Decay Inevitable

by Conrad Williams

DECAY INEVITABLE is a novel charting the grim territories of the shadow line that trembles at the very end of life.  These are badlands of horrifying dreams and demons where a black market in unspeakable goods takes place.  A race is on to unearth the secrets of the soul... secrets woven into the fabric of death itself.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Fiction

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 26, 2009

About the author

In 2007 Conrad Williams won the International Horror Guild Award for Best Novel for The Unblemished. In 2008 he won the British Fantasy Award for Best Novella, for The Scalding Rooms. In 2010 he won the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel for One.

Reviews

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

creepy good!! never read anyone quite like Conrad Williams before...

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy books by this author. His prose is muscular and inventive and the plots usually compelling and relentless. Whilst it's fair to say this is probably the weakest novel of his that I have read there is still plenty of interest to pull you through. The plot begins fairly coherently, then deliberately diverts, subverts, and then reverts to a satisfying conclusion. Without plot-spoiling, much of the mid-section takes place in a kind of life/death/dream limbo and - for me - sometimes loses it's way with the wealth of detail overwhelming when it actually stalls the interest. However, under par Williams is better than none at all. For example: "Some of them didn't have eyes, or rather, they contained black, protruding orbs in their faces, like moist olives plugged into chunks of focaccia. The sky and sea were cut from the same fabric, a slightly darker pleat offering only the vaguest nod to separation." Worth a read.

[Rodney Wilder · Rating 2 out of 5]

If only Williams could tell a story as well as he conceives one. Decay Inevitable is a prime example of an author's imagination getting away from them. It becomes painfully clear to the reader plodding through this zigzagging novel that Williams could not decide what kind of book he wanted to write. There is far too much going on, far too many ideas with little to nothing connecting them. The story suffers from the author's overzealousness, such effort to be unique or different, the actual narrative gets lost and forgotten along the way. Not worth the time to read it. Skip it.

[A.J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was suggested to me by the library's ebook recommendation system. How that works is mysterious, as this isn't the genre of book I would usually pick. I stuck with the book to the end, although it was a struggle to read at times. I know my relationship with a book is in trouble if I'm checking the page numbers too often, to see how much of the book is left, and I was doing that constantly with this one.

The plot is interesting, but I think at least half of the book could have been cut out, leaving a much leaner but more focused story.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imaginative dark fantasy reminiscent of Barker or Lebbon.