents of that cover are quite different. As I said, it's a likeable urban fantasy which seems based on a mythology I don't know a great deal about, originating in Eastern Europe or thereabouts. I understand the author is of Russian heritage? Which would explain it. I'm enjoying being exposed to different mythological creatures, anyway, although vampires and shapeshifters in general play a background role here. Well, it's not quite background, but I wouldn't call this a vampire-and-werewolf novel in the same way as I'd call the Anita Blake novels that, for instance. They seem like part of the worldbuilding but not a solid focus, or at least not yet.

The most appealing part of this for me, though, is the setting. I like the constant switching between magic and science, and the fundamentally destabilising influence this has on the narrative. I like, too, that almost in contrast to this, a society has developed that has adapted to this shifting state of being. That's entirely plausible, and it's interesting to see just how that adaptation becomes part of normal life.