When Theo finds his dead uncle’s manuscript locked away in a safe housed by possibly the most bizarre bank in San Francisco, he thinks it’s the beginnings of a fantasy novel. The descriptions of fantastical like creatures in a faerie world with sky scrapers and horse-faced cab drivers is certainly apt to that genre, but it seems a little strange that his uncle choose to write it in diary style, but perhaps more bizarrely, so convincingly.

However fanciful his uncle’s imagination seems to be, it’s a welcome release from his mundane and somewhat depressing life. Struggling to ever form a bond with his parents, his father is long dead and his mother has recently succumbed to the same route. Matters are made worse when his girlfriend miscarries his baby then subsequently dumps him. His career as a struggling musician has also taken a turn for the worse when he walks out on his much younger and more pretentious band after a series of falling outs. Thinking things couldn’t get any worse Theo seeks solitude in a remote country lodge and whiles away the time reading his uncles diary. When a foot-high sprite named Applecore, complete with an Irish accent and a foul mouth, appears out of nowhere to rescue him from something that looks mostly dead attempting to break through the lodge window, Theo realises his troubles are only just beginning.

Dragged out of his own world and into the land of Faerie, Theo realises that his uncle’s diary wasn’t so fictional after all. Faerie is a cruel world that is nothing like folklore describes it. For one thing Faerie society evolves in very much in the same way as human society does. Despite a few geographical eccentricities, such as places having an irksome tendency to move around, things are not too dissimilar to the world Theo grew up in. The Faerie city is a sprawling metropolis with many of things you would associate with a human city; trains stations, school buses, and even an aristocracy of Flower Lord Families that rule above the common folk. Perhaps one of the most noticeable differences is that Faerie technology isn’t powered by electricity like our own, but with the life blood of its own citizens, the common folk used as battery-like sacrifices for the comfort and prosperity of the Flower Lords.

To make matters worse, a large proportion of the Faerie community isn’t all that keen on mortals, namely most of the Flower Lords who unfortunately happen to rule the roost. With a swearing, winged midget as his only friend, Theo must seek out those few Flower Lords that seek to live in harmony with humans and can therefore help him to return home. But little does Theo realise that home may not be where it first appears, and maybe his uncle isn’t so dead after all.

If nothing else, The War of the Flowers is certainly original. Despite having a tendency to lean towards meaty trilogies, I found this to be an immensely satisfying read that contains enough depth of detail and scope of imagination to be engrossing. The Characters are imaginatively eccentric and highly likeable, especially the foul mouthed Applecore. Williams’ writing style is immediately accessible and the story flows fluidly with a good balance of narrative description, character development and plot. The finale contains a twist that may be mildly predictable for the more acute reader but is still written with enough flair to be entertaining regardless.

I would highly recommend this to those of you looking for a quick fix of highly imaginative fantasy fun.