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The Chronicles of Diana Furnaval #1
Netherworld
In nineteenth-century Victorian England, a young widow finds that she has inherited more than her late husband’s property: The Furnavals serve as the ancestral keepers of supernatural portals scattered around the globe. When demonic entities begin crossing over from the Netherworld, Lady Diana realizes that a war is brewing, and she must be the one to confront it.
Accompanied by a young Chinese sailor named Yi-kin, her feline guardian Mina, and a mysterious scholar, Stephen, Diana will begin a journey to solve the mystery of her husband's death and prevent the apocalypse.
Accompanied by a young Chinese sailor named Yi-kin, her feline guardian Mina, and a mysterious scholar, Stephen, Diana will begin a journey to solve the mystery of her husband's death and prevent the apocalypse.
282 pages, Paperback
First published January 6, 2014
1 person is currently reading
2451 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Morton
274 books252 followersLisa Morton is a screenwriter, author of horror fiction, and Halloween expert. She is a winner of both the Black Quill and Bram Stoker Awards, and her short stories have appeared in more than 50 books and magazines. Her first novel, THE CASTLE OF LOS ANGELES, was released by Gray Friar Press in 2010, and her first collection, MONSTERS OF L.A., was published by Bad Moon Books in October 2011. She is a native and lifelong resident of Southern California, and currently resides in the San Fernando Valley.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
January 2, 2014
[This book was provided to me for no monies via the Early Reviewers program at LibraryThing]
I don't read many terrible books. I read a good few which are just not very good, but it's quite rare for me to read one which is deeply and unfixable awful. Nor do I read many which are so bad they're good - I have too much to read, not enough time, and too little disposable income as it is.
The best I can say about Netherworld is that it is, at times, entertainingly stupid - "Why is this the Cave of Cats?" wonders one character; 10 seconds later he finds a lot of cats. Unfortunately, it's not entertaining enough to get me past the the factual inaccuracies - as I said in my status update, the language of Kolkata is Bengali, not Hindi; yes, it is spoken there today and yes, a Kolkata had a Hindi language newspaper at the time, but the guy carrying the chair, talking to his mates, is going to speak his own language - and general lack of historical world building which, when combined with other aspects of the book, feels more like ignorance.
I appreciate the oddness in giving out about factual accuracy in a book about a woman trying to close supernatural gates to the Netherworld, but this is set in 1880 and I expected it to reflect that. Instead we have American language - references to wait staff etc - and a heroine, Lady Diana Furnaval, who reads nothing like the product of a 19th Century upbringing, let alone one - we must assume because the book doesn't tell us - from the upper classes. For a start, she doesn't appear to have a ladies maid, which I might buy if there was a reason for it, or the text referred to her doing any of the things a ladies maid does. It doesn't. It's just one of the many contextual gaps which undermine this book. Don't get me started on the trip to the Bad part of London.
The language, too, is a disappointment. It adequately describes what is happening, with rather too many dramatic em dashes for my taste (one particularly grated: there is a diary section whose writer is attempting to get down the information as quickly as possible but still uses a dramatic em dash line break to enthral the reader). It does not, however, give any atmosphere, or sense of place. Details are absent, but for me, details are what make a book like this. We don't even know what title Diana's husband possessed, or who has it now, or whether they're bothered that Diana is living in their house.
The plot is not terrible, but it does take a while for it to kick in. Before that it's a bit directionless with Diana travelling around closing the gateways to the Netherworld, taking in Romania (in a Dracula homage), China, India, and the US, before discovering the dastardly plot. It's not a very good plot and the attempts to stop Diana thwarting it are remarkably inefficient. Even the Big Bad Guy comes directly from the Bond Villain school of "Well, you're going to die anyway, so sure I'll answer your questions about my nefarious schemes".
Irritable mentions must go to Mina, a cat version of Dean Koontz's Exceptional Dog. As a woman 15 years and 23 cats away from becoming a fully fledged crazy cat lady, I find these depictions incredibly annoying. If you are feeding a cat nothing but protein and carrying it around in a bag all day, you are going to have a deeply unwell cat. Yes, it really does annoy me that much.
Also to the dull and repetitive kissing scenes - have your 80's Mills and Boon bingo cards at the ready - and the angry making (trigger warning for this)
My special prize for stupidest thing in the entire book is reserved for a sentence near the end. Diana has been shown the future of manufacturing and is a tad upset by it because children have no limbs, or something. She sets up a grant for scientists who create better, cleaner, safer methods of industry. Aside from the fact it's a waste of money because engineers are the people you want for that type of thing, Diana's estate is in Derbyshire. You know what's in Derbyshire? Apart from Pemberly (home of Jane Austen's Mr Darcy). Cotton Mills. Lots and lots and lots of dark satanic mills, noted employers of children. For somebody with such hippy Guardian-reading liberal sensibilities, Lady Diana is remarkably unaware of what's happening on her doorstep, or throughout her country. Has she never read any Mrs Gaskell? Or even a newspaper? 1880 was the year compulsory education was introduced for heaven's sake.
I judge a book in part by how well it manages what I expect from it. A book with "Bram Stoker award winning writer" (for Non-Fiction, incidentally) plastered on the front was expected to be well written and well researched. This was neither. I'll give it 1 star because I did finish it, but I'm struggling to think who, among the people who aren't me, would enjoy it.
I don't read many terrible books. I read a good few which are just not very good, but it's quite rare for me to read one which is deeply and unfixable awful. Nor do I read many which are so bad they're good - I have too much to read, not enough time, and too little disposable income as it is.
The best I can say about Netherworld is that it is, at times, entertainingly stupid - "Why is this the Cave of Cats?" wonders one character; 10 seconds later he finds a lot of cats. Unfortunately, it's not entertaining enough to get me past the the factual inaccuracies - as I said in my status update, the language of Kolkata is Bengali, not Hindi; yes, it is spoken there today and yes, a Kolkata had a Hindi language newspaper at the time, but the guy carrying the chair, talking to his mates, is going to speak his own language - and general lack of historical world building which, when combined with other aspects of the book, feels more like ignorance.
I appreciate the oddness in giving out about factual accuracy in a book about a woman trying to close supernatural gates to the Netherworld, but this is set in 1880 and I expected it to reflect that. Instead we have American language - references to wait staff etc - and a heroine, Lady Diana Furnaval, who reads nothing like the product of a 19th Century upbringing, let alone one - we must assume because the book doesn't tell us - from the upper classes. For a start, she doesn't appear to have a ladies maid, which I might buy if there was a reason for it, or the text referred to her doing any of the things a ladies maid does. It doesn't. It's just one of the many contextual gaps which undermine this book. Don't get me started on the trip to the Bad part of London.
The language, too, is a disappointment. It adequately describes what is happening, with rather too many dramatic em dashes for my taste (one particularly grated: there is a diary section whose writer is attempting to get down the information as quickly as possible but still uses a dramatic em dash line break to enthral the reader). It does not, however, give any atmosphere, or sense of place. Details are absent, but for me, details are what make a book like this. We don't even know what title Diana's husband possessed, or who has it now, or whether they're bothered that Diana is living in their house.
The plot is not terrible, but it does take a while for it to kick in. Before that it's a bit directionless with Diana travelling around closing the gateways to the Netherworld, taking in Romania (in a Dracula homage), China, India, and the US, before discovering the dastardly plot. It's not a very good plot and the attempts to stop Diana thwarting it are remarkably inefficient. Even the Big Bad Guy comes directly from the Bond Villain school of "Well, you're going to die anyway, so sure I'll answer your questions about my nefarious schemes".
Irritable mentions must go to Mina, a cat version of Dean Koontz's Exceptional Dog. As a woman 15 years and 23 cats away from becoming a fully fledged crazy cat lady, I find these depictions incredibly annoying. If you are feeding a cat nothing but protein and carrying it around in a bag all day, you are going to have a deeply unwell cat. Yes, it really does annoy me that much.
Also to the dull and repetitive kissing scenes - have your 80's Mills and Boon bingo cards at the ready - and the angry making (trigger warning for this)
My special prize for stupidest thing in the entire book is reserved for a sentence near the end. Diana has been shown the future of manufacturing and is a tad upset by it because children have no limbs, or something. She sets up a grant for scientists who create better, cleaner, safer methods of industry. Aside from the fact it's a waste of money because engineers are the people you want for that type of thing, Diana's estate is in Derbyshire. You know what's in Derbyshire? Apart from Pemberly (home of Jane Austen's Mr Darcy). Cotton Mills. Lots and lots and lots of dark satanic mills, noted employers of children. For somebody with such hippy Guardian-reading liberal sensibilities, Lady Diana is remarkably unaware of what's happening on her doorstep, or throughout her country. Has she never read any Mrs Gaskell? Or even a newspaper? 1880 was the year compulsory education was introduced for heaven's sake.
I judge a book in part by how well it manages what I expect from it. A book with "Bram Stoker award winning writer" (for Non-Fiction, incidentally) plastered on the front was expected to be well written and well researched. This was neither. I'll give it 1 star because I did finish it, but I'm struggling to think who, among the people who aren't me, would enjoy it.
January 20, 2014
2.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.blogspot.com/201...
The fascinating concept behind this book was what first drew me in and made me decide to take a chance on it. Featuring a kickass nineteenth-century female demon hunter on a journey across the globe to track down and kill some very unconventional monsters, Netherworld appeared to have everything I was looking for and sounded very promising.
The book follows Lady Diana Furnaval, a young widow who has inherited much more than her husband's estates after his death. Lord William Furnaval turns out to have been one of the last guardians of the mysterious gateways that lead into Netherworld, the place where demons and other malevolent spirits make their homes. With him gone, it is up to Diana to take up the mantle to secure these portals, though she is determined to take things one step further and close them forever.
Diana's personal mission takes her to gateways located in faraway places. In China, she meets and befriends a young Cantonese sailor named Yi-kin, who accompanies her and her cat on their demon hunting adventures. Retracing her husband's final journey, she also uncovers some disturbing information about his death which leads her to believe there is much more to the story.
After reading this book, my general impression is that Lisa Morton is definitely familiar with the ingredients which make up an effective and compelling tale. And yet, while all the elements were in place, the actual storytelling felt disorganized and inconsistent, with the pacing feeling very rushed in certain places. For instance, I had a hard time getting into this book because the several of the opening chapters felt so disconnected and unfeeling, especially with the quick play-by-play explanation of the circumstances behind Lord William Furnaval's death, as well as the portion taken from his journal.
To its credit, the book falls back into an easier groove after this point, though the ending once again runs into issues with uneven pacing. The climax and conclusion felt glossed over, and overall the story had so many plot points and ideas that it was difficult not to wish for things to slow down a little, just to catch my breath and enjoy the different places and people Diana encounters. The book isn't that long to begin with, and yet we go from Transylvania to India to China to America to England and to Ireland, and in each place we only get to stay long enough for the characters to kill a few demons and close a gateway.
There's just so much more that could have been explored, and given how the author seems quite fond of providing historical details of the different locales Diana visits, I don't know why she didn't seize the opportunity to flesh them out. After all, I love how the story delves into legends and lore outside of the Western tradition. In particular, I enjoyed the inclusion of Chinese vampires or jiangshi (called goong-si in this novel because it uses the Cantonese dialect) and it's clear Lisa Morton did a lot of research into them to ensure her descriptions and translations are as accurate as possible. It's always interesting whenever I see an unconventional take on supernatural monsters, and in this case we're looking at them through the lens of other cultures.
Overall, I think I expected more from this book. The story itself was admittedly quite enjoyable, though the haphazard pacing and execution of ideas took a lot of the fun out of it. Here and there, I have to give it major points for moments of ingenuity, but in the end this just wasn't my cup of tea.
The fascinating concept behind this book was what first drew me in and made me decide to take a chance on it. Featuring a kickass nineteenth-century female demon hunter on a journey across the globe to track down and kill some very unconventional monsters, Netherworld appeared to have everything I was looking for and sounded very promising.
The book follows Lady Diana Furnaval, a young widow who has inherited much more than her husband's estates after his death. Lord William Furnaval turns out to have been one of the last guardians of the mysterious gateways that lead into Netherworld, the place where demons and other malevolent spirits make their homes. With him gone, it is up to Diana to take up the mantle to secure these portals, though she is determined to take things one step further and close them forever.
Diana's personal mission takes her to gateways located in faraway places. In China, she meets and befriends a young Cantonese sailor named Yi-kin, who accompanies her and her cat on their demon hunting adventures. Retracing her husband's final journey, she also uncovers some disturbing information about his death which leads her to believe there is much more to the story.
After reading this book, my general impression is that Lisa Morton is definitely familiar with the ingredients which make up an effective and compelling tale. And yet, while all the elements were in place, the actual storytelling felt disorganized and inconsistent, with the pacing feeling very rushed in certain places. For instance, I had a hard time getting into this book because the several of the opening chapters felt so disconnected and unfeeling, especially with the quick play-by-play explanation of the circumstances behind Lord William Furnaval's death, as well as the portion taken from his journal.
To its credit, the book falls back into an easier groove after this point, though the ending once again runs into issues with uneven pacing. The climax and conclusion felt glossed over, and overall the story had so many plot points and ideas that it was difficult not to wish for things to slow down a little, just to catch my breath and enjoy the different places and people Diana encounters. The book isn't that long to begin with, and yet we go from Transylvania to India to China to America to England and to Ireland, and in each place we only get to stay long enough for the characters to kill a few demons and close a gateway.
There's just so much more that could have been explored, and given how the author seems quite fond of providing historical details of the different locales Diana visits, I don't know why she didn't seize the opportunity to flesh them out. After all, I love how the story delves into legends and lore outside of the Western tradition. In particular, I enjoyed the inclusion of Chinese vampires or jiangshi (called goong-si in this novel because it uses the Cantonese dialect) and it's clear Lisa Morton did a lot of research into them to ensure her descriptions and translations are as accurate as possible. It's always interesting whenever I see an unconventional take on supernatural monsters, and in this case we're looking at them through the lens of other cultures.
Overall, I think I expected more from this book. The story itself was admittedly quite enjoyable, though the haphazard pacing and execution of ideas took a lot of the fun out of it. Here and there, I have to give it major points for moments of ingenuity, but in the end this just wasn't my cup of tea.
December 29, 2013
I didn't like this book. I had to force myself to keep reading, even though it's relatively short, at least by my usual reading standards. I found the characters ridiculous and unbelievable and the historical bits anachronistic, and a huge chunk of the book was incredibly racist and offensive. The story sounded interesting; I expected Diana to be a steampunk Buffy Summers, kicking ass and killing demons. Instead, she's more of a Mary Sue (and I hate to use that phrase). She relies entirely too much on the men around her, and for a character who is purported to be intelligent I found many of her actions to be unconscionably stupid. I think (hope) this is meant to be an alternate universe, which would make some of the quibbles I have with the historical aspects of the story forgivable (but still bothersome to me). The worst part was the section which took place in China. My boyfriend is Chinese (so maybe I'm overly-sensitive to stereotyping?), and I found the trope of the "noble savage" a bit hard to swallow. Don't even get me started on the magic cat (who can understand English and is apparently indestructible). Or the two (TWO) near-rapes Diana endures after being seduced by demons pretending to be her husband. Or the resolution of the storyline involving her husband.
This book was definitely not for me. Perhaps I'm just not a fan of the steampunk/horror genre. It is the first in a new series, but I will not be reading any others.
This book was definitely not for me. Perhaps I'm just not a fan of the steampunk/horror genre. It is the first in a new series, but I will not be reading any others.
February 22, 2014
Before I start with this review, allow me to tell you a bit about myself. It won't take more than a minute, I swear.
Now then... I'm a scaredy-cat - official and confirmed. I can't watch something spooky or scary - in favor of saving some face, let's not get on the topic of thrillers and horror movies - without having to beg my 12-year-old brother to sleep in my room so I can get some shut-eye (so much for saving face...). My imagination is on such an unhealthy level - which I have mentioned countless times - that I think I hear or see the monster or villain or psycho behind every curtain or under my bed or in every - even remotely - shadowed corner. Now imagine a person like me reading something that comes even close to those spooky things I avoid like the plague when they're on the TV, and you'll start wondering what the hell was this book doing in my greedy little hands.
Still, I will forever be a masochist that gets done in by an engaging blurb and a professionally done cover - sue me, I admit I'm guilty as charged! So I decided to give Netherworld a chance - and swore I would read it to the very end, no matter what - and you know what? I'm damn proud and glad I did, because otherwise I would have missed out on witnessing such a thrilling story with one of the most intriguing main casts yet!
Diana Furnaval is a young widow in Victorian England that is unlike any other woman at her age, her time, and her position would be. Seeking revenge and justice, she sets on a personal mission to close all the gateways that connect our world with the world from which the fiends that killed her husband, William, come - the Netherworld. But she's not alone on this task. Stephen Chappell - a mysterious, all-too-knowing book merchant - , Leung Yi-kin - a young Chinese sailor with exceptional fighting skills - , Isadora Feduchin - a medium that can communicate with the other side and bring messages from the Netherworld - , and Mina - Diana's trusty feline pet that can sense both the gateways and the creatures that pass through them - are by her side, ready to help her in her efforts to defend humanity from the things that go bump in the night and cut off all connections to the Netherworld once and for all. Still, the residents of the other side are not about to give up on conquering our world so easily - and they will use every dirty trick to get Diana either off track or six feet under, if that's what it takes.
I believe now you see what I meant by interesting and intriguing, right? Diana, as a main character, is every bit the strong and determined lady a female lead in such stories should be. But not in a non-believable way. Though she gets scared like every normal person, she knows her mission is important, and ignores her own comforts and safety to make sure the demons frequenting her life will hurt the smallest possible number of people the way they have hurt her. She understands the risks, and while she's often quite stubborn, her self-sacrifices are not to be ignored. She studies her enemies and plans carefully before advancing, and she's moralistic to a fault. And she's not above trying new things, all the while keeping her personality and traits intact. She may be loyal to her late husband, and still love him, but she doesn't push away the possibility of new feelings towards another man - thank God for that, because I seriously shipped that particular pairing called DianaXStephen!
Stephen was my personal wet dream - I don't care if he didn't come off as sexy, the guy is something of a mysterious scholar with many secrets up his sleeve, and sells books, that counts as one of the hottest traits in my book! Yi-kin was adorabble - there were times I just wanted to squeeze the hell out of him - and Isadora was every bit the eccentric and funny woman a medium can be. As for Mina, well, I'm not exactly a cats person - scratch that, I hate them to death - but this particular feline was after my own heart. She was very clever, not the least bit the annoying, hissing, snobbish monster that most creatures of her kind are. And hey, any animal that rushes to save their mistress and her friends first thing when they come upon danger, is ok IMHO.
Even without the golden main cast, though, the book was one of the best I've come across in the paranormal genre. The plot alone was worth every single night I spent with all lights on and backed in my bed's corner. And those extra few seconds it took me to check under my bed and behind my curtains before I went to sleep. The story started in a way that most writers seem to ignore, yet Lisa Morton managed to follow it in a flawless fashion. According to many creative writing lecturers, the best way to start a book is to provide the hook - lure the reader deep enough to get them hooked, and THEN provide more details on the main character and the plot, with flashbacks and the usual. And she did just fine in that department. The prologue had me so freaked out, I stopped reading - damn, I usually read out loud, and when I realized what that thing in the church was chanting and what, as a result, I was murmuring, I shrieked - and took a couple of minutes before resuming, this time in my head, because I'm superstitious enough to fear I might summon something if I say the words loudly. Now, normally, I would leave the book in DNF state right then and there. But the writer had made it impossible by then, so I couldn't do a damn thing, other than keep up with the story - and I don't regret it at all. Still, I'm telling you, if anyone ever decides to make Netherworld into a movie, I will NOT go watch it, no matter how many millions it will make (because I'm sure it will!) - one time through all this fearful torture was enough, thank you very much.
The brilliance of this book, however, didn't stop there. It was also quite accurate in its lore. Ms. Morton took great care in her research in both the western and the eastern spooky legends. And then used it in such a detailed yet enjoyable way, it was more like academical fun times than boring and overbearing lectures. Sort of like how a good uni professor manages to make a subject interesting enough to get you to study and pay attention, without overdoing it.
The only drawback in all this was that Diana was a bit too self-righteous at times. While I admire her morality and her idealism, it tended to make her less of a realist - when she was claimed as a realist herself at the start of the book. It was a bit contradicting. Then, there was the question about her fortune. I understand that the Furnaval family had a lot of money, but the reason behind that wealth was never explained throughout the book. Were they merchants? Had a lot of land that they sold to suit their monetary needs? Or was it something else?
But I refuse to lower the rating because of those two minor problems of mine. This book deserved the highest rating possible for managing to keep me reading even when I was scared out my mind. The action, the cynical and sometimes macabre humor, the legends and the writer's personal voice are only a few of the reasons why this series should be in your TR list ASAP! I myself - no matter how masochistic it may sound - can't wait for the next book!!!
***I was given a review copy from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers November 2013 Giveaway in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.***
Now then... I'm a scaredy-cat - official and confirmed. I can't watch something spooky or scary - in favor of saving some face, let's not get on the topic of thrillers and horror movies - without having to beg my 12-year-old brother to sleep in my room so I can get some shut-eye (so much for saving face...). My imagination is on such an unhealthy level - which I have mentioned countless times - that I think I hear or see the monster or villain or psycho behind every curtain or under my bed or in every - even remotely - shadowed corner. Now imagine a person like me reading something that comes even close to those spooky things I avoid like the plague when they're on the TV, and you'll start wondering what the hell was this book doing in my greedy little hands.
Still, I will forever be a masochist that gets done in by an engaging blurb and a professionally done cover - sue me, I admit I'm guilty as charged! So I decided to give Netherworld a chance - and swore I would read it to the very end, no matter what - and you know what? I'm damn proud and glad I did, because otherwise I would have missed out on witnessing such a thrilling story with one of the most intriguing main casts yet!
Diana Furnaval is a young widow in Victorian England that is unlike any other woman at her age, her time, and her position would be. Seeking revenge and justice, she sets on a personal mission to close all the gateways that connect our world with the world from which the fiends that killed her husband, William, come - the Netherworld. But she's not alone on this task. Stephen Chappell - a mysterious, all-too-knowing book merchant - , Leung Yi-kin - a young Chinese sailor with exceptional fighting skills - , Isadora Feduchin - a medium that can communicate with the other side and bring messages from the Netherworld - , and Mina - Diana's trusty feline pet that can sense both the gateways and the creatures that pass through them - are by her side, ready to help her in her efforts to defend humanity from the things that go bump in the night and cut off all connections to the Netherworld once and for all. Still, the residents of the other side are not about to give up on conquering our world so easily - and they will use every dirty trick to get Diana either off track or six feet under, if that's what it takes.
I believe now you see what I meant by interesting and intriguing, right? Diana, as a main character, is every bit the strong and determined lady a female lead in such stories should be. But not in a non-believable way. Though she gets scared like every normal person, she knows her mission is important, and ignores her own comforts and safety to make sure the demons frequenting her life will hurt the smallest possible number of people the way they have hurt her. She understands the risks, and while she's often quite stubborn, her self-sacrifices are not to be ignored. She studies her enemies and plans carefully before advancing, and she's moralistic to a fault. And she's not above trying new things, all the while keeping her personality and traits intact. She may be loyal to her late husband, and still love him, but she doesn't push away the possibility of new feelings towards another man - thank God for that, because I seriously shipped that particular pairing called DianaXStephen!
Stephen was my personal wet dream - I don't care if he didn't come off as sexy, the guy is something of a mysterious scholar with many secrets up his sleeve, and sells books, that counts as one of the hottest traits in my book! Yi-kin was adorabble - there were times I just wanted to squeeze the hell out of him - and Isadora was every bit the eccentric and funny woman a medium can be. As for Mina, well, I'm not exactly a cats person - scratch that, I hate them to death - but this particular feline was after my own heart. She was very clever, not the least bit the annoying, hissing, snobbish monster that most creatures of her kind are. And hey, any animal that rushes to save their mistress and her friends first thing when they come upon danger, is ok IMHO.
Even without the golden main cast, though, the book was one of the best I've come across in the paranormal genre. The plot alone was worth every single night I spent with all lights on and backed in my bed's corner. And those extra few seconds it took me to check under my bed and behind my curtains before I went to sleep. The story started in a way that most writers seem to ignore, yet Lisa Morton managed to follow it in a flawless fashion. According to many creative writing lecturers, the best way to start a book is to provide the hook - lure the reader deep enough to get them hooked, and THEN provide more details on the main character and the plot, with flashbacks and the usual. And she did just fine in that department. The prologue had me so freaked out, I stopped reading - damn, I usually read out loud, and when I realized what that thing in the church was chanting and what, as a result, I was murmuring, I shrieked - and took a couple of minutes before resuming, this time in my head, because I'm superstitious enough to fear I might summon something if I say the words loudly. Now, normally, I would leave the book in DNF state right then and there. But the writer had made it impossible by then, so I couldn't do a damn thing, other than keep up with the story - and I don't regret it at all. Still, I'm telling you, if anyone ever decides to make Netherworld into a movie, I will NOT go watch it, no matter how many millions it will make (because I'm sure it will!) - one time through all this fearful torture was enough, thank you very much.
The brilliance of this book, however, didn't stop there. It was also quite accurate in its lore. Ms. Morton took great care in her research in both the western and the eastern spooky legends. And then used it in such a detailed yet enjoyable way, it was more like academical fun times than boring and overbearing lectures. Sort of like how a good uni professor manages to make a subject interesting enough to get you to study and pay attention, without overdoing it.
The only drawback in all this was that Diana was a bit too self-righteous at times. While I admire her morality and her idealism, it tended to make her less of a realist - when she was claimed as a realist herself at the start of the book. It was a bit contradicting. Then, there was the question about her fortune. I understand that the Furnaval family had a lot of money, but the reason behind that wealth was never explained throughout the book. Were they merchants? Had a lot of land that they sold to suit their monetary needs? Or was it something else?
But I refuse to lower the rating because of those two minor problems of mine. This book deserved the highest rating possible for managing to keep me reading even when I was scared out my mind. The action, the cynical and sometimes macabre humor, the legends and the writer's personal voice are only a few of the reasons why this series should be in your TR list ASAP! I myself - no matter how masochistic it may sound - can't wait for the next book!!!
***I was given a review copy from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers November 2013 Giveaway in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.***
December 24, 2013
Netherworld chronicles the journey of Diana; a widow left with the task of completing her husband's family legacy of closing portals between the mortal realm and the Netherworld. Diana comes in contact with plenty of interesting characters along the way. The book keeps a steady pace that ends with a satisfying ending. The addition of Diana's faithful cat, Mina, was brilliant and will appeal to all cat (and animal) lovers.
This book was a bit longer than I expected, but it never felt drawn out. Every part of the story seems to have a purpose in the plot and flows well. Morton is crafted at creating a bevy of characters that are wonderfully written and entertaining. From the furry Mina to the dutiful Howes, you will find that each character has their own voice and story.
Going on the assumption that this is not to be part of a series, I cannot express how much I wish it was. After finishing this book, I was left with the tinge of sadness that comes with the parting of characters you've grown attached to. I think that in itself shows the quality of this book.
All in all, I couldn't suggest a better book for someone who loves their historical fiction served with a side of adventure and romance.
**I was gifted this book for free in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the author and/or publisher.
This book was a bit longer than I expected, but it never felt drawn out. Every part of the story seems to have a purpose in the plot and flows well. Morton is crafted at creating a bevy of characters that are wonderfully written and entertaining. From the furry Mina to the dutiful Howes, you will find that each character has their own voice and story.
Going on the assumption that this is not to be part of a series, I cannot express how much I wish it was. After finishing this book, I was left with the tinge of sadness that comes with the parting of characters you've grown attached to. I think that in itself shows the quality of this book.
All in all, I couldn't suggest a better book for someone who loves their historical fiction served with a side of adventure and romance.
**I was gifted this book for free in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the author and/or publisher.
January 23, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. The author describes surroundings and emotions wonderfully. You can really see what's going on. There was suspense, mystery, and a slight romance. I'm surprised at how good it was and am looking forward to the next book.
May 29, 2014
A wonderful supernatural romp with a smart swashbuckling female heroine taking on vampires, lizard men and demons!
October 17, 2015
Originally published by me @ Parajunkee's View Feb. 10, 2014: http://www.parajunkee.com/2014/02/10/...
PJV Quickie: NETHERWORLD was a predictable read. Anyone familiar with the genre can figure out how the book is going to end from very early on. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with being formulaic, tropes become tropes because they work, and they do work here. The action of this novel is unique enough that it kept me interested and turning the pages but sticks close enough to the standard patterns of a paranormal mystery that I was never really surprised. The characters were the perfect blend of historical realism and fantastic idealism; having recently finished watching the John Green narrated CrashCourse World History videos, I enjoyed the very realistic portrayal of interactions between Britain/Brits and China/Chinese people in the age of the Opium Wars.
Review: This is the first work I’ve read by Lisa Morton, who is known for her award winning short horror fiction stories. She’s relatively new to the area of writing novels and NETHERWORLD represents her first entry into the world of the series. As an opener NETHERWORLD does fairly well. The book opens on Halloween night 1879 introducing us to the progressive Lady Diana Furnaval who is anything but a Proper British Lady; she defies all of the norms of her time, and she acknowledges that.
The first thing we see her doing is what she will spend the rest of the novel doing, closing supernatural gateways to the titular Netherworld in order to stop demons and other beings from coming through. With this first gateway we learn that our author is not shy about killing off characters once they’ve served their purpose, which is a common horror trope.
Sometimes we’re thrown back into Diana’s memories so that Morton can show us how Diana got involved with the gateways, because of her Husband’s death and the mystery surrounding it. When Diana starts to unravel that mystery it will lead her on a continent hopping adventure that will see her circumnavigate the globe before the novel is done and the dust settled. The ending of this novel is perfect closure for a standalone book, as a first book in a new series should be in my opinion, but it also perfectly ends so that it can be built upon in the next book.
I’m going give you my completely honest first reason for choosing this particular book as my first review for PJV. The main character’s last name caught my attention as I was skimming through synopses. I grew up around the corner from a street called Furnival Rd., in an area where all of the streets and parks are named after WWII veterans, or military honours. Even though Morton spells it Furnaval instead it was still enough to make me stop and really focus on the synopsis thanks to a wave of nostalgia. Once I read the synopsis I knew it was going to be a book I would enjoy for a couple pf reasons:
I have, like many others out there a rather large fascination with Victorian era England
I love strong female characters who can take names and kick asses
Anything involving portals to other world/dimensions automatically has my attention thanks to my childhood obsessions with Narnia and Wonderland (who am I kidding those obsessions did not end in childhood, I am still obsessed with both)
So how did the book stack up to my expectations in those three areas? Fairly well. Sure, the book starts and ends in England, but actually, for a lot of the novel Diana and Yi-Kin are not just not anywhere near England, so there’s some lacking of truth in the Publisher’s pushing this as being about Victorian Era England. If they had pitched it as Victorian Era but left out the England I’d be happier; I feel like it would be much more exciting to mention her eventual circumnavigation of the globe in the synopsis. Weirdly enough Diana herself never even pointed out that she’d ended up going completely around the world other than to say something along the lines of, “Well I may as well just keep going in this direction and then I can close the two conveniently placed American gateways on my way home.”
That being said, she is most assuredly a strong female character capable of kicking ass and tacking names. Every challenge put in front of her she wins, every foe she faces she defeats. She struggles a few times, and does end up needing to be rescued by a man more than once so she’s by no means a flawless character, and that’s a good thing! Her flaws are why the reader is able to empathise with her, to put themselves in her shoes and see themselves on her adventure. She’s smart, and spunky, and she knows what she wants and goes after it. As far as female characters go, she’s definitely a good one, and makes a good role model for the YA audience that will probably pick this book up.
The world itself is also interesting; Morton has managed to make her Netherworld concept easy to grasp and yet just complex enough to be truly unique. Because this is only the first book in the series you shouldn’t expect to get a complete picture of the mechanics of the portals, or the how and whys of them. If you go in expecting all those details at a Tolkienian level you are going to be disappointed. The reader is learning about the gateways and the Netherworld in real time with the protagonists, neither of them is an expert.
This isn’t a heart pounding, must know what happens next page turner, and it’s not a heart wrenching, breathtaking romance either. It has moments of page turning action most assuredly, but if you’re looking for something that is fast paced or bodice ripping this is not the book for you. As is normal for the first book in a series, this one is setting the stage, all of the world building and character building and the overarching series plot have to get underway in its pages. All of those things take time to build up, so most of the action is at the back end of the book and once it starts happening it happens pretty quickly, but it is a slow journey to get there. So you need to be patient.
Now I also mentioned romance, truth be told though, there’s not much to be had, and what little there is seems forced and rushed to me. We’re supposed to feel the devastation that Diana feels at the loss of William, but the problem is we’re not given enough scenes of their relationship or its purported intensity to feel what she says she feels over his death. Then there’s her relationship with the mysterious Stephen Chappell, a bookseller who likes to pop up only when he’s needed. There’s supposed to be chemistry, but I never felt it, especially not when she was always annoyed at him and even despite her seemingly perpetual annoyance with him, she still invited him into her bed. The strongest relationship she has is with her protégé/partner/assistant Yi-Kin, this is presented as completely platonic even more of a business relationship rather than a friendship. The problem is Yi-Kin is the one male in the novel that I feel she even has any chemistry with and Morton never acknowledges that which I find supremely disappointing, but it’s only book one so we’ll see what happens.
Overall feelings: a good first outing in the series, the fantasy elements are fantastic, and I love her world building but the romance end has left a lot to be desired in my mind.
Read this book if:
You’re into historical fiction and sci-fi/fantasy and you like your Victorian Era more like Frankenstein and less Steampunk
You prefer your paranormal romances to focus more on the paranormal and less on the romance
Take a pass if:
You’re looking for a Victorian Era bodice ripper with paranormal aspects
You’re looking for a high octane adventure
PJV Quickie: NETHERWORLD was a predictable read. Anyone familiar with the genre can figure out how the book is going to end from very early on. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with being formulaic, tropes become tropes because they work, and they do work here. The action of this novel is unique enough that it kept me interested and turning the pages but sticks close enough to the standard patterns of a paranormal mystery that I was never really surprised. The characters were the perfect blend of historical realism and fantastic idealism; having recently finished watching the John Green narrated CrashCourse World History videos, I enjoyed the very realistic portrayal of interactions between Britain/Brits and China/Chinese people in the age of the Opium Wars.
Review: This is the first work I’ve read by Lisa Morton, who is known for her award winning short horror fiction stories. She’s relatively new to the area of writing novels and NETHERWORLD represents her first entry into the world of the series. As an opener NETHERWORLD does fairly well. The book opens on Halloween night 1879 introducing us to the progressive Lady Diana Furnaval who is anything but a Proper British Lady; she defies all of the norms of her time, and she acknowledges that.
The first thing we see her doing is what she will spend the rest of the novel doing, closing supernatural gateways to the titular Netherworld in order to stop demons and other beings from coming through. With this first gateway we learn that our author is not shy about killing off characters once they’ve served their purpose, which is a common horror trope.
Sometimes we’re thrown back into Diana’s memories so that Morton can show us how Diana got involved with the gateways, because of her Husband’s death and the mystery surrounding it. When Diana starts to unravel that mystery it will lead her on a continent hopping adventure that will see her circumnavigate the globe before the novel is done and the dust settled. The ending of this novel is perfect closure for a standalone book, as a first book in a new series should be in my opinion, but it also perfectly ends so that it can be built upon in the next book.
I’m going give you my completely honest first reason for choosing this particular book as my first review for PJV. The main character’s last name caught my attention as I was skimming through synopses. I grew up around the corner from a street called Furnival Rd., in an area where all of the streets and parks are named after WWII veterans, or military honours. Even though Morton spells it Furnaval instead it was still enough to make me stop and really focus on the synopsis thanks to a wave of nostalgia. Once I read the synopsis I knew it was going to be a book I would enjoy for a couple pf reasons:
I have, like many others out there a rather large fascination with Victorian era England
I love strong female characters who can take names and kick asses
Anything involving portals to other world/dimensions automatically has my attention thanks to my childhood obsessions with Narnia and Wonderland (who am I kidding those obsessions did not end in childhood, I am still obsessed with both)
So how did the book stack up to my expectations in those three areas? Fairly well. Sure, the book starts and ends in England, but actually, for a lot of the novel Diana and Yi-Kin are not just not anywhere near England, so there’s some lacking of truth in the Publisher’s pushing this as being about Victorian Era England. If they had pitched it as Victorian Era but left out the England I’d be happier; I feel like it would be much more exciting to mention her eventual circumnavigation of the globe in the synopsis. Weirdly enough Diana herself never even pointed out that she’d ended up going completely around the world other than to say something along the lines of, “Well I may as well just keep going in this direction and then I can close the two conveniently placed American gateways on my way home.”
That being said, she is most assuredly a strong female character capable of kicking ass and tacking names. Every challenge put in front of her she wins, every foe she faces she defeats. She struggles a few times, and does end up needing to be rescued by a man more than once so she’s by no means a flawless character, and that’s a good thing! Her flaws are why the reader is able to empathise with her, to put themselves in her shoes and see themselves on her adventure. She’s smart, and spunky, and she knows what she wants and goes after it. As far as female characters go, she’s definitely a good one, and makes a good role model for the YA audience that will probably pick this book up.
The world itself is also interesting; Morton has managed to make her Netherworld concept easy to grasp and yet just complex enough to be truly unique. Because this is only the first book in the series you shouldn’t expect to get a complete picture of the mechanics of the portals, or the how and whys of them. If you go in expecting all those details at a Tolkienian level you are going to be disappointed. The reader is learning about the gateways and the Netherworld in real time with the protagonists, neither of them is an expert.
This isn’t a heart pounding, must know what happens next page turner, and it’s not a heart wrenching, breathtaking romance either. It has moments of page turning action most assuredly, but if you’re looking for something that is fast paced or bodice ripping this is not the book for you. As is normal for the first book in a series, this one is setting the stage, all of the world building and character building and the overarching series plot have to get underway in its pages. All of those things take time to build up, so most of the action is at the back end of the book and once it starts happening it happens pretty quickly, but it is a slow journey to get there. So you need to be patient.
Now I also mentioned romance, truth be told though, there’s not much to be had, and what little there is seems forced and rushed to me. We’re supposed to feel the devastation that Diana feels at the loss of William, but the problem is we’re not given enough scenes of their relationship or its purported intensity to feel what she says she feels over his death. Then there’s her relationship with the mysterious Stephen Chappell, a bookseller who likes to pop up only when he’s needed. There’s supposed to be chemistry, but I never felt it, especially not when she was always annoyed at him and even despite her seemingly perpetual annoyance with him, she still invited him into her bed. The strongest relationship she has is with her protégé/partner/assistant Yi-Kin, this is presented as completely platonic even more of a business relationship rather than a friendship. The problem is Yi-Kin is the one male in the novel that I feel she even has any chemistry with and Morton never acknowledges that which I find supremely disappointing, but it’s only book one so we’ll see what happens.
Overall feelings: a good first outing in the series, the fantasy elements are fantastic, and I love her world building but the romance end has left a lot to be desired in my mind.
Read this book if:
You’re into historical fiction and sci-fi/fantasy and you like your Victorian Era more like Frankenstein and less Steampunk
You prefer your paranormal romances to focus more on the paranormal and less on the romance
Take a pass if:
You’re looking for a Victorian Era bodice ripper with paranormal aspects
You’re looking for a high octane adventure
December 7, 2013
This an engaging story of a brave English woman, Diana, who after five years marriage to William Furnaval was widowed when William traveled to Transylvania in response to a local Gatekeepers petition for help in closing a gate. He suspected a trap but, prepared himself as best he could and refused Diana's requests to accompany him. William had introduced Diana to his families roles as Gatekeepers over the centuries and shared his book of Gateways, Conjunctions and Banishments by Dr. Martin Fox. She also accompanied him on a couple of Gateway closures. William wrote daily as he traveled to Transylvania but, after several days without a post, received a communication from a local magistrate advising Diana of her husbands death and asking for advice regarding disposition of his body. Diana was stricken but, decided to apply herself to finding William as she sensed that he was still alive but needed to be saved. She applied herself to reviewing the occult literature in the Furnaval library and then traveled to London to do further research. She was contacted by a Stephen Chappell, who represented a book store in London and was invited to visit the store and meet Mr. Chappell. He placed an invaluable reference book in her hands. He seemed to know what she needed without really knowing what she intended to use it for. Diana happened upon a family friend while in London and while they were catching up, discovered that the shipper/importer was having problems with their dock workers in China. It sounded like the type of activity that was caused by a Gateway opening and allowing difficult entities to enter where they created havoc. The shippers daughter, Antonia, was Sir Edward Hinton pride and joy and was named with a near masculine name which Diana believed was Eddies desire to have a male heir. Eddie was Williams God father and had accepted Diana as like a daughter when they married. With Diana's parents dead, she accepted Eddie as a father figure. The Hinton company was one of England's largest trading firms, rivaling the fleet of the once great East India Trading Company which kept England well supplied with tea from China. Eddie listened while Diana shared her sorrow with the loss of William. In an effort to divert her attention, Eddie offered a puzzle for Diana to solve. When he told her of the difficulty on the docks of Canton, she recalled that a gateway was located near there at something called Ho-Nam. When investigated, Eddie was told the Goong-si and the natives of Canton knew that the goong-si was a member of the living dead who preys on men for their blood, a vampire. Diana against Eddie's advice insisted on trying to remedy the situation and bartered to be let off the ship in Calcutta to deal with a Gateway there as well. Once Eddie made travel arrangements for Diana, she was surprised when she was met on deck by Antonia who informed her that she was traveling with her as well. She met a young Chinese man who was a ship's officer. He was tall for his age and very handsome with good build. He and Diana agreed to teach each other their languages while they traveled together. Yi-Kin became Diana's secretary and support for her gate closing efforts. Diana, Yi-Kin and Mina (Diana's kitten) became principle members of the effort to block the Evil side from taking over the world. Diana with help from the book store guy, Stephen Chappell and her crew fought demons and closed Gateways across the world, frequently escaping by the quick wits of Diana, Yi-Kin and the fiesty kitten, Mina. Solving riddles or using knifes or magic bullets to extract themselves from evil ends. One quandary closely follows another with the team narrowly surviving. Eventually, the team enters the Netherworld to confront the head demon and solve the mystery of Williams existence. The team will amaze you with their inventive solutions to the problems poised by their confrontation with the undead and evil fiends.
An entertaining read!
An entertaining read!
March 12, 2014
A delightfully scary meld of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery, with the best qualities of them all, Netherworld is book one in a trilogy by the indomitable Lisa Morton. I wanted a touch of steampunk in this novel as well, but the elements it did have were enough to almost make me want to sleep with the lights on.
Morton writes in a satisfyingly shadowy way, starting her book in the Western World and then blending in the back story, moving with aplomb between Victorian era England, India, China and Los Angeles. The main cast consists of the Lady Diana Furnaval, widowed at a young age, her guardian watch-cat Mina, the enigmatic scholar Steven, and her sidekick, the doughty Chinese sailor Yi-kin. Each of these characters turns up in the nick of time as her journeys progress.
Each personality quickly takes on a three-dimensional persona. The reader grows with the story and learns much about the Netherworld, Gateways and the Lord's Prayer, chanted backwards. There are 81 gateways, and Lady Furnaval is determined to close them all. At the beginning of the story, she has managed to close six.
Most of the novel surrounds Furnaval's travels and experiences gate-closing. There is not much written about the actual battle scenes with the horrific monsters, which our protagonist seems to overpower with ease and little damage to herself. Her fellow travelers each have their own skills and areas of competence, and although Furnaval misses her husband, who was once her companion in seeking out the unholy portals, she is well before her time in her clothing, her habits, and her perspectives. There are several sidebar-type rants about prejudice and the treatment of the Chinese globe-wide, which seemed distracting and not really much help in furthering the plot.
We discover that her husband is only presumed dead, and the lovely, mysterious "widow" is subliminally hoping that somewhere in her travels, she will find him once again. The clever cat Mina has knowledge beyond her cat body, and she is definitive in her likes and dislikes and her ability to lead the way to gateways. The scholar Steven is equally unusual, and perhaps not even human. And Yi-kin is enigmatic and bound to his Chinese roots, wherever they travel.
It is a great adventure to explore the 1880s with this intrepid band of misfits, and once one can let go of the "normal" Victorian age, it is easy to see the remarkable research and information presented about causes as broad as workers' rights and industrial improvements and the plight of small children forced to labor for long hours for little payment. The dialog and storyline keep up the pace, presenting the scary and the profane along with the mundane and the predictable.
I look forward to the rest of the trilogy, and hope Morton's unique perspective of the world during Victorian times continues to thrill and chill her readers.
by Laura Strathman Hulka
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
Morton writes in a satisfyingly shadowy way, starting her book in the Western World and then blending in the back story, moving with aplomb between Victorian era England, India, China and Los Angeles. The main cast consists of the Lady Diana Furnaval, widowed at a young age, her guardian watch-cat Mina, the enigmatic scholar Steven, and her sidekick, the doughty Chinese sailor Yi-kin. Each of these characters turns up in the nick of time as her journeys progress.
Each personality quickly takes on a three-dimensional persona. The reader grows with the story and learns much about the Netherworld, Gateways and the Lord's Prayer, chanted backwards. There are 81 gateways, and Lady Furnaval is determined to close them all. At the beginning of the story, she has managed to close six.
Most of the novel surrounds Furnaval's travels and experiences gate-closing. There is not much written about the actual battle scenes with the horrific monsters, which our protagonist seems to overpower with ease and little damage to herself. Her fellow travelers each have their own skills and areas of competence, and although Furnaval misses her husband, who was once her companion in seeking out the unholy portals, she is well before her time in her clothing, her habits, and her perspectives. There are several sidebar-type rants about prejudice and the treatment of the Chinese globe-wide, which seemed distracting and not really much help in furthering the plot.
We discover that her husband is only presumed dead, and the lovely, mysterious "widow" is subliminally hoping that somewhere in her travels, she will find him once again. The clever cat Mina has knowledge beyond her cat body, and she is definitive in her likes and dislikes and her ability to lead the way to gateways. The scholar Steven is equally unusual, and perhaps not even human. And Yi-kin is enigmatic and bound to his Chinese roots, wherever they travel.
It is a great adventure to explore the 1880s with this intrepid band of misfits, and once one can let go of the "normal" Victorian age, it is easy to see the remarkable research and information presented about causes as broad as workers' rights and industrial improvements and the plight of small children forced to labor for long hours for little payment. The dialog and storyline keep up the pace, presenting the scary and the profane along with the mundane and the predictable.
I look forward to the rest of the trilogy, and hope Morton's unique perspective of the world during Victorian times continues to thrill and chill her readers.
by Laura Strathman Hulka
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
December 26, 2013
DISCLAIMER: I received an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review!
I actually received, and enjoyed, a short story from Lisa Morton earlier this year so I was rather pleased when I received an eARC.
First off, Lisa is an amazing writer (but, then again, she won a Bram Stoker award so... yea..) and the voice in NETHERWORLD is completely different from SUMMER'S END. Her writing in NETHERWORLD reminded me of the travelogues (that I was forced to read in my literature classes) but it wasn't dry to bore me to pieces. In fact, I loved the fact that it was a reminiscent of them because it made her story more historically-accurate(?)... (I can't think of the word right now to express my thoughts.. ugh).
Even better, the details in NETHERWORLD was extremely historically accurate (or as best as a non-historian could do). I felt as though she truly detailed the world in its accuracy and I felt as though I truly traveled with Diana to 19th century China and San Francisco. Even though the time period this novel takes place in was full of racial stereotypes and racism, I thought that Lisa did a great job with portraying Diana's "full-time secretary", Yi-Kin. Even though some aspects of him was pretty stereotypical (master at kung-fu and she even managed to get the sentence structure of Chinese immigrants down perfectly), he came off as a genuine and extremely likeable.
The premise behind the story wasn't that original (dimensional gateways that lead demons from another realm into ours) and the plot, I felt, was kind of shaky but it was still an enjoyable read. Like SUMMER'S END, Lisa managed to introduce new legends that aren't prevalent in mainstream consciousness and she did an amazing job at connecting the different folklores and horror tales about the world with her world.
However, I felt as though she didn't explain the mechanics/rules of her premise as well as she could. While I finished reading satisfied at the ending, there were still some questions whose answers I yearned to discover. But, it wasn't that frustrating to the point where I had to take off a star (or even half a star).
But, I had to take out a star is because I felt as though action isn't Lisa's strong point. There are a lot of action/fighting scenes in this novel (mainly having to do with closing the gateways) but it felt as though she was telling me what was happening rather than showing me the actual scenes. When I should have been rapidly flipping the pages, trying to figure out what was happening next, it just felt as though I drudged through it, observing from a safe distance rather than being caught in the middle of the danger.
Overall, this was a solid first book of a great series, but it could have also been an amazing standalone. I wouldn't say that you have to read this book, but I wouldn't say that you have to skip this book as well.
Originally reviewed at http://reader.christiney.com
I actually received, and enjoyed, a short story from Lisa Morton earlier this year so I was rather pleased when I received an eARC.
First off, Lisa is an amazing writer (but, then again, she won a Bram Stoker award so... yea..) and the voice in NETHERWORLD is completely different from SUMMER'S END. Her writing in NETHERWORLD reminded me of the travelogues (that I was forced to read in my literature classes) but it wasn't dry to bore me to pieces. In fact, I loved the fact that it was a reminiscent of them because it made her story more historically-accurate(?)... (I can't think of the word right now to express my thoughts.. ugh).
Even better, the details in NETHERWORLD was extremely historically accurate (or as best as a non-historian could do). I felt as though she truly detailed the world in its accuracy and I felt as though I truly traveled with Diana to 19th century China and San Francisco. Even though the time period this novel takes place in was full of racial stereotypes and racism, I thought that Lisa did a great job with portraying Diana's "full-time secretary", Yi-Kin. Even though some aspects of him was pretty stereotypical (master at kung-fu and she even managed to get the sentence structure of Chinese immigrants down perfectly), he came off as a genuine and extremely likeable.
The premise behind the story wasn't that original (dimensional gateways that lead demons from another realm into ours) and the plot, I felt, was kind of shaky but it was still an enjoyable read. Like SUMMER'S END, Lisa managed to introduce new legends that aren't prevalent in mainstream consciousness and she did an amazing job at connecting the different folklores and horror tales about the world with her world.
However, I felt as though she didn't explain the mechanics/rules of her premise as well as she could. While I finished reading satisfied at the ending, there were still some questions whose answers I yearned to discover. But, it wasn't that frustrating to the point where I had to take off a star (or even half a star).
But, I had to take out a star is because I felt as though action isn't Lisa's strong point. There are a lot of action/fighting scenes in this novel (mainly having to do with closing the gateways) but it felt as though she was telling me what was happening rather than showing me the actual scenes. When I should have been rapidly flipping the pages, trying to figure out what was happening next, it just felt as though I drudged through it, observing from a safe distance rather than being caught in the middle of the danger.
Overall, this was a solid first book of a great series, but it could have also been an amazing standalone. I wouldn't say that you have to read this book, but I wouldn't say that you have to skip this book as well.
Originally reviewed at http://reader.christiney.com
December 25, 2013
This gothic tale tells the adventures of Lady Furnaval, a Victorian-style Buffy who battles evil forces across the world. Diana sort of inherited her role as Guardian of a gateway to the Netherworld in England when she married Lord Furnaval. Shortly after the wedding, her husband was lured to Transylvania where he died a horrible death. Diana was devastated but she continued her late husband's work. Seeking revenge, she went even further. After ceaseless research, she found the Book of Gateways, Conjurations and Banishments. With the help of a sensitive cat and a lot of willpower, she started sealing the gateways that the creatures used to come into this world. As she gained experience, she travelled from England to Transylvania, India, China and the United States. Every time she closed a gateway, she fought all kinds of demons, vampires and foul creatures. And her enemies' wrath was growing dangerously.
Diana's quest to avenge her husband makes her a resilient heroine. I love the idea of a Victorian lady taking paranormal matters into her hands and going right into the lion's den. She tries to be smart by researching as much as she can before she confronts an enemy. Not only does she count on a cat to sniff evil around her, which is awesome in itself, but she also gets herself a side-kick that's a fantastic addition to the adventure. The story starts in England, getting that old-film flavour so typical of gothic tales. Soon it outgrows its limits, so Diana crosses borders and takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride to exotic lands. Rich in detail, these cultures come to life through descriptions that remind me of a journal sometimes. We get to know the landscape, the ancient traditions, the food and social customs. All along, Diana has deadly encounters with vampires and demons, and she has to rely not only on her wits but also on local wisdom.
It has plenty of action scenes and the last part of the book, when the drama reaches its full potential, is utterly awesome. Even though there are many attractive features, including some sensual romance, I particularly enjoyed the travelling adventures because of two things. On the one hand, the thrill of the fights against so many cool demons. On the other hand, the chance to review on varied cultural themes such as the social injustice in India, the language and folklore in China, or the role of the Chinese people in the building of the railway in the United States.
Diana Furnaval is a great action heroine with fantastic side-kicks that could tell many more stories in this paranormal nineteenth century setting. Really worth it.
Diana's quest to avenge her husband makes her a resilient heroine. I love the idea of a Victorian lady taking paranormal matters into her hands and going right into the lion's den. She tries to be smart by researching as much as she can before she confronts an enemy. Not only does she count on a cat to sniff evil around her, which is awesome in itself, but she also gets herself a side-kick that's a fantastic addition to the adventure. The story starts in England, getting that old-film flavour so typical of gothic tales. Soon it outgrows its limits, so Diana crosses borders and takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride to exotic lands. Rich in detail, these cultures come to life through descriptions that remind me of a journal sometimes. We get to know the landscape, the ancient traditions, the food and social customs. All along, Diana has deadly encounters with vampires and demons, and she has to rely not only on her wits but also on local wisdom.
It has plenty of action scenes and the last part of the book, when the drama reaches its full potential, is utterly awesome. Even though there are many attractive features, including some sensual romance, I particularly enjoyed the travelling adventures because of two things. On the one hand, the thrill of the fights against so many cool demons. On the other hand, the chance to review on varied cultural themes such as the social injustice in India, the language and folklore in China, or the role of the Chinese people in the building of the railway in the United States.
Diana Furnaval is a great action heroine with fantastic side-kicks that could tell many more stories in this paranormal nineteenth century setting. Really worth it.
January 28, 2014
Netherworld by award-winning novelist Lisa Morton is the first book in the Chronicles of Diana Furnaval series. Diana and her husband William are locked in the classic battle of good vs. evil throughout this novel. The story begins in England October 31, 1879. Diana is an extraordinary woman, risking her life to save mankind from demons, evil spirits and specters that are entering the world through gateways from the Netherworld.
It was the Furnavals' mission in life to close all of the gateways in the world. Using incantations from “The Book of Gateways, Conjurations and Banishments”, as well as various herbs, knives, and human blood, she and William fought evil without regard for themselves. William traveled to Transylvania to close a gateway, but returned to England in a coffin. Distraught, Diana searches for answers but finds herself questioning William’s apparent death.
She travels, in an era where women did not venture out alone, to dangerous parts of the world. Her husband’s fortune and her steely determination take her to Europe, China, the United States and back to England, closing gateways. All the while, she is looking for her husband. If William is indeed caught in an evil place between earth and the Netherworld she is willing to do anything to save him.
Morton is a masterful storyteller. I loved the way she wove history into this novel. Customs and traditions accompany the page-turning, heart-stopping terror Diana finds herself facing at every turn. The story is rich in culture and creatures, a mix that works well to keep you reading well into the night.
The second book in the Chronicles of Diana Furnaval is scheduled for release in 2015, the third in 2017 per her website http://lisamorton.com/zine/. It is no surprise to find out Ms. Morton is a Halloween expert. All Hollow’s Eve plays a big part in Netherworld and in her world. I am really looking forward to reading the rest of this series.
Copyright © 2014 Laura Hartman
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
It was the Furnavals' mission in life to close all of the gateways in the world. Using incantations from “The Book of Gateways, Conjurations and Banishments”, as well as various herbs, knives, and human blood, she and William fought evil without regard for themselves. William traveled to Transylvania to close a gateway, but returned to England in a coffin. Distraught, Diana searches for answers but finds herself questioning William’s apparent death.
She travels, in an era where women did not venture out alone, to dangerous parts of the world. Her husband’s fortune and her steely determination take her to Europe, China, the United States and back to England, closing gateways. All the while, she is looking for her husband. If William is indeed caught in an evil place between earth and the Netherworld she is willing to do anything to save him.
Morton is a masterful storyteller. I loved the way she wove history into this novel. Customs and traditions accompany the page-turning, heart-stopping terror Diana finds herself facing at every turn. The story is rich in culture and creatures, a mix that works well to keep you reading well into the night.
The second book in the Chronicles of Diana Furnaval is scheduled for release in 2015, the third in 2017 per her website http://lisamorton.com/zine/. It is no surprise to find out Ms. Morton is a Halloween expert. All Hollow’s Eve plays a big part in Netherworld and in her world. I am really looking forward to reading the rest of this series.
Copyright © 2014 Laura Hartman
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
January 5, 2014
Pow! Bam! Zap! These are common sound effects added to the antics of Batman and his trusty side-kick…or the way my mouth reacts after shoving a packet of Pop Rocks inside. Either way, the result bursts with fun and flavor, and I’m tuned in for the duration of the adrenaline kick. This is the same way I responded to the fabulous new novel from author Lisa Morton, Netherworld.
From the opening scene our heroine, Lady Diana, wields self-confidence and a gun with expertise, but tempers it with femininity and a feline side-kick, Mina. Our pistol-packin’ protagonist, with her trusty athame strapped to her leg (she’s wearing men’s trousers for ease in kicking supernatural butt), never hesitates when she either disposes of a demon with verve, closes a portal with her own blood sacrifice, or throws an innuendo at an attractive man. This is a character that I would love to sit down with for a lengthy conversation about her travels, or take with me for a night on the town; either way, it’s going to provide me with hours of entertainment.
The very few drawbacks to this incredibly well-researched novel took time to find. First, there’s Lady Di’s age, listed at 30. Although acceptable, it is not entirely believable for the era when women married much younger. Diana has been widowed for a few years at the onset of the story, making her nearly an old maid when she wed to start. Morton risks alienating some potential readers in the young adult/new adult interests by aging her lead. This is a small slip, especially when compared to the main complaint I had with the storyline, dealing with Yi-kin, Lady Diana’s newfound traveling companion. Morton spends an inordinate amount of time dealing with the racism Yi-kin faces from shore to shore. Although accurate historically (again, fabulously researched), it becomes a preachy soap-box distraction from the character study of Diana and her adventures.
In short, I couldn’t get enough of the lovely Lady Furnaval and am anticipating the next Pow! Bam! Zap! she promises to deliver in another installment.
From the opening scene our heroine, Lady Diana, wields self-confidence and a gun with expertise, but tempers it with femininity and a feline side-kick, Mina. Our pistol-packin’ protagonist, with her trusty athame strapped to her leg (she’s wearing men’s trousers for ease in kicking supernatural butt), never hesitates when she either disposes of a demon with verve, closes a portal with her own blood sacrifice, or throws an innuendo at an attractive man. This is a character that I would love to sit down with for a lengthy conversation about her travels, or take with me for a night on the town; either way, it’s going to provide me with hours of entertainment.
The very few drawbacks to this incredibly well-researched novel took time to find. First, there’s Lady Di’s age, listed at 30. Although acceptable, it is not entirely believable for the era when women married much younger. Diana has been widowed for a few years at the onset of the story, making her nearly an old maid when she wed to start. Morton risks alienating some potential readers in the young adult/new adult interests by aging her lead. This is a small slip, especially when compared to the main complaint I had with the storyline, dealing with Yi-kin, Lady Diana’s newfound traveling companion. Morton spends an inordinate amount of time dealing with the racism Yi-kin faces from shore to shore. Although accurate historically (again, fabulously researched), it becomes a preachy soap-box distraction from the character study of Diana and her adventures.
In short, I couldn’t get enough of the lovely Lady Furnaval and am anticipating the next Pow! Bam! Zap! she promises to deliver in another installment.
January 6, 2014
The main character, Lady Diana Furnaval, is dealing with her husband's recent death. She is a widow during the 1880s in London. Her husband was a gatekeeper and because he is the last in his line, the role/title goes to his wife. She is determined to finish her husbands work and close all the Gateways leading to the Netherworld. Lady Funraval's mission takes her to China in the midst of the opium trade, to Calcutta, San Francisco, West Virginia and finally back to London. She is running out of time to close all the Gateways as the Netherworld creatures are getting stronger. Her late husband's journal has provided some clues and her companions turn out to be very helpful. The journal came to Diana by way of Stephen Chappell's odd bookstore. In fact, Stephen turns out to be there when he is needed, quite often. The ending is exciting and will leave readers looking forward to Book 2.[return][return]I thought the author did a lot of research to get the descriptions and setting right in all the places that were mentioned. There were also a lot of difficult issues addressed like about the British and Chinese perspectives of the Opium trade, how the Indian people were treated by the British in their homeland, how the Chinese were viewed in San Francisco and other parts of the US. The author gave a lot of historical information that flowed perfectly with the story. I also enjoyed the supernatural part of the story to be seamlessly integrated, leaving the reader to believe it is real. I think the characters are well developed, leaving room for more development of Stephen Chappell (hopefully he will play a larger role in the 2nd book). The dialogue is well done and flows easily. While the story is dark and there are supernatural creatures that lead to violence; I think overall the content is not objectionable and would make a great addition to a school or public library. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down and I am looking forward to the next book.
July 25, 2014
I really enjoy the premise of a female Victorian monster-hunter and Netherworld (Chronicles of Diana Furnaval) by Lisa Morton did not disappoint. I received this ebook through LibraryThing Early Reviewers and found it to be an interesting and exciting read. The author has clearly spent a great deal of time in doing historical research on this time period and Britain's attitudes towards India and the Chinese. I found it fascinating and greatly enjoyed reading the tidbits of historical knowledge sprinkled throughout the book. It actually made me want research the Opium Wars on my own since I had never heard of them. Morton does a really excellent job of weaving historical information into the story as well as showing the ignorance, cruelty, and prejudice of the times, especially towards the Chinese.
I loved the character of Diana. She's fiesty and resourceful, intelligent and unafraid to stand up for what she believes in. Loyal, brave and generous, Diana is a strong female lead who is easy to like and root for. She is determined to carry on the work of her husband in fighting evil creatures from the Netherworld, as well as fulfill his dream of closing the *Gates" that exist between our world and this other plane of existence. Her allies are collected along the way and are interesting characters themselves, some more mysterious than others, and defintely characters I hope to see more of in future stories featuring Diana.
I loved that the Gateways to Netherworld were all over the world and that depending on where they were located, the creatures that could come through revolved around that culture and its mythologies and legends. Hence,vampires that enter our world through a Gateway in Transylvania may be quite different than vampires that come through a Gateway in China and the means to dispatch them back to their own realm are quite different and require knowledge of the local folklore. I thought that was a brilliant tough!
I really enjoyed Diana and her adventures and hope to read more of them in the future!
I loved the character of Diana. She's fiesty and resourceful, intelligent and unafraid to stand up for what she believes in. Loyal, brave and generous, Diana is a strong female lead who is easy to like and root for. She is determined to carry on the work of her husband in fighting evil creatures from the Netherworld, as well as fulfill his dream of closing the *Gates" that exist between our world and this other plane of existence. Her allies are collected along the way and are interesting characters themselves, some more mysterious than others, and defintely characters I hope to see more of in future stories featuring Diana.
I loved that the Gateways to Netherworld were all over the world and that depending on where they were located, the creatures that could come through revolved around that culture and its mythologies and legends. Hence,vampires that enter our world through a Gateway in Transylvania may be quite different than vampires that come through a Gateway in China and the means to dispatch them back to their own realm are quite different and require knowledge of the local folklore. I thought that was a brilliant tough!
I really enjoyed Diana and her adventures and hope to read more of them in the future!
January 18, 2015
I got this book from a Goodreads giveaway. I feel lucky to have received it.
This is the kind of book that leaves you feeling very satisfied at the end, well entertained, and that the hours it took to read it were well spent.
Its chief asset is a 19th century woman who is truly a lady, and a product of her time, but still with a spine of steel when she needs it. Intelligent. Compassionate, but not too soft. Brave. Great character.
Also, the changing scenery of her travels was handled beautifully, giving a taste of exotic locales and antiquated mores and customs without inundating the reader with superfluous detail.
I liked the secondary characters, but I would hope they are fleshed out a little more in later books. Chappell was more of a tease, Morton never revealing what he truly was. Yi-kin could have also had a bit more depth. His backstory should have elicited more emotion from me, but she TOLD us what happened rather than SHOWING us how it affected him.
There were some problems with pacing that brought this down from a five-star book. After the initial chapter, she begins the story with a dump of backstory that dragged the beginning down. Also, the first two hundred pages felt like they were meandering from place to place without any definite story arc going on. But it was a scenic, entertaining meandering where the idle moments were as interesting to read about as the adrenaline-packed ones were. I held out hope that there was going to be a point to all this, content with just enjoying the read, and Morton eventually delivered. This is a slow-simmer sort of story rather than the action-filled typet of fantasy you see so often these days.
A book I would recommend to anyone.
This is the kind of book that leaves you feeling very satisfied at the end, well entertained, and that the hours it took to read it were well spent.
Its chief asset is a 19th century woman who is truly a lady, and a product of her time, but still with a spine of steel when she needs it. Intelligent. Compassionate, but not too soft. Brave. Great character.
Also, the changing scenery of her travels was handled beautifully, giving a taste of exotic locales and antiquated mores and customs without inundating the reader with superfluous detail.
I liked the secondary characters, but I would hope they are fleshed out a little more in later books. Chappell was more of a tease, Morton never revealing what he truly was. Yi-kin could have also had a bit more depth. His backstory should have elicited more emotion from me, but she TOLD us what happened rather than SHOWING us how it affected him.
There were some problems with pacing that brought this down from a five-star book. After the initial chapter, she begins the story with a dump of backstory that dragged the beginning down. Also, the first two hundred pages felt like they were meandering from place to place without any definite story arc going on. But it was a scenic, entertaining meandering where the idle moments were as interesting to read about as the adrenaline-packed ones were. I held out hope that there was going to be a point to all this, content with just enjoying the read, and Morton eventually delivered. This is a slow-simmer sort of story rather than the action-filled typet of fantasy you see so often these days.
A book I would recommend to anyone.
January 8, 2014
Review copy
What a great way to kick off 2014. Lisa Morton has just set the standard for genre literature for the year ahead with an epic adventure into the Netherworld.
It starts with a very nice cover design ftom Rob Grom which perfectly captures the look and attitude of Lady Diana Furnaval.
With her lead character, Bram Stoker award winning author, Lisa Morton has created a worthy counterpart to Indiana Jones.
From Victorian England, our heroine travels the world in an effort to close the gateways to the Netherworld and to avenge the death of her husband. From Calcutta, India to Canton, China to both coasts of the USA and back to England, Lady Diana and her cat, Mina, battle demons, lizard people, vampires, as well as your garden variety bad guys.
Lisa Morton's writing was wonderfully detailed, showing the research that had to have gone into her descriptions of the locales and the believable monsters Lady Diana must face.
There is so much to like in this epic tale, it's not just good vs. evil, there are a lot of gray areas and numerous subplots. I particularly liked Chappell and Sons Booksellers.
If you are hesitant to read the first book in a series before the others are published, don't be. There is a good bit of closure at the end of book one and at the same time you can easily see the possibilities for continued adventures. Plus, there is a terrific surprise in the last chapter.
Netherworld: Book One of the Chronicles of Diana Furnaval has everything I like in a book. Great characterization, well-told story, plenty of action and a place I'd like to return to someday.
Netherworld: Book One of the Chronicles of Diana Furnaval is set for release on January 10th and is available for pre-order in Hardcover and Papeback from Amazon.com.
What a great way to kick off 2014. Lisa Morton has just set the standard for genre literature for the year ahead with an epic adventure into the Netherworld.
It starts with a very nice cover design ftom Rob Grom which perfectly captures the look and attitude of Lady Diana Furnaval.
With her lead character, Bram Stoker award winning author, Lisa Morton has created a worthy counterpart to Indiana Jones.
From Victorian England, our heroine travels the world in an effort to close the gateways to the Netherworld and to avenge the death of her husband. From Calcutta, India to Canton, China to both coasts of the USA and back to England, Lady Diana and her cat, Mina, battle demons, lizard people, vampires, as well as your garden variety bad guys.
Lisa Morton's writing was wonderfully detailed, showing the research that had to have gone into her descriptions of the locales and the believable monsters Lady Diana must face.
There is so much to like in this epic tale, it's not just good vs. evil, there are a lot of gray areas and numerous subplots. I particularly liked Chappell and Sons Booksellers.
If you are hesitant to read the first book in a series before the others are published, don't be. There is a good bit of closure at the end of book one and at the same time you can easily see the possibilities for continued adventures. Plus, there is a terrific surprise in the last chapter.
Netherworld: Book One of the Chronicles of Diana Furnaval has everything I like in a book. Great characterization, well-told story, plenty of action and a place I'd like to return to someday.
Netherworld: Book One of the Chronicles of Diana Furnaval is set for release on January 10th and is available for pre-order in Hardcover and Papeback from Amazon.com.
August 13, 2016
I received a copy of Netherworld by Lisa Morton in LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program. While horror is not a must-read genre for me, I really enjoyed the book nonetheless. Morton has created an engaging heroine in the character of Diana Furnaval, a Victorian widow of decidedly unVictorian ideas and ideals. Diana is aided in her quest to close gateways into the Netherworld around the globe by Mina, a very talented tabby (and an homage to Bram Stoker), and Yi-kin Leung, a loyal young Chinese man with hidden depths. Part of what made the novel so entertaining was the different locations – England, Europe, India, China, and the United States. Morton made all these settings believable for the late 1800s, with the exception of ignoring the existence of the transcontinental railroad in the U.S. at this time. Also adding to the richness of the background was the inclusion of mythology from all the countries included in the story. Morton’s treatment of vampires is in keeping with the different legends of the time, including the Chinese hopping vampires, but not in line with today’s romantic tortured soul, so lovers of Sookie Stackhouse beware. As the announced Book One of the Chronicles of Diana Furnaval, the book still has a very satisfying conclusion, while leaving plenty to be covered in future sequels.
December 3, 2013
Lady Diana Furnaval, though only just turned 30, is both a widow and a demon hunter. When her husband, William Furnaval, who is from a family of gateway keepers – the portals between the mortal world and the Netherworld – is reported murdered in Europe, Diana inherits his estate and becomes the last gatekeeper. Rather than just keeping watch over the gates, though, she vows to close each and every one of them, sealing the demons in there hell.
Her quest, along with her cat Mina, takes her from Europe to China, where she meets Yi-Kin who enlists in her quest, to America, and finally, to Netherworld itself, when she learns of a demonic plan to invade the mortal realm. She must stop the invasion, but the cost could be more than she can afford to pay.
Lisa Morton’s Netherworld: Book One of the Chronicles of Diana Furnaval, is a supernatural thriller with epic scope, crafted as only a British fantasy writer can – in a deceptively understated style that sneaks up on you, and says ‘boo!’ before you know what’s happening. Follow Diana as Morton takes her on an epic journey that spans the globe and reality, and when you’re done, you’ll be panting for Book Two.
Her quest, along with her cat Mina, takes her from Europe to China, where she meets Yi-Kin who enlists in her quest, to America, and finally, to Netherworld itself, when she learns of a demonic plan to invade the mortal realm. She must stop the invasion, but the cost could be more than she can afford to pay.
Lisa Morton’s Netherworld: Book One of the Chronicles of Diana Furnaval, is a supernatural thriller with epic scope, crafted as only a British fantasy writer can – in a deceptively understated style that sneaks up on you, and says ‘boo!’ before you know what’s happening. Follow Diana as Morton takes her on an epic journey that spans the globe and reality, and when you’re done, you’ll be panting for Book Two.
January 12, 2014
Major thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I'm struggling with where to start this review. I enjoyed this book--the world was a great deal of fun, I felt drawn in to the adventures of Diana, and I was curious to find out what happened. Really, the main issue I had with the story was that I wasn't really drawn to Diana. At the end of the book, I still didn't feel like I had any connection with her. I imagine this is a personal thing, but I kind of just didn't care for her much. I was honestly much more drawn to Yi-Kin and found him very interesting, and wished I'd seen more of him. The book did traverse a great deal of ground, which was well done and interesting from a historical perspective (and made me miss San Francisco fiercely). Overall, I think it was more my personal taste that left me not particularly getting sucked into this one, and others will feel differently. It's a fun read, and if you enjoy a good historical with a paranormal bent, this is one you might want to take a look at.
I'm struggling with where to start this review. I enjoyed this book--the world was a great deal of fun, I felt drawn in to the adventures of Diana, and I was curious to find out what happened. Really, the main issue I had with the story was that I wasn't really drawn to Diana. At the end of the book, I still didn't feel like I had any connection with her. I imagine this is a personal thing, but I kind of just didn't care for her much. I was honestly much more drawn to Yi-Kin and found him very interesting, and wished I'd seen more of him. The book did traverse a great deal of ground, which was well done and interesting from a historical perspective (and made me miss San Francisco fiercely). Overall, I think it was more my personal taste that left me not particularly getting sucked into this one, and others will feel differently. It's a fun read, and if you enjoy a good historical with a paranormal bent, this is one you might want to take a look at.
April 23, 2014
Lady Diana Furnaval has trained herself to become a gatekeeper to netherworld or gateways. Diana having lost her husband now makes it her mission to close as many gateways as possible. Her travels take her all over the world. Lady Diana meets Leung Yi-kin who desires to learn more English language and about gateways as possible. Stephen Chappell is an Occult Bookstore Owner and mysterious stranger helps Diana on her quest. Diana learns that her husband may not be dead after all. Diana and Yi-kin race to find as many gateways to close. Can Diana close the gateways? How will Yi-kin help her? Who is Stephen Chappell? Can Diana's husband be saved? Your answers await you in Netherworld.
I love this mix of fantasy and science in this book! Lady Diana is such a likeable character. Her determination is inspiring and intriguing. The concept of netherworld or gateways is interesting as well. I'll definitely read more of this author's work in the future.
I love this mix of fantasy and science in this book! Lady Diana is such a likeable character. Her determination is inspiring and intriguing. The concept of netherworld or gateways is interesting as well. I'll definitely read more of this author's work in the future.
November 23, 2013
I received this book through Good reads first reads. Netherworld is about Lady Dinana Furnaval, a young English widow who after her husbands death, has to carry on his work of closing gateways of the supernatural world. Supernatural forces are angry with Diana and they want to wage a war against her. She to travel across the world to close the gateways and find out the truth about her husbands death. Diana has supernatural demons and personal demons to fight.
I enjoyed Netherworld. It is fast paced and intriguing. I loved reading about different locations and cultures of the nineteenth- century. This book has lots of action, but also plenty of scares and gore for the horror fan.
I enjoyed Netherworld. It is fast paced and intriguing. I loved reading about different locations and cultures of the nineteenth- century. This book has lots of action, but also plenty of scares and gore for the horror fan.
April 26, 2014
Received as part of the first-reads program quite a few months ago, I finally got around to reading this book the other day. I greatly enjoyed Lisa Morton's writing in this book, even though the book seems to be written for an audience that never learned to read above the fifth-grade level. This is acceptable though, because most of the written material out there is written at this level. I greatly enjoyed the storyline that Diana Furnaval was weaved into, and thought it was wholly original, except for the classic good/evil plot, which is fairly inescapable to write about. Though I received this title for free, I am now looking to buy the later books in the series because I enjoyed this one so much.
March 4, 2014
Won on Goodreads
Netherworld by Lisa Morton
Great story and quite unusial across between Holmes and and sci fy but shes a Great Lady
Lady Furnavals lived a peaceful life with her husband and they would watch over the Gateways where Demonic entities come through. On a trip William her
beloved husband dies and she is sure it has to do with the Gateways so she hunts books and advice and starts closing the gates. Well the other side does not like
this and during her journey across the world closing Gateways she is joined by several people who help including a cat that can show exactly where the opening
are. If only she had not crossed through herself the terror she endures is great before and after.
Netherworld by Lisa Morton
Great story and quite unusial across between Holmes and and sci fy but shes a Great Lady
Lady Furnavals lived a peaceful life with her husband and they would watch over the Gateways where Demonic entities come through. On a trip William her
beloved husband dies and she is sure it has to do with the Gateways so she hunts books and advice and starts closing the gates. Well the other side does not like
this and during her journey across the world closing Gateways she is joined by several people who help including a cat that can show exactly where the opening
are. If only she had not crossed through herself the terror she endures is great before and after.
April 2, 2014
I obtained this book through the Library Thing Early Reviewer program.
Diana found her husband was far more than the titled handsome and fine man she married. She discovered he was a gatekeeper, one of the last to defend the gates to the Netherworld. When her husband goes to Transylvania and disappears, she feels required to take up her duties herself, but she plans not to just guard the portals, but instead to close every one of them she can find. Needless to say, she makes enemies on the far side of the portals.
A good first effort, but I certain scenes seemed to go on too long, and they dragged as a result. But I enjoyed the world building and the characters were all well drawn and interesting. I especially appreciated a fully capable heroine.
Diana found her husband was far more than the titled handsome and fine man she married. She discovered he was a gatekeeper, one of the last to defend the gates to the Netherworld. When her husband goes to Transylvania and disappears, she feels required to take up her duties herself, but she plans not to just guard the portals, but instead to close every one of them she can find. Needless to say, she makes enemies on the far side of the portals.
A good first effort, but I certain scenes seemed to go on too long, and they dragged as a result. But I enjoyed the world building and the characters were all well drawn and interesting. I especially appreciated a fully capable heroine.
November 1, 2013
I just finished reading my free Lisa Morton’s book Netherworld ( that i won from the goodreads first reads) .. it was a great read. I continually had to force myself to put the book down in order to do day to day activities. The diverse beings and culture span of this book was a wonderful change and a definite page turner. Ms. Morton has the ability to keep you on the edge of your seat with her writing. Her statement of learning with an open mind the differences in culture with the infallible testament that we all face good and evil , maybe an undertone throughout the book but one I heard clearly. I highly recommend this book, it is a great recreational read.
September 7, 2013
In nineteenth-century Victorian England, a young widow finds that she has inherited more than her late husband’s property: The Furnavals serve as the ancestral keepers of supernatural portals scattered around the globe. When demonic entities begin crossing over from the Netherworld, Lady Diana realizes that a war is brewing, and she must be the one to confront it.
Accompanied by a young Chinese sailor named Yi-kin, her feline guardian Mina, and a mysterious scholar, Stephen, Diana will begin a journey to solve the mystery of her husband's death and prevent the apocalypse.
Accompanied by a young Chinese sailor named Yi-kin, her feline guardian Mina, and a mysterious scholar, Stephen, Diana will begin a journey to solve the mystery of her husband's death and prevent the apocalypse.
December 5, 2013
I received an advance copy of the book from LibraryThing.
Netherworld combines a feisty, humorous heroine, her companion familiar (a cat named Mina), and a clever cast of characters on a jaunt to fascinating ports of call in the late 1880s. Not only is it her job to close demonic gateways (there are 81 - plenty of opportunity for a series), but there is also a rumor that her husband is being held on the other side.
This book is eminently readable, and never gets too bogged down in detail or self-importance. I look forward to future works!
Netherworld combines a feisty, humorous heroine, her companion familiar (a cat named Mina), and a clever cast of characters on a jaunt to fascinating ports of call in the late 1880s. Not only is it her job to close demonic gateways (there are 81 - plenty of opportunity for a series), but there is also a rumor that her husband is being held on the other side.
This book is eminently readable, and never gets too bogged down in detail or self-importance. I look forward to future works!
October 29, 2014
I received a review copy of this book through Librarything. I really liked the book. It reminded me quite a bit of the Soulless series by Gail Carriger, except for the lack of steam-punk elements. It's quite an easy read, and I finished the book in a day (but forgot to submit my review straight away).
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