There are four good places to start reading Anthony Price’s Audley series. They are with the first written volume, The Labyrinth Makers (1970) a thriller about British intelligence and the KGB struggling over the lost gold of Troy. Or you could start with the first chronologically, The Hour of the Donkey (1980), which is a war story about the events leading up to Dunkirk. Or you could start with Soldier No More (1981), which is about a double-agent sent on a recruitment mission in 1956, and the Late Roman Empire. Or you could start with Other Paths to Glory (1974) which is another recruitment mission and the Great War. There are nineteen books in the series, but none of the others strikes me as a good way in. I started with Soldier No More when I was in university, when one of my tutors mentioned that it was a thriller featuring Galla Placida.
These books are not science fiction or fantasy, except for Tomorrow’s Ghost (1979), which is arguably fantasy. It’s from the point of view of a female agent who at least believes that the folk tale she has told will lead to somebody’s death—and it does, too. Fantasy. Which makes the whole series fantasy, in a way.
They all feature or at least mention David Audley and some kind of intelligence work, they happen in the same conceptual universe, they are told from an incredible range of points of view, and they almost all feature some historical mystery in addition to the contemporary one. They have an over-arching plot arc that was cut short by the Cold War ending unexpectedly before he was done with it, so the series isn’t finished and probably never will be. They are the books from outside of SF that I re-read most often.
If ever there was an example of not reading for plot, this is it. They have complicated fascinating plots that I know by heart. I could tell you every twist of every book. I’ve re-read them so much that the ones I initially liked least have become the ones I like best, because they’re less familiar. What I read them for now is the brilliant, wonderful, complex characters. Nobody does characters like Price. They are interesting people I like to spend time with. I know that reading any Price I’ll get sucked in to the world and I’ll keep turning the pages. I don’t get reading fatigue the way some people do, but if I ever really don’t feel like reading any of my sensible options, I know I can pick up any Price and be absorbed. Sometimes I read them in chronological order, sometimes in publication order. Sometimes I pick up a random one. Sometimes I charge through the whole series, other times I’m in the middle of a slow re-read that might take a year, interspersed with other things.
But you don’t want to know why I’m re-reading them for the ninety-ninth time; you want to know why you want to read them for the first time. They’re not SF, and they’re mostly not in print. Why should you seek them out?
Well, they’re good. And they’re interesting and they are great character studies. But the reason most SF readers will like them is the way they’re informed by history. It’s not just that there’s a historical puzzle in most of the books, though there is. It’s that the way that history reflects both ways from everything is very science fictional. You have to accept that British intelligence are mostly good guys, and the Russians have a complex and ruthless plan that has nothing to do with what happened after the real 1989. That’s the frame in which the stories happen. But within that frame you have two interlocking mysteries, a set of continuing characters and relationships, often seen from a new angle, and you have a solid knowledge of history—ancient, recent and everything in between.
They’re books I grab copies of to give people, and they’ve been very successful gifts. Most people who like good books like them. (Their other ideal target is writers who want to know how to make characterisation and point of view work.)
The books cover the period 1940-1989, and time goes on, people get older, are promoted, retire, fall in love, and actual political developments happen. I wish they had a proper end, but I’ve given up waiting for Mr Price to write one, and have made one up in my head. They’re all self-contained, but some of them read better in the context of having read others first—but actually I read all the ones pre-1985 at random as I found them in 1985, and the others as they were published, and it didn’t do me any harm, or if it did I straightened it all out re-reading.
Jo Walton is a science fiction and fantasy writer. She’s published eight novels, most recently Half a Crown and Lifelode, and two poetry collections. She reads a lot, and blogs about it here regularly. She comes from Wales but lives in Montreal where the food and books are more varied.
Let me just add that these are, indeed, an amazing cold war spy thriller series, and a whole lot more besides — an intricate multi-volume puzzle box of a world. (And if you’re wondering what the third Laundry novel of mine is a hommage to, it’s this series …)
A while back I accumulated (via Abebooks) all the Price books that I didn’t already have and I’ve been reading them (in publication order) for the first time–with long intervals between reading each book, savoring them.
(I’m not a re-reader, I’m afraid. But if I were and I ran out of other books, I’d re-read these.)
I’m now reading A Prospect of Vengence, Price’s next to last book.
I started reading Anthony Price because of your recommendation (probably on usenet). Wonderful books. Thanks.
I’ve read two of these – Other Paths to Glory and a book called Our Man in Camelot. Both concern ways that the past can impinge on the present, and the connection in Other Paths – which, it’s obvious from the beginning, is going to have something to do with WW1 battlefields in France – turns out to be particularly nifty, with an exciting dramatic climax.
Hmm – Out of print but available on the Espresso Book Machine at the store near me. I’ve been curious about how well that thing works and I LOVE intelligence based thrillers. Thanks for the pointer Jo
Wonderful books, all of them. I’d recommend starting with Other Paths to Glory myself, but have read them all and foisted them upon various readers of my acquaintance.
Which was the John M. Ford novel that was pretty clearly an hommage to Anthony Price? Was it Scholars of Night? or what?
aitchellsee @@@@@ 6 — it was Scholars of Night.
cstross @@@@@ 1 — Now I’m really looking forward to the third Laundry novel — DD-B got me reading the Anthony Price books during a trip to England in 1987. One of my great disappointments was that the Cold War put an end to his writing. I mean, I didn’t miss the Cold War at all, but I would have liked more books.
Yes, The Scholars of Night is Mike Ford’s “Anthony Price” novel.
I am surprised, Ms. W., that you did not mention Our Man in Camelot, which, while not fantasy, deals with the Matter of Britain. I read it back in 1985 when I was first running the roleplaying game Pendragon and trying to absorb all things Arthurian.
I started reading these after mentioning in front of Pamela that I had recently read, and loved, The Scholars of Night (which is in the running for my favorite John M. Ford novel). She said “Oh, his Anthony Price book,” or words to that effect, I said “there’s more like this?” and DD-B suggested a reading order. I’ve enjoyed all the ones I’ve read so far, but Scholars is still even better!
Eugene: Our Man in Camelot is one of my least favourites, with the fluffed American slang in the mouth of the first person protagonist. The plot is very clever indeed though, such a good reversal of expectations.
These sound like the best books I’ve never heard of. Will go out and find some immediately.
It’s lovely to see these books attracting interest after so many years – I really squeed when I realised where Cstross was going with the next Laundry book, and wish to hell that Price could have found his way to writing more. Unfortunately he seems to have stopped in 1990 with The Eyes of the Fleet. a very good book which is a VERY useful companion to e.g. Patrick O’Brien, and I can only assume that he’s retired since he’s now over 80.
It’s a real shame that the Audley TV series Chessgame never seems to have been released on tape or DVD. If they have, I’d love to know about it.
Marcus, the TV series Chessgame has been released on DVD as three TV movies, each with two episodes of the six episode series. They are called The Alamut Ambush, Deadly Recruits, and Cold War Killers.
Greenmanza: Many thanks! They appear to be only available on Region 1 (USA) disks but that isn’t a problem, I can play them. Spend spend spend…
Everything Jo says about these is spot on, including in her comment @10.
Hmmm, I don’t seem to have read any of these since late 2007; maybe it’s time for another run-through.
It’s possible that David Audley would be completely destroyed by the end of the cold war; but I don’t really think so. He moved from Middle East to Russia easily enough. I’d be fascinated to learn how he and the other characters moved forward. But I guess Price couldn’t conceptualize it, or was tired and didn’t want to cope with such a big change, or something. Sad, anyway.
How bad are the TV episodes?
The earliest my library has is The ’44 Vintage. Is that a terrible one to start with? The others they have are Gunner Kelly, Here Be Monsters, and The Memory Trap.
HelenS: The ’44 Vintage definitely. Both of the others really are dreadful places to start. HBM needs Soldier No More and The Old Vengeful first and The Memory Trap needs Tomorrow’s Ghost.
Have you seen Chessgame, the television series with Terence Stamp as Audley? It was based on three of the novels and got rereleased as three separate movies, including Cold War Killers. I remember liking Stamp’s Audley, and thinking that the scripts weren’t bad, though they fell a little flat compared to the novels.
Brian3: I have not seen it. I can’t imagine that anything of what I like in the books would transfer to TV.
I would suggest ‘War Game’ as a good one to start with. One of the more easily accessible ones with a comparatively linear plot. I’m so pleased that other people have read these books. I was fascinated by them and enjoyed the complex morality of the plots. Audley is one of the great spy heroes, difficult and arrogant but, if memory serves, always humane. I also thought I was alone in enjoying SF/F and ‘realistic’ spy novels (early Deighton, le Carre). The TV adaptation was all right imho but I would suggest that fans seek out ‘The Sandbaggers’ which is reckoned by thems that know (or so it’s said) to be the best and most realistic portrayal of spies ever put on TV.
Glad to find so many admirers of the Audley novels. I started reading them back in the 80s, while Anthony Price was still writing them. I think “Other Paths To Glory was the first one I read. My favourite books are probably “Soldier No More” and “Tomorrow’s Ghost” – poor Frances, forced to decide who to warn and who to allow to be shot.
My favourite character has to be Jack Butler, the honest soldier who wanted nothing more than to return to his regiment and ended up persuaded that by reason of duty he must stay in this world he hates of spies and deception.
I like the way that everyone gets their moment of glory in these books, even the odious Oliver St John Latimer.
Great stories. I just wish there were more of them.
It’s so nice to know there are other people out there who love these books. I too wish there was just one more to close the series. But for now I’ll just enjoy the ones there are. In fact – i may have to re-read them all now.
Hi there
It is fantastic to find a community of fellow Anthony Price fans. I do wish more of his books were still in print, as my copies are now getting tatty after 20+ years.
I remember the first time I read Price, I was in my first term at university, and had come down with some bug. I struggled round the corner to the nearest bookshop from my college, and took to my bed for a week. When I was a awake I ate toast and lime marmalade, drank Earl Grey tea – and read Price’s Wargame. Every time I re-read that book I am catalpulted straight back to my student room – though that could be because of the marmalade I got on the book.
Jo, it is interesting that Our Man in Camelot is one of your least favourite Price books. I suspect the American slang Price got wrong escaped me as I am British. However, the plot – as you rightly remark – is wonderfully satisfying. It also got my adult interest going in King Arthur and the archaeology of the ending of Roman Britain. Though Price’s habit of dropping fake books into a list of real works of Arthurian scholarship did confuse me. I spent far too much time looking for the book Sheldon is reading in OMIC – Keller’s Conquest of Wessex…
Hello !
Just a comment from Germany : Over here 18 novels
have been published-some in bad translations-only
“Memory Trap ” never came out.Mr A. Price seems to be more “British” than other authors, so there was only a small following.Anyway, for me there is no reason for a final book, because at the end of “The Memory Trap” Audley makes it perfectly clear that his time is over and a new generation takes over.So for me he just settled in peace,as I hope Mr.Price does.(And I started to read all these beautiful novels in english).
I first became aquainted with Price when the “The Labyrinth makers” was published & greatly enjoyed several later stories. Living as I do outside Britain, prior to the advent of the internet they were rather costly to get hold of. However, I am now beginning to re-read the ones I have and wonder if anyone knows the chronological order in which the main characters appear, particularly Butler whom I found by far the most interesting.
nicholas e
Nicholas Ellis: That would be The ’44 Vintage, and then Colonel Butler’s Wolf, then Tomorrow’s Ghost, and Gunner Kelly. Those are the core Butler books by internal chronology.
If anyone’s interested, I’ve just begun a series of posts on Mr. Price – with a link back to this page, of course – right here.
I see that Nick Jones is the most recent commenter here, but I think he posted here *before* he managed to get an interview with Mr. Price. Some great reading there, though I guess it does give away the ending of a book or two.
Thanks to Jo – I started reading Price after seeing this post, and now always check my local used bookstores for Prices. So glad that I’ve found a new (to me) spy series to read.
So pleased to find other Price fans. I first read him after seeing a review in the Times which called him the “intelligent man’s thriller writer”. Boy was that true!
I love that you have to think when you read him. And I love his economy: there is not a single wasted word in his books. Often he will tell you hardly anything about what is happening – and much of it wil be in flash-back as a memory of a character. But you always have everything that you need…. Why is he virtually the only author who understands how to do that?
Also I completely love his shifting of the viewpoint to a different member of the team for each book. It could be so artificial, but he gets it right! The books really do feel different. The Butler viewpoint is particularly vivid.
I’ve been a longtime fan and have used several of the novels, particularly those set in France, as reference in writing my own. For those of you who enjoy the counterspying, as opposed to the donnishness, of the series, I recommend Clive Egleton and Gavin Lyall’s “Colonel Maxim” series, in addition to the “Quiller” series. The BBC-TV trilogy is well worth watching; in fact, it’s my favorite Terence Stamp role. “The Sandbaggers” is also very well-done, as is the BBC version of “Colonel Maxim”.
What a treat to discover a whole community of AP fans as I tuck into a re-read of my tattered collection…I am starting this time with For The Good of The State (1986). I will be looking out for the Terence Stamp TV versions, too, thanks to this informative thread!
Like everyone else I have to preface my comment by my pleasure at finding others who love the Price books. I know of no other series that you can reread whole or dip into at random with such enjoyment (with perhaps the exception of Dance to the Music of Time). Some time ago I urged my wife, who is an archaeologist, to read them because they combine two elements which interest her – spy fiction and history. But she said that a long time ago she read Tomorrow’s Ghost and was so upset by the ending that she didn’t want to read any more. And this is a woman who has read all of Proust! I still love her dearly.
Thanks for the tip of the Ford book, Scholars of the Night. I’ll look for it. I got all the telemovies on DVD through ebay, but was disappointed by the productions (too self-consciously trying for a trendy look and attractive people). Terence Stamp was OK as Audley (although not nearly craggy and ugly enough) but Hugh Roskill, a favourite character, was just a boy! Still, I have read in the thread that others who love the books have liked the telemovies, so I’ll give them another go.
I read all these Novels, usually from the library, back in the eighties when they were published, and enjoyed them immensely. I now have the opportunity to reread them, as many (possibly all) of them have become available on Kindle. I am currently reading Wargame and have recently read Other Paths To Glory, and The Old Vengeful, some of my favorites first time round. Great books to read on a cold dark night in a cosy book lined room. I love the fact that I as a reader feel intelligent as I follow the characters on their respective intellectual journeys, a tribute to the quality of Anthony Price’s writing. I wonder if others share that feeling?
A belated thanks for this post, Jo. I’ve just recently discovered Price (via a passing mention by Charlie Stross iirc) and am enjoying them immensely. I started with The ’44 Vintage and then The Alamut Ambush, which together gave me a nice overview of the beginning of Audley and Butler’s relationship and some broad hints as to how it must have developed over the years. I have a few more unread in The Pile and will be looking for all of the others. I’ll likely tackle The Old Vengeful next.
As someone who used to voraciously devour books by Le Carre, Deighton, Craig Thomas et al over the years alongside all the SF/F I read, it’s great to have another thriller author’s back catalogue to trawl through.
Thanks Jo and you guys for the interest and insights.
War Game captured my interest with a jolt ofexcitement and anticipation from chapter one. Got it at a secondhand bookstall that I visit again and again. Then got Vintage and Soldier No More.
Price has a touch few authors posses, a welcome gift that produce a book one can re read (and how many can there be with ever diminishing fictional value of the new mass product semi fiction?)
Please keep this thread alive, thanks again.
I should note at this late stage(!) that Audible has recently released audiobooks of the entire series. I’m just finishing up Tomorrow’s Ghost.
These books are easily my favourite series. I started out with The Labyrinth Makers, and rushed out to the bookstore to make sure that Price did not decide to kill off Faith in a subsequent book – that was how much I cared for her character. But all (or almost all) the main characters are well-developed, and fascinating. David Audley, still trying to live through the horrors he had seen as a young officer in the Second War; Paul Mitchell, who lost his beloved but unattainable Frances, and is doomed never find a replacement (for awhile it looked like there might be something with Elizabeth Loftus, but Price killed that plot, supposedly on feedback from readers). Even characters like Faith Audley and her daughter Cathy are well-delineated and engaging. Soldier No More, with David Roche, as a double agent is another of my favourites.
My first introduction to Anthony Price was Our Man In Camelot. I was browsing through Murder By The Book in Houston, circa 1980; I was an F&SF fan and it was about the only title in a mystery bookstore that appealed to me. I was immediately hooked. This was the only store where I could find Price’s books and they were few, far between, and expensive. His books weren’t being published in the US at that time, so the store was only rarely be able to get British editions.
I didn’t find a problem with the American slang in Our Man In Camelot but, then, I had been stationed on a submarine that operated out of Holy Loch, Scotland, in 1973-1974. The dialog in the book sounded pretty much like what an Englishman would have heard from American servicemen at that time.