The BiblioSanctum

YA Weekend: Planesrunner by Ian McDonald

Posted on December 15, 2013 2 Comments

Planesrunner by Ian McDonald

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy

Series: Book 1 of Everness

Publisher: Pyr (US ed.)

Date of Publication: December 6, 2011

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars – “One of the most well-written and interesting YA novels I’ve ever read and just plain fun, this book will appeal to a wide audience”

Add Ian McDonald’s Planesrunner to the list of the most interesting and well-written young adult novels I’ve read this year. With the third book coming out soon, I’d initially picked this up to get caught up with the series, but in doing so I also finally discovered why so many readers have been raving about Everness. Adventurous and fun but also fresh and clever, if you’re looking for a YA offering that’s a little different but has a great story at the same time, consider checking this one out.

Planesrunner tackles a topic in fantasy and science fiction that I have a great interest in: multiple universes and alternate dimensions. I have rarely seen it handled with such detail when it comes to YA fiction, though. The protagonist is Everett Singh, whose father is a brilliant scientist and one of the leading researchers in the study of parallel earths. But then Tejendra Singh is kidnapped from the streets of London one day, leaving his son with a mysterious file on his computer called the Infundibulum.

The Infundibulum ends up being a map to the parallel earths — all 10 to the power of 80 of them! — making Everett the guardian of the most valuable tool in the whole entire multiverse. But there are others who see the Infundibulum as a powerful weapon, nefarious factions in the group of plenipotentiaries of the Ten Known Worlds. To escape their reach, Everett travels to a very different parallel earth. With the help of new friends, he is determined to find and rescue his father, while fighting to protect the Infundibulum at all costs.

Hard sci-fi readers will probably find the science behind the quantum physics and theory of multiple universes to be on the light side, but I still find Planesrunner to be a fabulously clever novel. There’s enough information to enjoy this fun and action-filled story without getting bogged down with details, and when it comes to his imaginings of parallel earths, Ian McDonald takes things all the way.

The sights and sounds in the world Everett ends up in, designated E3, are beyond amazing. It is a world where fossil fuels have never existed, leading to a society powered by a system that can only be described as a souped-up version of steampunk or, as Everett so amusingly observed, “electropunk”. Everett ends up being taken in by an airship crew, thus introducing the reader to the rich, imaginative culture and language of the “Airish”. The author certainly does not skimp on the descriptions of the people and their way of life, making it easy to picture the setting and put myself right there.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the characters, though Everett himself comes off as a bit unrealistic as a 14 or 15-year-old boy. The extent of his intelligence is played up and so farfetched it’s difficult for me to feel otherwise, but on the other hand, his more mature point of view and way of thinking might make him more relatable to a non-YA reader, thus making Planesrunner a book that may appeal to a much wider audience.

And finally, this book was just plain fun. Where else would I be able to get the craziness and thrills of an actual airship duel outside the pages of this awesome novel? I love YA fiction like this — quick, clever and full of great ideas. The Everness series is simply “bonaroo”! Looking forward to continuing Everett’s journey with the next book, Be My Enemy, and then on to Empress of the Sun, dropping early next year.

4 of 5 stars

UK Edition

Mogsy’s Book Haul

Posted on December 15, 2013 Leave a Comment

Welcome to the latest edition of my Book Haul, where I feature and talk about the books added to my library in the last two weeks. Great deals on Black Friday have caused my leaning tower of books to grow a few more inches, as well fortune has smiled upon me in the last fortnight:

Red Rising – received an ARC of this book, which has been getting a lot of positive buzz lately. And no wonder. Reading this one now and thus far it is so so so so so good!

Season of the Witch – YA novel, first book I ever received from Random Buzzers’ program, which finally arrived after a couple months.

Shadow and Bone – I had a coupon from Black Friday, and using it on this book was a no brainer. I’ve been waiting to read it for so long, after seeing all the good reviews.

Bloodstone – the sequel to Firebrand which I read and enjoyed earlier this year. I was lucky enough to win this, with much thanks to Tor and the Little Red Reviewer for holding the giveaway.

The Waking That Kills – another giveaway win, this time with thanks to Solaris Books. I look forward to reading this one when I’m in the mood for a good horror.

Shift – finally, big thanks to Angry Robot Books for putting our humble blog on the shortlist for their Team Robot Blogger Award! It was such an honor just to be nominated, and I definitely look forward to another great year of AR books. The blogs that were short-listed got to choose a prize of three books from across all their imprints, and so myself and my co-bloggers each chose one. My choice was Strange Chemistry’s Shift by Kim Curran.

The ebooks and audiobooks:

The Grim Company – at the end of last month I realized I was only one book short of qualifying for a promotion that Audible had in November. I ended up going with The Grim Company out of all the other choices on my wishlist, and having listened to this one already I don’t regret that decision at all.

Ship of Magic – falling prey to Black Friday deals again. Couldn’t resist $5 audiobook deals and snagged this one, since I’ve had a hankering to read Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders ever since reading about the liveships in the books of her Rain Wilds Chronicles. I know I’ve been sort of reading her Elderlings series out of order…

Magic to the Bone – same Black Friday deal as above, but recall how I recently read Devon Monk’s newest book Hell Bent and only realized after I started that it was a spinoff of an earlier series. Magic to the Bone is actually the first book, which I did say I was curious about checking out.

The Waking Dark – a YA horror novel that I picked up for a good price, again during the week of all the big sales. I’ve heard a lot about this one from Random Buzzers. It sounds terrifying, actually.

Daughters of the Nile – I have been waiting for this book for what feels like ages. This is the third and final book to an amazing trilogy about Princess Selene, daughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. If you’re into historical fiction with a touch of magic, this is a great series.

Mitosis – a short story set in the world of Steelheart. I loved that book, so it was a pleasure to pick this one up to enjoy while I wait for Firefight, not to mention Sanderson’s work is always top notch, even his shorts.

Panels: Hawkeye vol.2: Little Hits

Posted on December 14, 2013 Leave a Comment

Kate Bishop tries to talk some sense into Clint Barton.
Hawkeye vol.2: Little Hits

Audiobook Review:Molly Danger Episode 1 by Jamal Igle

Posted on December 14, 2013 Leave a Comment

Molly Danger by Jamal Igle

Publisher: Action Lab Comics

Audiobook Publisher: AudioComics

Publication Date: October 2013

Author Info: www.jamaligle.com

Molly Danger is the world’s oldest 10 year old – that is, she’s been fighting bad guys and Supermechs and protecting Coopersville since her ship crash landed on earth twenty years ago. She now works for D.A.R.T. (Danger Action Response Team) and loves her job and her fandom, but what she’d love even more is to have a normal life. Sure she wears pink and pigtails, but she’s no mere prancing princess. She’s a feisty superhero that any young boy or girl (or grown up) can love and my daughters are now big fans.

We first met Molly Danger on Free Comic Book Day, but recently had the pleasure of rereading the story, accompanied by the very fun audio narration. I’m a big fan of audiobooks, but I had wondered how well narration would work for a comic book. Molly Danger Episode 1 removed all my doubts with a full cast narration, complete with sound effects. My girls initially read along with the comic in hand, but soon enough, they were happily acting things out themselves.

Huge praise goes to Olivia DuFord, the voice of Molly herself. The other voice actors did their part, but as the main character telling her own story, DuFord’s crisp an snappy delivery lifts the Molly right off of the page.

Book Review: The Doctor and the Dinosaurs by Mike Resnick

Posted on December 13, 2013 Leave a Comment

The Doctor and the Dinosaurs by Mike Resnick

Genre: Steampunk, Western

Series: Book 4 of Weird West Tales

Publisher: Pyr

Date of Publication: December 10, 2013

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars – “Meant to be sensational and a little over the top, and in that sense the book does its job and does it well. Fun and entertaining”

The Doctor and the Dinosaurs is my first venture into Mike Resnick’s Weird West Tales, and actually my first exposure to the author, period. Like many kids growing up, I went through a phase in my childhood where I was just nuts for dinosaurs. I suppose a part of that love has stayed with me all this time, because when I saw the cover and description for this one I just couldn’t resist.

This is the fourth book of the series starring Doc Holliday of American Old West fame, but if I’m not mistaken, each installment can be read on its own. We seem to be catching our protagonist at a pretty bad time though, as the book opens on Doc bedridden and coughing out his lungs in a sanitarium, dying of the dastardly consumption. But then he is visited by the medicine man and great chief Geronimo, who grants him one more year of life in exchange for a favor.

Doc Holliday is tasked to stop two paleontologists who have been carrying out their digs on sacred Comanche burial grounds in Wyoming. Sounds easy enough. But that was before Doc learned that the two scientists involved are none other than Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, two men who hate each others’ guts and are locked in eternal competition. Time is running out and the Comanche medicine men have made things clear: stop desecrating their lands or they will unleash a horde of monsters, the kind our world has not seen in 65 million years.

A crazy blend of steampunk, fantasy, alternate history and western, this book was as much fun as I thought it would be! I’ve never had the pleasure of reading a “true” dime novel from the latter half of the 1800s, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Mike Resnick is in some way emulating the spirit and style of the popular fiction in those days. As you would expect from the above synopsis, the book’s story and characters are more sensational than deep, with an entertaining plot that contains more clever, snappy dialogue than exposition. Nevertheless, that’s the kind of book it was intended to be. In that sense, it does the job and does it well.

This book was also such a treat for the part of me that still loves dinosaurs. We all know there’s no shortage of stories about the Old West featuring famous gunfighters like Doc Holliday, Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, Cole Younger, and the list goes on. But while this series also features an impressive list of shootists, I loved how this particular story directed its focus to another significant event that took place during America’s Gilded Age — the Great Dinosaur Rush. For one, the hatred between Cope and Marsh was so intense, their rivalry so frenzied, that the two men actually spawned a period in paleontological history known as the Bone Wars. It’s fascinating stuff! I was happy to see a spotlight on this idea, and an entire story built around it.

Is The Doctor and the Dinosaurs a little over the top? Perhaps. But is it fun? Definitely. I picked up this book hoping for an afternoon of fun, light reading, and that’s exactly what it delivered.

3 of 5 stars

A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Graphic Novel Review: Fables, Vol. 2: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham

Posted on December 12, 2013 Leave a Comment

Fables, Vol. 2: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Fairy tales

Publisher: Vertigo

Date of Publication: August 1, 2003

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Tiara’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars – This volumes adds another important struggle to the fables’ life (conformity versus nonconformity), one that I hope will be touched on continuously throughout the series and not promptly forgotten.

Coming on the heels of the first volume, Jack and Rose Red are serving community service for the stunt they pulled. Snow White takes her sister to The Farm, a place where fables who can’t blend with human society because of their looks are sent. Snow says the trip would give them some sister time to resolve their issues and that she thinks it’s important that Rose visit The Farm to see how others in their community live. Naturally, Rose is resistant to the idea. When they arrive at the farm, the sisters realize that things are a little off in the idyllic community, and soon find themselves embroiled in bitter politics.

In this volume, we see a naïve side to Snow. She believes that, because they try to make The Farm as comfortable as possible, there’s no reason for the fables that live there to be unhappy. She doesn’t look beyond the material assistance they provide the fables there. Therefore, she can’t see that some things aren’t made better by throwing money at it. There are things that are worth far more than things such as freedom, independence, and dignity. It frustrated me a little bit just how far the depth of her naïveté went. It took Snow an extremely long time to grasp that things were more than a little strange there. I could understand her not grasping what was happening at first, but as these troubling things continued to happen, she still didn’t get it. I just think Snow is smarter than that.

In a way, it’s a little ironic that Snow took Rose there in hopes of making her aware of this part of the community, but she is the one who leaves with a new awareness about The Farm and how the inhabitants feel about it. I hope that this aspect doesn’t just stop here because this adds an important struggle to their story. Every book doesn’t need to be about this, but this isn’t something that should promptly be forgotten. I think this will be something visited again in the future if I’m to judge by some of the panels.

This volume also adds another facet to Snow and Rose’s relationship. We learn a little more about how deeply these old hurts run. It was a relief to see that Charming wasn’t their main problem. I didn’t want this to be yet another story about women falling out because of a man. It’s too easy, so while Charming did play a part in their rift, the damage had been done long before him. (I will concede the main reason may be a bit cliché, as well, though.) Also, I appreciated that there’s acknowledgement that it’s going to take time for the two women to regain their former closeness instead of them hugging it out over ice cream in just one volume. I hope this relationship will truly be explored and restored over the course of the series.

I recently played the first episode of Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us (if you like interactive fiction type games, I highly recommend this and The Walking Dead Game by Telltale), which is based on these comics. I loved the direction the game took and decided to jump into the second volume of the series. However, I’m still not quite as taken with this series as I want to be. I think the idea of it and the characters are interesting, and I’m a big fan of imaginative retellings. But there’s something about the story that’s not quite engaging me as much as I feel it should. And I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. Hopefully, my feelings will change to be more positive as I continue to read the story. Wait, did I say that in my last review?

3 of 5 stars

Book Review: Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Posted on December 12, 2013 3 Comments

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Genre: Paranormal Fantasy

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Tor

Date of Publication: September 24, 2013

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars – “Unique and addictive story, complete with complex character relationships and a dark spin on the superhero concept”

Superhero fiction seems to be full of fresh and fun ideas these days, and Vicious is no exception, taking a familiar idea and going to new places with it. There was a huge surge of interest in this book among my bookworm friends recently, which is admittedly how I decided to give this title another look after having shelved it as a “maybe”. What a wonderful thing word-of-mouth is, or else I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of reading this great novel, and I hope by adding my praises to the chorus that someone else will be inspired to pick this up too and experience the awesomeness for themselves.

At its heart, Vicious is a fascinating look into the dynamics of an unconventional friendship. Still, you can’t throw a couple of intelligent, ambitious and overachieving college students into the same classroom without expecting some jealousy and a bit of friendly competition…that is, unless you’re Victor and Eli, a pair of roommates who take this game to a whole other level.

It begins with a senior thesis. Eli, to the surprise of his professor and fellow classmates, chooses to research “EOs”, or ExtraOrdinary humans with special abilities. Meanwhile, Victor decides to explore adrenaline responses. The two young men realize their interests mesh, however, when they discover a link between near-death experiences and the process of a person developing superpowers thus becoming an EO. And so, speculation leads to experimentation, experimentation leads to disaster, and ten years later we find Victor breaking out of prison on a mission of revenge to kill his one time roommate and friend.

What ever did happen between them, you ask? The book unravels that mystery slowly, alternating between the present and the past, slowly revealing the events that led to Victor and Eli’s falling out and becoming archenemies. Time skips done in this way are notoriously hard to pull off, and at times the jumps between chapters feel somewhat distracting and sporadic, but ultimately the story comes together in a way that ramps up the suspense in the climax and ending. The plot’s pacing will keep you constantly wondering, guessing, and chomping through the pages.

It’s also been a while since I read a book with such interesting relationships between the characters. I think anyone who has ever known a “frenemy” can understand or relate somewhat; Schwab does an excellent job exploring those emotions and interactions when Victor and Eli are still roommates in college. Yet the relationship between them in ten years’ time is something altogether different and even more complex. I’ve never encountered a story where the lines between “hero” and “villain” are more blurred. You know how they say the bad guy never believes they’re bad? Ultimately you might not even decide to root for anyone, but that certainly doesn’t make the characters any less compelling.

Finally, I adored Vicious‘ concept of EOs. What a dark spin on the superhero “origins” tradition. And here we thought radioactive spider bites, random chemical accidents and cosmic disasters were traumatic. What if in order to become a superhero, you had to experience a near-death experience, to actually die and somehow make it back? I would have loved to see more about EOs in the context of the book’s greater world; after all, they have to be more than just a myth in the eyes of the populace if even small town police forces dedicate the resources and manpower to maintain EO experts on staff.

Anyway, check this one out. I’m glad it was recommended to me, and I’d like to pay it forward and recommend it to others too. Vicious ranks high among the most unique and addictive books I’ve ever read.

4 of 5 stars

Book Review: Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Posted on December 11, 2013 3 Comments

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Genre: Dystopia, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Series: Unwind Dystology #1

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Publication Date: June 2009

Author Info: www.storyman.com

Wendy’s Rating: 5 of 5 stars: Every time I thought I knew what was going on, Shusterman yanked the carpet out from under me so damn fast that it left my head spinning.

There are many stories about clones used for their body parts to save their original counterparts. We go along their horrendous journey with them as they learn the truth about their purpose and prove their humanity to the reader. Unwind twists all of that around by making the organ donors very human. Not grown in a vat. Not stored in a special facility. Real kids who live and breathe and grow up next door to you. All thanks to the Bill of Life that resulted from the pro-choice/pro-life war that tore the country apart. The Bill of Life tabled as a solution to the war permits the retroactive abortion of unwanted children between the age of 13 and 18. With revolutionary technology that allows their body parts to be used in all manner of ways, this is bill is hailed as a triumph and unwinding becomes the ideal solution for dealing with unwanted children and for saving lives. Win-win, right?

Unsurprisingly, few unwinds agree.

The moral of this story isn’t the answer to the pro-life/pro-choice debate. The overriding theme is organ donation. If more people donated their organs rather than letting the rot with their dead bodies, there would be no need for unwinds.

The unwinds tend to come in three forms: wards of the state, like Risa, for whom there just aren’t enough resources to take care of, delinquents, like Conner, whose parents willingly sign the unwind contract, and tithes, like Lev, who lovingly raise their tenth child as the the blessed ten percent that they will return to God.

As expected, these three are literally thrown together. Their lives become intertwined as they come to terms with their fate and try to survive. But after the soon-to-be legendary highway crash and hostage taking that results in their meet up and escape, nothing else goes as expected. Every time I thought I knew what was going on, Shusterman yanked the carpet out from under me so damn fast that it left my head spinning.

With two hours left on my audiobook, I met up with some friends and sang the praises of the book which had already leapt from four to five stars. One friend who had already read it in her book club warned me that I still had one very harrowing scene to go, which I ended up listening to on my drive back home. Um. Yeah. Bookflail happened as soon as I got off the road and Songza decided to play creepy tricks on me by offering the following themes for my listening pleasure:

This is a YA novel, but one I would recommend to any reader. I prefer my YA without obnoxious, petulent teenagers, and this one served me well. The three characters are still very much teens, making impetuous decisions and revealing their immaturity and emotions at times, but they are also intuitive and even wise. Shusterman presents teenagers respectfully, giving them credit for their status as young adults. Yes, they have their negatives, but they also have their positives, which for me, means the characters can be appreciated by both adults and teenagers alike.

Shusterman wastes nothing in this story and ensures that even the smallest detail will come back and haunt you later in the story. And I do mean haunt you. There are some really disturbing situations and concepts presented, such as the afterlife of an unwound child, the “storking” process and, of course, the unwinding itself, which my visual mind pictured in its chilling, clinical entirety.

Waiting on Wednesday 12/11/13

Posted on December 11, 2013 Leave a Comment

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that lets us feature upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!

Wendy’s Pick

Black Feathers was an intriguing book that I mulled over long after I had finished reading it. I am definitely curious about what comes next for the Black Dawn.

The Book of the Crowman by Joseph D’Lacey
January 28, 2014 (Angry Robot)

It is the Black Dawn, a time of environmental apocalypse, the earth wracked and dying.

It is the Bright Day, a time long generations hence, when a peace has descended across the world.

The search for the shadowy figure known only as the Crowman continues, as the Green Men prepare to rise up against the forces of the Ward.

The world has been condemned. Only Gordon Black and The Crowman can redeem it

Mogsy’s Pick

Hang Wire by Adam Christopher: January 28, 2014 (Angry Robot)

My pick is something from Angry Robot as well, coming out on the same day. I’ve wanted to read something by Adam Christopher for a long time, and for my first book by him I think Hang Wire will do the trick!

“When Ted Hall’s birthday dinner in San Francisco’s famous Chinatown ends with an explosion, the fire department blames a gas leak, but when Ted finds strange, personalised messages from the restaurant’s fortune cookies scattered around his apartment, his suspicions are aroused, particularly as his somnambulant travels appear to coincide with murders by the notorious Hang Wire Killer.

Meanwhile, the circus has come to town, but the Celtic dancers are taking their pagan act a little too seriously and the manager of the Olde Worlde Funfair has started talking to his vintage machines. And while the new acrobat is wowing the crowds, his frequent absences are causing tension among the performers.

Out in the city there are other new arrivals, immortals searching for an ancient power which has been unleashed, awakening something awful buried deep beneath the San Andreas fault… a primal evil which, if not stopped, will destroy the entire world.”

Book Review: Hellbound by Tim Hawken

Posted on December 10, 2013 1 Comment

Hellbound by Tim Hawken

Genre: Fantasy, Horror

Series: Book 1 of the Hellbound Trilogy

Publisher: Rethink Press Limited

Date of Publication: November 28, 2010

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Rating: 4 of 5 stars – This novel was an enjoyable blend of horror, theology, and philosophy with a twist of humor that dared to tackle ideas such as the Hell paradox and the idea of destiny existing in a nonlinear fashion.

Hellbound introduces us to Michael, one of Hell’s newest residents. Michael finds himself in the company of Asmodeus (also called Satan) without knowing or understanding how he got there. He doesn’t remember his life. He doesn’t remember his death. Michael’s story isn’t as simple as “Once upon a time, I woke up in Hell because I was very bad.” The readers aren’t treated to book that chronicles Michael’s downfall until he hits the point of irredeemable. Michael’s story begins in Hell.

Asmodeus, who is a glib devil always ready with a retort, ushers Michael around Hell introducing him to what his domain has to offer. This presentation of Satan as a charming deceiver isn’t a new one. He is supposed to be tempting and likable in order for people to trust him and do his bidding. I liked that Hawken explored this wittiness, though. He made Satan likable, even though you know something malicious is lurking there. Satan is equally forthright and vague. Yes, he’ll admit that he’s using Michael to his ends, but Satan twists his stories in his favor and omits what doesn’t suit his current purpose. Sometimes, it feels like it’s not so much of him twisting the truth than this is how he’s interprets the events. That whole two people getting two wildly different meanings from the same event, if you will.

Hawken’s concept of Hell is one that’s explored in universal reconciliation. Universal reconciliation asserts Hell isn’t a place for people to suffer endlessly, that all souls will be reconciled with God. Some souls may have to endure suffering in Hell for their sins for a while, but after the appropriate penance has been paid, they will enter Heaven. However, there is a major difference in Hawken’s version of this reconciliation. While universal reconciliation states that all souls will enter Heaven, in this book, that reconciliation is still a matter of free will.

Hawken’s paints Hell as a place that caters to any sinful desire you might have. There is some unbearable heat outside the buildings and there are a few souls burning in torment, but mostly it seems that vices are readily available for people to enjoy. From casinos to brothels, it’s a veritable playground for adults divvied up in districts according to sins. Why would anyone want to leave such a place? For all its amusements, this Hell is still a savage place where rules don’t apply and there is no real punishment for misdeeds committed against others in Hell. However, all Hell’s residents (unless exempted by Satan) suffer from “The Guilt.”

“The Guilt” is basically visions of things people did in their earthly life. Guilt is felt more acutely in Hell. The weight of it is absolute. It’s painful and heavy to endure. It tears away at the mind, and it happens often. “The Guilt” isn’t meant just to act as punishment, though. There is no rationalizing sin in Hell as often done in life, and this allows the condemned to scrutinize their actions without the pretense. Guilt is a powerful feeling, and one that is often overlooked when discussing powerful emotions. To quote Satan: “Don’t underestimate the power of a guilty mind.” Going back to this “choice” to leave Hell, these visions allow them to evaluate and decide for themselves if they’ll seek absolution or if they’ll continue to endure Hell.

As Asmodeus chauffeurs Michael around, Michael begins to remember important parts of his life through “The Guilt.” He remembers his past and all the ups and downs he faced as an orphan who became a bare-knuckle fighter. Most importantly, though, he remembers his love for his wife, Charlotte, and their horrible deaths. However, while Michael went to Hell, his wife’s soul is stuck in Limbo where it will stay until this wrong is corrected. Yeah, I know it sounds like I just described something that should be in The Crow, but I swear I’m not doing the story justice. This is the moment when Asmodeus strikes and his interest in Michael is revealed as he offers to direct Michael on the path that will correct that. Michael realizes Satan has much to gain from his success, but that’s a trifling matter when compared to what he hopes to achieve for Charlotte.

Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I started reading this book. I wasn’t even sure what to expect for nearly the first half of the book. I was soaking up the details of Hell during that time while being on guard for when Asmodeus would finally reveal what he wants. You don’t get a personal tour of your new home from Satan without there being some catch. Then, I learned how Michael died, which ended the first section of the book called “Damnation” and led into the second section titled “Revelation.” And it was quite the revelation. That was the “There it is!” moment when I knew that the rules of engagement were about to be spelled out, and what a fascinating, thought-provoking journey Michael took from that point.

This book had the power to make me laugh one moment and to be deeply contemplative the next. Michael was an interesting character who you can’t help rooting for in all his flawed glory, and his story–the person he was, the person he was becoming–really struck a chord in me. You could really feel the depth of the various emotions he displayed–the pain, the uncertainty, the anger, all of it. There were some little nitpicky things I had with the book, but they were mostly just some of my weird nitpicks and don’t really warrant spending time complaining about. I was much more fascinated with the theories Hawken set forward than the things I didn’t like.

Overall, this novel was an enjoyable blend of horror, theology, and philosophy with a twist of humor that dared to tackle ideas such as the Hell paradox and the idea of destiny existing in a nonlinear fashion. If you’re not a fan of stories that play with the idea of Divine Providence, stories that turn theological ideas inside out, this is likely not the story for you. Hawken presents some very fresh ideas in this story about God, Satan, and how everything fits together in this grand scheme. It also explored the depth of love and how sometimes you’re willing to do anything for those who matter the most. Look out for my review of book two I Am Satan soon!