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REVIEW: The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso

Bitch, Queen, whore, warrior, wife, and mother: In The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso, Talyien aren dar Orenar is all of these and so much more.

K.S. Villoso’s debut novel and the first novel of the Chronicles of the Bitch Queen series introduces us to the protagonist and all-around badass Talyien. Talyien is the Queen. Her longtime betrothed, Rayyel, the Ikessar heir, whom she married to unite the warring clans of her homeland, has left her and disappeared. Now she bears the burden of monarchy solely. Alone and facing warlords who would love to see her fail and take her throne from her, Tali must survive and hold her country together.

Five years have passed since Rae left; Talyien has struggled and fought to hold her homeland together. It is a battle every day to keep the predators of rival clan warlords away from her and her young son. Taylien receives a letter from Rayyel out of nowhere. He asks if they can meet. Taylien is hoping for reconciliation for the sake of the ruling throne. She quietly sets out for this clandestine meeting, leaving her young son behind in the care of family members.

“Even after I became Queen, the rumors continued. I was powerless to stop them. I should have been more, they said. More feminine. Subtle, the sort of woman who could hide my jibes behind a well-timed titter. I could have taken the womanly arts, learned to write poetry or brew a decent cup of tea or embroider something that didn’t have my blood on it, and found ways to better please my man. Instead, Rayyel Ikessar would rather throw away the title of Dragonlord, king of Jin-Sayeng, than stay married to me.”

What transpires on this journey to this meeting and afterwards is exciting and chaotic. Assassination attempts, kidnapping, fights, and great characters, Tali is in a foreign land with foreign adversaries pulling strings behind the scenes. She doesn’t understand much of the language or customs, and after the assassination attempt, Tali is alone.

She has to survive on her wits and wiles.

One of Villoso’s strengths is her ability to set a scene. The lighting, the sky, the food: she covers it all and paints with the world with a colorful brush. You can practically feel what her characters are wandering through. Especially the food, I happen to think that food is one of the driving forces behind understanding a culture. It is central to gathering and feasting, it is the most important thing and can denote great fortune. Adding in descriptions of the sumptuousness of one lands cuisine versus the bland nature of another can help a reader understand the cultures better.

“They called me “bitch,” the she-wolf because I murdered a man and made my husband leave the night before they crowned me.”

Coupled with the worldbuilding, The Wolf of Oren-Yaro is a tremendous character-driven narrative. At no point in the story did I not know who Talyien aren dar Orenar was as a person. Same for the characters around her. I might not have known all their motives and trickery, but I got a good sense of who they were as people. For instance, Talyien is a character that is weary of her duties, but she is duty-bound and honorable down to the core of her soul. She is hard on the outside. That is necessary and fitting for her survival as Queen, but inside she is somewhat naive. Rayyel, her would-be king, is charming and scholarly. We see the descriptions of who Rayyel is through the eyes of Talyien, as the story progresses and changes, her perceptions of him change and mature.

The pacing of this story does not stop. We are moving moment to moment, fight scene to fight scene constantly. It does not get overwhelming, but this is an intense story. There are moments of introspection, moments to take our breath, but they are so brief that it is almost as if they didn’t happen. I think that is a tool that Villoso is utilizing to show how quickly this story is evolving. There isn’t much introspection because there is no time for meditation. We have murdering and spying to do.

“Perhaps, when you love less, it is easier not to let the emptiness become a cavern from which you could no longer see the sun.”

One of the excellent character dynamics of the story is between Tali and Khine. Khine is a swindler con-artist that assists Tali at the beginning of the book when she got separated from her group. Nothing is free, and Tali had to help Khine with the swindling of a mark. She does so, and a great friendship is born. Their scenes, even though most often took place while fighting or running, added a light levity and banter to the story.

A few times, I was even chanting Team Khine and screw Rae.

Overall, The Wolf of Oren-Yaro has been one hell of a fun ride. It is emotional, full of danger, loyalty, betrayal. It had plot twists, twists on twists, and for once, a kick-ass female character that was also a mom. All of this combined with an energetic and emotional group of characters that you become invested in rather early, and you have one thrill-ride of a novel. I highly recommend it, and I can’t wait for the next one.

Buy The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso

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REVIEW: Jade War by Fonda Lee

I received a review copy of Jade War in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Fonda Lee and Orbit Books for the opportunity.

Jade War continues the brilliantly addictive and engaging oriental urban fantasy gangster narrative that started with Jade City. The novel is a mixture of the finest elements seen in crime cinema such as the family loyalty and honour from Copolla’s The Godfather and the political unrest and uncomfortable moments of To’s Election series. Intertwine that with some John Woo inspired bullet ballet and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-esque wire-fu and readers are in for an incredible experience.

“The men begged for their captors to kill them, but the Jo Sun clan handed the criminals over to No Peak as a sign of allegiance and good will to the Kaul family. They were not alone in their thinking; the other minor Green Bone Clans, the Janloon city police, and even the Mountain clan assisted or got out of the way – there was nothing to be gained from opposing Kaul Hilo’s rampage.”

In Jade War, we mostly follow the point of view perspectives of important members of the No Peak clan. The Pillar Hilo, his sister the Weather Man Shae, their cousin Anden who moves abroad to study, and Hilo’s wife the stone-eye Wen. Hilo is still my favourite character. The thirty-something leader of one of Janloon’s most powerful clans is cunning, intelligent, sometimes intense, occasionally ruthless but completely family-focused. He’s changed from his days running the streets for the clan but he still shows elements of his merciless and stone-hearted former self when he has to. The other standout character here is Wen. It’s been a while since I completed Jade City but I can’t remember her being anywhere near as important and influential as she presents herself here. The characters are my favourite aspect of Jade War, especially when considering how some members of the ensemble have changed dramatically over the space of a couple of years.

Jade City was predominantly about the Clan War but this time there is also a war of nations, involving many countries such as Kekon, Espenia, Ygutan and Oortokon. With that going on in the background there is also the issue of all the nations wanting Jade – a powerful stone that gives the holder phenomenal powers – in some capacity which has led to a black market for the sought after gems. In addition, there is political turmoil, individuals that are only out for themselves and an uncertain and potentially insubstantial clan truce. There really is a lot going on here in Lee’s created world, It’s complex, impressive and engaging. It’s not all dark and drab action throughout. There are some lighter, lovely moments. These are mostly when dealing with scenes of family closeness and the romantic relationships that a couple of characters have. This entry also includes an LGBT storyline.

In similar fashion to Jade City before it, Jade War is strikingly original in its composition and presentation. It’s beautifully written with exceptional characters and a phenomenal storyline. There are intense set-pieces and action scenes such as shootouts and duels. There are some extremely emotional and tragic moments. Certain individuals may be hugging their children in one scene, then executing someone gangland-style in the next, and then crying about the death of a close friend a few scenes later. Jade War will take you through a complete plethora of emotions like only the best books do. The ending of this novel wraps all up nicely but leaves us with a few questions and doubts about the mental state of one of the main players.

Jade War is just as good as the first entry in The Green Bone Saga but I have a feeling that Lee is saving the best for the finale and that she’s going to end this trilogy with an almighty bang. I can’t wait.

Buy Jade War by Fonda Lee

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REVIEW: You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce

I would like to thank Netgalley and Transworld for providing me with an advanced readers copy of You Let Me In in exchange for this honest review.

Cassandra Tipp went missing a year ago. The elderly author left very specific provisions for this scenario in her will: a year after she had last been seen, her estranged niece and nephew would be let into her study and given her last manuscript, containing a password, to read. If they finished it and found the password, they would be able to claim their inheritance. But Cassie’s truth might be more than they bargained for…

Told through an in-character memoir, the story is a closely reflected first-person account of Cassie’s life and relationships from the time she was a child up to her disappearance late in life. Throughout, the reader is kept on their toes, as it soon becomes clear that Cassie is believed to be suffering from mental illness, while she herself tells a very different story of dark faerie companions. It is this narrative decision that makes this book so interesting: it keeps the story free of any sort of definite moral judgment on Cassie on the reader’s part.

The pacing was great, and You Let Me In made for a great reading experience, especially due to its unique format. However, I do believe it would have benefited strongly from a second narrative strand – that of Cassie’s niece Penelope and nephew Janus reacting to their situation.

There was a hint of this through Cassie’s memoir where she was narrating her expectations of their reactions, but it would have enhanced the story to have their views included, and their personalities shining through a little more.

Like them, many of the human secondary characters fell flat, which made sense in the context of the storytelling choices made, so this is not a point of criticism – they merely did not merit much attention from Cassie. Her interest had always lain more with the mysterious faeries, especially the so-called Pepper-Man who had visited her since childhood. They are creepy, morbid and cruel, not properly alive, fascinating and intriguing, and we do not know much more about them by the end of the book. There is murder, magic, and more, though the exact ratio needs to be decided on by the reader based on the hints given. I’ve given this creepy, psychological fairy tale four of five stars, and am looking forward to seeing what Camilla Bruce comes up with next.

Buy You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce

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REVIEW: Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Doctor Sleep, Stephen King’s uber anticipated sequel to his 1977 horror novel The Shining was in almost all ways, worth the wait. Fifty pages into Doctor Sleep, my only thought was “my god, King is a maniac.” Danny, the lovable and haunted boy, son of Jack Torrance from the original novel, is all grown up now. Instead of Danny having the life all us readers wanted him to have, Danny is a drunk. A scoundrel. A mess. He spends years trying to blot and enmesh the shinning in alcohol, women, and drugs in the vain hope that he could function as a human adult. He often fails. When Danny obtains a tentative truce with his alcoholic demons via AA, Danny needs to come to terms with his “gift” and maybe, just maybe, help some people along the way.

Character-wise, even though many a King fan wanted the easy happily ever after, for Danny, god knows he has been traumatized enough, I think the direction that King went with Danny is much more solid and realistic. Danny is a mess because he came from a mess. He has had horrific childhood trauma, lost his father, been chased around by ghouls, and eventually succumbs to alcoholism. It feels like a much more real character and one that I can empathize with than say, the white picket fence and 2.5 kids. We also eventually meet Abra, who is Danny as a child minus childhood trauma. He could have been what she is, generally happy and well adjusted under different circumstances. However, childhood demons aside, both Danny and her have a core of steel that I find in most of King’s protagonists. King doesn’t tend to write characters that are wishy-washy or weak. These are no exception.

“There’s nothing to be scared of.”

Instead of taking Charlie’s pulse – there was really no point – he took one of the old man’s hands in his. He saw Charlie’s wife pulling down a shade in the bedroom, wearing nothing but the slip of Belgian lace he’d bought her for their first anniversary; saw how the ponytail swung over one shoulder when she turned to look at him, her face lit in a smile that was all yes. He saw a Farmall tractor with a striped umbrella raised over the seat. He smelled bacon and heard Frank Sinatra singing ‘Come Fly with Me’ from a cracked Motorola radio sitting on a worktable littered with tools. He saw a hubcap full of rain reflecting a red barn. He tasted blueberries and gutted a deer and fished in some distant lake whose surface was dappled by steady autumn rain. He was sixty, dancing with his wife in the American Legion hall. He was thirty, splitting wood. He was five, wearing shorts and pulling a red wagon. Then the pictures blurred together, the way cards do when they’re shuffled in the hands of an expert, and the wind was blowing big snow down from the mountains, and in here was the silence and Azzie’s solemn watching eyes.”

― Stephen King, Doctor Sleep

The villain, and great horror of the story, because this is Stephen King and we need to have a great villain, is a woman that is called Lady in the Hat. She is driven, mean, intelligent, and utterly sure of her position and spot in the food chain. She is a perfect nemesis for Abra and, by extension, for Danny. She was terrifying in some scenes, much like a cult leader leading her deadly flock of psychic lizard-like RV geriatrics. (This is a sentence that I never thought I would say, but there you go.) They want Abra; they need Abra’s shinning and will do anything to get it.

“We are the True Knot,” they responded. “What is tied may never be untied.”

― Stephen King, Doctor Sleep

Doctor Sleep is a great second act to the life of Danny Torrance. At times the story is terrifying, especially in the last 30%. Other times the story meanders and takes its sweet time doling out the details to Danny’s story. It turns and twists, but I don’t believe the story ever lulls. It takes it’s time over the almost 700 pages and gives you beauty, light, self-destruction, and self-acceptance. Is it as scary as the original? No. Nothing much is. But it doesn’t have to be.

It is a worthy sequel to the classic that I highly recommend.

Buy Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

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REVIEW: Lancelot by Giles Kristian

Lancelot is an epic and thrilling take on the Arthurian legend that is presented in the first-person perspective through the eyes of Lancelot – the prince and the warrior who becomes Lord Arthur’s best friend and a God of War.

“And the first I knew of the attack that night which would change my life forever, was the scream.”

Lancelot is only eight-years-old when we first start his journey here. King Ban’s castle is attacked by King Claudas and Lancelot is forced to flee the region with his family and other survivors. Bedraggled and vulnerable they venture North to the land of the Beggar King where they hope for respite. An excess of hardship and negative events including the deaths of loved ones pollute Lancelot’s early times. His formative years take place under the watchful eye of the beautiful yet mysterious Lady Nimue at Karrek Loos yn Koos where he trains as a warrior and meets Guinevere. Later on in the narrative when he is in his late teens, Lancelot becomes acquainted with Arthur and falls for his ideals of a united Britain under his banner and to push back the Saxon’s from their shores for good. Lancelot becomes oathbound to Arthur and alongside the other members of the Lord’s Warband, they really are a force to be feared.

Apart from the names of a few of the characters such as Merlin, Gwaine, Guinevere, Mordred, etc… I’m slightly embarrassed to say that I knew little about the stories of the legend of Arthur. In hindsight that is probably a positive as I could just embrace Lancelot as a work of fiction and enjoy the events as they hit the pages without the distractions of thinking, “that’s not how it happened,” “that isn’t how I pictured that guy,” “I don’t agree with how that was retold” etc… What I did enjoy doing throughout was Googling the characters featured and reading their Wikipedia pages to find out about their real-life counterparts.

Kristian’s characters, seen through the eyes of Lancelot, are an excellent asset for the tale. There is a wide range of players who influence Lancelot’s life including his family, father-figures, rivals, sword brothers, enemies, and a couple of animal companions. Standout relationships were those of Lancelot with Pelleas, Guinevere, Arthur, Mordred, Merlin and also his very moody sparhawk. Animals seem important throughout in certain imagery and presented omens. This is a world where most still honour the old Gods and a simple sign could be read to mean that the Gods are on your side or that doom is impending.

Excluding a few events, the first two hundred or so pages are pretty slow going mainly focused on presenting the foundation of Lancelot’s character including his training, his need for revenge and his options/ place in this world. After that, the novel is predominantly a thrilling action-packed war-focused drama. The novel features honour among allies, some fantastic battle-segments, a couple of amazing one on one duels, and distrust of individuals whose motives seem uncertain. It can be analysed too that love can be a burden that can be more dangerous than war. I liked some of Kristian’s lexical choices that really get you into the mind of a warrior such as “arrow’s shot” or “spear’s length” to define distance. It is probably of no surprise that this is a pretty gory book at certain points. Quite often people will get stabbed in the throat, the groin, have an arm lobbed off, throat slit, etc… but as many of you will be reading this on Grimdark Magazine I doubt that this will put you off.

Lancelot is a fast-paced, thrilling, action-packed war drama presented through the eyes of one of Britain’s most legendary warriors. It has a great flow, is well-written, brimming with lore and I cannot wait to pick up the follow-up Camelot! Highly recommended.

Buy Lancelot by Giles Kristian

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REVIEW: Invasive by Chuck Wendig

Invasive by Chuck Wendig makes me hate ants.

Every year, and it seems no matter what part of the country I live in, these evil creatures invade my home. They find every nook and every cranny and scurry looking for water or some little crumb to enjoy and bring back to their nest. They crawl over your skin with a slight tickle, and sometimes they bite you for the fun of it. Plus they smell an impossible to describe scent. Imagine putrid ammonia and lemon cleanser, and you have a general idea. They are everywhere, and there are 12,000 species in the world. They are a pest, a pestilence upon my household. This book takes my fear of ants and turns it up to 11.

You know how to take the whole idea of a swarming mass of black ants and make it worse. Make them poison you, cause anaphylactic shock, and then cut bits and pieces of your skin off and leave your insides facing the outside while still alive. That’s how you make it worse.

Chuck Wendig, you are a maniac.

I thought The Hatching was terrible for the pure creepy crawlies, nope. Spiders have nothing on killer ants. Not only has Wendig provided a genuine and visceral fearscape to set his imagination wild in, but he also did that with fantastic characters, pacing, and lead heroine.

Invasive stars Hannah Stander. She reminds me of a grittier version of Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs. She is smart, capable, and a tough FBI agent working a murder investigation. Where I think Wendig soared with her character is that she is not two dimensional. No person is hardened all the time. Hannah has moments of weakness and guilt, which makes her character more realistic and empathetic. The supporting characters, although not as fleshed out as Hannah, add a great dimension to the story through the various interactions with Hannah. You want her to succeed in her quest to discover the truth and survive, but as a reader, you are curious about the going-ons of all the supporting characters.

This is a character-heavy story. Because of the development of the characters, the setting and worldbuilding are not as comprehensive as the character creation, and frankly, it doesn’t need to be. Think Jungle. Think tropical. Think medical/scientific compound where experiments are created and carried out, and you have the gist.

Hannah is speculating about a homicide in upstate New York. The victim is found stripped of all skin and laying in a pile of thousands of dead ants. The death is strange and sparks the intrigue of Hannah. Through a series of logical leaps, Hannah finds herself at a research compound of an eccentric billionaire that studies insects. From there the story becomes a fast-paced thriller full of survival, both of Hannah and the humans as a species. It bounces from scene to scene, keeping the reader on edge with the tight storytelling.

Invasive is an exhilarating and exciting read that had me feeling phantom tickles on my cheek after reading. If you are a fan of the creepy crawlies, this is for you.

Buy Invasive by Chuck Wendig

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REVIEW: First and Only by Dan Abnett

First and Only by Dan Abnett is one of the turning point novels of Warhammer 40K. Originally conceived as a sort of hyperstylized part-parody universe that embodied everything awful about humanity with the good guys mockingly called “Catholic Space Nazis”, Warhammer 40K was not a place where any faction deserved to survive let alone win. That changed with the works of Dan Abnett who helped establish a slightly more admirable Imperium of Man.

First and Only is Dan Abnett’s first novel and the first novel published under the Black Library imprint. It is heavily inspired by Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe novels that should give individuals a sense of familiarity with the style as well as contents. It is still over-the-top military science fiction action in a hellish world but the protagonists are far more admirable than your typical band of Imperial Guard miscreants.

The premise begins with the Imperium is launching a revanchist Crusade to retake the Sabbat Worlds from the forces of Chaos. The Imperium is so massive that you can introduce an entire region of space with thousands of inhabited worlds and never have to refer to any other part of the setting again. I like this as very few science fiction franchises take advantage of how truly huge a galaxy-spanning empire would be.

The opening of the book has one of these worlds destroyed by the forces of Chaos. The entire population of Tanith is reduced to a single regiment and immediately put back in the front lines. Ibram Gaunt proceeds to get the devastated men’s loyalty by promising them a new world once the Sabbat Crusade is won. It is a bold-faced lie since as a mere Colonel he can’t promise this sort of thing and they’re all likely to be dead before the war is won but it achieves its objective. They become known as the “Tanith First and Only” and “Gaunt’s Ghosts” respectively.

What follows is a story about treachery, deceit, and how one’s allies can be every bit as dangerous as one’s enemies. The heroes come across a “Dark Age of Technology” factory that has the potential to create millions of sentient robots (“Iron Men”) that could serve as a decisive factor in the war. Two of Gaunt’s rivals immediately turn upon them, declaring the Ghosts to be rogue, and work to keep the discovery for themselves. Gaunt’s Ghosts must figure out a way to survive, clear their names, keep the factory from their allies’ hands, and not endanger the Crusade in the process.

I’m rather fond of this book’s plot as it shows the Imperium is its own worst enemy. While the forces of Chaos aren’t evil in literal terms, having a very strange morality, they might as well be from the perspective of any conventional morality. They swarm the Sabbat Worlds like a plague of locusts and attempt to wipe out anything they haven’t corrupted or warped. It’s not the forces of Chaos that form the problem in this book, however, but plain old greed and ambition. In this respect, Dan Abnett manages to achieve a similar effect as A Song of Ice and Fire. The forces of Chaos are a looming threat akin to the White Walkers while humanity simply can’t get its shit together.

The book is filled with non-stop action sequences that are all very well done. I don’t think the characterization is very deep but the characters mostly slot into neat little military archetypes. They’re all recognizable kinds of characters, so you get a sense of who they are and what they’re about before they’re killed horribly. It’s a kind of heroic manly fiction where even when ambushed and outnumbered, the Ghosts will inflict 3-1 casualties on their enemies. The Imperium feels less like a fascist state and more like a feudal one, which is not inaccurate, as the snooty British noble-themed Patricians look down on the Scottish-themed Tanith.

My view of First and Only is it’s popcorn fiction for a person who enjoys bloody anachronistic space fiction where Napoleonic Warfare meets interplanetary conflict. Is it grimdark? Well, it’s a pretty dark universe with humanity’s survival not being enough to unite mankind. Gaunt and company are almost all solid and dependable good guys, though, with the rare horrifying exception. I strongly recommend the series but also take the view it’s not meant to be a particularly nuanced experience. Just a fun one. There’s also nothing wrong with that.

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REVIEW: The Heron Kings by Eric Lewis

I was sent an ARC of The Heron Kings from Flame Tree Press for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

The Heron Kings is a character-driven story about the horrors of war. Dark, brutal and bloody, Lewis is not afraid to pack a punch (or kick, or stab, or anything else violent).

‘Give my regards to the king.’

Two nations at war and a whole lot of innocent people caught in the middle, this is a tale of the middle side, those not interested in the war, only surviving. I use the word innocent lightly, as Lewis highlights himself through the effect of war, is anyone really innocent? The Heron Kings follows several point of views.

Firstly, Alessia is a physic who leaves the safety of her temple to help to the best of her abilities those caught up in the brutality of war. She is a strong lead who wants to do good but refreshingly wasn’t a saint. Ulnoth is a farmer whose family and village is slaughtered during the war and he decides to take the revenge path. These two carry the bulk of story-time and work well together as two different people going the same direction, just in very opposite ways. Another character, Vivian – ‘Burned Bitch’ / spy for one of the warring nations – played a large role in the story and I enjoyed her chapters the most. She was written well, full of intelligent dialogue and intriguing plot points.

‘All that’s mine is yours to command. Let gods and men witness, from now until death I serve Your Majesty in all things…’

There is a group of secondary characters than to me seemed to blend, each sounding just that bit too similar. They supported the main few and added interest but lacked a certain something to carry themselves to levels that would have made me care about them. Ulnoth’s and Alessia’s relationship, though tropey, was written well and Lewis included wit, banter and depth to both that was one of his strong points.

Lewis’ prose was clear and concise. I wasn’t confused at any point and knew exactly what was going on and what the characters through. Lewis writes in a very dialogue-heavy way, with little to no description of characters appearances and the setting. We find out the world-building and history of the land through conversations and the occasional inside thought. I liked this style as it only added to the strong characters and allowed me to paint for myself the picture of this medieval-fantasy world.

‘May the gods light both our paths… and darken our enemy’s.’

As the story grows there is lots of to-and-fros with the various forces which reminded me of The Patriot (great film, by the way). I really liked how The Heron King’s was focused on the middle side rather than one of the nations. Plotwise, I felt that at times it was a little thin and I did question a lot of tactics/character choices. There were points in the story where events felt forced and unrealistic, or just a little too easy. However, reflecting back on the novel there were enough events and conflicts that kept the story progressing towards the end and had a good ratio of dialogue-action sequences.

Considering the tone of the book, at times it was adult, at times very adult which to me felt sometimes too extreme. Whether it be bursts of swearing, or crude scenes or implied rape, or intense violence that made me squirm, it took me out of the story. (Warning! There are a few scenes that could push people to put it down). I understand why the author used some of this, just to me it felt like it didn’t fit with the overall tone of the book.

‘One spear wound and one dead ex-comrade. Better be worth it.’

3.5/5 – A promising debut from Eric Lewis. The Heron Kings is full of consistent characters that are inspiring and tough. Gruesome at times, this shows the true savagery of war and has enough action and intrigue to keep you on your toes.

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REVIEW: The Forever House by Tim Waggoner

I received an uncorrected proof copy of The Forever House in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Tim Waggoner and Flame Tree Press for the opportunity.

The Forever House starts with the Eldred family moving into an infamous dwelling in a quiet cul-de-sac in suburban Rockbridge. The house in question was host to four murders and a suicide, and has been given the title the “house of blood”. With such a tragedy having taken place, most normal people wouldn’t consider buying the property. Fortunately for The Forever House, the Eldred family are the opposite of normal. They are akin to a twisted, warped and fiendish version of the Adams family and they feed of dark human emotions such as fear. The family members have names such as Father Hunger, The Werewife, The Low Prince, Grandother, and although these names sound and the characters initially seem, quiet comic, their actions, feelings, and wants are utterly dark.

“The Eldred fall quiet as they breathe deeply, resuming their search for the right scent, the right place. They have no doubt they’ll find their stalking ground. They always do.”

After they’ve moved into the house of blood the Eldred’s send their neighbours invitations to a house-warming garden party. Although it seems innocent and amiable on paper, the Eldred’s ulterior motives are to lure their unsuspecting neighbours into the nightmare property where they will feed on their emotional turmoil and distress. If they enter the house they will find themselves in one of the Eldred family members domains where their worst fears and nightmares are made real in a distorted and perverted reality. Unlike the Eldred’s, the neighbours are all too human with their ambitions, fears, desires, flaws, opinions, and views of reality.

The neighbours from four of the properties in the cul-de-sac attend the garden party and are transferred into the Eldred’s dark game. We follow the third person viewpoints of and enter the minds of all nine of the neighbours. They are a varied bunch that include a university professor, a father who suffers from gambling addiction, a young, wide-eyed child, a paedophile and also his worried mother. The characters were pretty well crafted and developed when taking into consideration that The Forever House is only 297 pages long.

In the first third of The Forever House, we get to know the characters, being presented with information about their thoughts, views and relationships to their families and also to other people who live in the same street. The final half takes place in the House of Blood where there are few limits to the horrors that are forthcoming. These sections are creepy, intense, disturbing and suspenseful. The Forever House is exquisitely well-written and throughout creates swirling, animated and heightened pictures of harrowing events and encounters. There are numerous horrific deaths, some featuring twisted psychological torment and others that create distressing imagery that will stick with you long after finishing the novel.

I don’t think I’ve read anything like The Forever House before. It weaves horror and suspense in a warped reality with elements of portal fantasy and some Brothers Grimm-esque imagery. Apart from a handful of characters there really isn’t a happy ending here so don’t go expecting for closure or for the good guys to prevail. Often macabre and sometimes terrifying, The Forever House is a ghastly and grim adventure where the humans might as well be puppets for the inhuman puppeteers who feed off their distress, fear and hatred. The novel is extremely adult in nature overall and much of content could be considered graphic.

One aspect of The Forever House that some people might not enjoy that I thought I would mention is the point of view perspective of the paedophile when he thinks in detail about his infatuation with children, one in particular who is a main character here, and reading about it was sometimes very uncomfortable. His overall character arc is interesting though so don’t write him off straight away.

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REVIEW: Misery by Stephen King

Misery by Stephen King is a novel about pain, obsession, and writing. Paul Sheldon, the stories protagonist, is 42. He is a celebrity writer, twice married and divorced, drinker and smoker, and he is in a lot of trouble. So much trouble. “umber whunnnn yerrrnnn umber whunnnn fayunnnn These sounds: even in the haze.” Even through the haze of drugs and pain, he knew something was off; something was wrong. There was pain, so much of it. “The pain was somewhere below the sounds. The pain was east of the sun and south of his ears. That was all he did know.” His memory was hazy. He remembers a crash. He remembers he stopped breathing, then breathing again. A mouth, spitless, dry, and tight had clamped on him like a vice with its breath. It was “a dreadful mixed stench of vanilla cookies and chocolate ice cream and chicken gravy and peanut-butter fudge.” It was awful, Paul begged and pleaded to be left alone. But Annie couldn’t leave him alone.

“Breathe, goddam you!” the unseen voice shrieked”

This was Paul’s introduction to Annie Wilkes, Paul’s number one fan, the stories antagonist and Paul was in a lot of trouble.

Paul was out celebrating the finishing of his newest novel. “Fast Cars.” A story that Paul had written after putting behind him his best-selling romance series staring the heroine Misery Chastain. A story that, to him, was not writterly and deserving of praise. He had drunk champagne, high on the excitement of the victory, and went driving. He crashed his car spectacularly on a snowy road outside Sidewinder, Colorado. A place that many King fans will recognize from Dr. Sleep, American Vampire, and The Shining. He is found broken and twisted amongst the remains of his car by Annie Wilkes. His legs are a badly broken puzzle of bone shards and pain. He awakes in Annie’s farm somewhere outside of Sidewinder with only the sounds from an unhappy cow and a pig that Annie had named Misery to greet him.

“This memory circled and circled, maddening, like a sluggish fly. He groped for whatever it might mean, but for a long time the sounds interrupted. fayunnnn red everrrrrythinggg umberrrrr whunnnn Sometimes the sounds stopped. Sometimes he stopped”

Paul realizes that his legs are a broken and splintered mess pretty quickly. Ironic because Annie is an ex-nurse and probably could have set them to rights. He is in excruciating pain and hooked on pain killers, and is entirely at the mercy of his number one fan, and something is not quite right with her. There is something diabolical and insane in Annie Wilkes. Something dark is inside her mind and only comes out sometimes, something that can hurt him, something that will eventually kill him. If he wants to continue his existence, he needs to write a new Misery novel for her, one that revives the protagonist Misery Chastain. Misery is a character that Paul was delighted to kill off and be done with. Otherwise, Annie might kill him; but she might kill him anyway piece by piece.

Much of Stephen King’s Misery is psychological terror and internal turmoil. The psychological terror is palpable. Annie Wilkes might be the scariest villain I have ever read. She is cruel, but her cruelty is unknown to her. “You did this to yourself, Paul!” She is also efficient and diabolical. “Annie was not swayed by pleas. Annie was not swayed by screams. Annie had the courage of her convictions.” When Paul is found to be investigating the farmhouse while Annie is out, Annie decides that he needs to be punished, so she cuts his foot off with an ax and cauterizes the stump with a blow torch. It is brutally efficient, and in its way, Annie thinks she is weirdly kind. She gives Paul a pain killer and a slight sedative beforehand. Much like grounding a wayward child for being naughty, Annie feels she needs to punish Paul. Although her punishment is violent and cruel, she doesn’t know it.

Misery is a spectacularly, cruel novel, and it goes beyond the usual horror that we can expect from King. This novel touches on the psychological horror and self-flagellation of a writer. Paul must create a story that he does not want to tell, then the story takes ahold of him as he begins to tell it, and he must see it to the end. Annie is both a jailer, muse and finally the ultimate critic. She punishes failures by cutting off pieces of him. Deadlines and writerly problems take on whole new meanings for Paul.

The ending is almost anti-climatic. As a reader, I want fire and brimstone to fall upon Annie. She deserves so much comeuppance. But I think the way that King handled it is perfect. A battle between writer and critic needs to happen, and the struggle between jailer and inmate needs to happen. “It was always the same, always the same-like toiling uphill through jungle and breaking out to a clearing at the top after months of hell only to discover nothing more rewarding than a view of a freeway – with a few gas stations and bowling alleys thrown in for good behavior, or something.” And, as King says here, writers plod through, whip themselves, battle their muses, and in the end, it is anti-climactic – a bowling alley and gas station. It is not satisfying, but the ending is right. It is terrifying for Paul and quite disturbing as a metaphor for writing.

Misery is King writing at his finest and possibly most introspective. It is, at times, a painful and terrifying read. I had to put it down a few times to take a breath, pet a dog, and watch some happy youtube video. But it is worth the read, and I am so glad I took it on.

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