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The Twilight of the Magical Siren: A Tale of Late Antiquity
The Twilight of the Magical Siren is the tale of Judah, a young Jewish man, adrift, living during the Western Roman Empire in the fourth century CE, a time when a newly triumphant Christianity overcame and marginalized the cults of the old pagan gods. One evening Judah meets an ancient goddess abandoned by this newly Christianized Empire, a beautiful siren with a melancholy song. Judah becomes obsessed with the goddess. He alternately loves and hates her, but cannot break away. She will haunt and chase him, and ultimately drive him from a happy domestic life to the delights and terrors of her magical cavern in the heart of an enchanted mountain. Drawing motifs from the medieval Tannhauser myth, The Twilight of the Magical Siren explores the temptations and pitfalls of abandoning one’s life for the hypnotic song of the pagan goddess.
106 pages, Paperback
Published January 17, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 19, 2022
Lovely tale
My thanks to the author, Barak Bassman, and Goodreads Giveaways for this book. It is the story of young Judah, and his experiences with the siren of the sea and Goddess. He spends his life seeking her, and losing all in the process. All that glitters us not gold.
My thanks to the author, Barak Bassman, and Goodreads Giveaways for this book. It is the story of young Judah, and his experiences with the siren of the sea and Goddess. He spends his life seeking her, and losing all in the process. All that glitters us not gold.
December 12, 2021
***I received this book via GoodReads giveaway***
Overall this is the story of a Jewish man around the year 400 C.E. in the Western Roman Empire. The story is a retelling of the Tannhauser myth. If you're unfamiliar with the Tannhauser myth, in short it's the story of a man who spends a year in the temple of Venus, when he leaves he asks the Pope if God will forgive him, the Pope says no, so the man returns to never be heard from again.
In the original story, the man is a Christian Knight. In this retelling we follow Judah, a good Jewish boy who really wants nothing more than to live a good Jewish life. Overall a pretty good dude. But as we follow the story, he meets the siren/goddess Venus and the story takes off from there.
The story depicts love, loss, grief, anger, and spiritual conflict. It has a lot for just over 80 pages. Overall, I did enjoy the story and I was able to finish it in a single sitting.
One thing that did drive me absolutely crazy, is that there were no quotation marks for speech. This made some sections of the book hard to follow, to the point where I dreaded any dialogue because of the mental gymnastics associated with figuring out who was saying what.
Overall this is the story of a Jewish man around the year 400 C.E. in the Western Roman Empire. The story is a retelling of the Tannhauser myth. If you're unfamiliar with the Tannhauser myth, in short it's the story of a man who spends a year in the temple of Venus, when he leaves he asks the Pope if God will forgive him, the Pope says no, so the man returns to never be heard from again.
In the original story, the man is a Christian Knight. In this retelling we follow Judah, a good Jewish boy who really wants nothing more than to live a good Jewish life. Overall a pretty good dude. But as we follow the story, he meets the siren/goddess Venus and the story takes off from there.
The story depicts love, loss, grief, anger, and spiritual conflict. It has a lot for just over 80 pages. Overall, I did enjoy the story and I was able to finish it in a single sitting.
One thing that did drive me absolutely crazy, is that there were no quotation marks for speech. This made some sections of the book hard to follow, to the point where I dreaded any dialogue because of the mental gymnastics associated with figuring out who was saying what.
July 13, 2022
Thanks to the author for the ebook I received in a gr giveaway.
I am unsure quite what to make of this. Who is the intended audience? The protagonist seems overly simple (so--kids?) but there are references to sex (so--maybe not kids).
The depiction of the protagonist and his sense of commitment to his own culture feels superficial. Maybe in an actual original bit of folklore this would be acceptable but the author is attempting a more modern style of storytelling so the descriptions of Judah's feelings about his heritage fell flat. In fact--in spite of the premise and the story itself being interesting--the prose generally felt as if it should be ratcheted up to a greater intensity.
The manuscript of this book should have gone through at least one more round of editing.
I am unsure quite what to make of this. Who is the intended audience? The protagonist seems overly simple (so--kids?) but there are references to sex (so--maybe not kids).
The depiction of the protagonist and his sense of commitment to his own culture feels superficial. Maybe in an actual original bit of folklore this would be acceptable but the author is attempting a more modern style of storytelling so the descriptions of Judah's feelings about his heritage fell flat. In fact--in spite of the premise and the story itself being interesting--the prose generally felt as if it should be ratcheted up to a greater intensity.
The manuscript of this book should have gone through at least one more round of editing.
October 9, 2022
Dangers of the Siren’s Song
While at work, a young man has an encounter with a siren in the sea. Unable to continue living a normal life without her, he seeks help from others. In an attempt to have the best of both worlds he tries to trick the siren. Ultimately, all he managed was to bring about a life of misery for himself.
#GoodreadsGiveaway
While at work, a young man has an encounter with a siren in the sea. Unable to continue living a normal life without her, he seeks help from others. In an attempt to have the best of both worlds he tries to trick the siren. Ultimately, all he managed was to bring about a life of misery for himself.
#GoodreadsGiveaway
October 23, 2023
Goodreads giveaway winner:
It written like a mythical tale. It can read on the dry side of things if you aren't used to it. There is a lot of inner personal turmoil can be a little cumbersome to read at times but overall I enjoyed the book.
It written like a mythical tale. It can read on the dry side of things if you aren't used to it. There is a lot of inner personal turmoil can be a little cumbersome to read at times but overall I enjoyed the book.
July 11, 2022
This was a good mythological story but at times was hard to follow. The timeframe wasn’t easily discernible in the story until closer to the end.
July 18, 2022
I did nejoy this story. There were a few time where I wasn't I understood the timeline.
May 29, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews