Achieve Smoke (Smoke, #1) Articulated By Dan Vyleta Categorized In Pamphlet

ihr, was ich nachSeiten feststelle Es interessiert mich einfach nicht,
All this male perspective and surpressed sexuality, Ich widme mich jetzt anderen Büchern! I don't want to denigrate Vyleta's feat here although I've personally only given it three, it's quite remarkable, The most original story I've read in a long time,

I just never felt gripped, unfortunately, I suppose that's down to two things I didn't take to the way the plot unfolded, and Vyleta's fantastical concept of Smoke was too clever and complex for me to ever fully get my head around and understand the rules of.
The author clearly lived and breathed his alternative England in writing this book, but as a reader I felt way out of my depth,

Vyleta's prose in turns frustrated and pleased me, His descriptions are often beautiful or clever, but there is SO MUCH description, It made a long book even longer, Towards the end I found myself scanning rather than reading properly, just wanting the story to be over and done with, The nicely roundedoff ending was a satisfaction, but ultimately, I think I would've preferred to read a different book or two instead of this one,

One last thing Stylist Magazine should hang their heads in shame for their sensationalist claim that this book fills "that gaping hold left by both Harry Potter and Northern Lights".
Firstly, this is purely an adult novel, Secondly, I don't think a book can justifiably be compared to Harry Potter simply because it happens to feature a boarding school which provides the setting for only aboutof the story.
The Northern Lights comparison I can understand a bit more, but seriously, . . One of the benefits of a crosscountry airline flight is a lot of sitting without other distractions competing for your time, Without a back and forth trip this weekend, I'm not sure how long it would have taken me to finish this book,

I should start by saying that upon reflection, I'm not sure this is really the book for me however, I think a lot of people will love it.


"Smoke" tells the alternatehistory version of Victorian England where people emit a smoke whenever they do something bad like tell a lie, lose their temper, think a bad thought, steal, etc.
And yet some people namely those in the church, government, the rich, and those in authority, don't seem to smoke, The poor, uneducated, powerless, smoke all the time,

The premise of the book is fascinating, The first chapter actually the first third of the book is so wellwritten I was completely engaged, Then the book starts to get a bit convoluted and I lost interest, Itspages seemed to drag on eternally, I attribute this partially to the story losing focus and partially to me just not being the right audience for this alternate reality/science fiction/dystopian sort of book.


In spite of my issues with the book I am always amazed at how closely fiction mirrors reality even wildly creative fiction, like this, Characters in this book want to remove all foreigners from England, "build walls", and the divide between rich and poor is startling, Vyleta had to have written this book long before the U, S. Presidential campaign but the themes sounded eerily similar,

.rounded up tofor creativity and originality,

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review, I received a free ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Smoke by Dan Vyleta is a historical fiction cross mystery novel set in a world in which people who are wicked in thought or action are marked by the taint of a strange Smoke that pours from their bodies.
The lowest of sinners, those most profoundly marked by Smoke, are considered the most evil members of society, the lower class and common folk are not much better, barely able to control their corruption.
This alternative history Dickensian England is governed by an elite and wealthy aristocracy who do not Smoke, proving both their virtue and superiority, and therefore their right to rule.
At an elite boarding school outside of London the sons of the wealthy are taught to control their Smoke and groomed to uphold their birthright, It is here that two best friends, Thomas and Charlie, set out on a journey to unravel the secrets of Smoke and discover that everything they have been taught is a lie.


Full disclosure: I did not enjoy this book at all,

I was intrigued by the premise and it started out with a lot of promise, really capturing the feel of an almost Victorian era England and establishing a strong mystery element filled with plenty of intrigue.
For me, however, it rapidly devolved into an incredibly slow and laboured plot caught up in tedious levels of details, I do, however, think that there will be plenty of other people who will enjoy this novel, If youre a fan of alternative history fiction, detail rich writing, an altogether dark and gritty atmosphere, slow burn mysteries, the stirrings of political revolution and period style language then I think you may enjoy this story.
There is definitely something original and strangely smart about this book, It just wasnt for me,

My thoughts ever so slightly spoilery but nothing specific or major

So I picked this book up because I was intrigued by the concept of Smoke, what it would mean for a society governed by a physical representation of sin and the potential for a magical twist to an otherwise familiar historical setting.
I honestly thought there was going to be this overlying fantastical vibe to the world, in which the author could explore some deeper metaphorical concepts, similar to Pullmans use of Dust in the His Dark Materials trilogy.
Im such a sucker for books heavy on themes and deeper ideas as well as mysterious and magical world building, Unfortunately, this wasnt really the case, In all honesty I felt like there was literally no other facet to this world, no other significant or intriguing or mystical aspect to this story outside of this singular idea.
For me, hanging an entire book on this sole defining element is not enough to create an engaging and fully formed world, I wanted magic and mystery and something more from the world building, especially given that this novel is being compared to His Dark Materials which presents such a richly imagined, utterly unique and well crafted world.


I also ended up intensely disliking the concept of Smoke and the way it was utilised by the author, I didnt like the religious and puritanical undertones, I disliked my interpretation of the moral discussion posed by Smoke as a wider metaphor in this story, I resented the way sin and virtue, as well as wealth and power, was presented and explored in this society, The gritty ugliness of this world felt confused to me and at odds with the deeper meaning of the story, This is a book that blurs the lines of good and evil, and yet I found myself questioning the complexity and intricacy of the concept, in turn irritated and outraged by different components of this world.
I just didnt like what I felt the author was trying to say,

Admittedly, my interpretation may well be wildly wrong, In some ways this book felt too complex and clever for me and I struggled to wrap my head around what felt like a fluid set of rules, with Smoke this ever changing and evolving element.
In some instances the rules governing Smoke felt almost counterintuitive to what had come before, This may be due to the fact that, while the world building is centred solely and with such narrow focus as to be almost claustrophobic on this concept of Smoke as an entity, and trying to unravel its mysteries, it is actually quite ill defined.
In fact, despite the length of the book and sheer amount of time spent discussing Smoke we literally NEVER GET ANY DECENT ANSWERS! What is it Who knows.
Where did it come from No idea, What does it mean Is it infection or is it sin itself, is it the consequence or the cause of actions I dont know and stopped caring by the halfway mark.
Smoke doesnt seem to play by a set of stable rules, any continuity in the world while probably understood to the author didnt seem to translate onto the page.


Honestly it was so frustrating that the entire plot revolved around a concept that we barely understand and is poorly explained, Its impossible to understand the motivations of any of the characters within the context of the plot or why the conclusion played out the way it did because we dont really understand the entity around which it is based.
This book felt confused, continuously shifting in its ideas and lacking a definitive villain, Im still not sure which side Im meant to be on in the political and social struggle that is presented, or even what one of the main characters hoped to achieved with her mysterious plotting and scheming.


Another issue for me was the pacing, This book was so frustratingly slow, with page upon page of absolute nothingness, chapter upon chapter that advances us exactly nowhere in the plot, There was so much detail, but no action to back it up, It was such a tedious slog to make it all the way through and I was so bored that I started to skim read, desperate to just get to the end and get some answers.
There was way too much dense description and not enough momentum in the plot, I quickly became disengaged, which also meant that I struggled to relate to or connect with any of the characters, This book could have easily been half the length, simply by removing the series of random first person chapters focused on secondary characters, While for some people these chapters may serve to build on to the wider world, I didnt think they added anything to the story and in fact seemed to take away from any sense of tension or suspense in the narrative, stretching out the book unnecessarily for no real gain.


So, on the whole this one was just not for me due to a slow and dragging plot, an overly complex concept and a lack of satisfying answers.
Im honestly just glad this book is done, Better luck to you if you're reading it,

My rating.I loved Dan Vyletas previous novels, particularly, “The Quiet Twin,” a dark, historical mystery, and so

was thrilled to have the chance to review his latest offering.
“Smoke,” is a very different novel to his previous work, but will hopefully bring him a whole new audience, which has to be a good thing,

The novel begins at a prestigious boys boarding school in an alternate England, It has a sort of Victorian, steampunk, feel to it from gas lamps and carriages to public executions this is a dark and almost preindustrial version of the country.
However, the greatest difference is Smoke itself rather than pouring forth from chimneys, it is something that emanates from people, Smoke is, indeed, a visible manifestation of vice and sin, As always, there is a class difference here the aristocracy including the boys we meet at the beginning of the book, friends Thomas and Charlie, and the Alpha Male, violent and bullying Julius are taught to control their Smoke.
The working class pour Smoke freely and their vice and sin are shown openly and often revelled in, A school trip to London opens the boys eyes and changes how they think about Smoke,

Thomass father committed a crime, and, it is believed, that he carries this inherited sin within him, When he goes to visit his uncle, with Charlie, he meets Lady Naylor and her daughter, Livia, Thomas discovers his uncle has descended into madness, while Lady Naylor has secret laboratories and is involved in investigating the origins of Smoke, Charlie, Thomas and Livia team up and end up on the run dealing with the evil Julius, controlling school masters and lowly coal miners as they fulfil their destiny to uncover the secrets of Smoke.
This is an interesting and well fleshed out world, with good characters and an original background, At times, it read a little like a YA novel, but has more adult themes, I enjoyed the ideas behind this novel and, while I hope it increases Dan Vyletas readership, I hope it will not see him changing style completely, He writes such excellent historical mysteries that I would be saddened if he did not continue this new style of writing alongside his previous types of books.

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