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A review by thomasgoddard
The Erstwhile: The Vorrh (2) by Brian Catling
4.0
There we go second novel down. I've been moving slower because I've been planning my NaNoWriMo novel and it's really taken over my mind.
.
.
With the second novel I felt it was a lot more engaging. Ishmael is back again and is such a grim and weathered version of himself. I didn't like him as much in this one but I think that added to my enjoyment of the story somehow. He seemed much more a part of and apart from the world around him because of his morose personality.
.
.
Layers of dark and mysterious things build and build and by the end are still building into what I assume will be a fulfillment of the story in the third book. At times I was frustrated, but I think that's down to my own petulance and impatience. I've resolved to never embark on writing a conventional trilogy. One that must be read in order. Never say never, but I do like a novel to stand alone even if it is part of a larger piece.
.
.
By the end I was still just as amazed by the style of the writing. It swished about. The novel is more like the disarray of a studio space than a painting itself. It meanders around moving focus to highlight one scrumptious facet at a time. The reader builds the painting and the larger picture of things, I think. Which makes the whole experience a balance between reader and writer which I think is masterful. In short, you won't like this one if you don't like working as a reader.
.
.
Mythic, scriptural, spectral. Splendid. It shares a symbolic shelf with the likes of Frankenstein, The Bible, Blake and Dante.
.
.
With the second novel I felt it was a lot more engaging. Ishmael is back again and is such a grim and weathered version of himself. I didn't like him as much in this one but I think that added to my enjoyment of the story somehow. He seemed much more a part of and apart from the world around him because of his morose personality.
.
.
Layers of dark and mysterious things build and build and by the end are still building into what I assume will be a fulfillment of the story in the third book. At times I was frustrated, but I think that's down to my own petulance and impatience. I've resolved to never embark on writing a conventional trilogy. One that must be read in order. Never say never, but I do like a novel to stand alone even if it is part of a larger piece.
.
.
By the end I was still just as amazed by the style of the writing. It swished about. The novel is more like the disarray of a studio space than a painting itself. It meanders around moving focus to highlight one scrumptious facet at a time. The reader builds the painting and the larger picture of things, I think. Which makes the whole experience a balance between reader and writer which I think is masterful. In short, you won't like this one if you don't like working as a reader.
.
.
Mythic, scriptural, spectral. Splendid. It shares a symbolic shelf with the likes of Frankenstein, The Bible, Blake and Dante.