Nina Allan’s last novel, The Dollmaker, was one of the best books I read last year (though it came out in 2018) and so I was excited to read Conquest. I love the way she intertwines a compelling plot with weirdness and fascinating psychological detail. Lyrical and smart and beautifully strange.

Mind bending, genre jumping, clever, dark and compelling all at once. If you prefer a light untaxing read this won't be for you. If you are among those who love science fiction (although this book can't be easily defined) and plots within plots so to speak then this will be right up your street. An author to look for if you prefer something outside the norm.

Nina Allan is one of my favourite authors - I love the sense of unease her books deliver, of ordinary lives taking place alongside the "other". In Conquest, we have three characters whose stories are tightly bound. Frank, a rather shy young man who's entranced by the music of JS Bach, has gone missing in France, after travelling (his first time abroad!) to meet "friends" he met online. Has he fallen in with a sinister cult? Are they a criminal ring who have been grooming him? Or "harmless" cranks pushing a conspiracy theory? Or - just possibly - do they see an important truth that others overlook? We don't know.

Rachel is Frank's girlfriend, Allan portraying her, and her (and Frank's) background on a London estate (actually two - the bad estate and the good estate) deftly. She reports Frank missing, but the police aren't very interested, and she's left in limbo, not knowing whether to wait for him, or get on with rebuilding her life.

Robin is the private detective to whom Rachel turns in despair when Frank remains missing. She's the main voice in this story and I really enjoyed Allan revealing Robin's backstory bit by bit. It's a rich and complicated one, taking in Robin's former career with the police (she evidently had a love/ hate relationship with her hard-bitten boss), her personal life (she was adopted, her mother dying when she was young, her father nowhere to be seen) and her run-ins with notorious London crime families. Allan always delivers wonderful characters, people who are many-layered, connected in subtle ways and who simply stroll off the page and into your life.

As does the mystery at the heart of this book. That mystery is approached in several different ways. The book contains the gist of a 50s SF story seen by Frank as key to some sort of cosmic puzzle, but also articles by a film critic who we later meet, and it also connects with Allan's short story "The Lichens" included in the Someone in Time anthology of time-travel romance. It has recurring themes - Frank's (and Rachel's) obsession with Bach isn't coincidental and Allan analyses pieces and even individual recordings and performers to highlight concerns explored here. Ideas of war, of - yes - conquest, and of taint and influence, recur. The atmosphere is haunting, suggestive. Frank's suggestion of an important message coded into a text is relevant, I think, but the "text" is much more then simply a piece of writing and the "decoding" is something that the reader can engage in but that we also see the characters - Rachel, especially - undergo.

As well as resonating with themes form Allan's wider writing - ramified stories, the aftermath of war - there are other echoes too, including to MR James, all giving the sense of a deeply rooted tale, of a heft, a background to the story we read here.

Has Rachel been affected by a war?

Has the enemy, in fact, already conquered - and if so, what does that leave for her?

Conquest is, simply, a delicious read, that rare book which I wished was twice as long. I'd strongly recommend it.

Rachel's boyfriend Frank is different from other people. His strangeness is part of what she loves about him: his innocence, his intelligence, his passionate immersion in the music of JS Bach. As a coder, Frank sees patterns in everything, but as his theories slide further towards the irrational, Rachel becomes increasingly concerned for his wellbeing. There are people Frank knows online, people who share his view of the world and who insist he has a unique role to play. In spite of Rachel's fears for his safety, Frank is determined to meet them face to face.

When Frank disappears, Rachel is forced to seek help in the form of Robin, a private detective who left the police force for reasons she will not reveal. Like Frank, Robin is obsessed with the music of Bach. Like Frank, she has unexplained connections with the criminal underworld of southeast London.

An obscure science fiction story from the 1950s appears to offer clues to Frank's secret agenda, but not to where he is. As Robin and Rachel draw closer in their search for the truth, they are forced to ask themselves if Frank's obsession with an alien war, against all logic, might have a basis in fact.

I read The Dollmaker a while back and really quite enjoyed it so I was quite excited to get my hands on this book. So, expectations were quite high and I am pleased to say that my expectations were well and truly met. Having read her as an author before I knew what I was likely getting myself into. A cracking story that does spur off at a tangent occasionally, but soon comes back to progress the narrative satisfactorily each time. Now, some might find this distracting. I did at first but, I found that dedicating a decent chunk of time to read the book overcame this small niggle.
So... Frank is a little different. He delights in things others find difficult. Like maths and coding and, interestingly enough, finds patterns in most things, especially music; specifically that of JS Bach. Pattern that develop into theories. His girlfriend Rachel fears for him and does her best to look out for him. Especially now that he appears to have found his place in an online forum of like-minded individuals. Which is OK, mostly, until he decided that he must up and meet them face-to-face. In Germany. So off he flies, and Rachel doesn't hear from him again. Increasing getting more and more concerned, the police being useless as Frank is an adult (they ignore the fact he is vulnerable) so she seeks help from Robin, a PI who, coincidentally is also obsessed by Bach.
And so begins a strange tale that also takes the reader through an strange tale from the 50s, but I think it's best you discover all that for yourself as the author intends.
I took to Frank instantly I met him. I do love a wounded soul, I think I have a saviour complex for characters! As with Rachel I worried for him. And that also took me closer to her, and subsequently also to Robin as she joined in the mission. Frank's obsession confused me at first but, as the book progressed, as more of the theories were exposed, I started to see the whole picture. And the story within the story, that of The Tower got me thinking too... There were also other snippets, essays, reviews peppered throughout to keep the reader on their toes.
As already mentioned, it was a little difficult to follow at times and I did get a wee bit bogged down in all the goings on and the characters. I did write a few notes for myself but doing that did take me out of the story a bit so, although it helped me follow, it didn't help me connect. That said, I was willing to put in the work for the reward the book eventually gave me.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Read courtesy of NetGalley, opinions are my own.

Another genre-defying sf-adjacent mystery from Allan. The Good Neighbours would give a reader a good idea what to expect: an investigation that sees the world as we know it thrown off-kilter, but that is as punishing for the character as it is rewarding for the reader. An alienated woman investigator who becomes enamored of a person involved in her case. Case itself this time: a missing man, a conspiracy theory about alien infestation ("the conquest") whose signs are supposed to surround us.

I didn't love the ending, but it didn't detract from everything else, which was wonderful. Creepy, atmospheric, in conversation with the world around us, disorienting. I loved the integrated narratives - the essays, and in particular, the novella. And the story itself was compelling and surprising, with twists that rewarded focus and a simply wonderful voice.

I don't get how or why Allan isn't much more broadly read - she is gripping, accessible and yet never talks down to the reader. Highly recommended.

Frank is obsessive and odd and very very into Bach (sidenote - reading this book had me googling and bookmarking multiple different Bach recordings because the descriptions of them are so enticing). Frank goes missing - and the narration then moves to Robin, a private detective hired by Rachel, Frank's boyfriend, to find him. I've categorised this as a speculative fiction, but it's not reeeally - Frank is involved with conspiracy theorists who believe in an alien invasion or war, and Frank is obsessed with an old science fiction story which itself is embedded within this novel, and we read it as we go along. It's a very "a lotta ins, a lotta outs, a lotta what-have-yous, lotta strands to keep in my head" kind of book. (It's complicated is the quicker way to say that). Nina Allen writes very beautifully and strangely, and Conquest is an absorbing read.

The plot was intriguing and there's a lot of fascinating parts is this book: a mix of thriller, speculative fiction, and a travel into the world of conspiracies.
It doesn't always work, the meta-book part was a bit slow and left me wondering why the text became a cult. The characters are fleshed out and I appreciated how the author developed Frank even if not all coder loving Bach are involved in conspiracies.
It's entertaining and well written but it's not a book I loved
3.5 upped ot 4
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

This was my first book by the author and was definitely an intriguing read and wholly different from most novels that I read.

A thoroughly strange but very interesting novel.

Nina Allan is my favourite writer and I love everything she does – everyone who knows me knows this – but Conquest is a truly extraordinary novel, possibly even the best of her career.

The plot revolves around the disappearance of a man, Frank, after he goes to meet some online friends in Paris. The situation is more complex than it first appears: Frank holds a variety of esoteric beliefs about a secret ‘supersoldier’ programme and a incipient war between aliens and humans; the friends are people he knows from a forum dedicated to discussing these ideas. Dismissed by the police, his girlfriend Rachel enlists the help of Robin, a private detective. By bizarre coincidence (or something else?), Robin shares a particular interest with Frank – an obsessive passion for the music of J.S. Bach. Compelled by both Frank’s story and her attraction to Rachel, Robin starts investigating, but the more she follows clues, the stranger the trail becomes.

Conquest is a story about many things: conspiracy theories, mental illness, the similarities between music and code, obsession, ambition (and apathy), love, legacy, belief; how 'information is corrosive, like acid – once you touch it, you’re changed by it', and how 'choosing not to believe in something you know to be true is an act of self-destruction'. It shows how the lines between faith and doubt, between reasonable scepticism and fervid delusion, are thinner and more tenuous than we tend to believe; it shows what happens when someone falls into the cracks. It’s told from a number of perspectives – Robin and Rachel and Frank, but also an essay by one of Frank’s forum friends, a concert review by another, documents that illuminate both the characters’ individual stories and the broader themes of the novel.

At the heart of everything (including the book itself) is ‘The Tower’ by John C. Sylvester, an obscure 1950s sci-fi story which becomes one of Frank’s obsessions, a ‘sacred text’. It tells of a pioneering architect, a character like something out of Ayn Rand, who builds a vast, monumental tower out of an alien rock, only to discover it is both alive and contagious. Ultimately, the story seems a possible key to both Frank’s disappearance and his beliefs. ‘The Tower’ is a marvel in its own right, an unsettling tale that simmers with strange possibilities.

Conquest combines the speculative elements and missing-person angle of The Rift with the ‘fractured novel’ approach of the author’s earlier books and the detailed investigation central to The Good Neighbours. It’s strongly reminiscent of the haunting novella Maggots, my favourite of her shorter works, and also made me think of the short stories ‘The Silver Wind’ and ‘A Princess of Mars’. (As ever with Allan’s writing, I’m not sure whether I’m making connections that aren’t really there. But this – the connections, the not-knowing – is part of the pleasure of reading her work, and feels particularly appropriate for a book so much about hidden links and obscure connotations.)

As soon as I finished Conquest, I wanted to read it again. It’s a towering achievement (pun only slightly intended): a deeply complex and layered work of speculative fiction that rewards (and deserves) close reading yet is also incredibly enjoyable. I’ve tried to cover some of its ideas in this review, but the truth is that Conquest can’t be summarised neatly because it is about everything, about life. I have no doubt that when I revisit it, I will find completely different meanings and mysteries in the text.

Another wonderful novel from Nina Allan. Combining themes of mental health, conspiracy theories, music and science fiction, Conquest weaves an incredibly compelling story around a missing man, his distraught girlfriend and a jaded private detective. The characters are so believable and I was gripped by the plot. Brilliant. I will be recommending this to readers of sci-fi and literary fiction alike.

This is my third Nina Allan book after enjoying The Dollmaker and The Good Neighbour.

Conquest opens with Frank as a little boy, learning about the world and not quite fitting in, falling in love with Rachel and going down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, before we get to current day where Frank is missing.

I loved all the modern day sections - the relationship between Rachel and Robin, the private detective hired on the case. The story gets deeper into conspiracies, gang violence and old novels with secret meaning.

The “book within a book” trope is something I don’t enjoy and I think from the introduction of other texts and context onwards this book started to lose me, and I got a bit lost with all the different characters and threads and context.

I wish the ending had been developed a bit more and there had been a bit more focus on Frank after going missing, but overall an interesting and original read.

3.5 stars