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emsee33's review against another edition
4.0
For my review, check out: Once Upon a Time in Hell on All Things Urban Fantasy.
otherwyrld's review
3.0
The 2nd book of the trilogy finds the three groups of travellers arriving at their destination just in time for the town of Wormwood to appear. It would seem though that getting into heaven is not as easy as it at first appears, as the mysterious Alonso imposes a quota system due to there being so many visitors this time.
Of our three groups, only one gets into Wormwood, so of necessity the bulk of the story revolves around them. It turns out that to get to heaven, you literally have to go through hell. The book does a good job of describing the horrors that our chosen ones have to face. There are some more mundane issues to face such as finding mounts and allies, but all overlaid with actual demons, succubi and monsters. The book ends with them arriving at the gates of heaven.
This emphasis leaves our other two groups with little to do and rather unbalances the story as a whole. I assume that they will become important in the final volume, otherwise why bother to create them in the first place?
Of our three groups, only one gets into Wormwood, so of necessity the bulk of the story revolves around them. It turns out that to get to heaven, you literally have to go through hell. The book does a good job of describing the horrors that our chosen ones have to face. There are some more mundane issues to face such as finding mounts and allies, but all overlaid with actual demons, succubi and monsters. The book ends with them arriving at the gates of heaven.
This emphasis leaves our other two groups with little to do and rather unbalances the story as a whole. I assume that they will become important in the final volume, otherwise why bother to create them in the first place?
cindyc's review against another edition
4.0
The book starts immediately after the events in The Good, the Dad and the Infernal . Anyone who survived the journey has arrived at Wormwood and anxiously awaits the village to appear . When it eventually appears, it turns out to be not as everyone expected. Not everyone is in fact admitted to the village. Those who were admitted just disappeared from the crowd, leaving the rest behind.
We follow the familiar characters, some of which were allowed to enter Wormwood, others remain behind and still others find their own way to the Hereafter .
Throughout the book, the author introduces a number of mysteries . Who is the person who is described as the devil, who took a woman from the camp and killed her in the mountains? Who is they guy called Lorenzo who talks to them from Wormwood and has addressed some of the travelers specifically in the past to encourage them to come to see Wormwood. Then we still have the big question from the first book : who is the old, nameless gunslinger whose eyes and mouth glow at night. And then of course the greatest mystery of all: what is the purpose of Wormwood ? Is it really as they say, to give people a glimpse of the afterlife or is it more than that ?
The gunslinger and his protégée find their own way through the "hell" in the afterlife, not waiting for a possible admission to Wormwood . For some reason, no one can see the old gunslinger in the deeper layers of the hereafter, except Elwin . Elwin is given the task to find a woman with some magical powers and convince her to phrase a certain ‘spell’. But Elwin is a bit overconfident and his game is not working out as he had hoped , with quite destructive consequences .
Hell in Guy Adam’s world is full of strange creatures and it was really fun to read. It gives a very different picture of hell than the standard or any version I've already read. Guy Adams has a vivid imagination and all these strange , sometimes absurd creatures fit perfectly into the story he wanted to create here.
The writer , the blind assassin and mentally ill soldier and his caretaker are all admitted to Wormwood and all come into contact with Lorenzo one way or another. But why were they admitted and the others not? What is expected of them?
While the people who were not allowed become more and more restless and everything is threatening to turn into a real revolt. Will the people who everyone is turning on be able to keep themselves save or will there be even more victims?
The ending was fantastic, I've read very few such a memorable last sentence. It made me instantly crave for more, because it must be said, it is a serious cliffhanger .
Once Upon a Time in Hell is another story full of crazy characters, strange twists and crazy locations. A book full of oddities that captivated me ‘till the end. I absolutely cannot wait for the next part of this series , because these books are truly unique and make for wonderful reading.
We follow the familiar characters, some of which were allowed to enter Wormwood, others remain behind and still others find their own way to the Hereafter .
Throughout the book, the author introduces a number of mysteries . Who is the person who is described as the devil, who took a woman from the camp and killed her in the mountains? Who is they guy called Lorenzo who talks to them from Wormwood and has addressed some of the travelers specifically in the past to encourage them to come to see Wormwood. Then we still have the big question from the first book : who is the old, nameless gunslinger whose eyes and mouth glow at night. And then of course the greatest mystery of all: what is the purpose of Wormwood ? Is it really as they say, to give people a glimpse of the afterlife or is it more than that ?
The gunslinger and his protégée find their own way through the "hell" in the afterlife, not waiting for a possible admission to Wormwood . For some reason, no one can see the old gunslinger in the deeper layers of the hereafter, except Elwin . Elwin is given the task to find a woman with some magical powers and convince her to phrase a certain ‘spell’. But Elwin is a bit overconfident and his game is not working out as he had hoped , with quite destructive consequences .
Hell in Guy Adam’s world is full of strange creatures and it was really fun to read. It gives a very different picture of hell than the standard or any version I've already read. Guy Adams has a vivid imagination and all these strange , sometimes absurd creatures fit perfectly into the story he wanted to create here.
The writer , the blind assassin and mentally ill soldier and his caretaker are all admitted to Wormwood and all come into contact with Lorenzo one way or another. But why were they admitted and the others not? What is expected of them?
While the people who were not allowed become more and more restless and everything is threatening to turn into a real revolt. Will the people who everyone is turning on be able to keep themselves save or will there be even more victims?
The ending was fantastic, I've read very few such a memorable last sentence. It made me instantly crave for more, because it must be said, it is a serious cliffhanger .
Once Upon a Time in Hell is another story full of crazy characters, strange twists and crazy locations. A book full of oddities that captivated me ‘till the end. I absolutely cannot wait for the next part of this series , because these books are truly unique and make for wonderful reading.
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