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onewinternight's review against another edition
4.0
This review was originally published at http://rlhendrian.blogspot.com/2015/07/fantasy-novella-review-mourning-cloak.html
Based on the cover, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect . . . erm, darkish steampunk? A fairytale fusion?
I was partially correct: Mourning Cloak is a seamless fusion of fantasy and sci-fi, with a rich world and complicated, flawed characters.
Mourning Cloak is the story of "former chosen-one," Kato Vorsok. He tends a bar, keeps a low profile, and he wants nothing to do with the god who deserted him, or the past that betrayed him.
But then a wounded mourning cloak-a winged demon creature who can turn to mist or pass through walls-shows up on his doorstep, and she knows his name. Normally, Kato would have killed this creature without a thought, but she knows too much, and he follows her out into the night.
5 Highlights:
1. Kato. Flawed, angry, bitter, his character jumps off the page. He is an interesting premise in himself: a hero "chosen one" who failed to deliver a victory, who survived and left his faith and friends. Of course, like any good story, Mourning Cloak isn't quite that simple. Kato has a fully realized character arc, and I was rooting for him all the way.
2. The world/setting, Highwind, is revealed in fascinating glimpses: a hospital, "cyborg" style metal implants, prayer magic, deserts and golems. Seriously, there is a lot of stuff that effortlessly slips into the author's narrative. I want to know more.
3. The prose. Where have all of these lovely wordsmiths been hiding? Rabia Gale has an elegant, poetic way of writing sentences and stringing phrases together, which made Mourning Cloak so fun to read.
4. The plot. This sort of ties into #1. Without giving away too much, I can say that the plot twist was established early on, but it still delivered, and that every detail turns out to be important. Cryptic, much?
5. The supernatural element. A lot of steampunk novels deal with the friction between "science and machines" and either religion, tradition, or faith. Rabia Gale didn't go for that easy pass. Instead, it's ALL present in her world. There are priests with prayer magic, mechanical implants, monsters (both supernatural and man-made), and they all exist in a world that employs wards, charms, and medicines. The conflicts are not so clean cut and obvious.
Honestly, my only complaint with this novella was was the switching first person POV. I don't mind switching first person POV, but when it switched from Kato's perspective to the mourning cloak for the first time, I was confused. It startled me out of the story. I feel like some sort of divider, or marker, was necessary to show when the POV jumped. Granted, their inner voices are quite different, so I caught on fast, but still . . .
Summary:
In short, this is an action-packed fantasy novella with a rich world and interesting characters. The writing is strong, and I will definitely buy the sequel.
4.5 stars out of 5
Based on the cover, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect . . . erm, darkish steampunk? A fairytale fusion?
I was partially correct: Mourning Cloak is a seamless fusion of fantasy and sci-fi, with a rich world and complicated, flawed characters.
Mourning Cloak is the story of "former chosen-one," Kato Vorsok. He tends a bar, keeps a low profile, and he wants nothing to do with the god who deserted him, or the past that betrayed him.
But then a wounded mourning cloak-a winged demon creature who can turn to mist or pass through walls-shows up on his doorstep, and she knows his name. Normally, Kato would have killed this creature without a thought, but she knows too much, and he follows her out into the night.
5 Highlights:
1. Kato. Flawed, angry, bitter, his character jumps off the page. He is an interesting premise in himself: a hero "chosen one" who failed to deliver a victory, who survived and left his faith and friends. Of course, like any good story, Mourning Cloak isn't quite that simple. Kato has a fully realized character arc, and I was rooting for him all the way.
2. The world/setting, Highwind, is revealed in fascinating glimpses: a hospital, "cyborg" style metal implants, prayer magic, deserts and golems. Seriously, there is a lot of stuff that effortlessly slips into the author's narrative. I want to know more.
3. The prose. Where have all of these lovely wordsmiths been hiding? Rabia Gale has an elegant, poetic way of writing sentences and stringing phrases together, which made Mourning Cloak so fun to read.
4. The plot. This sort of ties into #1. Without giving away too much, I can say that the plot twist was established early on, but it still delivered, and that every detail turns out to be important. Cryptic, much?
5. The supernatural element. A lot of steampunk novels deal with the friction between "science and machines" and either religion, tradition, or faith. Rabia Gale didn't go for that easy pass. Instead, it's ALL present in her world. There are priests with prayer magic, mechanical implants, monsters (both supernatural and man-made), and they all exist in a world that employs wards, charms, and medicines. The conflicts are not so clean cut and obvious.
Honestly, my only complaint with this novella was was the switching first person POV. I don't mind switching first person POV, but when it switched from Kato's perspective to the mourning cloak for the first time, I was confused. It startled me out of the story. I feel like some sort of divider, or marker, was necessary to show when the POV jumped. Granted, their inner voices are quite different, so I caught on fast, but still . . .
Summary:
In short, this is an action-packed fantasy novella with a rich world and interesting characters. The writing is strong, and I will definitely buy the sequel.
4.5 stars out of 5
morarwen's review against another edition
5.0
There was nothing I didn't like about this novella. Fantasy with a solid sci-fi undercurrent, lyrical prose, top-notch worldbuilding, things that go bump in the night and a sense of foreboding saturating everything. Exactly my kind of story (the kind to re-read in the dark time of the year), and the sequel is already jumping the queue.
kylek's review
2.0
There was like no background. You are just thrust into the middle of this world and have no clue what's going on. I usually don't have a problem with this but that's cause I'm expecting an explanation as it goes. This book was too short to give the kind of explanation that would satisfy me. Nonetheless it was a nice story.
errantdreams's review against another edition
5.0
The writing style is vivid and intense. I have strong visual images of the world in which Mourning Cloak is set, and that’s always impressive. The characters had a great deal of personality, and fit quite a bit of history into the small strokes that were outlined as the story went along. I love the dark, intense building up of a world in which danger lurks around every turn and horrible creatures prowl the night. There’s a whole ecosystem of critters and specters built up.
The only real difficulty I had was that there wasn’t much information on the peoples/cities, and I had to cobble together the scraps that were there. A little more day-to-day information might have cleared that up. It’s intense when a story concentrates only on danger and upheaval, but it’s a risk. Sometimes the reader ends up missing useful context.
I really enjoyed this novel, and look forward to reading the follow-on next!
Consider my rating a 4.5
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2018/09/review-mourning-cloak-rabia-gale/
The only real difficulty I had was that there wasn’t much information on the peoples/cities, and I had to cobble together the scraps that were there. A little more day-to-day information might have cleared that up. It’s intense when a story concentrates only on danger and upheaval, but it’s a risk. Sometimes the reader ends up missing useful context.
I really enjoyed this novel, and look forward to reading the follow-on next!
Consider my rating a 4.5
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2018/09/review-mourning-cloak-rabia-gale/
carol26388's review
3.0
Interesting, but uneven.
Something about either the narrative style or the set-up reminds me of Frank Tuttle's writing, so that kept me interested. However, at the heart of it, the world-building is incompletely realized/conveyed. The setting opens on a man who is tending bar, aware he's being haunted by a being known as a mourning cloak who can kill with a touch. He has powders and wards to keep his property safe; his guests wear charms to protect them. Then he flips a switch to turn out the lights, takes the trash out to the dumpster and heads to the back to sleep. Awakened by a blast of magic, he leaps from his bed, grabs a crossbow, reconsiders, then grabs a blood-hungry sword to find the mourning cloak in the alley outside his property.
Yeah, about that.
It is a bit tropey, but that doesn't usually bother me. Retired, broken soldier, lost love, angry at his gods, fighting against bloodlust, etc. There's an interesting angle that has to do with golem-like creatures and transformations. The plot moves along quickly, which I appreciated, and has a lot of external events propelling the main character onward. Writing suffers a bit from what I call Try To Hard, where no one merely 'walks,' they 'stumble' or 'amble;' people 'growl' or 'utter' instead of 'say.' It's just on the edge of Too Much. The world-building initially felt like Substitution School--let's make it 'magic' by switching out one word and leaving all other conveniences intact ('dumpster'? Really?).
There's a type of twist or two, more than a bit of mental anguish over lost love, and a solid ending. Apparently, there's another novella that follows, but I think I'll likely pass. It's not bad; but one of the main themes/plots just isn't my cup of fantasy tea, and the world-building isn't strong enough to compensate.
Anyway, I'd call it an "it's okay-plus" on the carol. scale of enjoyment, so I'll round up to three stars.
Something about either the narrative style or the set-up reminds me of Frank Tuttle's writing, so that kept me interested. However, at the heart of it, the world-building is incompletely realized/conveyed. The setting opens on a man who is tending bar, aware he's being haunted by a being known as a mourning cloak who can kill with a touch. He has powders and wards to keep his property safe; his guests wear charms to protect them. Then he flips a switch to turn out the lights, takes the trash out to the dumpster and heads to the back to sleep. Awakened by a blast of magic, he leaps from his bed, grabs a crossbow, reconsiders, then grabs a blood-hungry sword to find the mourning cloak in the alley outside his property.
Yeah, about that.
It is a bit tropey, but that doesn't usually bother me. Retired, broken soldier, lost love, angry at his gods, fighting against bloodlust, etc. There's an interesting angle that has to do with golem-like creatures and transformations. The plot moves along quickly, which I appreciated, and has a lot of external events propelling the main character onward. Writing suffers a bit from what I call Try To Hard, where no one merely 'walks,' they 'stumble' or 'amble;' people 'growl' or 'utter' instead of 'say.' It's just on the edge of Too Much. The world-building initially felt like Substitution School--let's make it 'magic' by switching out one word and leaving all other conveniences intact ('dumpster'? Really?).
There's a type of twist or two, more than a bit of mental anguish over lost love, and a solid ending. Apparently, there's another novella that follows, but I think I'll likely pass. It's not bad; but one of the main themes/plots just isn't my cup of fantasy tea, and the world-building isn't strong enough to compensate.
Anyway, I'd call it an "it's okay-plus" on the carol. scale of enjoyment, so I'll round up to three stars.
isalavinia's review
2.0
This was so beautifully written, but it just reads like a first draft.
The reader is dropped into the middle of the story, and the lack of background really makes everything very confusing. And while you can kind of guess things by the end, it still feels incomplete.
The reader is dropped into the middle of the story, and the lack of background really makes everything very confusing. And while you can kind of guess things by the end, it still feels incomplete.
hteph's review
The writing is interesting, but I got the feeling I started in the middle of a book and lacks the understanding of the setting, the world and what the frakk is happening. It is just a strange person, doing strange things in a strange world.
I miss an anchor, something to hold on to. Perhaps I will try this again, but as for now I leave this unfinished.
I miss an anchor, something to hold on to. Perhaps I will try this again, but as for now I leave this unfinished.
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