C. J. Daley
I had the opportunity to read this for the Indie Ink Awards, and I just so happened to already own it on Kindle. It was on my list for a while, so I’m glad the awards allowed me to bump it up the TBR chain.
Seth has lived a troubled life. His parents, hell even his entire town, treat him with disdain, like he’s a stain on the community. But what has Seth actually done to deserve this? Then, he finds someone to confide in, someone to love and build a future with. It’s short lived, as she is kidnapped right before his eyes while he is murdered. What follows is a demonic and twisted tale of deceit, malevolence, struggle, and survival. Demon Seth must overcome his nature, one that was painstakingly crafted for an evil purpose. Luckily, there are those that would stand with him to defeat those that carry the blade of judgment.
This was truly a unique novel. The author takes bits and pieces from our histories’ religions and blends them with fantastical fiction to offer readers a wholly new experience. The prose is lofty and lyrical, giving the reader the chance to fall into step with Priore’s sentence work. The action is big (and often) but never falls into feeling like a superhero story, nor is it repetitive.
For me, the flipping back and forth between Seth’s first-person POV and the various other characters spanning through space and millennia, was a little eclectic and took some getting used to. I think, at least at first, it felt like two separate kinds of story competing with each other, with Seth falling somewhat to the back burner at the beginning. With that said, I think the main chunk with Seth being first person was the right choice, as you can center yourself on it over time. The side and supporting characters also offering some of the story’s juiciest bits too…including my favorite which was Virdeus.
To me, Virdeus represents some of the book’s best character work. An ancient man set on a path of magic and longevity. Every time he appears on the page he could deservedly be angry, could be vengeful, but he’s not. He has mastered his loss and emotions over time, and builds something important to the human race. This group—or task force, or dare I saw cult (depending on who’s asking), or secret order—thrives in the background, keeping many of the earth’s evils at bay as they hunt for demons and imps. Personally for me, this is where the novel felt truly alive. I was buzzing with the possibilities of other stories or spinoffs in their world, of limitless enemies felled. And again, this never felt superhero-y or corny. That’s an achievement.
With some overlying threads of Christianity and ancient mythology, this really does read like its own thing. Heaven and Hell exist, but the author has rewritten the code, changed their existence, rearranged even the smallest details you think you know. It could be called urban fantasy, for those needing a label, or it could be labeled a horror if not for its action base, however dark fantasy doesn’t seem to sit too well with me either. Look, it is certainly fantastical, magical, dark as hell, but to me it still felt like something worldly. No, I can’t make that make more sense, but at the moment fantasy just feels strange to attach to it. For those that like to try new things, that like genre blends that are a tad “out there,” this one could be something special.
I had the opportunity to read this for the Indie Ink Awards, and I just so happened to already own it on Kindle. It was on my list for a while, so I’m glad the awards allowed me to bump it up the TBR chain.
Seth has lived a troubled life. His parents, hell even his entire town, treat him with disdain, like he’s a stain on the community. But what has Seth actually done to deserve this? Then, he finds someone to confide in, someone to love and build a future with. It’s short lived, as she is kidnapped right before his eyes while he is murdered. What follows is a demonic and twisted tale of deceit, malevolence, struggle, and survival. Demon Seth must overcome his nature, one that was painstakingly crafted for an evil purpose. Luckily, there are those that would stand with him to defeat those that carry the blade of judgment.
This was truly a unique novel. The author takes bits and pieces from our histories’ religions and blends them with fantastical fiction to offer readers a wholly new experience. The prose is lofty and lyrical, giving the reader the chance to fall into step with Priore’s sentence work. The action is big (and often) but never falls into feeling like a superhero story, nor is it repetitive.
For me, the flipping back and forth between Seth’s first-person POV and the various other characters spanning through space and millennia, was a little eclectic and took some getting used to. I think, at least at first, it felt like two separate kinds of story competing with each other, with Seth falling somewhat to the back burner at the beginning. With that said, I think the main chunk with Seth being first person was the right choice, as you can center yourself on it over time. The side and supporting characters also offering some of the story’s juiciest bits too…including my favorite which was Virdeus.
To me, Virdeus represents some of the book’s best character work. An ancient man set on a path of magic and longevity. Every time he appears on the page he could deservedly be angry, could be vengeful, but he’s not. He has mastered his loss and emotions over time, and builds something important to the human race. This group—or task force, or dare I saw cult (depending on who’s asking), or secret order—thrives in the background, keeping many of the earth’s evils at bay as they hunt for demons and imps. Personally for me, this is where the novel felt truly alive. I was buzzing with the possibilities of other stories or spinoffs in their world, of limitless enemies felled. And again, this never felt superhero-y or corny. That’s an achievement.
With some overlying threads of Christianity and ancient mythology, this really does read like its own thing. Heaven and Hell exist, but the author has rewritten the code, changed their existence, rearranged even the smallest details you think you know. It could be called urban fantasy, for those needing a label, or it could be labeled a horror if not for its action base, however dark fantasy doesn’t seem to sit too well with me either. Look, it is certainly fantastical, magical, dark as hell, but to me it still felt like something worldly. No, I can’t make that make more sense, but at the moment fantasy just feels strange to attach to it. For those that like to try new things, that like genre blends that are a tad “out there,” this one could be something special.