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cosmith2015's review against another edition
I DNFED at page 136. I picked up this book because it was in Celtic Britain and involved the Tuatha de Danaan (spelling?). The plot itself seemed interesting, even though it was quite a generic "good vs.evil".
I DNFed because the writing was terrible. The character had absolutely no depth and no personality. I don't think he reacted properly to his situation at all (woke up in a strange time and then has part of his memories sucked out). I read the book because it sounded like a lot of the time would be spent in Celtic Britain. Well, after 60ish pages we jumped into the otherworld.. Then 300 AD Rome. At that point is when I decided to bail.
I think this could've been a great story, but by a different author.
I DNFed because the writing was terrible. The character had absolutely no depth and no personality. I don't think he reacted properly to his situation at all (woke up in a strange time and then has part of his memories sucked out). I read the book because it sounded like a lot of the time would be spent in Celtic Britain. Well, after 60ish pages we jumped into the otherworld.. Then 300 AD Rome. At that point is when I decided to bail.
I think this could've been a great story, but by a different author.
siavahda's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first in Chadbourn's sequel series to the Age of Misrule trilogy. The Brothers and Sisters are back; but only Church - Jack the Giantkiller - remembers even part of who they are. Sent thousands of years into the past, Church will have to play with the deadly and unknowable Tuatha de Danaan if he can have any chance of surviving to the present day - to be reunited with the woman he loves.
But beneath this suprisingly well-written fantasy sequel is a solid base of gnostism, mythology, and the secret history and truths encoded in the world's stories, waiting to reach out to the reader and make a real difference. Definitely not a let down.
But beneath this suprisingly well-written fantasy sequel is a solid base of gnostism, mythology, and the secret history and truths encoded in the world's stories, waiting to reach out to the reader and make a real difference. Definitely not a let down.
catladylover94's review against another edition
4.0
hard to get into but it was good about half way through, and the end, ended weird, but i think their are another two books
gavreads's review
Jack of Ravens continues Mark Chadbourn’s exploration of myth, archetypes and human nature. He does a lot more besides that but these are the backbone of the cycles of books that started with World’s End. Jack of Ravens starts with return of Jack Church who disappeared (or died depending on your point of view) at the end of the Age of Misrule trilogy and who was brought back following the events at the end of The Dark Age cycle.
Chadbourn has definitely taken the long view when it comes to this series. As one book builds on the next and each cycle seems to come to end only for something greater or deeper or darker is then revealed.
In Jack of Ravens Chadbourn changes tack again in his exploration of the Fixed Lands (here), the Fragile Creatures (us) and the Tuatha Dé Danann (old celtic gods who influence our lives but in this book there is hint that the world also has gods from other denominations) But instead of confining himself to the near future and the ancient sites of Britain of previous books instead Chadbourn takes us through time and across continents as Jack Church tries to stop the darkness that has altered history to make its plans work.
The best part of each book is that as the reader gets more exposed to the world that Chadbourn has created the more he changes the rules. Here he gathers again the heroes and some villains of past books but they are changed and how they act and react is different as the events that have shaped them previously has changed.
I could go on about the layers that have been built into this series and the connections that are pulled, rewired, crossed and severed as the story is told but that would spoil it. The nature and effect of experience is a major theme.
There is one slight problem with Chadbourn’s storytelling is that it relies on the reader putting things together.Lots is left unexplained but makes a lot of sense if you consider what has gone on before. But in the case of this book if you haven’t read The Dark Age and ideally the Age of Misrule you may lack the knowledge to care about Jack’s journey through 2,300 of history.
Which would be a great shame as Jack of Ravens gave me several ooo and ahh moments as I realised how events were playing out. Chadbourn also has a wonderful imagination. The characters and places of the Far (Faery) Lands are as tangible as they are fanciful.
Overall, Mark Chadbourn has again proved himself an amazing and imaginative story-weaver (he’s laid so many threads) that kept me breathless from beginning to end. I can’t imagine what he has planned for The Burning Man but I can’t wait to find out.
Chadbourn has definitely taken the long view when it comes to this series. As one book builds on the next and each cycle seems to come to end only for something greater or deeper or darker is then revealed.
In Jack of Ravens Chadbourn changes tack again in his exploration of the Fixed Lands (here), the Fragile Creatures (us) and the Tuatha Dé Danann (old celtic gods who influence our lives but in this book there is hint that the world also has gods from other denominations) But instead of confining himself to the near future and the ancient sites of Britain of previous books instead Chadbourn takes us through time and across continents as Jack Church tries to stop the darkness that has altered history to make its plans work.
The best part of each book is that as the reader gets more exposed to the world that Chadbourn has created the more he changes the rules. Here he gathers again the heroes and some villains of past books but they are changed and how they act and react is different as the events that have shaped them previously has changed.
I could go on about the layers that have been built into this series and the connections that are pulled, rewired, crossed and severed as the story is told but that would spoil it. The nature and effect of experience is a major theme.
There is one slight problem with Chadbourn’s storytelling is that it relies on the reader putting things together.Lots is left unexplained but makes a lot of sense if you consider what has gone on before. But in the case of this book if you haven’t read The Dark Age and ideally the Age of Misrule you may lack the knowledge to care about Jack’s journey through 2,300 of history.
Which would be a great shame as Jack of Ravens gave me several ooo and ahh moments as I realised how events were playing out. Chadbourn also has a wonderful imagination. The characters and places of the Far (Faery) Lands are as tangible as they are fanciful.
Overall, Mark Chadbourn has again proved himself an amazing and imaginative story-weaver (he’s laid so many threads) that kept me breathless from beginning to end. I can’t imagine what he has planned for The Burning Man but I can’t wait to find out.
carolined's review
I was disappointed not to enjoy this more, the description seemed right up my street but the writing was so clunky and the characters were so poorly described and the main character veered between unlikely omniscience (being able to understand a language he had only seen written down) and staggering stupidity ( being in the iron age and surprised a woman in her late teens was 'already pregnant').
shivers_g's review
3.0
I liked it to a point. Maybe I should have read the other series first.I will read the next one in this series to see if it improves on this one.
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