Review: Forsaken by Amos Keppler

 

 Yes, the book opens in a great way with Janet making a great attempt at drinking herself to death. The ending of Falling, the previous book lingers in her mind like a wound.

  The story moves from there, describing her picking up the pieces of her life, with even rawer emotions ravaging her. She sets out on the journey through the connecting portals across the nine realms, not really caring what happens, if she dies or lives. She does connect with her fellow travelers eventually, drawn into what she can at least imagine to be a fellowship, something reminding her of everything she has lost.

  The first realm is a brutal, uncaring place. The next is worse. They eventually reach Earth, but she finds no more peace there. Her new friend and mentor, Dasek teaches her more about magick and about herself. It brings her no pleasure, nothing but more of the same, unending ravages tearing her apart.

  It’s brutal and riveting. We travel with Janet and her equally disturbed traveling companions. Everything is told straight up. Nothing is softened or concealed. It’s hard to put the book down. Even when I do, by necessity, I feel the urge to pick it up again. This is an urban fantasy, in a somewhat modern setting, but it doesn’t feel like it. It’s too different, too twisted for that. I have certainly never read anything similar.

  That is a great thing. I can already say for certain that The Nine beats all other fantasy series soundly.

  No matter how busy I am, I will find time to read the entire series. I have no idea what will happen, but I am looking so much forward to finding out. The tension and the stakes grow for each new chapter. But, as stated, it’s impossible to know what’s coming.

  And neither has Janet.

 

Review: Fury by John Coyne

   This novel starts off as one thing, and end as something completely different. I love those.

  It’s pretty much advertised as a horror story, but it isn’t, really. I would say it’s one more story not fitting into any genre, which is great. I prefer those.

  Jennifer Winters is a more or less average, no-nonsense modern businesswoman. She is frustrated beneath the polished surface, though, and doesn’t know why. When an old friend makes an attempt to pull her onto a new path, she rejects it out of hand as ridiculous.

  Later and shocking events she cannot ignore forces her out of her comfort zone, pulls her so far off the straight and narrow that she can hardly see the path ahead of her anymore, and there’s no way back to her dull, ordinary existence.

  The story begins right away. Very little of significance has happened before the first line, and there is no explanation, even though the Shirley MacLaine quote gives one possible clue for those of us knowing one crucial fact about her. We need to actually read the story for the explanation. Another good thing. We’re privy to Jennifer’s thoughts, and we experience the events through her, including her growing incredulity and fear as the story progresses. She has no idea what’s truly happening, and we don’t have either.

  The story does progress at an excellent pace. We’re slowly given more information, even though that doesn’t help much at first. The necessary confusion prevails, without the story becoming convoluted. There is a great balance to it. We’re torn between doubt and certainty in just the right way.

  The end is satisfying, and for most people it would feel a little strange, but also right, a natural progression of the story we’ve read. I liked it. I can’t claim to actually be enthusiastic, but the ending was still a great payoff. Everything makes sense to Jennifer, and to us at the end, even though it was far from the ending we expected. It made sense because it wasn’t the ending we expected.

  Recommended.