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A review by hope_draconic_reader
An Altar on the Village Green by Nathan Hall
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was simply too well-written for me to not fall in love. Do yourself a favor and try it out if you like anything I’m about to say.
First, the prose was both easy to read and littered with evocative phrases. Every few pages at least one sentence would leave me in awe. As a self-published book it had a few awkward typos, but I was otherwise captivated.
See the end of the review for some non-spoiler quotes.
Next, the ideas were absolutely fascinating and the author had the skill to back them up. I won’t say too much as the discovery process was one of its strengths, but I was always immersed and intrigued. The author throws you into the world with just enough context to get your bearings but leaves enough out to make you desperate to learn more. Even once you know everything the MC does, there’s always something else to learn and another mystery to ponder.
To further praise this book, I’ll vaguely elude to one idea that’s introduced very early on: in the MC’s specific context in the story, death isn’t permanent. This could have easily caused the story to lose its impact, but the author actually achieved the opposite. The emotional and mental trauma of death is never shied away from and is only heightened by the MC experiencing it more than once. And of course, just because death isn’t permanent doesn’t mean there’s no risk or cost to it. It was just so intense. The story in general explored so much raw, tragic, screwed up humanity. I felt so many feelings…
I think one reason the book works so well is the MC. Despite their name and gender never being specified, they have a defined personality that gets tested, broken, and reformed throughout the book. They’re the perfect person to bring out the story’s most interesting elements.
Overall, this was incredible. And, while it’s book 1 of an ongoing series, I think it mostly works as a standalone if you’re okay with some loose threads.
Some Non-Spoiler Quotes
“Realization was like standing at the cliff's edge. Speaking was like jumping.”
“Looking at it made my head hurt like a muscle overextended, but I found my eyes drawn to it every time I pulled them away. And every time it looked into me, I grew more certain. Something sat behind the cloud of that eye. Intelligence. Awareness. Intention. Immense enough to swallow the lights of the sky.”
“Cities fell to madness forever. Kingdoms collapsed. Treaties burned and taxes withered. Trade was a rare treasure. The world had slid gradually, but ever more swiftly, out of balance. Hope was wounded on the roadside, bleeding, breaking itself further just to breathe, just to move.”
First, the prose was both easy to read and littered with evocative phrases. Every few pages at least one sentence would leave me in awe. As a self-published book it had a few awkward typos, but I was otherwise captivated.
See the end of the review for some non-spoiler quotes.
Next, the ideas were absolutely fascinating and the author had the skill to back them up. I won’t say too much as the discovery process was one of its strengths, but I was always immersed and intrigued. The author throws you into the world with just enough context to get your bearings but leaves enough out to make you desperate to learn more. Even once you know everything the MC does, there’s always something else to learn and another mystery to ponder.
To further praise this book, I’ll vaguely elude to one idea that’s introduced very early on: in the MC’s specific context in the story, death isn’t permanent. This could have easily caused the story to lose its impact, but the author actually achieved the opposite. The emotional and mental trauma of death is never shied away from and is only heightened by the MC experiencing it more than once. And of course, just because death isn’t permanent doesn’t mean there’s no risk or cost to it. It was just so intense. The story in general explored so much raw, tragic, screwed up humanity. I felt so many feelings…
I think one reason the book works so well is the MC. Despite their name and gender never being specified, they have a defined personality that gets tested, broken, and reformed throughout the book. They’re the perfect person to bring out the story’s most interesting elements.
Overall, this was incredible. And, while it’s book 1 of an ongoing series, I think it mostly works as a standalone if you’re okay with some loose threads.
Some Non-Spoiler Quotes
“Realization was like standing at the cliff's edge. Speaking was like jumping.”
“Looking at it made my head hurt like a muscle overextended, but I found my eyes drawn to it every time I pulled them away. And every time it looked into me, I grew more certain. Something sat behind the cloud of that eye. Intelligence. Awareness. Intention. Immense enough to swallow the lights of the sky.”
“Cities fell to madness forever. Kingdoms collapsed. Treaties burned and taxes withered. Trade was a rare treasure. The world had slid gradually, but ever more swiftly, out of balance. Hope was wounded on the roadside, bleeding, breaking itself further just to breathe, just to move.”