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A Book of Tongues (Hexslinger #1)

by Gemma Files (Goodreads Author)

3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 · rating details · 205 ratings · 69 reviews

Two years after the Civil War, Pinkerton agent Ed Morrow has gone undercover with one of the weird West's most dangerous outlaw gangs-the troop led by "Reverend" Asher Rook, ex-Confederate chaplain turned "hexslinger," and his notorious lieutenant (and lover) Chess Pargeter. Morrow's task: get close enough to map the extent of Rook's power, then bring that knowledge back t...more

Paperback, 278 pages

Published April 15th 2010 by ChiZine Publications (first published April 5th 2010)

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Jun 27, 2011 karen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: czp

the world is my oyster and this book is my olive.

i do not like olives.

but everyone else likes olives. and i have tried time and again to understand olives. i have eaten them in different contexts, and have willed myself to like them, but to no avail. they are just not for me. and it's weird because i like capers and pickles and marinated artichokes etc. but not olives.

this book has very high ratings here on the goodreads.com, so i know that it is simply me and my shortcomings preventing me from...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Ceridwen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Ceridwen by: karen

Shelves: alternate-history, america-and-environs, lgbt, necrophilia, sexy-nihilists, the-west

There's going to be some swearing in this review. If you don't like swearing, you will not like this book.

This book was pitched to me as “gay Deadwood”. That's not wrong – there is a bone fide San Francisco cocksucker here in the mix – literally! And like the book that inspired the rec for this book, the action takes place in the complicated mess that is the post Civil War Old West – the odd mix of ex-Confederate soldiers and Pinkertons, Mexicans and Native Americans, slugging it out in the har...more There's going to be some swearing in this review. If you don't like swearing, you will not like this book.

This book was pitched to me as “gay Deadwood”. That's not wrong – there is a bone fide San Francisco cocksucker here in the mix – literally! And like the book that inspired the rec for this book, the action takes place in the complicated mess that is the post Civil War Old West – the odd mix of ex-Confederate soldiers and Pinkertons, Mexicans and Native Americans, slugging it out in the harsh Southwestern terrain and the shitty main streets that play at civility on the edge of this thing and that. And this thing and that aren't that well defined anyway, so each place is a hinge to another place that's a hinge. Hot damn.

And like Deadwood, the style here is absolutely killer, written in its own vernacular that's somewhere between cliché and profanity, tactile and personal. Files is an author to watch – she's got words that are strong as hell, a style with force and power. But, and I hate to say this, as a first novel, there are some serious lapses in pacing and exposition. After a pretty boring opening, punctuated by impossibly complex Aztec backstory, the central section ramps up into a fury of action and character sketches that are absolutely joyful to read. The story concerns hexes – magic workers – who are by needs solitary, because two hexes in the same place will try to suck each other dry, even if they don't want to. The main hex is a man called Reverend Rook, who gained his power when he was hanged by the Confederate Army for fragging his lieutenant. He didn't frag his lieutenant – that was the San Francisco cocksucker – but he swung anyway.

So Rook, San Francisco cocksucker, and a covert Pink (this is the Pinkertons, semi-Federal militia who did shit like put down strikes and shoot people for whomever had enough green) work their way through the west, destroying and coming to terms with their own badness. And if this had been the thrust of the story, I might have given this more stars, but there's a lot of weirdness involving an Aztec cosmology that doesn't make any sense to me, isn't well explained, and doesn't go anywhere I give a shit about.

Karen was the one who asked me to read this, because she was immune to its charms and wanted to know why it tasted like olives to her when, to so many others, it didn't, or maybe they liked olives, or something. Honestly, I think the olives metaphor is a good one, because while I liked this, I can see where the things I enjoyed, the things I respected, might not be enough to forgive other narrative lumpiness for other people. I happen to like olives. I like them a lot. The olives here for me were a spectacular sense of profanity and a baroque prose style, but even while I enjoy olives, there were some teeth cracking pits when it came to pacing.

That middle section ramps to a confusing, but still compelling, magical meeting in an Aztec hell, the principles in our crazy love triangle – and don't think this is some kind of coy fuckless love triangle that has a gormless girl in the middle, but a love triangle with a bunch of stone killing veterans, guys all three – existing in a dream state of blood and death. Then...we jump to a chatty month later, and the aftermath is recounted in flashback. I have serious problems with this, and with how the characters in the final section talk around their characters and what their actions mean. The middle section sketches some of the finest characters I've seen in a while – not because they are likely characters, but because they are burning with their impossiblities, completely understandable in the world they inhabit. But the end, blah, stop talking.

There's too much weird here, which may be the problem. I'm willing to take on the idea of magic workers – hexes – and their parameters, but this Aztec cosmology business is too much for me. I get the impression that this cosmology is all worked out, and will make sense at some point, but that point is no where in this book, and so I'm left wondering what the fuck. The magical confrontations skew metaphorical in a way I find hard to grasp, and, this is just total bitchiness from me as a reader, it makes me fucking insane when characters talk in both bold and italics . Bold has no place in body text except as a titling element, and it is beyond distracting to see large blocks of dialouge in bold. And if you are going to bold something in body text, don't you dare mix it with italics. Both are emphatic typography, and it goes beyond shouting to use them together. (A better solution would be to use ALL CAPS in emphatic dialogue. I have seen that done well, like in A Prayer of Owen Meany or Perdito Street Station, though has to be approached cautiously to work.)

Anyway, but I'm complaining too much. I drink this olive. I drink it up. I don't think I can put better why you don't like this, Karen, beyond your very smart perception that sometimes a book is an olive to a palate that doesn't like olives. There are problems here that will not overcome the olive, if you don't like them – not the least of which is an ending that dot-dot-dots to the sequel in a way that is seriously annoying. I still haven't decided whether I'll take on the next book. These characters – they are so fucking good – but these places they are in, where they are going – I don't know if I care. Either way, once Files is done with this series, I'll be reading the shit out of her next books. She's good – she's got something – and once this is over, I'm jazzed to see what she does next. (less)

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Aug 04, 2010 Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: readers of dark fiction and supernatural horror in the west

Shelves: kindle-book, owned-copy, weird-west, horror, dark-fantasy, glbt, magic, wizard-warlock-sorcerer, villain-point-of-view, charismatic-villain, very-dark-read, not-for-the-faint-of-heart, part-of-a-series

For a full review, check the Bitten by Books website: http://www.bittenbybooks.com/

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Feb 10, 2012 Don Bradshaw rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cowboys, detective-police, gay-romance, gods-godesses, magic, paranormal, historical-fiction

Reviewed on Hearts On Fire... http://heartsonfirereviews.com/

Damn this book was one wild ride and definitely not the kind of western Grandpa read. Set a couple of years after the civil war, Asher Rook is a powerful hexslinger or sorcerer. With his lover and budding hexslinger, Chess Pargeter, they and their gang of outlaws wreak havoc in the old west. Rook's magic is unstoppable and what Rook seems to miss, Chess just shoots. A Pinkerton agent, Ed Morrow, is sent to infiltrate Rook's gang to g...more

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Feb 03, 2013 Haralambi Markov rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantastic-and-weird

A Book of Tongues can be best described as “haunting”. The prose is lyrical. It coils, sedates and is addictive as opium fumes. It’s much an enchantment as it is a snare, which snaps around the reader and drowns him in the book’s stark vividness. The story reads like a fevered, fragmentary dance, divided into three books, which roughly equate to exposition, build-up and resolution.

Review: http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/?p=...

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Apr 27, 2013 Eisheth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cops-and-criminals, fantasy, gods, historical-au, m-m, magics-afoot

This was a bit of a tough one. Wildly inventive, beautifully written... but sometimes a bit hard to follow, and suffering from an acute case of the too-many-awesomes-itis.

I mean, I love gunslingers, and magical woo-woo, and Mayan death gods, and corrupted preachers, and historical au's, and gay romance, and apocalyptic westerns as much as the NEXT girl... but maybe there's just a little bit too much going on here for one book? Seriously... I think that the ideas and concepts stuffed into this b...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Katy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of steampunk, m/m, Weird West

Recommended to Katy by: NetGalley

Shelves: ebook, galley-for-review, net-galley

Please note: I read this book in November, 2011 from an e-galley I received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My Synopsis: “Reverend” Ash Rook and Chess Pargeter run one of the most notorious gangs in the weird west, using Rev’s hexes in order to rob and murder their way across the country. They are also lovers, as in love as two apparently soulless outlaws can be. However, hexes don’t mix, and that is a serious disadvantage to the Rev’s future plans – so he sets out to make it pos...more

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Jun 29, 2011 Wahiaronkwas David rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who likes wicked good horror, and isn't squeamish.

Recommended to Wahiaronkwas by: I've read the author's previous works.

Shelves: dark-fiction, favorites, dark-fantasy, everything

Now, I have to say at the outset, that I'm not very good at writing reviews. Oh, I could probably do a thorough look at characterization, scene-setting, tone, accuracy... but seriously, if I couldn't get into the book from the start, going through all that would be harder than hell. And if I did get into the book, I have a problem of sounding way too fan-girly to make a coherent review.

So.

Here is what I enjoyed about A Book of Tongues by Gemma Files.

The world she creates just is. She does not tr...more Now, I have to say at the outset, that I'm not very good at writing reviews. Oh, I could probably do a thorough look at characterization, scene-setting, tone, accuracy... but seriously, if I couldn't get into the book from the start, going through all that would be harder than hell. And if I did get into the book, I have a problem of sounding way too fan-girly to make a coherent review.

So.

Here is what I enjoyed about A Book of Tongues by Gemma Files.

The world she creates just is. She does not try endless paragraphs of explanatory prose to set up the world the characters inhabit. It just is, and readers hit the ground running. Yes, I appreciate that. I don't know how many genre books I've read where so much damn effort is put into describing the world that the story itself gets buried underneath. I could point to a pair of werewolf stories that can be just like that. It's annoying.

Files doesn't do that, and maybe that because she has a shortcut in that the tale is set in the old west, albeit one with people with something extra (hexes, or warlocks and witches) running about.

That isn't to say Files spares details! Nooo. What Files does do, is describe the interaction of that world and the characters with such exquisite and often sensual prose. The sensuality isn't necessarily sexual, although that is here. Sometimes, it is painful, disgusting and utterly tactile.

Yet another thing I enjoyed about this book is that characters change. They evolve from one place to another. Although Book takes place within a trilogy, they do learn from their experiences, and either grow, or shrivel, depending on the individual situation. Having read other series, I can say this too, is a blast of fresh air.

When the reader first meets Rev. Ash Rook, it is in a truly unsettling way, leading the reader to see him as completely evil, with nothing to redeem him. This is extended to Chess Pargeter's first appearance as well, an unrelentingly ill-tempered man, he shoots men in the back as they flee.

By the end of the book, the characters have acquired a depth and a resonance that made me truly feel Chess's rage and sheer hurt at the betrayal he'd been dealt. Likewise, Rook's journey from somewhat meek preacher to desperate man in love all the way to vile villain kept me riveted. I felt for the characters. That says a lot, because in some other books I've read, I haven't developed any kind of empathy like this.

And, no, this isn't because I know what inspired this tale. All I know, is that Gemma Files has written a story that lives and breathes. And that I appreciate.

Five Scribbles out of five.
(less)

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Nov 07, 2010 M— rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Disjointed, vivid, unclear, complex, immerse prose that fascinates but doesn't necessarily satisfy me. The rough, blunt passion between Rook and Chess is fabulous; I loved the characters. The blend of Aztec mythology with old western history was extremely well-done; I could have happily read much more detailed description there. But I could never lose myself in this writing style. It was too ambitious, too off-balance, pages full of sentences so choppy I resorted to skimming dialog, pages full o...more

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Oct 16, 2011 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: lgbt, magic, romance, history

(Re-posted from http://theturnedbrain.blogspot.com)

I follow and read a lot of book review blogs. Like, a lot. Sometimes I feel like I read more book reviews then, you know, actual books. Some people question the worth of reading reviews, because after all books are highly subjective and what one person likes you might not and so on. But I think you have to approach reading reviews in the right way. I mean, if there’s a reviewer whose tastes always line up with yours then you might avoid a book j...more

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Aug 17, 2011 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, specfic, ladywritten

Half the pleasure I got from this book came from its salty epithets. These are cowboys of the weird (aka alternative) West, wrangling with gay wizards and Aztec blood goddesses and plenty else. They talk almost as rough as Shakespeare. Some samples (using spoiler tags to shield tender eyes from bad language):

(view spoiler)...more

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Aug 20, 2010 Juushika rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: status-borrowed

Two years after the Civil War, Pinkerton agent Ed Marrow goes undercover with a dangerous outlaw gang lead by Rook, a Reverend turned hexslinger, and Chess, skilled gunslinger and Rook's lover. In a version of the Wild West where magic is a real and present danger, Rook is an even bigger threat: he is haunted by an Aztec goddess with her sights set on bringing gods back into the world. A Book of Tongues is, perhaps, one of the most unique books I've ever read. Hexslingers mingling with gunslinge...more Two years after the Civil War, Pinkerton agent Ed Marrow goes undercover with a dangerous outlaw gang lead by Rook, a Reverend turned hexslinger, and Chess, skilled gunslinger and Rook's lover. In a version of the Wild West where magic is a real and present danger, Rook is an even bigger threat: he is haunted by an Aztec goddess with her sights set on bringing gods back into the world. A Book of Tongues is, perhaps, one of the most unique books I've ever read. Hexslingers mingling with gunslingers in the Wild West, Aztec mythology, and shameless homosexual content make for a premise far off the beaten path, which may be unappealing to some readers and—because the premise infiltrates every aspect of the book right down to its narrative voice—require adjustment and adaptation from even more. And even if gay mages in the post-Civil War South seems to you like normal fair, A Book of Tongues is so bloody, bold, and resolute that it comes like a swift punch in the gut: sudden, solid, and breathtaking. Files never shies from the worst, and her book is replete with authentic antiheros and despicable behavior—yet, somehow, she build characters and a plot that demand the reader's care and personal investment, perhaps because the unique narrative voice, precise and gritty language, and colorful characters are so immerse and, therefore, convincing. Whenever the vivid characters or slightly indulgent sex scenes begin to run away with themselves, Files draws it back with a universal willingness—almost a willful glee—to destroy. Nothing in A Book of Tongues is sacred, but many things are true.

For all this, the book is not perfect. It suffers a bit as the first in a series (and not just because I dislike series): as it draws the first act to a close and sets up the many events to come, the end of the book tends towards more talk than action. It's not so much as to create an annoying cliffhanger (although it's a cliffhanger, all right), but it may make the reader wish the book were shorter or longer, so as to contain less preparation or more action. Some content, the sex in particular, tends towards fanfiction-esque wish-fulfillment. And the originality of the style and premise sometimes makes the book a little strange, difficult to pick up, and hard to get into. Indeed, this is never a book that I would have picked up on my own without the benefit of an enthusiastic recommendation. Even with its weaknesses, I now offer it an enthusiastic recommendation of my own: if only that I may share my enthusiasm with others, give A Book of Tongues a try. Brutal, vibrant, and truly one of a kind, it defies expectation by digging so deep into its premise that it works its way down to a raw, hitherto unseen level all its own. (less)

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Apr 21, 2012 Maxine McLister rated it 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book. Oh, how I wanted to like this book! It sounded like fun - I mean, a gay Deadwood with magic - it shouldn't get any better than that, right? Wrong - at least for me. The thing is, for me to like a book, I have to like at least some of the characters. Unfortunately, here, there wasn't one I had any sympathy or interest in - mostly, I was just annoyed. It was like, how many innocent, or otherwise, people are going to be killed by this one single gay guy with really bad t...more

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May 01, 2013 Audrey Driscoll rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked up this book because I thought it had some elements in common with my own novels, but I found it a *really* hard read, and did not finish it.
I must say up front that the prose is admirable. Files certainly knows how to create vivid, intense images. She does not shy away from the weird, the grotesque and the horrible.
Two things put me off this book -- the plot is murky and the characters, while interesting, are impossible to like. Their motives seem to be based only on the negative -- de...more

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Jul 10, 2011 K.V. Taylor rated it 4 of 5 stars

First, I just want to say that this book is pretty magnificent. I finished it less than 24 hours from starting it, so apart from just being prettily written, it's also engaging, which is even harder to manage when you're being poetic. Which, for the record, Gemma Files is. The prose is drop dead gorgeous without being boggy. Yeah, I have a high tolerance for boggy in my description and for vagueness and poetry in my prose. Okay. But it's lovely by any standards, I'm sure.

I liked the Aztec aesthe...more First, I just want to say that this book is pretty magnificent. I finished it less than 24 hours from starting it, so apart from just being prettily written, it's also engaging, which is even harder to manage when you're being poetic. Which, for the record, Gemma Files is. The prose is drop dead gorgeous without being boggy. Yeah, I have a high tolerance for boggy in my description and for vagueness and poetry in my prose. Okay. But it's lovely by any standards, I'm sure.

I liked the Aztec aesthetic blended with the weird west concept -- it gets a bit thick keeping all the names straight in the last 1/3 of the book, but that's really where everything gets a bit thick and the book becomes more exposition/fever dream than actual events happening, so I suppose that's a byproduct of that. I'm not complaining about that, by the way. Yeah, some bits went on a touch too long in my estimation, but it didn't stop me turning the pages or admiring the pretty sentences.

The third limited (apart from the little intro bits) changing PoV choice was interesting -- and this time I mean it as a compliment, because it was handled deftly for the most part. I'm still not sold on Chess's PoV there in the end, as it seemed like a bit of a cheat, but for all that it was still fascinating.

The main characters were fabulous, meaning Rook and Chess. Files is unflinching in her honest depiction of their humanity and all the monstrousness that so often entails, in what draws them together, and that's what makes me want to five-star this book so hard it almost hurts. The others were a bit flat, but you get the idea they might not be, come the next one. The god-type characters, okay, your PoVs are all human, so what can you do? Morrow, I don't know. I generally love stories told from the PoV of the people watching them unfold rather than the people down in it, which is in his favor. He has the most PoV, yet he's sort of this empty vessel, and when I try to think of his defining characteristic I'm sort of bereft.

He seems like the kind of guy that, when he comes up in conversation, people say, "Yeah, he's a nice guy."

Which in truth is what makes him so useful to everyone else, and I suppose if he were any other way it wouldn't have worked. I have high hopes for him, though.

For the whole series, in fact. I haven't been this excited for a sequel in a long time. This one weaves a hell of a spell, and I don't mind getting caught in it in the least.(less)

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Apr 04, 2012 K. Bird rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a hard book to review. Not surprising because it was a hard book to read and digest in the first place.

Set in the old west at the end of the Civil War, it mostly concerns three men and an Aztec composite goddess. Two of the three men are criminals, ex-soldiers who were sentenced to hang for the crime of killing a crazy Confederate Captain who, despite the war being over, wanted to lead his men on a suicide charge.

Asher Rook, ex preacher, gets hanged. Only he doesn't die all quiet like. I...more This is a hard book to review. Not surprising because it was a hard book to read and digest in the first place.

Set in the old west at the end of the Civil War, it mostly concerns three men and an Aztec composite goddess. Two of the three men are criminals, ex-soldiers who were sentenced to hang for the crime of killing a crazy Confederate Captain who, despite the war being over, wanted to lead his men on a suicide charge.

Asher Rook, ex preacher, gets hanged. Only he doesn't die all quiet like. It seems he's a "hex", a magic worker unleashed by his near-death experience. All hexes have their own way of working magic, and Rook's way is through bible-thumping quotations.

His partner-in-crime and in the sack is Chess Pargeter, literally a whoreson who is eerily sharp at shooting, killing, and keeping himself well-tailored.

Added to this mix is Ed Morrow, a Pinkerton agent in disguise hooked up with Rook's gang in order to get a read on how powerful Rook's hexing is with a new-fangled gadget.

But of course, it's much more complicated than just robbery and mayhem. Rook's rebirth as a Hex-worker brought him to the attention of an Aztec goddess who wants to be reborn into our world, and Chess is on the road to discovering a pretty momentous secret.

The writing is visceral, descriptive, brutally elegant. Rook and Chess are so vibrantly alive they jump off the page and sock you in the nose (and growl in your ear). There is absinthe and blood, and spilled guts, and whores in opium dens and blood-flowers with piranha teeth, and Chinese hex workers with unhinged jaws that vomit bats.

This is NOT a book for the squeamish. The quite blunt descriptions of both sex and violence make this totally inappropriate for young teens and children. While that didn't bother me so much, what did bother me, and made me reluctantly limit myself to three stars (instead of the four the quality of the writing probably deserves) is that the story itself is often lost to the powerful character development of the three men and their Aztec death goddess. I lost track of who was where doing what a million times, and also sometimes felt bits of dialogue purposelessly vague.

Yet, the story is compelling. Just not for everyone.

This Book's Snack Rating: Like eating a bag of spicy nacho Doritos for the extremely racy action and visceral physical description that overwhelms any other flavor or character.(less)

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Apr 12, 2012 Ate rated it 3 of 5 stars

話としては面白い。
１９世紀初頭のアメリカを舞台にしたダークファンタジー設定で、ゲイのキャラがメインキャラで、陰謀や愛憎や謎が絡み合っていて、興味を惹きつける文章も上手い。話だけなら、☆４つの評価。

ゲイのラブストーリーとしては、正直、主人公と思っていたMorrowが、他のカップルの愛憎劇に巻き込まれるような展開で、メインじゃないので楽しくない。あと、Chessという赤毛で小柄の破天荒で凶暴な性格の受けキャラがこの話の重要なキャラなんですが、個人的にキャラとしては面白くて好きだけど、感情移入できないので、☆２つの評価。

これそ総合評価して、☆３．５
シリーズになっていて、話の続きには興味はあるものの、萌えを期待できない＆価格が高いのが悩みどころ。

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Sep 28, 2010 Missy Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, fantasy, kindle

The first thought I was able to put into words upon finishing this book was "LSD fueled coherent nightmare". And I'm going to stick with that impression.

The author drops us boots first into a slightly skewed West where the more you see the more you realize that something just isn't right. A Book of Tongues is not a fantastic tale of wizards in the old west. Oh no, this book is a tale of blood and horror.

Every single character is unlikeable. That's not to say the characterizations are bad, becaus...more

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Jun 21, 2010 Karlo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, alt-history, own

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 25, 2012 ambyr rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: acquiredㅡlibrary, authorㅡfemale, book-club, characterㅡlgbt, genreㅡfantasyㅡpast, ownㅡnever, protagonistㅡmale, warningㅡrape

I'm not sure how to rate this book, and reserve the right to change my mind later.

The good: the writing is powerful, poetic without (often) turning purple. In Files's hands, scenes of body horror and guro become almost beautiful despite stomach-churning amounts of gore. Almost, and yet they never lose their edge. The Wild West setting comes alive as well, and I love all the alternate history touches.

The bad: Zana and I have an ongoing difference of opinion about whether media requires likable ch...more I'm not sure how to rate this book, and reserve the right to change my mind later.

The good: the writing is powerful, poetic without (often) turning purple. In Files's hands, scenes of body horror and guro become almost beautiful despite stomach-churning amounts of gore. Almost, and yet they never lose their edge. The Wild West setting comes alive as well, and I love all the alternate history touches.

The bad: Zana and I have an ongoing difference of opinion about whether media requires likable characters to be worth consuming. She thinks it does, whereas I am happy reading or watching stories with reprehensible leads. I don't need to empathize, I always say, I just need to be invested in the story. Well, I think I've finally met my match. And I'm having a hard time putting my finger on why. It's not just that the characters in this book lack redeeming qualities, I think, it's that they also lack goals or motivations beyond "cause havoc." I like Lawful Evil characters. I can read about Lawful Evil characters all day. Chaotic Evil is a lot harder for me to invest in.

Arguably, I guess, the two leads do have a motivation: their love for each other. But I was never sold on that emotion. As I've complained in other reviews, this is a book that uses sex as a synecdoche for love, and it doesn't work for me.

It was pretty obvious to me from about page 20 that the author comes from a fanfiction background, and a quick Google search confirmed it. That's not exactly a complaint--I like fanfiction. I read way more fanfiction than published fiction. But there are certain flaws that tend to pop up in fanfiction-turned-pro. One of those is flat worldbuilding; Files avoids that handily here. Another one is flat characterization. And I think she dodges that problem less well. In fanfiction, you don't have to develop why two characters care about each other (or why the audience should care about the characters), because the audience already knows. Chess and Rook are written as though there's a source text that already defines their relationship, so the story can move on to the action. The problem is, that text doesn't exist. Without it, I don't care about them. I don't care about their relationship. And I'm not invested enough in the world to want to read the sequel.(less)

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Aug 21, 2011 Glshade rated it 5 of 5 stars

Gemma Files weird western horror novel is a challenging read, her characters are wonderfully morally ambiguous and are driven by understandable desires. She never aologizes for the things her players do to each other for betrayals and lies abound here. I WOULD CAUTION readers that if implications and scenes of gay sex would offend you pass Book of Tongues by.
The mythology of the book takes equally from the old west and ancient mayan bood driven sacrifice. Gemma draws on mythology that is often...more

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Feb 24, 2011 Andrea Blythe rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

A Book of Tongues is a wonderfully brutal read, all the more so, because Gemma Files manages to finagle sympathy for what could otherwise be a rather unsympathetic group of characters. Many of these characters are not what you would call nice. Chess is an unapologetic murderer; Rook is desperate and ruthless; and even Morrow is a liar.

Files' merciless prose reaches out and reveals what they're made of as each of these rough-shod gentlemen is trapped, bound like a fly into the webbing of the stor...more A Book of Tongues is a wonderfully brutal read, all the more so, because Gemma Files manages to finagle sympathy for what could otherwise be a rather unsympathetic group of characters. Many of these characters are not what you would call nice. Chess is an unapologetic murderer; Rook is desperate and ruthless; and even Morrow is a liar.

Files' merciless prose reaches out and reveals what they're made of as each of these rough-shod gentlemen is trapped, bound like a fly into the webbing of the story. They're lives quickly become interwoven, and eventually they learn that they'll need each other to find their way out.

At first Chess' character is the hardest to sympathize with, as he is the most openly violent and cruel. And because you see him through the lens of first Morrow and then Rook, it's hard to get a read on him other than his love of absinthe and bloodshed and his desire for Rook. But by the end of the book, as more and more of Chess and how he's put together is slowly revealed, it was Chess that I came to love the most. I feel deep rooted sympathy for him and what has befallen him in his life. He has had the hardest road, and in the face of it has stood up and laughed in its face. More than any other of the characters I want him to succeed; I want him to win.

A Book of Tongues is very graphic, not only in blood and gore (of which there is plenty), but also in sexual situations. Sometimes the events were so vivid in my mind that I didn't quite know what to do with them, and I had to lower the book for a moment and take a breath before continuing.

This is the kind of horror that leaves you shaken (in more ways than one), with your head spinning, and not quite sure where you stand. While actually reading the book, I don't know I could actually say that I liked it -- the experience was a little to visceral for that -- but that now I'm done reading I desperately want to read more. Thankfully, A Book of Tongues is book one of a trilogy, and the sequel, A Rope of Thorns comes out this June.(less)

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Jul 07, 2012 Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, eternal, intense

This nitty-gritty Western cum hex-slinging fantasy is spice-rubbed all over with some steaming hot homoerotic love scenes. Where Rook is level headed most of the time, Chess is volcanic and vicious. These two lovers make an odd match, their strengths and weaknesses bouncing off one another. I found myself looking forward to the next encounter between these two – will Rook be able to rein in Chess? Will Chess get his way by lashing out? This book was intense through and through. Also, at the begi...more

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Aug 17, 2010 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was excited to read A Book of Tongues on just the mention of the “weird west” in the book’s description. My love of Pinnacle’s Deadlands setting certainly fueled my interest even the title of the series this books kicks off Hexslinger reminded me of Deadlands so I was certainly excited to dive into my A Book of Tongues with my past experiences with the weird west as impetus. Nostalgia is always a dangerous thing and I’m uncertain how much what I hoped the novel would be colored my interaction...more I was excited to read A Book of Tongues on just the mention of the “weird west” in the book’s description. My love of Pinnacle’s Deadlands setting certainly fueled my interest even the title of the series this books kicks off Hexslinger reminded me of Deadlands so I was certainly excited to dive into my A Book of Tongues with my past experiences with the weird west as impetus. Nostalgia is always a dangerous thing and I’m uncertain how much what I hoped the novel would be colored my interaction with the text; likely more than was healthy. The novel centers around Pinkerton agent William Morrow’s undercover job with notorious hexslinger and outlaw Reverend Asher Rook and Rook’s lover the murderous Chess Pargeter. Morrow is their to ferret out the extent of Rook’s powers at the behest of a scholar seeking to harness magic users for use by the Pinkertons and the U.S. Government. Things of course don’t go to plan and the machinations of an Aztec deity have repercussions for everyone involved.

Nostalgia aside the plot seemed exciting and had all the elements that I thought I might enjoy: magic, mystery, monsters and mayhem. Unfortunately there was one thing that held my enjoyment of the novel in check: sex. Lots and lots of sex. Had I paid attention to the Publisher’s Weekly snippet on Chizine’s website I might have noted the comment about “raunchily explicit gay love story” but I didn’t; though the description is extraordinarily apt. To be entirely clear it is the “explicit” part that I’m taking issue with here. The sex in A Book of Tongues is pervasive and common enough to detract from the rest of the novel. The problem is just that the sex in A Book of Tongues is both pervasive and and explicit but that sex and sexuality in general are seemingly implicit in the nature of magic of the novel and sex and passion are used as expression of the power of “hexes” (the term Files uses for magicians and sorcerers) and plays an integral role in the parasitic relationship “hexes” have with one another. As mentioned above a huge part of my problem had to do with my expectations. I found the sex in A Book of Tongues to be a major distraction from what amounts to a completely fascinating story full of horror and magic.

So what worked in A Book of Tongues? While confusing (I had a difficult time grasping the myth-laden introduction that preceded the major sections of the novel) I enjoyed the inclusion of Aztec mythology in the story. Much fantasy fiction seems to be very much anglo-centric so to see the inclusion of Mesoamerican culture behind many of the magical antics of the novel was a refreshing change of pace. I particularly enjoyed Files’ interpretation of hell with the use of the “sunken ball court” seen in much Mesoamerican architecture being used by horrid corpses for an eternal game. The deities Files uses are also impressively horrific, self-serving with a chillingly callous disregard for human life. While William Morrow is a sort of typecast loyal hero, Files imbues both Chess and Reverend Rook with a great amount of depth. Chess in particular, from his introduction wearing his purple suit and with his ornery attitude right down to the startling revelation about his nature towards novel’s end, jumps off the page. Rook, a man whose starts as simply shaken in his faith is slowly drawn towards an increasing desire for power and respect down a path that is tragic, mesmerizing, and somewhat terrifying.

A Book of Tongues is hampered by it reliance on sex as a plot device. Will everyone find this to be the case? No. For some the sex might not be bothersome at all. For me at least it made reading the book something of a chore and more than once had me wanting to put it aside and move on. Despite that, and beyond the sex, is the makings of an excellent novel. Files has created an intriguing setting with a fascinating mythology and I am definitely curious to see where it goes from here. But will I be picking up the next volume? If sex as prevalent in the next volume as it was here then probably not. Those who aren’t comfortable with explicit sex should most definitely stay away for the more curious the product page over at Chizine Publications has some links to some more in depth preview information about the world of the Hexslinger series and I highly recommend anyone on-the-fence about giving the book a try to head over there and check it out for themselves. For an entirely more thorough and exhaustive examination of the novel you might also try reading Brit Mandelo’s review over at Tor.com; it’s far more eloquent and inclusive then I could ever be.(less)

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Feb 14, 2011 Mason Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars

Well, this was a lot of fun. I'd been looking forward to reading this, since Gemma's short stories have such a wonderful track record. And hey, it's a mystical Western, so what's not to like from the very beginning? (an aside: have you read Rudolph Wurlitzer's "Drop Edge of Yonder"? well go get it now!) To be brief, I'd say the only issue with the book is that now I have to wait for the next one; the ending here is moderately satisfying, but doesn't provide very much closure. Aside from that, th...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Rrain rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: speculative-fiction, historical, queer

I really wanted to love this. I did. I tried. But I just didn't connect with it. The writing is solid, the premise and worldbuilding great, and it's exactly the sort of thing that I should have adored, on every level--from the setting to the system of magic to the central relationship--but it just left me cold. It's difficult to pinpoint just what didn't work for me, but I think it just had too much of some things (dialect, sex) and not enough of others (connective tissue, general flow), and I w...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Ow1goddess rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book started out so well, when it was a violent, sexy Western with magic, but the second half bogs down. Have you ever had a friend who was trying to tell you about a really elaborate dream they had? And had to try to feign interest in that? If the dream they had involved them being raped by the Mayan goddess of Hanged Men, you might go along with it a little longer, but after awhile all the freaky dream imagery and such in the world can't disguise the fact that it doesn't make a lot of sen...more

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Sep 02, 2010 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, urban-fantasy

The concept of the book was interesting, but got very bogged down as the story progressed. The narrative style changes at least three times, which irked me. First it was entirely present, then in the middle it became all flashback, and then at the end it didn't entirely resume present but was also told from a future perspective as well. With a very complex plot (I'm assuming because I didn't understand it, but maybe it was just all those crazy Aztec names), jumping around stylistically like that...more

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Feb 12, 2011 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: random-comments-review

Last December publisher ChiZine Publications offered a free e-book for a very limited period of time to everyone who mailed them a new year's wish. Since I needed something to try the new E-reader I got for my birthday, I took them up on it and more or less at random picked A Book of Tongues, book one in the Hexslingers series by Gemma Files. With oportunities such as these, I usually pick something I wouldn't ordinarily select and this horrific western certainly seemed a bit out of my comfort z...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Kate O'Hanlon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: weird-west, audiobook

*audio review only. see here for book review.*

*Happy Sigh* I have found a reasonably priced digital audiobook retailer that isn't Audible.
Major props to iambik audio who are selling this at about $7 until the end of June. Their downloader was a bit of a nightmare (you'll need a fast and reliable connection, I ended up doing it in the office) but customer support were responsive and helpful.

Gordon MacKenzie is an excellent narrator. Our three protagonists are imbued with so much life, character...more

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About Gemma Files

Previously best-known as a film critic for Toronto's eye Weekly, teacher and screenwriter, Gemma Files first broke onto the international horror scene when her story "The Emperor's Old Bones" won the 1999 International Horror Guild award for Best Short Fiction. She is the author of two collections of short work (Kissing Carrion and The Worm in Every Heart) and two chapbooks of poetry (Bent Under N...more

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Quotes from A Book of Tongues

“Morrow's rush of disgust, temporary as it might prove, had nothing to do with the truths-turned-insults flung out. No. What riled Morrow ran far deeper - was the sheer perversity of Chess's own nature, that unbreakable wilfulness he'd always revered in himself, as sign and source of his own freedom. His stark refusal ever to be bound, to obey aught but his own whim and want.

Because while he could walk free and hold a gun Chess Pargeter answered to no man - no man, no law, no damn body, motherfucker. No ideal, no cause, no force but sheer chaos, bound and determined to move unimpeded and burn for the sake of burning. To never submit himself to ghost or hex or priest or even God, 'less he damn well wanted to.

No man except Ash Rook, that was - for a time. And after this last betrayal, from now on... not even him.

'Course not, Morrow's anger spoke back, unimpressed by Chess's well-tuned inner litany. That's 'cause you're nothing but a brat who never grew up - a skillet-hopping little hot-pants who knows everything 'bout killing and nothing at all 'bout living. Who spits on friendship, duty and honour not 'cause he's above them, so much as 'cause he don't know what they even mean - same way you don't really grasp how anything's real, 'cept if you want it, or it hurts you. And that's why you ended up givin' everything you had to a man who skinned you alive, then left you stranded down in Hell - 'cause he was what you wanted, and Christ forbid Chess Pargeter ever admit what he wanted was a goddamn bad idea. You made it easy for him, Chess, you damn fool. 'Cause you couldn't believe you deserved anything better. And me? I'd never do that to you, or anyone. Never.” — 2 people liked it

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A Book of Tongues (Hexslinger #1)

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