What do you think?
Rate this book
Ravenloft #21
Heaven's Bones
Love and death walk hand in hand...
Dr. Sebastian Robarts is a man paralyzed by the fate of his adored wife, dead in childbirth, their only child with her. He searches for a way to build angels from women, a pastime known to Scotland Yard as murder. Robarts meets the Vistani seer named Trueblood, who becomes his assistant and leads him to the Antebellum-era domain of Riverbend, controlled by the sadistic Dr. Weldon, to create angels, unfettered by conventional morality, or even rules. When the murderer returns to earth, it is the task of a Vistani policeman and a woman with a strange connection to Robarts to stop him. If he can be stopped.
Heaven's Bones skillfully blends horror and steampunk and classic Victorian literary style into something exotic and fascinating.
Dr. Sebastian Robarts is a man paralyzed by the fate of his adored wife, dead in childbirth, their only child with her. He searches for a way to build angels from women, a pastime known to Scotland Yard as murder. Robarts meets the Vistani seer named Trueblood, who becomes his assistant and leads him to the Antebellum-era domain of Riverbend, controlled by the sadistic Dr. Weldon, to create angels, unfettered by conventional morality, or even rules. When the murderer returns to earth, it is the task of a Vistani policeman and a woman with a strange connection to Robarts to stop him. If he can be stopped.
Heaven's Bones skillfully blends horror and steampunk and classic Victorian literary style into something exotic and fascinating.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 2, 2008
11 people are currently reading
515 people want to read
About the author
Samantha Henderson
51 books12 followersSamantha Henderson lives in Southern California with various fauna. Her fiction and poetry have been published in Strange Horizons, Realms of Fantasy, ChiZine, Fantasy Magazine, Lone Star Stories, and Weird Tales.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 15, 2009
if not for the Wizards of the Coast logo, I never would have realized this was a tie-in. Heaven's Bones is a Ravenloft title, putting this into the dark/horror side of the gaming world. I've Henderson puts the evil mists of Ravenloft to good use, setting much of the book in 19th century England, where impenetrable, putrid smog is just part of the London scenery. (Although 19th century Whitechapel is a bit of a giveaway about what's coming. There are no direct Jack the Ripper references, though.)
There are a number of different storylines which come together by the end of the book. The primary stories are those of Dr. Sebastian Robarts, and the Vistani called Trueblood. Trueblood was born with the gift of cursing. While this doesn't make him evil, he chose a dark path, and was punished by his people. His name was stripped from him, and he found himself living in the mists.
Dr. Robarts is a tragic figure, a skilled surgeon who loses his wife and child in childbirth. Trueblood reaches out to Robarts, driving him mad. Robarts begins kidnapping women, using a combination of his surgical skills and Trueblood's magic to reshape them in horrible ways, with the goal of creating angels of humans, gifts for his lost wife and child.
I was a little disoriented at first -- Henderson introduces one set of characters, and as I'm getting into their story, we jump to another. But one of the pleasures of the book is starting to see how these storylines all begin to intersect and inform one another across multiple worlds and times. It's an ambitious book, one Henderson pulls off quite well, for the most part. (I didn't feel like Fanny's story fit as tightly as the rest, though the very end does justify their inclusion.)
Heaven's Bones is a disturbing read at times, which is to be expected from a Ravenloft novel. I think the most disturbing aspect is how well Henderson brings us into Robarts' mindset, his fascination with reshaping these women. In reality, Robarts is a fearsome creature, torturing and enslaving his victims. Yet as we follow his work, using magic and scalpel to cut away organs and flesh, rebuilding bone and trying time and again to craft wings capable of flight ... on some level, a part of me wanted to see him succeed. Every once in a while, for a paragraph or a page, I shared his madness ... seeing past the horror to the ultimate goal, something that transcends humanity and becomes beautiful. Becomes angelic.
The book is full of horribly fascinating ideas. The "angel" from the cover art is a particularly twisted example. Seriah, the recording angel, is a brilliant character. There is no gore for the sake of gore, no cheap thrills. It's a dark novel, but the darkness is there for a reason.
My only complaints would be that Fanny's storyline seemed less connected, and as I read her parts I found myself getting impatient to return to the other storyline. And our heroes Sophie and Artemis never felt quite as... developed? engaging? ...as their foils Robarts and Trueblood. Neither of these are serious concerns.
Overall, this is an impressive book. Not one I'd recommend to everyone, but if you like a darker, more complex story, I'd definitely recommend picking this one up.
There are a number of different storylines which come together by the end of the book. The primary stories are those of Dr. Sebastian Robarts, and the Vistani called Trueblood. Trueblood was born with the gift of cursing. While this doesn't make him evil, he chose a dark path, and was punished by his people. His name was stripped from him, and he found himself living in the mists.
Dr. Robarts is a tragic figure, a skilled surgeon who loses his wife and child in childbirth. Trueblood reaches out to Robarts, driving him mad. Robarts begins kidnapping women, using a combination of his surgical skills and Trueblood's magic to reshape them in horrible ways, with the goal of creating angels of humans, gifts for his lost wife and child.
I was a little disoriented at first -- Henderson introduces one set of characters, and as I'm getting into their story, we jump to another. But one of the pleasures of the book is starting to see how these storylines all begin to intersect and inform one another across multiple worlds and times. It's an ambitious book, one Henderson pulls off quite well, for the most part. (I didn't feel like Fanny's story fit as tightly as the rest, though the very end does justify their inclusion.)
Heaven's Bones is a disturbing read at times, which is to be expected from a Ravenloft novel. I think the most disturbing aspect is how well Henderson brings us into Robarts' mindset, his fascination with reshaping these women. In reality, Robarts is a fearsome creature, torturing and enslaving his victims. Yet as we follow his work, using magic and scalpel to cut away organs and flesh, rebuilding bone and trying time and again to craft wings capable of flight ... on some level, a part of me wanted to see him succeed. Every once in a while, for a paragraph or a page, I shared his madness ... seeing past the horror to the ultimate goal, something that transcends humanity and becomes beautiful. Becomes angelic.
The book is full of horribly fascinating ideas. The "angel" from the cover art is a particularly twisted example. Seriah, the recording angel, is a brilliant character. There is no gore for the sake of gore, no cheap thrills. It's a dark novel, but the darkness is there for a reason.
My only complaints would be that Fanny's storyline seemed less connected, and as I read her parts I found myself getting impatient to return to the other storyline. And our heroes Sophie and Artemis never felt quite as... developed? engaging? ...as their foils Robarts and Trueblood. Neither of these are serious concerns.
Overall, this is an impressive book. Not one I'd recommend to everyone, but if you like a darker, more complex story, I'd definitely recommend picking this one up.
April 23, 2019
Really neat imagery with the disfigured angels, but I found the story pretty boring.
August 22, 2018
Brilliantly intertwined
Very dark, will unsettle you, but has great lessons and pathos to reveal. There are multiple engaging and variously sympathetic characters that make it impossible to get bored with anyone's perspective, but introduced with a fluidity that never makes the switch jar your immersion. I've read every Ravenloft novel save Mithras Court, and thus far this one impressed me the most.
Very dark, will unsettle you, but has great lessons and pathos to reveal. There are multiple engaging and variously sympathetic characters that make it impossible to get bored with anyone's perspective, but introduced with a fluidity that never makes the switch jar your immersion. I've read every Ravenloft novel save Mithras Court, and thus far this one impressed me the most.
July 6, 2009
This book, decorated with a simple dark cover featuring what can only be described as a clockwork angel (piqued your interest yet?), gets two reviews because it's nearly two books in one.
As a fiction book Heaven's Bones is a historical steampunk fantasy with prose that betrays its author's poetic prowess. It paints a beautiful picture, with a precision that brings both the fantasy aspects and the historical aspects to life. In some books the world building is explicitly detailed, in this one while the setting is rich and full, it's the characters which are explicitly detailed. In fact, so much character building is done that it leads to the book's only flaw, that being a front-heavy feel with a slow progression of the over arching plot. The Angels, from the cover and the blurb, which likely sell the book to readers, don't even materialize until over a hundred pages in and all the character's relationships and associations aren't fully revealed until after the 200 page mark.
It's easy to fall for the pretty prose, but become frustrated with the scattered feel of it.
But this isn't just a fiction book. Heaven's Bones is actually a Ravenloft title. The aspects of the popular role play setting are integrated with just as much care and skill as the Victorian era, steampunk, and Civil War era time lines. There is no blatant connection (in fact I found myself second guessing whether it was meant to be a tie in at all) which, as a reader who is first being introduced to Ravenloft, allows for more eagerness to try the book, and an easier immersion into some of the concepts. The only familiar feature I spotted was The Mists, so delicately written that they became a character all their own, which of course is the main tip off that the reader (or the player, in the case of the game) might be venturing into Ravenloft.
This also shifts the previous complaint, making seemingly ineffective storytelling become catering to readers who love characters and concepts over solid things, like plots. Seeing as readers of RPG fiction love to read about the character but like open ended possibilities (need I mention the Drizzt Do'Urden saga?) this makes Heaven's Bones' seemingly slow opening pace just as deliberate of a plot element as everything else previously mentioned.
All in all, Heaven's Bones is beautifully written, does indeed have steampunk Victorian era Angels, as well as psychics, cursed twins and someone suspiciously similar to Jack the Ripper. It has major crossover appeal but not only will it have gamer readers feeling clever for recognizing the “in-joke” Ravenloft elements, it will have non-gamer readers much more willing to take the plunge since the book doesn't make them feel like they're missing twenty years of back titles needed to understand what's going on in this book.
And did I mention the prose was pretty?
As a fiction book Heaven's Bones is a historical steampunk fantasy with prose that betrays its author's poetic prowess. It paints a beautiful picture, with a precision that brings both the fantasy aspects and the historical aspects to life. In some books the world building is explicitly detailed, in this one while the setting is rich and full, it's the characters which are explicitly detailed. In fact, so much character building is done that it leads to the book's only flaw, that being a front-heavy feel with a slow progression of the over arching plot. The Angels, from the cover and the blurb, which likely sell the book to readers, don't even materialize until over a hundred pages in and all the character's relationships and associations aren't fully revealed until after the 200 page mark.
It's easy to fall for the pretty prose, but become frustrated with the scattered feel of it.
But this isn't just a fiction book. Heaven's Bones is actually a Ravenloft title. The aspects of the popular role play setting are integrated with just as much care and skill as the Victorian era, steampunk, and Civil War era time lines. There is no blatant connection (in fact I found myself second guessing whether it was meant to be a tie in at all) which, as a reader who is first being introduced to Ravenloft, allows for more eagerness to try the book, and an easier immersion into some of the concepts. The only familiar feature I spotted was The Mists, so delicately written that they became a character all their own, which of course is the main tip off that the reader (or the player, in the case of the game) might be venturing into Ravenloft.
This also shifts the previous complaint, making seemingly ineffective storytelling become catering to readers who love characters and concepts over solid things, like plots. Seeing as readers of RPG fiction love to read about the character but like open ended possibilities (need I mention the Drizzt Do'Urden saga?) this makes Heaven's Bones' seemingly slow opening pace just as deliberate of a plot element as everything else previously mentioned.
All in all, Heaven's Bones is beautifully written, does indeed have steampunk Victorian era Angels, as well as psychics, cursed twins and someone suspiciously similar to Jack the Ripper. It has major crossover appeal but not only will it have gamer readers feeling clever for recognizing the “in-joke” Ravenloft elements, it will have non-gamer readers much more willing to take the plunge since the book doesn't make them feel like they're missing twenty years of back titles needed to understand what's going on in this book.
And did I mention the prose was pretty?
August 23, 2009
I didn’t get right into the story at first. It has a long beginning which keeps jumping back and forth. I think typical to explain events occurring for the story, plus the characters lived at different times. That makes a story harder to follow, but this was well written and I again regained my position time and again getting clear thoughts from this book’s writer.
This became an imaginative use of the mists which was particularly well done. There were a couple of good phrases used in this story. I liked the darker points in the story which brought out much of the character’s points of view. It turns out to become just as simply well done story.
This became an imaginative use of the mists which was particularly well done. There were a couple of good phrases used in this story. I liked the darker points in the story which brought out much of the character’s points of view. It turns out to become just as simply well done story.
October 20, 2008
Very good book. Interesting storyline. Well written.
June 13, 2013
Interesting and creepy take on Jack the Ripper. The ending felt a bit rushed, but overall the book was a good spooky fantasy read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews