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3.09 AVERAGE
3.09 AVERAGE
On paper I felt I should have loved this book. Unfortunately, it didn’t come together for me. Steven Allred is an excellent writer and there are some incredibly creative, as well as original, ideas in this novel. The story has a very mythological feel which is something I ordinarily love, but there was a huge disconnect between the tone of the story and the coarse humour that ran throughout. The characters also fell a bit flat to say the least, particularly of the female ones.
I do think others may get a lot out of it. Just not for me.
This was an ARC in exchange for an honest review. With thanks to Netgalley and Forest Avenue Press
I do think others may get a lot out of it. Just not for me.
This was an ARC in exchange for an honest review. With thanks to Netgalley and Forest Avenue Press
DNF. Not enjoying this one at all. It's completely different than its description. I was expecting a light and funny romp through the underworld and mythology, and instead it is tedious, sexually graphic, and more enamored of its language and philosophical flights of fancy than its actual plot. If you feel the need to discover how a threesome between a human woman, a winged goddess, and a pelican would work, this book is for you. If not, skip it.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Stevan Allred is a favorite author, so I was excited when his new book came out even though it is not the kind of book I usually read. After reading it I'm wondering why I don't read more fantasy novels!
He is a master writer paying attention to every detail. To disclose, I studied with Stevan when he was one of the Dangerous Writers (with Tom Spanbauer) in Portand. I love his description at the back of the book, he got up early each morning before the sun rose, lit a candle and wrote into the day. He has crafted a spirtual world with talking birds that turn human, a serpent that ate the spirtual world and sits on a log that is the earth we know! The earth of course is at risk of being eaten as well. Birds talk and turn into full characters: a cormorant, a pelican, a frigate bird, a raven, and of course a fertility goddess who flies.
There are two humans, a fisherman who goes to the Isle of the Dead, in this spirit world, to find his beloved who has died. The Raven has taken over and he is a vindictive narcissist, but will bargain and he is an obstacle to be overcome. The fisherman gets his beloved's soul, in the form of all souls, a clam, that must be nursed by breast milk to be reborn.
The fertility goddess, Dewi Sri, has been sent on a mission to save earth and she provides the milk and the sexual espinage that ensues. She provides liberated, transcendant sexuality that we witness in this other world that is also full of jealously and emotions that accompany such goings on.
Of course a soul released from a body does not hold memory, so the beloved does not remember the fisherman. She holds memories in her physical body but not her brain. The raven is a stud as well as a crook. I don't want to spoil this, but the world is saved by the efforts of this group and there is much about courage and true love to encounter in this brilliant writing of time travel, and mythic proportion. It may be too X rated to make it into a movie, but a good movie it would make.
He is a master writer paying attention to every detail. To disclose, I studied with Stevan when he was one of the Dangerous Writers (with Tom Spanbauer) in Portand. I love his description at the back of the book, he got up early each morning before the sun rose, lit a candle and wrote into the day. He has crafted a spirtual world with talking birds that turn human, a serpent that ate the spirtual world and sits on a log that is the earth we know! The earth of course is at risk of being eaten as well. Birds talk and turn into full characters: a cormorant, a pelican, a frigate bird, a raven, and of course a fertility goddess who flies.
There are two humans, a fisherman who goes to the Isle of the Dead, in this spirit world, to find his beloved who has died. The Raven has taken over and he is a vindictive narcissist, but will bargain and he is an obstacle to be overcome. The fisherman gets his beloved's soul, in the form of all souls, a clam, that must be nursed by breast milk to be reborn.
The fertility goddess, Dewi Sri, has been sent on a mission to save earth and she provides the milk and the sexual espinage that ensues. She provides liberated, transcendant sexuality that we witness in this other world that is also full of jealously and emotions that accompany such goings on.
Of course a soul released from a body does not hold memory, so the beloved does not remember the fisherman. She holds memories in her physical body but not her brain. The raven is a stud as well as a crook. I don't want to spoil this, but the world is saved by the efforts of this group and there is much about courage and true love to encounter in this brilliant writing of time travel, and mythic proportion. It may be too X rated to make it into a movie, but a good movie it would make.
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
This was clever, interesting, undeniably original...doesn't neatly fit in the expectations of the fantasy (or really any) genre. The writing is unique and assured. And yet..it just didn't work for me. I imagine others might love it. Maybe it was the boldness in departing from expectations. But it wasn't a place I wanted to live or visit. I did get through it, but it was a slog.
This was a gift. There were some slow parts, but the underlying precept? Phenomenal. I couldn't have guessed the ending if you'd paid me to. I really enjoyed that this book turned out to be more of a thrill ride than I'd have guessed. Fantastic work!
I wanted to like this book. It's elegantly written and has some very interesting ideas about the nature of self and life and death, and makes use of historically-relevant metaphorical figures. But it is dull, and it is repetitive, and all of the elegance and metaphor in the world can't help it move along a little faster and in a way that makes any of the characters seem anything but cardboard.
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really struggled with what to rate this. I ended up going with 3 stars because it kept me intrigued but honestly it wasn't great. I was expecting an epic love story, facing and defeating the gods of the dead to retrieve one's true live. Instead I got weird bird sex. And a whole lot of mentions of sexual positions from the Kama Sutra. Honestly I think the author is a little to obsessed with birds. I kinda think he wants to fuck a bird. Like there is no doubt in my mind he has attempted the scene from American Pie with a raw Thanksgiving turkey. Also fun little tidbit in the note from the author section he reveals that he has over 20 shirts with birds on them. Honestly this book was kind of a mind fuck.