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A review by extramedium
Old Country by Harrison Query, Matt Query
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Liked the premise, would have loved to see more depth to the seasonal spirit manifestations as they felt rushed or shallow at times. Would have also liked to see the story play out over a longer period of time. Sasha and harry accept for a moment that they’re stuck on the land forever but then are able to “rid” themselves of the spirit by the end of the first year there while people for thousands of years were unable to do so. Maybe the ambiguous ending sets up for the spirit coming back with a bigger vengeance (akin to the ending of the Autumn season) but it’s almost too ambiguous.
Harry was generally unlikable and sasha was basically a non-factor in her own right. It reads like a movie novelization, maybe this will work better in the upcoming tv adaptation.
There are some legitimately scary scenes of the book, especially during the summer and autumn seasons, but there didn’t seem to be a lot of weight to it.
Would recommend this as a solid spooky season read but it could be fleshed out more IMO. Wonder how the nosleep story compares.
ETA: skimmed the NoSleep story and the novel’s ending is actually better than the original one unfortunately. You think the ending of the book is rushed, the Reddit post is moreso. Many of the concepts are the same, there were some parts that worked better in the book (Dan’s character for one) and some that didn’t (Joe is even less of a factor). Lotta good ideas but severely lacking in execution.
Harry was generally unlikable and sasha was basically a non-factor in her own right. It reads like a movie novelization, maybe this will work better in the upcoming tv adaptation.
There are some legitimately scary scenes of the book, especially during the summer and autumn seasons, but there didn’t seem to be a lot of weight to it.
Would recommend this as a solid spooky season read but it could be fleshed out more IMO. Wonder how the nosleep story compares.
ETA: skimmed the NoSleep story and the novel’s ending is actually better than the original one unfortunately. You think the ending of the book is rushed, the Reddit post is moreso. Many of the concepts are the same, there were some parts that worked better in the book (Dan’s character for one) and some that didn’t (Joe is even less of a factor). Lotta good ideas but severely lacking in execution.