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A review by whatyoutolkienabout
Equinox by David Towsey
5.0
I will start by saying the premises of this book had me hooked. Thankfully the book did hold me throughout although there were a few bumps in the road.
Equinox follows the lives of Christophor Morden and his brother Alexsander but these aren’t the normal kind of brothers. Christophor lives by night and Alexsander lives by day. They are two souls in a single body. In a world where identities change with the rising and setting of the sun. Night brothers and sisters never see the sun and day brothers and sisters know nothing of the night but that is how it has always been.
Generally Christophor and Alexsander live in relative harmony or at least as much as can be expected. Until one evening Christophor is roused to attend a summons to the city prison. A prisoner has torn his eyes out and cannot say why. But there is more to this than an atypical type of guilt, the sockets that once held the eyes now have teeth growing. The police suspect the supernatural, and honestly we could blame, so it falls to Christophor, a member of the king’s special inspectorate (a witch finder of sorts), to find the witch or being responsible.
Night by night Christophor’s investigation leads him and his day brother further from home eventually finding them in a backwards village at the edge of the kingdom. But it begins to seem that the closer Christophor gets to the truth his day brother’s actions become frustrating and even an hinderance. Who is Alexsander protecting and what does he not want Christophor to discover? And all the while in the shadows an ancient and apocalyptic ritual creeps ever closer to completion.
I will start by saying that I had a love and hate relationship with the protagonists of this book. I am, unfortunately, predisposed to dislike witch-hunter types since they generally cling religiously to their self-righteous belief. Unfortunately Christophor does fall into this category but he has a few redeeming features. Alexsander by contrast is, I found, a lot more likeable. In the idea of the novel though I found this rather enjoyable – the idea of the night brother being jaded and focused he lives in the night of course while the day brother is more optimistic and likable. That is not to say this falls into tropes. David Towsey makes this story his own, a wonderful blend of fantasy and horror with a sprinkling of the eldritch demonic as well.
The story itself is well paced for what it is. I didn’t find myself losing interest and I enjoyed the world building and characters we met along the way. I particularly liked that Christophor and Alexsander of an older age; it added more character to the novel than the usual younger protagonists. The world building on top of this is brilliant. I particularly loved and was initially drawn to the two souls in one body and the way Towsey builds this into his narrative and sets up the premises is wonderful. It also creates some good conflict throughout the novel with Day brother against night brother.
As usual I won’t spoil the book too much but I honestly really enjoyed this. It blends several genres together perfectly crime, fantasy and horror to make a memorable and unique tale with some good twists along the way. Towsey also made me end up liking Christophor by the end or at least understanding him. I would definitely recommend it to those who love a good dark fantasy with elements of horror.
Equinox follows the lives of Christophor Morden and his brother Alexsander but these aren’t the normal kind of brothers. Christophor lives by night and Alexsander lives by day. They are two souls in a single body. In a world where identities change with the rising and setting of the sun. Night brothers and sisters never see the sun and day brothers and sisters know nothing of the night but that is how it has always been.
Generally Christophor and Alexsander live in relative harmony or at least as much as can be expected. Until one evening Christophor is roused to attend a summons to the city prison. A prisoner has torn his eyes out and cannot say why. But there is more to this than an atypical type of guilt, the sockets that once held the eyes now have teeth growing. The police suspect the supernatural, and honestly we could blame, so it falls to Christophor, a member of the king’s special inspectorate (a witch finder of sorts), to find the witch or being responsible.
Night by night Christophor’s investigation leads him and his day brother further from home eventually finding them in a backwards village at the edge of the kingdom. But it begins to seem that the closer Christophor gets to the truth his day brother’s actions become frustrating and even an hinderance. Who is Alexsander protecting and what does he not want Christophor to discover? And all the while in the shadows an ancient and apocalyptic ritual creeps ever closer to completion.
I will start by saying that I had a love and hate relationship with the protagonists of this book. I am, unfortunately, predisposed to dislike witch-hunter types since they generally cling religiously to their self-righteous belief. Unfortunately Christophor does fall into this category but he has a few redeeming features. Alexsander by contrast is, I found, a lot more likeable. In the idea of the novel though I found this rather enjoyable – the idea of the night brother being jaded and focused he lives in the night of course while the day brother is more optimistic and likable. That is not to say this falls into tropes. David Towsey makes this story his own, a wonderful blend of fantasy and horror with a sprinkling of the eldritch demonic as well.
The story itself is well paced for what it is. I didn’t find myself losing interest and I enjoyed the world building and characters we met along the way. I particularly liked that Christophor and Alexsander of an older age; it added more character to the novel than the usual younger protagonists. The world building on top of this is brilliant. I particularly loved and was initially drawn to the two souls in one body and the way Towsey builds this into his narrative and sets up the premises is wonderful. It also creates some good conflict throughout the novel with Day brother against night brother.
As usual I won’t spoil the book too much but I honestly really enjoyed this. It blends several genres together perfectly crime, fantasy and horror to make a memorable and unique tale with some good twists along the way. Towsey also made me end up liking Christophor by the end or at least understanding him. I would definitely recommend it to those who love a good dark fantasy with elements of horror.