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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Violence, Murder, Colonisation
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Excrement, Vomit, War
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Having adored Catling’s The Vorrh, I had high hopes for it’s successor, The Erstwhile… but even weeks after finishing it, I am still terribly disappointed and confused. I think perhaps it may suffer from middle story syndrome (I believe it is to be part of a trilogy?) Absent was the thrilling writing that so captured my imagination in The Vorrh, and which urged me to re-read the same beautifully crafted passages over and over again, as the exquisite prose invited second, and–sometimes–third looks. In retrospect, perhaps it is possible that The Vorrh was one of those experiences where a memory of a thing is so much richer and more wonderful than the thing actually was? The Erstwhile picks up somewhat where The Vorrh leaves off, and the continued story is so wooden and dull, I may have even skipped over entire passages just to hurry the book along. I realize I haven’t told you much about the book, but what can you say when it is ultimately so unremarkable? Many of the same characters return in book two, and I recall thinking that these characters were so gorgeously imagined and although flawed, they were so terribly fascinating the first time around. In this second book, they just seem downright terrible. The titular beings, the Erstwhile, are the angels that failed to protect the Tree of Knowledge, and they are reawakening. They are truthfully the most interesting thing in this book read about, with their reconstitution of themselves and their evolution…but to what end? Their story never seems to go anywhere. What was their point? What was the point of this book, even? Perhaps Catlin has some end-game in mind that will become clear with the third installment in the trilogy. I will hold out hope.
For whatever reason, I enjoyed reading this more the second time than the first time.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Second book of the Vorrh Triliogy... and it continues the fantastic story of the purported location of the Tree of Knowledge and who it was really intended for. This series has a bit of everything: steam punk, robots, enchanted evil forest, anthropophagi, the Earsthile, voodoo, zombies... just waiting for the aliens to show up in the third book, which I'll be starting soon.
Don't worry, I haven't abandoned Don Quixote or The Wake. Only listen to DQ while walking... looks like about eight hours to go out of nearly 40. FW I'm reading slowly, though my speed has picked up by using the trick of trying to read it out loud in an attempted sort of Irish accent. I have read a summary of the narrative of each chapter and section, so I know where it's going... now it's just about enjoying the humor and brilliance of the word mashups.
Don't worry, I haven't abandoned Don Quixote or The Wake. Only listen to DQ while walking... looks like about eight hours to go out of nearly 40. FW I'm reading slowly, though my speed has picked up by using the trick of trying to read it out loud in an attempted sort of Irish accent. I have read a summary of the narrative of each chapter and section, so I know where it's going... now it's just about enjoying the humor and brilliance of the word mashups.
I may change my mind once I get some distance, but I’m pretty sure The Erstwhile is far as I’m going to go with this series.
I was lukewarm on the first book (The Vorrh), and while I found the second book to be decidedly better, it’s really only better in the sense that a bee sting is better than decapitation. They both suck; it’s just a matter of degree.
Wait.
That’s not fair.
As bee stings go, I actually found parts of The Erstwhile to be compelling. As in the first book, our scene is set in the city of Essenwald, a German village hidden deep in a African forest. It’s a magical place. Venture into the forest and you lose your memory. Visit the right house and you’ll encounter sentient sex robots. And then there’s the question of the title characters themselves, fallen angels who failed to protect the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. It is, to be clear, a work of astounding imagination. That’s not up for debate.
But, as you might guess from that brief description, it’s also a little busy. And that’s part of the problem. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least half a dozen main plot strands, including (in addition to the above) a cyclops’ quest to locate a hidden tribe of zombie workers and a scientist’s journey to London’s Bedlam asylum to find an escaped Erstwhile.
Author Bryan Catling asks us to invest ourselves equally in these different storylines, but the problem is this: they’re all written in a style that might charitably be described as inscrutable.
I don’t have a problem with bending my brain a little (full disclosure: I’m currently teaching a class this summer that focuses on strategies for untangling challenging texts), but if I’m going to expend the energy, I need to feel like it’s worth the effort.
And here’s the ugly truth: I didn’t care about anything that was happening or anyone it was happening to, and the degree to which Catling’s unnecessarily ornate style obscures what’s happening works to the book’s detriment.
I should have loved this series.
There’s absolutely a rip-roaring adventure to be found in here somewhere.
But the effort it would take to find it seems singularly unrewarding.
I was lukewarm on the first book (The Vorrh), and while I found the second book to be decidedly better, it’s really only better in the sense that a bee sting is better than decapitation. They both suck; it’s just a matter of degree.
Wait.
That’s not fair.
As bee stings go, I actually found parts of The Erstwhile to be compelling. As in the first book, our scene is set in the city of Essenwald, a German village hidden deep in a African forest. It’s a magical place. Venture into the forest and you lose your memory. Visit the right house and you’ll encounter sentient sex robots. And then there’s the question of the title characters themselves, fallen angels who failed to protect the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. It is, to be clear, a work of astounding imagination. That’s not up for debate.
But, as you might guess from that brief description, it’s also a little busy. And that’s part of the problem. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least half a dozen main plot strands, including (in addition to the above) a cyclops’ quest to locate a hidden tribe of zombie workers and a scientist’s journey to London’s Bedlam asylum to find an escaped Erstwhile.
Author Bryan Catling asks us to invest ourselves equally in these different storylines, but the problem is this: they’re all written in a style that might charitably be described as inscrutable.
I don’t have a problem with bending my brain a little (full disclosure: I’m currently teaching a class this summer that focuses on strategies for untangling challenging texts), but if I’m going to expend the energy, I need to feel like it’s worth the effort.
And here’s the ugly truth: I didn’t care about anything that was happening or anyone it was happening to, and the degree to which Catling’s unnecessarily ornate style obscures what’s happening works to the book’s detriment.
I should have loved this series.
There’s absolutely a rip-roaring adventure to be found in here somewhere.
But the effort it would take to find it seems singularly unrewarding.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Equally strong sequel to the forceful, brutal "Vorrh", The Erstwhile leaves off on a cliffhanger that makes you pick up the next book as soon as possible.