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Tuesday, 10 March 2020

The Hunger by Alma Katsu - Book Review

Last week saw the release of the latest novel by Alma Katsu, The Deep, a frightening new take on the story of the sinking of the Titanic, as well as its ill-fated sister ship The Britanic. Mixing together the supernatural and a real historic event is something that Katsu has some experience with, as her award winning novel The Hunger did just that.

To celebrate the release of The Deep, here's my review of The Hunger once again for anyone that might have missed it.

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'Evil is invisible, and it is everywhere. Tamsen Donner must be a witch. That is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the wagon train known as the Donner Party. Depleted rations, bitter quarrels, and the mysterious death of a little boy have driven the pioneers to the brink of madness. They cannot escape the feeling that someone--or something--is stalking them. Whether it was a curse from the beautiful Tamsen, the choice to follow a disastrous experimental route West, or just plain bad luck--the 90 men, women, and children of the Donner Party are at the brink of one of the deadliest and most disastrous western adventures in American history.

While the ill-fated group struggles to survive in the treacherous mountain conditions--searing heat that turns the sand into bubbling stew; snows that freeze the oxen where they stand--evil begins to grow around them, and within them. As members of the party begin to disappear, they must ask themselves 'What if there is something waiting in the mountains? Something disturbing and diseased...and very hungry?'.'

The Donner Party is a name that brings some very clear images to mind, a group of people travelling across the vast wilderness of America, falling victim to bad weather and poor directions until their only course of action was to resort to cannibalism to survive. Just on its own it's a disturbing and somewhat horrific story, one about the desperate need to survive. Alma Katsu adds a whole new layer of horror to the story with her novel The Hunger when she makes the group the victims of something much more evil.

Katsu mixes together historical fact with fiction, and real life people with her own creations incredibly well. I was familiar with the story of the Donner Party before reading this book, and was able to pick out certain places and people that I remembered, but those that were fabricated were done so with a huge amount of skill. There's no obvious moment where you can tell a person if completely new to this story. Katsu is able to bring a great deal of life to all of the characters in her book, making the factual and fictional feel alive.

The story of The Hunger begins with the wagon train already on their journey west, trying to find a better life, when tragedy hits in the form of a missing child. The mutilated body that they find is only the beginning of their woes, and almost becomes something you forget about as things worsen for the group, not realising that this dead boy hints at so much more to come.

Along their journey the group begins to fracture, falling to infighting and various mishaps, such as broken equipment and lack of supplies. People turn against each other, protecting their own and suspecting all those around them of wanting to harm them. It's a very real and believable set of events, one that highlights humanities ability to quickly turn on itself when it feels threatened. This fractured and disheartened group discover that their own squabbles are far from the worst thing that can befall them on the journey, however, when strange creatures begin to stalk them, picking them off one by one.

The reveal of the supernatural elements in the book is slow, choosing to let readers get to know the characters first, to understand their motivations and personal conflicts before it turns more towards horror. The horror elements are quite subtle too, with often only one or two people seeing what's happened and the rest of the group finding it hard to believe. The fact that there aren't monsters terrorising the entire wagon train or big set pieces helps to make things feel more believable, perhaps even part of the real events. The fact that some of the people who see these outside forces are considered to be unreliable by other members of the group, for various reasons, and that people are beginning to fall into depression and desperate hunger makes you begin to question if certain things are even happening. Maybe it's psychosis brought on from hunger and fever that's really tormenting these people?

The Hunger is not a fun book to read, it's depressing, grim, and creepy. This isn't just because that's what the author set out to do, but because you know whatever happens isn't going to end well before you even open the book. The story is based upon a tragedy, so when characters suffer and die awful deaths you don't feel shocked or outraged, but a sad resignation. There were characters that I liked, that I wanted to see live because they seemed like good, decent people, and seeing them slowly suffer and die felt like it was eroding me away too. You can enjoy the book, take pleasure in the well told story and great characters, but you're not going to finish it with a sense of happiness; unless perhaps at being happy the awful events are finally over.

Alma Katsu merges together historic fiction and horror in a great way with The Hunger, taking one of the best known tragedies in US history and putting a new spin on events. Whether you're familiar with the story of the Donner Party or not, this story is sure to chill you.

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Thursday, 5 March 2020

Cursed: An Anthology of Dark Fairy Tales - Book Review

'It's a prick of blood, the bite of an apple, the evil eye, a wedding ring or a pair of red shoes. Curses come in all shapes and sizes, and they can happen to anyone, not just those of us with unpopular stepparents...

'Here you'll find unique twists on curses, from fairy tale classics to brand-new hexes of the modern world - expect new monsters and mythologies as well as twists on well-loved fables. Stories to shock and stories of warning, stories of monsters and stories of magic.'

Anthology books can be a gamble. The very nature of compiling a book with a dozen or more different authors, with varying styles and takes on a certain subject means that there could very easily be some parts of a book, perhaps even a majority, that won't quite be to your taste. Luckily, readers seemed to have dodged this curse (see what I did there?) with Cursed: An Anthology of Dark Fairy Tales.

The brilliant duo of Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane have once again produced a collection of short stories and poems that not just manage to entertain, but make some bold choices. As the name of the book suggests, there are some stories in this collection that have their roots in the world of fairy tales, and are intriguing reinterpretations of classic stories, whilst some others do something completely different and bring the magic and horror of curses into the modern world.

'As Red As Blood, As White As Snow' by Christina Henry is the first story in the anthology, and draws upon the tale of Snow White as inspiration. If you're at all familiar with Henry's work you'll know that she has a history of taking stories that you know and twisting them into new and interesting tales, such as Red Queen, Alice, and Lost Boys, and this story is no exception. It completely flips two of the central characters, making Prince Charming into a truly frightening villain, whilst the character of the 'wicked' stepmother is actually a caring figure out to help the heroine.

'Haza and Ghani' by Lilith Saintcrow takes the well known Hansel and Gretel and gives it an Indian twist, having the twins run away from home instead of being abandoned, and finding refuge a temple to the Flayed God rather than a witch's home. Despite these differences the story manages to stay true to the themes of the original whilst giving readers something new. Similarly, 'Wendy, Darling' by Christopher Golden uses the character of Wendy Darling from Peter Pan as the basis for what proves to be an incredibly dark and haunting story that also seems to draw upon imagery from the legend of la llorona.

It's not just re-imagined fairy tales on offer here, however, as some of the stories in the collection are completely original and set in more recognisable, modern worlds.

'Hated' by Christopher Fowler takes a very modern look at what a curse could be in the modern world, and how it could affect someone and change their life. It's probably one of the most subtle stories in the book, and doesn't push magic or mysticism in your face. It shows how one tiny thing could go on to alter your life in huge ways.

'Henry and the Snakewood Box' by M.R, Carey takes a somewhat lighthearted approach to the idea of curses, and mixes in some interesting notions about the inner workings of the universe and how time can change. 'Faith and Fred', on the other hand, is a much more haunting story, and would fit right at home in an anthology about ghosts and hauntings, packing in some seriously creepy moments.

These aren't the only stories in Cursed: An Anthology of Dark Fairy Tales by a long shot, and there are some others that I haven't even mentioned that stand out too. The book is packed with great tales, and some amazing authors. Whatever style that you enjoy, or writers that you like, is sure to be met here. The book has something for everyone, and continues the tradition of Titan producing some of the best anthology books around.

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Tuesday, 3 March 2020

Re-Coil by J.T. Nicholas - Book Review

'Carter Langston is murdered whilst salvaging a derelict vessel - a major inconvenience as he's downloaded into a brand-new body on the space station where he backed up, several weeks' journey away. But events quickly slip out of control when an assassin breaks into the medbay and tries to finish the job.

'Death no longer holds sway over a humanity that has spread across the solar system: consciousness can be placed in a new body, or coil, straight after death, giving people the potential for immortality. Yet Carter's backups - supposedly secure - have been damaged, his crew are missing, and everything points back to the derelict that should have been a simple salvage mission.

'With enemies in hot pursuit, Carter tracks down his last crewmate - re-coiled after death into a body she cannot stand - to delve deeper into a mystery that threatens humanity and identity as they have come to know it.'

The modern world is a scary place, one that's filled with upsetting news, scary threats, and the prospect that humanity might not have many generations left thanks to climate change. As such, a story that offers readers a future where humanity has not just escaped the confines of earth to spread ad survive, but also one where death doesn't really exist anymore is incredibly appealing.

This future is built around the concept of 'cores', a technology that allows people to create backups of their consciousness and memories. If someone has the unfortunate lucky to be killed these backups get put into a 'coil', a new lab grown body. This essentially means that people get to wake up in a brand new body and carry on with their lives.

This is a situation that Carter Langston finds himself in when his previous body is killed whilst on a deep space salvage mission. Unfortunately, this immediately highlights one of the biggest philosophical issues about this technology. You see, this version of Carter only has memories up to the point where his back-up was made, meaning that he has no idea what happened in the month between that and his death (information that the readers are given during the first chapter). This lack of information about what happened to him proves to be something of an issue when someone appears trying to kill him, permanently.

Carter finds himself in the centre of a conspiracy that has already led to one of his friends being killed and all back-ups of his memory deleted forever. Knowing that his death would mean a permanent end, and that there's something bigger going on Carter and one of his shipmates must try to figure out what happened to their past bodies, and why they're being hunted.

The central mystery of Re-Coil is very interesting, and gives enough information up front in the first chapter to know that something big is happening, but still leaves a lot of questions unanswered. By the time that some of these mysteries get cleared up you'll have had enough time to come up with your own theories as to what's happening; but will probably be unable to guess exactly what is going on.

It's not just the mystery at the centre of the story that makes Re-Coil so interesting, but the world itself, especially the ability to be put into a new body when you die. However, this raises the question, is the Carter we follow for most of the book the same person as the one we see die at the start?

The people of the future of Re-Coil refer to these versions of themselves who die as 'branches', but don't really seem to be bothered that there are versions of themselves out there, versions that they have no memory of being. This is something that isn't really addressed in the book, and there seems to be a very casual approach to the deaths of older versions of people.

A casual approach to life seems to be something of a big thing in Re-Coil. Thanks to people changing bodies, bodies that most people don't have a say over, a person can change gender and ethnicity multiple times throughout their long life. This means that most people have a fairly laid back approach to things such as sexuality, and racism and sexism seem to be things of the past. There is some notion that perhaps not everyone is as comfortable in this new world, as one of the characters experiences body dysphoria after dying as a woman and then waking up as a man. This was one of the more interesting parts of the book for me, and I wish that more time could have been spent on it.

Whilst there were some elements of the world of Re-Coil that I'd like to have seen explored more, the central story was so engaging that I found myself not minding too much.

Re-Coil will thrill you with its action and mystery, as well as presenting you with a science fiction world filed with interesting ideas about how humanity and society could change. An absolutely thrilling read.

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Wednesday, 26 February 2020

Marvel Action: Spider-Man #2.1 – Comic Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

I didn’t realise that the latest issue of Marvel Action: Spider-Man would be the start of a new volume, and was a little surprised by this as the series had only really just begun, and it didn’t feel like it was a time for a relaunch. Luckily, this new series seems to carry straight on from the last issue without any big changes, being more of a normal continuation than the start of something new.

The fact that there were no big, drastic changes to the status quo of the book with this new volume was a relief, as I’d say this is easily the best title in the Marvel Action catalogue and I don’t want to see that quality decrease. Another worry was that the writer for the first volume, Delilah S. Dawson, has been replaced with Brandon Easton. I’d not read anything by Easton, though I had seen his episode of Agent Carter, but quickly found him to be a great fit for the series.

Easton has managed to carry across a lot of what made the previous volume of the series so good, namely the personal relationships between the lead characters. The fun and friendly banter is back, with the trio teasing each other whilst in the middle of combat, as well as some good character development outside of their costumed identities, as we get to see the three of them obsess over science issues and their struggles with them.

This issue also introduced readers to the Marvel Action version of Shocker, the iconic Spider-Man villain. I have to say, I really like the new look for Shocker that Easton and artist Fico Ossio have put together. He’s instantly recognisable as the villain, with an updated version of his classic ‘quilted’ look. I also love the small electrical bolt symbol on his belt buckle as a nice little piece of attention grabbing detail in the middle of his suit.

What immediately jumped out about this new design, however, is that his mask looks very similar to Iron-Man. The fact that he’s stealing tech from Stark Industries means that this might not be a coincidence either. I’m half expecting the character to have an origin that connects in with Tony Stark in some way, similar to the recent Spider-Man movie villains, but hope that he’ll stand on his own as a Spidey villain rather than feeling like some kind of Iron-Man reject. The issue has presented a possible identity for the villain, but I’m not sure if perhaps I’m just suspicious of any new character introduced into the story. I’m eager to find out if this is just a big red herring or not.

Marvel Action Spider-Man has been the best book in the series, and thanks to this issue upholding the standards it’s already delivered I can say with confidence that this hasn’t changed. It might have a new numbering and a new creative team behind the wheel, but it still feels like the same title that I’ve loved since it began. I can’t wait to see with Brandon Easton does next.

Tuesday, 25 February 2020

The Golden Key by Marian Womack - Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

'London, 1901. After the death of Queen Victoria the city heaves with the uncanny and the eerie. Séances are held and the dead are called upon from darker realms.

'Samuel Moncrieff, recovering from a recent tragedy of his own, meets Helena Walton-Cisneros, one of London’s most reputed mediums. But Helena is not what she seems and she’s enlisted by the elusive Lady Matthews to solve a twenty-year-old mystery: the disappearance of her three stepdaughters who vanished without a trace on the Norfolk Fens.

'But the Fens are a liminal land, where folk tales and dark magic still linger. With locals that speak of devilmen and catatonic children found on the Broads, Helena finds the answer to the mystery leads back to where it started: Samuel Moncrieff.'

The Golden Key has everything that I really enjoy in a book. It’s got got mystery, a hint of horror, the supernatural, a strong female lead, and a Victorian era setting that I adore. However, I struggled to really connect with the book even though I’d been looking forward to it for months.

The Golden Key is set in the days following the death of Queen Victoria, and focuses on Helena Walton-Cisneros, a female investigator who has been hired to look into the twenty year old disappearance of the three step-daughters of the reclusive Lady Matthews.

The book is steeped in a sense of spookiness and dread as the story follows Samuel Moncrieff, a young man who is deep into the world of spiritualism and seances. Using the real world craze for the supernatural that was sweeping through London at the time, the book manages to create a great atmosphere that flows through the whole novel. The sense of creeping horror is easily one of the best parts of the book, and only increases when Helena begins to investigate the children’s disappearance in the Norfolk Fens. However, this may be one of the only parts of the book that I enjoyed.

My biggest issue with The Golden Key is a very disjointed and broken narrative. Marian Womack has created a connect the dots style mystery, one that unfolds throughout the novel, but it also feels has though events happen in a similarly unconnected way. There are a few storylines that come together towards the latter half of the book, but before that happens it’s hard to keep track of who’s who, and why their story is being included. This is made even harder at times by the amount of backstory and depth that Womack gives certain aspects.

For example, there are several pages towards the latter quarter of the book that go into great detail about one of the secondary character’s past, specifically her friendship with another woman who’s not in the book, their shared love of fairy stories, and their subsequent falling out. It’s an interesting aside that gives more detail to one of the characters, but it seems like the only reason it’s included is to show that this person felt bad about letting her friend down in the past, so wants to go out of her way to help Helena. I couldn’t help but feel that she could have still decided to help Helena without having to spend the better part of a chapter outlining her personal history.

This isn’t the only time that this happens, as Womack gives readers extra details on a number of side characters or situations that don’t have a huge impact upon the main story. In a way it reminds me of the amount of detail Stephen King can sometimes lavish upon his bigger books. It’s great if that’s the kind of thing you like, but at times it does seem to drag the pace down a bit.

Sadly I also felt that the book didn’t quite stick its landing either, and the conclusion left me a little confused and unsure of what happened. There’s a definite sense of an ending, but I’m not sure exactly what or why. Leaving a conclusion open to interpretation can be a fine thing, but when so much of the book was made around this mystery I wanted to have things confirmed for me, not just vague hints. There is a mention in the acknowledgements that there might be more to come with Helena in the future, but I don’t want to have to wait until a sequel to find out what happened with this conclusion.

The Golden Key is an interesting supernatural mystery, with some intriguing characters and some unique ideas. It may not appeal to everyone but even if it doesn’t set your world on fire you’ll still find some good things to keep you entertained.

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Monday, 24 February 2020

Small Town Residents Threaten To Sue School Over Rainbow Flag

Residents of Marshall, Minnesota, have threatened to take legal action against Marshall Middle School for including a rainbow pride flag in a display about diversity.

The display that has come under fire also contained flags from nations around the world, but parents, and some students, have only cited concern with the inclusion of the pride flag. Last week dozens of members of the local community attended a meeting at the school board chambers to voice their opinions on the issue.

As can be expected from so many other incidents like this, parents have complained about the pride flag as they believe it to 'promote' a 'lifestyle', one that they feel is against their Christian beliefs. More than one of those who spoke out against the flag chose to read from the bible as their argument against it, choosing passages that they believe highlight that God is against homosexuality and trans people. They even said that the pride flag might 'confuse' children.

One parent, Mohammed Ahmed, asked the board, 'What's next? Curriculum? Teaching the lifestyle in our classrooms?'

One of the students from Marshall Middle School took to the mic to talk about how he and other students had begun a petition to have the pride flag removed but it was taken away by a teacher and given to the principal. He, and several other students, then tried to protest the inclusion of the pride flag by displaying flags on their lockers. In this case the 'Don't Tread On Me' flag; a flag that has some connections to racism and white supremacy.

This student complained that these flags were taken down by a teacher. People are now trying to claim that this was a breach of the students constitutional rights to free speech.

Bill Mohram, a local lawyer who has been approached by several members of the community to potentially sue the school over the pride flag said; 'If that young boy accurately described what happened to him, some teacher in your school district violated his constitutional rights unequivocally;'

Thankfully, these were not the only voices on display that night, as other members of the community took turns to defend the flag, and the school's decision to display it.

'Kids can only hear so many times the public shaming and these hurtful online comments,' said Karrie Alberts, the Marshall High School GSA Advisor. 'They are absorbing these words. They cannot hear that they are ungodly, or they are second-rate, or that they should be hidden away in some other room.'

She continued to condemn the attackers for treating LGBTQ+ students as being 'controversial'. Other parents stood up to say that they felt the flag was a symbol of inclusion for their children, some of who are gay, and that taking them down would be demonstrating to queer children that they are considered to be second class citizens.

No decision was made by the end of the meeting, with the Marshall Superintendent Scott Monson saying that he would need to consult the school district's legal representation. Despite this, those protesting the flag have said that if their demands have not been met, they 'will file a lawsuit in federal district court'.

Thursday, 20 February 2020

Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins - Book Review

Dungeons and Dragons is cool. Let's just get that out of the way first of all. Anyone who doesn't think it is has clearly never played it, because as soon as you do you realise its so much fun. But whilst it's a lot of fun to play it seems like it's sometimes hard to watch. A lot of the time this comes down to the fact that most people who play the game are just regular folk like you and me. Critical Role, however, stands out as something a little different, thanks in part to the players being such good actors.

Within the first episode of the web series you'll end up being sucked into the world that the group have created, as well as the characters that they play. It doesn't just feel like a group of friends playing a game, but a group of creatives making something special. That's why there is literally hundreds and hundreds of hours of Critical Role content out there; people recognised that it was something special.

Despite having a hugely successful web series that takes weeks to watch through even if you don't do anything else, fans always want more Critical Role in their life. This is where Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins comes in. Jumping back in time to the very beginning of the story, this book shows readers just how the group first came together all those years ago when they were playing in their homes.

The story begins with elf twins Vex and Vax investigating the strange happenings in a small town surrounded by a swamp, where the young and old are getting sick and dying. The two of them are trying to find out if it's some kind of curse, a poison, or some evil force behind the events when they discover a much bigger plot, one that has drawn in several groups of adventurers.

It's fun to see several members of the group split across other groups, and to see that they actually didn't really like each other that much. Viewers of the series got to see these characters after they'd been together for years and had become something of a family, but here they're just strangers. Instead of teasing there's outright hostility at times.

This isn't the Vox Machina that most fans will know, and it might be something of a shock to see the characters portrayed in this way, but it still ultimately feels like Critical Role, with the same group of misfits and idiots, and the same plans that don't work. One of my favourite parts of the book is when the group are standing around outside the evil lair, coming up with various plans whilst Grog goes running off in the background, attacking head on. It feels like a comic representation of every planning session the team has in the series, where things usually go a little crazy and unexpected.

It won't take you long to read through the book, but if you're all caught up with the episodes and don't want to go back and rewatch this'll certainly scratch your Critical Role itch for an hour or two, as well as shedding some light onto the origins of the iconic group of heroes.

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Tuesday, 18 February 2020

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Martian Menace by Eric Brown - Book review

'A new addition to the Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series from science fiction and crime author Eric Brown. A deadly Plot. For the second time in human history, Martian invaders occupy planet Earth. After a common terrestrial virus thwarted the first deadly invasion, another Martian armada arrived six years later to make peace. Now, mankind enjoys unprecedented prosperity due to the aliens' scientific wonders and technology, and an entente exists between the two races. But when Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson are called upon to investigate the death of an eminent Martian philosopher, they unravel an intricate web of betrayal and murder that leaves no one - human or Martian - beyond suspicion...'

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series by Titan Books is one of my favourite series of Sherlock Holmes books. The series gives readers a broad mixture of stories, some very similar to the original books and could fit in nicely with the tales written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, others, such as this one, mix things up and present weird and wonderful new versions of the Holmes universe.

The Martian Menace combines the classic detective with the science fiction classic of The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells. I've adored this series when it's combined Sherlock Holmes with other classic Victorian era books, such as Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Holmes, and this story continues that tradition.

Set more than a decade after the events of the original War of the Worlds, readers are dropped into a world where the Martians returned following their initial defeat. This time, however, they came with the offer of friendship, explaining that the Martians involved in the initial invasion were part of an aggressive, rogue faction. With these new, benevolent Martians welcomed to Earth a new age of technological development has begun, and Humanity have started to work alongside their new allies to create a better future for themselves.

When Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are approached by the Martian ambassador to England, Grulvax-Xena-Goran, to help investigate the strange murder of one of Mars' most eminent and respected philosophers the two of them jump at the chance. Having previously worked with the ambassador in the past, and desiring to see the red planet for themselves, they quickly find themselves whisked off world and into a much deadlier mystery than they first thought. When the two detectives discover that the new martian friends might not be so different than those in the first invasion, they get drawn into a battle for the very survival of humanity itself.

Before getting into the meat of the story, readers are given a short prologue story where Holmes and Watson investigate the murder of the current Martian ambassador, a story that features H. G. Wells himself. Whilst this was a good introduction to this new world, I was a little worried that the main story would become a similar rehash, though over a longer page count. This was especially worrying as I didn't think Holmes and Watson would be able to investigate a murder on Mars in the same way they normally would. As such, I was hugely happy when it turned out that this case was just a ruse, hiding a much bigger and grander story beneath.

Holmes and Watson aren't big heroes, they're not going to be on the front lines of a fight against the Martians, especially during this time period when they're older men. However, they're both incredibly intelligent and resourceful people, who have ruined far too many evil plans in the past for the Martians to just ignore them completely. This means that we get to see the heroic uprising story told from a point of view of someone other than the leader, or the front-line hero. They dip in and out of the greater story, working in the shadows on small details that ultimately make a big difference to the overall survival of humanity. The two of them just wouldn't work as figureheads leading the charge, and Eric Brown knows this, using them in a much cleverer way instead.

The story draws upon some of the history of Holmes too, with some surprise characters appearing during the narrative. It also throws in some real world figures for the two heroes to interact with, such as George Bernard Shaw and G. K. Chesterton. Brown even throws in another Arthur Conan Doyle hero, Professor Challenger, much to my immediate delight. The book is filled with literary and historical nods that it'll keep any fan of the Victorian era smiling.

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Martian Menace is a great example of why this series is not just full of great books, but some of the best Sherlock Holmes books around. It manages to seamlessly put the iconic duo into this wonderful sci-fi setting without it feeling weird or out of place, in a story that's a worthy follow up to the classic tale. An absolute pleasure to read from start to finish.

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Monday, 17 February 2020

The Unholy by Paul DeBlassie III - Book Tour

'A young curandera, a medicine woman, intent on uncovering the secrets of her past is forced into a life-and-death battle against an evil Archbishop. Set in the mystic land of Aztlan, "The Unholy" is a novel of destiny as healer and slayer. Native lore of dreams and visions, shape changing, and natural magic work to spin a neo-gothic web in which sadness and mystery lure the unsuspecting into a twilight realm of discovery and decision.

'PAUL DeBLASSIE III, PhD, is a psychologist and writer living in his native New Mexico. A member of the Depth Psychology Alliance, the Transpersonal Psychology Association, and the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, he has for over thirty years treated survivors of the dark side of religion.'

The Unholy is a story about faith. It's about colonialism, and the encroaching of white beliefs and practices on native peoples. Whilst this should have been somewhat obvious from the description of the book I was still a little taken aback by how much this narrative took the centre stage.

The story follows Claire, a native american woman that works as a therapist in a small, church run, mental health facility. When just a child she witnessed her mother killed by a terrifying man in a cloak, a figure that has haunted her dreams for decades since. After the death of her mother she was raised by friends of her mother and taught about her role as a medicine woman. Despite being raised with her culture being a big part of her identity it feels like she's almost at war with herself, afraid to embrace her role and her culture in a place where Christianity rules with an iron fist.

This conflict is the central focus of the book, with Paul DeBlassie III making a point of showing the dark side of religion. Yes, religion can be a very comforting thing for some people, and it can provide a lot of warmth and community, but this isn't always the case for everyone. As a psychologist he saw first hand how religion can cause harm, how it can be the route of abuse and suffering for some people; and how this abuse can have long lasting affects.

Claire is the embodiment of this. Her mother was violently ripped away from her. Her culture is repressed and made out to be wrong. She's treated as secondary by people because she's not a white christian. She's constantly on the back-foot, fighting for herself and trying to prove her worth.

This would be a bad enough situation to be in if that was it, if she was just fighting oppression, but there's more going on that just the very real world hatred that so many people live with everyday. The man that murdered Claire's mother is still out there, and wants to kill her too. A killer being after you is bad, but when he's also the head of the regime that's oppressing your people and has been making your life hell forever, it becomes even more complicated.

I was super excited for this story, for seeing this evil archbishop hunting down a native medicine woman. It's a scenario that really appealed to me, especially when it's revealed that there's more going on beneath the surface than just a man turned bad, that there might be something darkly supernatural beneath the surface. And whilst I did enjoy the journey, the mystery that DeBlassie made, I felt a little let down by the conclusion.

There wasn't anything bad with the resolution, and it made narrative sense for the story, but it happened a little too quickly for me. After so long building up this world and the story the conclusion happened over just a handful of pages. I wanted more from the ending. I wanted it to take a little more time. Despite this fast conclusion, the book was still very engaging and interesting, and played with some interesting story themes and ideas that I'd love to see in more books.

The Unholy might not be a book for everyone, especially if you're not open to the idea that organised religion can be a bad thing, or that white society has oppressed countless cultures and peoples. However, if you're open to seeing these harsh truths, if you have respect for native peoples and understand that white cultures have done them wrong you will really enjoy this book. It puts both the historic sins of oppression and conquest, as well as modern divisions centre stage to tell a story that talks about important themes wrapped up in a supernatural mystery.

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