Scan barcode
sarahchronicles's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful and intense and intriguing, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The mystery keeps you wanting more and the prose allows you to enjoy the ride.
naokamiya's review against another edition
4.0
This is exactly the kind of weird fiction I was hoping to find more of this winter. Slow, quiet, character-focused, and contemplative, where the truth of the mystery doesn't matter so much as the mystery itself and the effects it has on these peoples' lives. The most arresting aspect of "Revenants" is Mills' prose - lush, highly textural and with an unmistakably melancholic register, the writing flourishes gorgeously on every page, carrying this story step by step through the brambly undergrowth of beautifully described scenery detail and poetic illustration of natural beauty, described with equal parts fear and reverence. It lends heavily to the eerie mood of this novel, which drips with a distinct and authentic New England atmosphere and colonial social commentary.
Mills' character work is also stunning. These characters are quietly and subtly built, and character development moves from point A to B in a way that doesn't seem forced or ham-fisted like the horror genre can occasionally fall victim to; these men and women feel like real people, ones whose fears and proclivities are lost on most in the modern world, but it's through this lush illustration of their humanities that their concerns and inner workings are crystal clear even to me, someone who is about as far from Puritan as a person could get. Though Mills does seem rightly critical of puritanism and the repression it has wrought upon decent people, the way these people think and feel is nonetheless treated with deep empathy, reserving judgment about their superstitions and allowing them to exist naturally with the setting. Particularly well done is one character's journey - from a kindhearted and contemplative person to a haughty, insular man following in the learned experience of those before him - was exceptionally well executed, a change which simmers quietly until it eventually consumes. There is nothing unsubtle or unbelievable here - it is clear that Mills has careful control over every aspect of this story.
All this leads "Revenants" to feeling more in the vein of classic weird fiction than some of the more modern strands of the genre. In particular, this book takes huge cues from the gothic fiction tradition, both in its lowkey focus on character and deep, atmospheric focus on the sensory (especially the natural world and untamed wilds, as established by authors like Machen and Blackwood). There are shades of Lovecraftian cosmicism in the unknowable nature of what may or may not exist in the wilderness surrounding Cold Marsh, especially exacerbated by the setting, but they are not pronounced, and the existential terror is mined more from these peoples' reactions to it and the emotions it manifests within them than the thing itself. And though it obviously doesn't belong to the category due to the geographic differences, I get a lot of Faulkneresque, southern gothic-twinged vibes from this (almost as much as I get the obvious shades of Hawthorne); in the way it focuses on damaged people, their close-knit communities, and how violence and hatred can strike whiplike at any moment, either towards deserving or undeserving people.
"Revenants" is worth a read for anyone who has even a passing interest in weird fiction; a gorgeously written novel about decay, the disintegration of communities and the pain that divides people, all wrapped up in some stunningly beautiful and ethereal prose. Recommended especially for fans of character-focused fiction, nature lovers, ghost stories without the ghosts (at least not as we understand them...maybe. Or maybe not), and people who don't mind a slow burn.
"This is the myth of the New World, he thinks, the dream that lured him across the Atlantic. From England he sought the farthest shore. He left the coast and settled here, in the heart of the wild, and yet went no farther than himself. Always guilt followed him, as it does all men: a weighted line that must be reeled in and carried home. In the last month, his burdened has lightened, but his sleep remains restless, voice-haunted, and he knows his atonement has only begun. The way is the way. There are leagues he must travel before he can rest."
Mills' character work is also stunning. These characters are quietly and subtly built, and character development moves from point A to B in a way that doesn't seem forced or ham-fisted like the horror genre can occasionally fall victim to; these men and women feel like real people, ones whose fears and proclivities are lost on most in the modern world, but it's through this lush illustration of their humanities that their concerns and inner workings are crystal clear even to me, someone who is about as far from Puritan as a person could get. Though Mills does seem rightly critical of puritanism and the repression it has wrought upon decent people, the way these people think and feel is nonetheless treated with deep empathy, reserving judgment about their superstitions and allowing them to exist naturally with the setting. Particularly well done is one character's journey - from a kindhearted and contemplative person to a haughty, insular man following in the learned experience of those before him - was exceptionally well executed, a change which simmers quietly until it eventually consumes. There is nothing unsubtle or unbelievable here - it is clear that Mills has careful control over every aspect of this story.
All this leads "Revenants" to feeling more in the vein of classic weird fiction than some of the more modern strands of the genre. In particular, this book takes huge cues from the gothic fiction tradition, both in its lowkey focus on character and deep, atmospheric focus on the sensory (especially the natural world and untamed wilds, as established by authors like Machen and Blackwood). There are shades of Lovecraftian cosmicism in the unknowable nature of what may or may not exist in the wilderness surrounding Cold Marsh, especially exacerbated by the setting, but they are not pronounced, and the existential terror is mined more from these peoples' reactions to it and the emotions it manifests within them than the thing itself. And though it obviously doesn't belong to the category due to the geographic differences, I get a lot of Faulkneresque, southern gothic-twinged vibes from this (almost as much as I get the obvious shades of Hawthorne); in the way it focuses on damaged people, their close-knit communities, and how violence and hatred can strike whiplike at any moment, either towards deserving or undeserving people.
"Revenants" is worth a read for anyone who has even a passing interest in weird fiction; a gorgeously written novel about decay, the disintegration of communities and the pain that divides people, all wrapped up in some stunningly beautiful and ethereal prose. Recommended especially for fans of character-focused fiction, nature lovers, ghost stories without the ghosts (at least not as we understand them...maybe. Or maybe not), and people who don't mind a slow burn.
"This is the myth of the New World, he thinks, the dream that lured him across the Atlantic. From England he sought the farthest shore. He left the coast and settled here, in the heart of the wild, and yet went no farther than himself. Always guilt followed him, as it does all men: a weighted line that must be reeled in and carried home. In the last month, his burdened has lightened, but his sleep remains restless, voice-haunted, and he knows his atonement has only begun. The way is the way. There are leagues he must travel before he can rest."
mamimitanaka's review against another edition
4.0
This is exactly the kind of weird fiction I was hoping to find more of this winter. Slow, quiet, character-focused, and contemplative, where the truth of the mystery doesn't matter so much as the mystery itself and the effects it has on these peoples' lives. The most arresting aspect of "Revenants" is Mills' prose - lush, highly textural and with an unmistakably melancholic register, the writing flourishes gorgeously on every page, carrying this story step by step through the brambly undergrowth of beautifully described scenery detail and poetic illustration of natural beauty, described with equal parts fear and reverence. It lends heavily to the eerie mood of this novel, which drips with a distinct and authentic New England atmosphere and colonial social commentary.
Mills' character work is also stunning. These characters are quietly and subtly built, and character development moves from point A to B in a way that doesn't seem forced or ham-fisted like the horror genre can occasionally fall victim to; these men and women feel like real people, ones whose fears and proclivities are lost on most in the modern world, but it's through this lush illustration of their humanities that their concerns and inner workings are crystal clear even to me, someone who is about as far from Puritan as a person could get. Though Mills does seem rightly critical of puritanism and the repression it has wrought upon decent people, the way these people think and feel is nonetheless treated with deep empathy, reserving judgment about their superstitions and allowing them to exist naturally with the setting. Particularly well done is one character's journey - from a kindhearted and contemplative person to a haughty, insular man following in the learned experience of those before him - was exceptionally well executed, a change which simmers quietly until it eventually consumes. There is nothing unsubtle or unbelievable here - it is clear that Mills has careful control over every aspect of this story.
All this leads "Revenants" to feeling more in the vein of classic weird fiction than some of the more modern strands of the genre. In particular, this book takes huge cues from the gothic fiction tradition, both in its lowkey focus on character and deep, atmospheric focus on the sensory (especially the natural world and untamed wilds, as established by authors like Machen and Blackwood). There are shades of Lovecraftian cosmicism in the unknowable nature of what may or may not exist in the wilderness surrounding Cold Marsh, especially exacerbated by the setting, but they are not pronounced, and the existential terror is mined more from these peoples' reactions to it and the emotions it manifests within them than the thing itself. And though it obviously doesn't belong to the category due to the geographic differences, I get a lot of Faulkneresque, southern gothic-twinged vibes from this (almost as much as I get the obvious shades of Hawthorne); in the way it focuses on damaged people, their close-knit communities, and how violence and hatred can strike whiplike at any moment, either towards deserving or undeserving people.
"Revenants" is worth a read for anyone who has even a passing interest in weird fiction; a gorgeously written novel about decay, the disintegration of communities and the pain that divides people, all wrapped up in some stunningly beautiful and ethereal prose. Recommended especially for fans of character-focused fiction, nature lovers, ghost stories without the ghosts (at least not as we understand them...maybe. Or maybe not), and people who don't mind a slow burn.
"This is the myth of the New World, he thinks, the dream that lured him across the Atlantic. From England he sought the farthest shore. He left the coast and settled here, in the heart of the wild, and yet went no farther than himself. Always guilt followed him, as it does all men: a weighted line that must be reeled in and carried home. In the last month, his burdened has lightened, but his sleep remains restless, voice-haunted, and he knows his atonement has only begun. The way is the way. There are leagues he must travel before he can rest."
Mills' character work is also stunning. These characters are quietly and subtly built, and character development moves from point A to B in a way that doesn't seem forced or ham-fisted like the horror genre can occasionally fall victim to; these men and women feel like real people, ones whose fears and proclivities are lost on most in the modern world, but it's through this lush illustration of their humanities that their concerns and inner workings are crystal clear even to me, someone who is about as far from Puritan as a person could get. Though Mills does seem rightly critical of puritanism and the repression it has wrought upon decent people, the way these people think and feel is nonetheless treated with deep empathy, reserving judgment about their superstitions and allowing them to exist naturally with the setting. Particularly well done is one character's journey - from a kindhearted and contemplative person to a haughty, insular man following in the learned experience of those before him - was exceptionally well executed, a change which simmers quietly until it eventually consumes. There is nothing unsubtle or unbelievable here - it is clear that Mills has careful control over every aspect of this story.
All this leads "Revenants" to feeling more in the vein of classic weird fiction than some of the more modern strands of the genre. In particular, this book takes huge cues from the gothic fiction tradition, both in its lowkey focus on character and deep, atmospheric focus on the sensory (especially the natural world and untamed wilds, as established by authors like Machen and Blackwood). There are shades of Lovecraftian cosmicism in the unknowable nature of what may or may not exist in the wilderness surrounding Cold Marsh, especially exacerbated by the setting, but they are not pronounced, and the existential terror is mined more from these peoples' reactions to it and the emotions it manifests within them than the thing itself. And though it obviously doesn't belong to the category due to the geographic differences, I get a lot of Faulkneresque, southern gothic-twinged vibes from this (almost as much as I get the obvious shades of Hawthorne); in the way it focuses on damaged people, their close-knit communities, and how violence and hatred can strike whiplike at any moment, either towards deserving or undeserving people.
"Revenants" is worth a read for anyone who has even a passing interest in weird fiction; a gorgeously written novel about decay, the disintegration of communities and the pain that divides people, all wrapped up in some stunningly beautiful and ethereal prose. Recommended especially for fans of character-focused fiction, nature lovers, ghost stories without the ghosts (at least not as we understand them...maybe. Or maybe not), and people who don't mind a slow burn.
"This is the myth of the New World, he thinks, the dream that lured him across the Atlantic. From England he sought the farthest shore. He left the coast and settled here, in the heart of the wild, and yet went no farther than himself. Always guilt followed him, as it does all men: a weighted line that must be reeled in and carried home. In the last month, his burdened has lightened, but his sleep remains restless, voice-haunted, and he knows his atonement has only begun. The way is the way. There are leagues he must travel before he can rest."
jackpumpkinhead's review against another edition
4.0
"They will dream and call it heaven. They will wake and call it hell.
It is where he is going."
A beautiful mix of The Crucible and Twin Peaks. The prose is very striking, if overbearing at times. But when it works, it really works.
It is where he is going."
A beautiful mix of The Crucible and Twin Peaks. The prose is very striking, if overbearing at times. But when it works, it really works.
thecommonswings's review against another edition
4.0
Very good and very close to brilliant, but let down by an occasionally muddled attempt to do a bit of obfuscation in the supernatural plot line and the occasional appearance of incongruous modern words like “snuggle” in an otherwise very carefully written novel. The central mystery is something of a MadGuffin, with the real horror coming in three astonishing sequences with the hunting party. These are beautifully written - as is most of the rest of the book - and lyrical and desperately sad. I’ve read a fair few novels of late about dark, desolate and mysterious woodlands, and this elegantly leaps over the florid and overwritten cliches of the genre and has a lucid, clear and very tangible sense of that damp, decaying yet also thriving dichotomy of ancient woodlands that so many writers come a cropper with. My issues with it are minor though and for the most part it’s an astonishingly accomplished debut with so much promise as to how he will develop as a writer
minsies's review against another edition
2.0
If nothing else, October was definitely the right month to read this one. If it's never exactly creepy, it's definitely atmospheric. It captures 17th-century New England well, too.
But, but, but the story's just not that involving; there are several moments of obvious scattered throughout. Also, the coda was a bit confusing about the identity of the person in question - there are only two possibilities and it's pretty clear who it is ... but there's still that tiny bit of doubt.
But, but, but the story's just not that involving; there are several moments of obvious scattered throughout. Also, the coda was a bit confusing about the identity of the person in question - there are only two possibilities and it's pretty clear who it is ... but there's still that tiny bit of doubt.
werdfert's review
5.0
lately i'd been craving ultra-modern writing. i wanted to read writing that was so fresh i had to look over the author's shoulder as she wrote it. i wanted something new and cutting-edge and never seen before so that it would shock me out of my post-modern despair.
so it may be ironic that the book that found me was Daniel Mills' Revenants, a story that takes place in 17th century new england.
this isn't a pride and prejudice meets zombies mash-up of terror and nostalgia. this is the real thing. the past literally coming back to haunt us.
this is a story about personal sin and collective transgressions, a story that casts its eye forwards upon us as well as back to where we have come from.
it's probably the best book i've read all year.
so it may be ironic that the book that found me was Daniel Mills' Revenants, a story that takes place in 17th century new england.
this isn't a pride and prejudice meets zombies mash-up of terror and nostalgia. this is the real thing. the past literally coming back to haunt us.
this is a story about personal sin and collective transgressions, a story that casts its eye forwards upon us as well as back to where we have come from.
it's probably the best book i've read all year.
myxomycetes's review
5.0
What makes this novel compelling is that it holds the sense of awe that exists close beside our fear of the unknown, a place where one might shudder at a wolf’s howl, yet still stare in wonder at the moon’s light.
More...