he said. Your memories will be taken, Theyll be licked out of you, everything that makes you who you are, Gone forever. Youll flee to a park, and there, in the rain, someone new will open the eyes that used to be yours, He spoke in a voice that cracked, and I stared at him in horror, “Theyll open your eyes, your black eyes, and see corpses all around them, Corpses wearing gloves. ”
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It is always unsettling when one receives portends of doom and gloom, but to have them related to you by a homeless person in the street somehow adds even more terror to any unsolicited foreshadowing of your future.
He doesnt know you, but he KNOWS what is going to happen to you, and given the other ominous signs you have received, . . you have to believe him,
Her name is Myfanwy Alice Thomas, Dont worry about the unfamiliar first name she will instruct you on how she wants it pronounced, You are going to be dropped into the middle of dire circumstances, You are not going to know what is going on, There is a simple explanation for this, Your protagonist is going to be as clueless as you are, You are going to have to discover what the hell is going on together,
It doesnt help that Myfanwy isnt really Myfanwy, ”Who knew it would be so horrendously complicated impersonating oneself” It is certainly inconvenient to have people wanting to kill you, You didnt do anything to anyone, but certainly the host of this body you are occupying obviously pissed off someone who feels the only solution to your disagreement is termination.
You also have secret powers that are mostly unfathomable, You are a Rook in a secret organization, but what could that mean, and what is this clandestine group you work for Certainly, it is helpful that the original Myfanwy left some notes.
”So, I suppose youre wondering all about the Checquy Group, Oh, and please note that it is pronounced SheckEh, French influences, I think. Or possibly just warped by generations of employees mispronouncing it, Dont worry if the name means nothing to you, Most people never hear of it at all, but it has been in existence for centuries, It worked closely with the House of York, tended to ignore the Tudors, and endured the House of Stuart, However, it does not really matter who is rulingfrom the earliest days, the organizations loyalty has been to Britain rather than to a particular ruler, ”
I have to laugh because I tend to ignore the Tudors as well, Some might even say I loathe those bastard usurpers, but really I shouldnt let something that happened inon Bosworth Field, the end of a dynasty that I just happen to be related to, bother me in.
That would be ridiculous.
So what exactly do the Checquy do They look into anything supernatural that needs to be contained and properly hidden from the public, Normal people must be allowed to go about their lives, unmolested by malevolent beings or even allowed to know such entities really exist, ”And here I am, on the way to Bath, to observe the chanting house that eats people, ” As an example of controlling information with misinformation, the chanting house that has been turned into a crater is released to the public as a gas leak explosion.
So Myfanwy must learn very quickly who she is, what she does, who she can trust, and who erased her memories,
I really enjoy the discombobulation, Daniel OMalley has the reader feeling as if he has been caught wrong footed for a good portion of the novel, The notes left to the new Myfanwy are helpful and gives her and us enough information to keep us in the game, We are left in a constant state of thirsting for more revelations, I find myself endlessly speculating about what I do know exactly means, I am also worrying about how much highly essential information I am missing, The suspense keeps me reading feverishly to get the answers I am seeking, Starz has just released a TV series based on the books, I am looking forward to seeing how they portray the supernatural elements and also how they choose to dole out the information to the watcher,
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit sitelink jeffreykeeten. com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:sitelink facebook. com/JeffreyKeeten Finally! First great read of the year, Admittedly, that's because I'm hoarding sitelinkDays of Blood amp Starlight and sitelinkThe Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There like a survivalist with canned goods, or a chocoholic with a secret stash of Toblerone in the back of the freezer not that I'm speaking from experience.
And while I tempered down my five to a more reasonable four, the fact is this was a perfect read the first time through,
I'll save the detailed summary this is one time when the blurb gets it right, It starts rather hardcore action movie: woman coming to consciousness in a midst of a circle of bodies, no memory of self or events, dripping from the rain and blood.
She discovers an envelope in her pocket from the MyfanwyThatWas, Soon it evolves into a James Bondstyle government agency spy thriller crunched with identity disorientation of The Bourne Identity, Halfway through I realize O'Malley is channeling sitelinkThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, or at least Men In Black, and that the flashbacks felt a lot like XMen.
I'm finding it disturbing that I'm describing a book by referencing movies, Is that acceptable in a book review
Narrative shifts between letters from MyfanwyThatWas to the current scramble of MyfanwyThatIs to solve the mystery of who is trying to kill her.
While that had the potential to become a tiresome device, O'Malley uses it well, giving context to Newbie just before she needs to use it, cuing the reader at the same time.
Sometimes Senior relates an incident, sometimes she lays out structure and organization, or gives a dossier on other characters, For the most part it was able to maintain pace and tension through the shifts, At times, O'Malley is tongueincheek: right as Myfanwy thinks, "I suppose I should do some more homework on how this organization actually works," the next section is from one of the letters, under the title of "How This Organization Actually Works.
" I actually found it rather delightful, highlighting the mental similarities in how they process information,
As the story develops, Myfanwy starts to take on her own personality, more abrupt and direct than the prior, who she now thinks of as "Thomas," their last name.
I thought the transition between the two was handled well, and as the story developed, I cared just as much about what happened to Thomas and wanted to know her story, even though I knew where it would end here's where my habit of peeking at the end of books comes in handy it's kind of like the book is a spoiler for it's own self because we know Thomas is 'dead,' or at least, gone.
I enjoyed Myfanwy's character breaks, and it set the stage for gentle humor as she responded almostbut not quitein character:
"An emergency has emerged, and both you and Rook Gestalt have been summoned to an interrogation," the secretary replied in an unruffled manner.
"Oh. Okay. " Myfanwy looked down and her desk, thought for a moment, and then looked up, "Are we getting interrogated, or are we doing the interrogating" she asked,
Then there is:
"It's time for your dinner with Lady Farrier, "
"Oh, crap," she sighed, then noticed Clovis's shocked expression, "I mean, oh, good, this should be delightful, "
The humor isn't out front in the beginning, which now strikes me as one of the delightful parts about the writing, Tightly wound around an action core at the start, O'Malley sneaks in humor one subtle comment at a time, gradually becoming more absurd, The first hint that we aren't in London any more comes about three chapters in when we meet Rook Gestalt, really one of the more innovative creations in scifi/fantasy literature that I've happened upon.
One mind, four bodies. I found myself trying to wrap my head around that one somewhat distracted by comparing it with Zaphod and his two heads and just got rather smacked with the possibilities.
By the end, the absurd veered out of control at a couple of points, but for the most part O'Malley was able to maintain the balance between chuckles and tension.
Before too long, the American version of the Court comes to call, and the subtlety gloves come off when the American Bishop Shantay and Myfanwy take on some fungusafter lunch, of course.
"'That is experience talking,' said Shantay, 'In these situations the glass is always halfempty, '
'Always'
'Always,' confirmed the Bishop, 'Right until it fills up with some sort of spectral blood that grows into a demon entity, '
Or a threat:
'I'll kill you first,' promised Myfanwy in a cold voice, 'I'll kill you twice if I feel like it, '
Truly riveting fun, exactly what I needed after an awful start to the weekit was the ideal book experience of immersion and diversion, Highly recommended to anyone who likes a dose of humor with their surreal actionspymystery thriller,
Four out of five, Or are they
Update from Dec,re:read: I think I nailed it fairly well the first time, except that part about humor, It's seriously funny almost all the way through, in that very British way,
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Update from September: idk 'almost all the way through, ' There is a lot of back story, I mean, I loved this book, Myfanwy Thomas wakes up with a note that says, "This body used to be mine", YEAH! I LOVE AMNESIA PLOTS! Except this is a bit more than that, Secret societies are kind of my fave, and this book builds a GREAT one, The secret Chequey I love all the chess terms battle supernatural forces in the world, and this new amnesiac is now fully immersed in it, I definitely felt like this could be a TV show, the richness of the world is so good! The tone is a bit hard to grasp, but it's classic British "serious but also cheeky", so once you get on the tricycle you're golden.
It's just FUN, like Dr, Who.
The pacing of this book was the only part I can quibble with, a bit erratic at times, but the world building was rich and the characters super fun, I loved it and would like to see more in the world!
A woman wakes up in a London park, surrounded by dead people all wearing latex gloves and with no idea who she is or how she got there.Sounds good, right An urban fantasy mysterythriller about XMentype superheroes taking down truly frightening supernatural baddies how could it go wrong
A letter in her coat pocket informs her that she is in danger, and offers her two choices: start a new anonymous life, or step into the letterwriters highly unorthodox life and try to figure out what happened, and why.
Oh, no, you just had to ask!
This book has everything.
Everything that makes me groan out loud while Im reading in public, and that makes the editor in me want to redpencil the entire novel, that is.
The writing and storytelling are just so incredibly clunky, It left me half laughing at how earnestly bad it is, and half just cringing in embarrassment, It's an intriguing, ambitious story completely ruined by terrible execution,
The biggest problem with the book is how the story is “enhanced” with infodumps, Lots and lots of infodumps, At first they seemed clever and useful, since the original Myfanwy Thomas lived a pretty complicated and occasionally exciting life as an overseer of the Checquy, the British Supernatural Secret Service, and the idea of the old Rook Thomas writing letters to the new Rook Thomas was a creative way to integrate this background into the present story.
But then the infodumps continue, And they are LONG. And not nearly as entertaining as they need to be to justify their intrusive presence, So the book ends up reading like this: Three pages of actual storyline, things start feeling interesting NOW STOP RIGHT THERE! Read this long, boring anecdote about the heroine's childhood, or a dossier about another character, or the full history of one of the supernatural agencies, instead.
Will any of it become important to know as the story goes on Probably not, but it's part of the author's worldbuilding and by golly, you readers will read it!
Add to this a zillion "As you already know, Myfanwy" dialogues "burly detective" syndrome using descriptions rather than a name to indicate a character constant reminders that the heroine is speaking "truthfully" or "honestly" when she says she doesn't remember things the reader is fully aware she has amnesia, thank you too many "she thought" tags when it's obvious that the line is the heroine's thought, etc.
, etc. , and you have a novel that I can hardly believe was accepted by an agent and then successfully sold to an editor,
The tone was also a major problem for me, Is this supposed to be a gripping, dark thriller The monsters invading the UK are truly terrible, the situation dire, And yet, there is a light, fluffy, dare I say silly tone to this entire book that detracts from the suspense and gave the book a sort of identity crisis.
Was I supposed to feel any fear or urgency when Myfanwy certainly didnt
Im also left wondering if part of the tone problem was the authors choice to try to write from a female perspective.
I never quite believed the female voice I kept stumbling over slightly sexist constructions and Im positive that had this book been about “Michael Thomas” rather than Myfanwy, Michael would have been focused on what mattered even with his amnesia and introversion, not nattering on about how he didnt know how to dress himself or do his hair or put on makeup, or going out dancing as the world burned.
This whole “cutely incompetent girl” schtick wore real thin for me real fast,
Ill mention here that I was extraoffended by the problems with this book because Im a writer, and I feel a bit angry to see something like this published, because its full of everything thats supposed to make agents and editors reject a manuscript out of hand, and has a justnotreadyforpublication feel to it that aggravated me personally.
It is interesting to me to see that the general reading public seems happily oblivious to most of the issues that bothered me with this book, since its got an averagestar rating clearly, Im a writing snob.
So far as I can tell, most of the enjoyment or not for this book comes down to all those infodumps, Either youll find them funny and entertaining, or youll find them boring and disruptive,
I can hardly believe I finished this book it took me forever! but I did, so at least this is a fair review, But by the end, I just didnt care about any of the plot threads any longer, or who the villain was, or anything at all, I just wanted it to be over, I am definitely not on board for any sequels,
Sob. I was doing so well this year with theandstar reads, until this!,