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redrumreads's review against another edition
5.0
There is a difference between a favorite book and a favorite author in my mind. Thomas Olde Heuvelt is a favorite author. I have now read all of his books that have been translated thus far. I pray to Nunyunnini that there are many, many more to come.
Thomas has a way of storytelling that is hard to come by in horror. His stories are poetic and meaningful with a lot of heart. Although his books are haunting and dreadful, I also feel like i’m reading a love letter. I mean come on, a hundreds of years old ghost ship set amongst a tulip field? I want that tattooed on me.
Robert Grim is such a grumpy yet charming character and the bond he formed with Luca gave hope throughout the book.
The North Sea itself is terrifying to me and all of the imagery in this book was unsettling and downright scary for me.
‘Echo’ now has some competition for my favorite. Mountains or the Sea… which is more unnerving??
Thomas has a way of storytelling that is hard to come by in horror. His stories are poetic and meaningful with a lot of heart. Although his books are haunting and dreadful, I also feel like i’m reading a love letter. I mean come on, a hundreds of years old ghost ship set amongst a tulip field? I want that tattooed on me.
Robert Grim is such a grumpy yet charming character and the bond he formed with Luca gave hope throughout the book.
The North Sea itself is terrifying to me and all of the imagery in this book was unsettling and downright scary for me.
‘Echo’ now has some competition for my favorite. Mountains or the Sea… which is more unnerving??
webslingingadam's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A tight cohesive story that rockets along like a haunted house ride. I loved the characters, especially the return of Robert Grim and do hope to catch up with him in another novel down the line. No author fills me with more dread, more unease and more fear than Thomas Olde Heuvelt.
electricdistrict's review against another edition
This disappointed me because I enjoyed Echo, but Oracle did not live up to those expectations. The dialogue is corny and filled with embarassing surface level media references. The teenagers in particular sound like an adult's idea of how a young person talks. All the other characters are the archetypes you'd find in a mediocre Hollywood action film. The plot itself is interesting and I would be inclined to see how it all connects, but I lost patience with the parts of the book I didn't like.
rcy's review against another edition
2.0
After enjoying Hex I thought I would love supernatural thriller Oracle, but after an interesting start with the government cover-up, this dragged and was a bit too messy for me.
kpombiere's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
allisonnaut's review against another edition
Couldn't get into, might try back later
patricknight's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Review: Oracle by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
Quotes: "It's the bell, Grim thought, as it tolled amidst all the chaos. That sound is not of this world. Or rather, not of this time. It's coming straight from ages past, when this foul thing sailed the North Sea bound for who knows where."
"He raised the spyglass and beheld what the sea wanted to show him.."
Review: The sequel to Hex and a much different story this time. A young boy and girl find an old ship in the middle of a field. It's completely out of place. She goes in and doesn't come out. Help is called, and everyone that goes in doesn't come back. After 11 people are missing, no one else goes in. And the story unfolds from there.
The story starts out very interesting. But when government's start to cover it up and various subplots took precedent over the main, it slowed down a lot for me. While the politics and the cover up from the public element of the book are important to this story. I would've preferred to focus more on the characters trying to figure things out rather than them running from secret government officials trying to contain this.
I will say the final 50 or so pages elevated the story for me. It read somewhat Lovecraftian from there. I just wish it would've been like that throughout the whole book, rather than the end.
Overall, I enjoyed it. It did drag a little in the middle. But the ending was satisfying.
I'd give this 3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks for reading 📚
I received an Arc of this to review, and I thank Tor - Nightfire and Netgalley for the opportunity.
Quotes: "It's the bell, Grim thought, as it tolled amidst all the chaos. That sound is not of this world. Or rather, not of this time. It's coming straight from ages past, when this foul thing sailed the North Sea bound for who knows where."
"He raised the spyglass and beheld what the sea wanted to show him.."
Review: The sequel to Hex and a much different story this time. A young boy and girl find an old ship in the middle of a field. It's completely out of place. She goes in and doesn't come out. Help is called, and everyone that goes in doesn't come back. After 11 people are missing, no one else goes in. And the story unfolds from there.
The story starts out very interesting. But when government's start to cover it up and various subplots took precedent over the main, it slowed down a lot for me. While the politics and the cover up from the public element of the book are important to this story. I would've preferred to focus more on the characters trying to figure things out rather than them running from secret government officials trying to contain this.
I will say the final 50 or so pages elevated the story for me. It read somewhat Lovecraftian from there. I just wish it would've been like that throughout the whole book, rather than the end.
Overall, I enjoyed it. It did drag a little in the middle. But the ending was satisfying.
I'd give this 3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks for reading 📚
I received an Arc of this to review, and I thank Tor - Nightfire and Netgalley for the opportunity.
richtate's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thomas Old Heuvelt’s novels are some of the most imaginative in modern horror. They’re a melting pot of jagged edges. The slow burn is agonizing. The payoff is delicious.
thereadingraccoon's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Oracle is a paranormal horror novel about a group of people affected by the discovery of a ghost ship stranded in the middle of a field in the Netherlands.
The character of Robert Grim is back after the devastation of the cursed town of Black Spring. Now something paranormal has occurred, and he’s pulled out of his life as a hermit in Atlantic City to investigate. An 18th-century ship has appeared overnight in a farmer’s field in the Netherlands, and every local who has gone inside to investigate has never reappeared. The ship becomes a political tool of various covert government and military groups, and Grim is quickly sidelined despite his expertise. In order to save young Luca (a teenager who lost both his best friend and father to the ship), Grim will have to stay one step ahead of the Dutch secret service and its villainous operative, Eleanor. But the ship is just part of a long unfulfilled desire of devastation by an ancient being, and Luca is the key to discovering what it wants.
I enjoyed the beginning of this book when it was limited to the terror of what the ship can do and the addition of Robert Grim (who could be an elderly Fox Mulder by this point), but then it goes off the rails, and I wasn’t sure what was happening. Whether it’s cultural or lost in translation, I just didn’t vibe with the last portion of the book or the overarching ancient evil and what it was asking.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧 Audio notes: Oracle was narrated by Nathaniel Priestley, who does an excellent job with the story, but it seemed on the slow side, and I felt like it flowed better sped up to 1.25x.
* A free advanced copy of Oracle was provided by Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.