3 stars I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. Despite mixed reviews, I was pretty sure I was going to give this book 4 or 5 stars. I found it to be well-written, with a compelling plot that had me anxiously turning pages to find out what would happen next. Characters were multidimensional, the plot was intriguing and full of surprises, and I found the book to be easy to read and follow. I didn’t quite understand the author’s choice to ** the “bad” words, but it was easily overlooked. Scenes were described in explicit detail, painting a clear picture of each setting. I enjoyed the sense of humor conveyed through the internal conversations of Nythan and Bane. This author definitely has some talent, and his sense of humor was apparent as well. Early on in the story, Nythan reflected on the cartoon-villain-like voice he kept hearing in his head: “He almost hoped the other voice came from a real demon. He could at least blame a demon for spewing cliched omens of doom.” Describing human souls as “single-serve snack packs” was savage. Later, the author described a character “who resembled a chiseled balloon animal.” I couldn’t quite figure out what to visualize, but it definitely made me laugh. There were some wonderful philosophical discussions between Nythan and Bane, the kinds of things a nineteen-year-old would find revelatory. For example, once Nythan accepted that Bane was a part of him and decided to help him achieve his goal, believing this would result in less human suffering, he made a speech in front of Bane’s believers, then wondered if he sounded as full of crap as he felt. Bane responded, “It’s like dancing or singing karaoke; you feel every mistake. You think everyone else knows, but most of the audience is so transfixed that the mistakes aren’t noticed. They probably thought it was intentional. On the outside, you look calm and ready, as Eminem would put it.” Or as the popular saying goes, “We wouldn’t care so much about what people thought of us if we realized how seldom they did.” When Nythan accused Bane of being an apocalyptic monster, Bane countered by saying he was a survivor. Nythan responded, “Survivor, apocalyptic monster. Tomayto, tomahto.” At one point, as Bane tried to convince Nythan to do something he had suggested, he reasoned, “Well, one, I’ll be satisfied. Two, you’ll get to know more about your new infatuation. And three…, hmmm, I really thought I’d have thought of three by now, but, oh well. Just those two.” It was this sort of nonsensical musing by a creature who had been around for millenia that really made me laugh. And Bane’s snarkiness almost made him endearing. Like when Nythan said to his followers, “I’ve done a great deal of thinking,” and Bane thought, “If they only knew how painful it was for you.” Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, I guess, Bane had gleaned some wisdom from his many lives and this was conveyed to Nythan through statements like: “What if I told you that good and bad is merely an opinion, subject to wherever you’re born?” He went further, explaining, “...each side has to classify the other as evil in order to motivate themselves to accomplish their goal, often at the other side’s expense. Otherwise, each side would have to face the fact that they are hurting good people who do the same bad things to them.” What he failed to mention is that sometimes, and some might even argue often, each side knowingly argues their case, portraying themselves as good and the other side as evil, highlighting the faults of the other and ignoring their own. In many ways, Nythan really didn’t stand a chance against Bane’s superior knowledge and wisdom and was destined to be manipulated by it. At times, they seemed to be on equal footing. At the same time, you had to wonder whether this was just something that Bane allowed Nythan to believe. It was also fairly obvious that Nythan would die by the end of the story, but the hope was that he would, at least, ensure that Bane would not return. Sometimes I wondered whether Nythan realized his fate. Really, though, it was irrelevant. Keeping all of this in mind, it may be my knowledge of what had to happen that made the ending that much more disappointing. I endeavor not to spoil stories, and I’m trying hard not to do that here, but how can I do that when the ending is my biggest disappointment with the book? There was an utter and complete lack of epiphany or any kind of understanding for ANYONE at the end. Nothing changed. No one changed. The reader is left wondering whether anything served any purpose. And that left me wondering whether there was any reason to read the book. I think this book could earn 5 stars if the ending were to be reimagined and rewritten. I mean, I understand why it ended the way that it did, but I still didn’t care for it. And I don’t think it was the plot, per se, but rather, the way it was presented. Maybe if I approach my analysis from the concept of the hero’s journey, a strong basis for any story, but especially this type of story, my critique will make more sense. In this case, the hero was never fully identified and didn’t grow in any discernible way. That leaves the reader feeling abandoned and unfulfilled. The only thing this ending accomplished was to set the stage for a sequel. I hate to criticize a book that has so much good about it, and it really does, but the fact remains that if you write a masterpiece and then fail to finish it properly, it’s a fail. Instead of worrying about whether a sequel can follow a book, it would be better to focus on providing the best ending possible. If a sequel logically follows, great. If not, consider the story done. Move on to something new. For this story, I’d have to classify it as not quite done, but not sequel-ready either. As mentioned earlier, the best thing the writer could do for this story would be to rewrite the end. The beginning and middle are outstanding. Define the hero(es), show some kind of growth or change, and have a conclusion. Give the reader something to take away from the experience—something beside a mild sense of annoyance and regret. December 31, 2020
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Elizabeth J ConnorWriter. Editor. Proofreader. Archives
September 2022
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