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A review by kharazimthelich
Beckoning of the Gate by Benjamin J. Ryan
5.0
Beckoning at the Gate starts us off after a somewhat cryptic prologue, with an ordinary girl living in a valley town, named Santha. Santha is very quickly shown to be a character who has already been through quite a lot, and we as the reader slowly catch on to the truth of what occurred, or at least, what we think is the truth. Here, is where I will make my first, and likely most important point. Ryan has a great talent for knowing what really goes on in his world, while his characters, do not. This is shown several times through the plot line, regarding several different topics, that no one character has the full picture. Much of the information given is hearsay, or purposefully held back for fear of another character’s reaction to the truth. Many of these plot lines are not fully revealed until a few chapters away from the finale of the book, but how enthralled I was by it.
The world is very interestingly thought out, and as someone who is a fan of folklore across the world, holds many familiar concepts. You may recognize quite a few of the creatures within, such as brownies, wights, and banshees. (The banshee was a particular haunting sequence for me, probably should not have read that in a dark room in the middle of the night.) All of the faerie creatures are fascinating, always offering more to the world with every appearance.
Action scenes are a definite plus here. Every battle or chase is described in excruciating detail, from every broken bone to every slashed muscle and tendon. The choreography is easy to keep track of, with plenty of surprises and gut-wrenching impacts. There are not as many fight scenes as you would find in some novels, but that isn’t a detriment at all.
Dialogue is interesting, but I will say there are certain times that I found it a little difficult to follow. Santha and her myriad companions have certain quips here and there that I had to re-read a few times to grasp what was being said. Other times the dialogue felt a little forced, but not to a glaring detriment.
The plot progression, was a little different than I was expecting. As a minor spoiler, the main party doesn’t leave the starting town until nearly halfway through the pages. It leads to plenty of set-up for how the world works, though I would say some of it could have been shown through flashbacks, or in another more natural way through the adventure. However, that being said, there is quite a lot of ‘past events’ that are referenced throughout, which add to the mystery of the story overall. Certain times, the information was thrown a little hard, and I had to reference back a couple times to keep track of what creatures or history was being discussed. The latter third of the book as well, was a little strange in how the pacing went. Certain times it was breakneck fast, and at others it was perhaps a little too slow. Overall though, it told a concise story, that promised plenty more to come from this rich world.
Beckoning of the Gate is a wonderful dark fantasy story, that is a great startup for a hopefully successful author. Benjamin, if you’re reading this, I can’t wait for your next story. Keep writing, and I’ll keep reading.
The world is very interestingly thought out, and as someone who is a fan of folklore across the world, holds many familiar concepts. You may recognize quite a few of the creatures within, such as brownies, wights, and banshees. (The banshee was a particular haunting sequence for me, probably should not have read that in a dark room in the middle of the night.) All of the faerie creatures are fascinating, always offering more to the world with every appearance.
Action scenes are a definite plus here. Every battle or chase is described in excruciating detail, from every broken bone to every slashed muscle and tendon. The choreography is easy to keep track of, with plenty of surprises and gut-wrenching impacts. There are not as many fight scenes as you would find in some novels, but that isn’t a detriment at all.
Dialogue is interesting, but I will say there are certain times that I found it a little difficult to follow. Santha and her myriad companions have certain quips here and there that I had to re-read a few times to grasp what was being said. Other times the dialogue felt a little forced, but not to a glaring detriment.
The plot progression, was a little different than I was expecting. As a minor spoiler, the main party doesn’t leave the starting town until nearly halfway through the pages. It leads to plenty of set-up for how the world works, though I would say some of it could have been shown through flashbacks, or in another more natural way through the adventure. However, that being said, there is quite a lot of ‘past events’ that are referenced throughout, which add to the mystery of the story overall. Certain times, the information was thrown a little hard, and I had to reference back a couple times to keep track of what creatures or history was being discussed. The latter third of the book as well, was a little strange in how the pacing went. Certain times it was breakneck fast, and at others it was perhaps a little too slow. Overall though, it told a concise story, that promised plenty more to come from this rich world.
Beckoning of the Gate is a wonderful dark fantasy story, that is a great startup for a hopefully successful author. Benjamin, if you’re reading this, I can’t wait for your next story. Keep writing, and I’ll keep reading.