Ministry of Pandemonium by Chris Westwood
Jan. 18th, 2011 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Another night shift, another lost soul – pray the good guys find it first.
Ben Harvester sees what no one else can ...
A cobbled alleyway – a place where it’s always night – hidden behind a crack in the wall.
Mr October, a man of many faces and secrets, knows Ben has a unique gift. He sets out to recruit Ben to a top-secret, highly classified Ministry department – to help in an eternal war against an unspeakable enemy.
And so Ben begins to understand just how great and deadly his gift may be, and why it puts him and everyone he loves in grave danger ...
Ben Harvester lives with his mother in a small flat in Islington. Money’s been tight ever since his parents separated and his dad just disappeared and his mum works in a greasy spoon cafe to make ends meet. Life’s not all bad though – Ben’s a talented artist and it’s when he’s sketching at Highgate Cemetery one afternoon that he meets Mr October, who alerts him to the fact that he’s a person with a True Calling and a special gift.
Soon Ben’s accompanying Mr October in his work for the Ministry of Pandemonium – a department that accompanies lost souls to the afterlife before demons can claim them for their own. As Ben juggles his night job with starting at a new school, he’s also trying to work out just what his gift is and how he can use it. And all the time, the forces of darkness are threatening both him and the people he cares about.
Chris Westwood’s middle grade dark fantasy is a solid introduction to an interesting world where those with magical gifts help shepherd the recently deceased into the next life before demons can claim them. It’s a well-imagined and coherent set-up and the depiction of the Ministry as being over-worked and under-resourced is smoothly handled while the bureaucracy leads to some smiles (particularly the way that fatalities are catalogued according to reference numbers).
Mr October is an intriguing character – literally a man of many faces and a keeper of mysteries who slowly introduces Ben to the work and his own abilities. Ben himself is a compassionate character – perhaps a little too kind and right-minded to be strictly believable – but his home background helps to explain it and I particularly enjoyed the close relationship he enjoys with his mother (who refreshingly does not use her own troubles as an excuse to neglect her son).
There are some wonderfully dark moments – the different demons are deliciously evil and Westwood’s imagination really goes to town when he puts Ben in peril. However the story itself is slow to unfold and Ben’s journey to discover his gift lacks drive until the end when Westwood brings together different plot lines (some of which I did find a little predictable).
All in all though there’s a lot here to enjoy and the book ends with a promise of a sequel which I will definitely be reading.
The Verdict:
There are some deliciously dark moments in this middle grade fantasy by Chris Westwood and the central idea of a Ministry existing to help ghosts pass on to the afterlife is well executed and very believable. For me the story was a little too slow, mainly because it concentrates on introducing Ben to the work of the Ministry and his own special gifts. However there’s plenty of action and the promise of a sequel will definitely see me reading more.
THE MINISTRY OF PANDEMONIUM will be released in the UK in March 2011. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
Ben Harvester sees what no one else can ...
A cobbled alleyway – a place where it’s always night – hidden behind a crack in the wall.
Mr October, a man of many faces and secrets, knows Ben has a unique gift. He sets out to recruit Ben to a top-secret, highly classified Ministry department – to help in an eternal war against an unspeakable enemy.
And so Ben begins to understand just how great and deadly his gift may be, and why it puts him and everyone he loves in grave danger ...
Ben Harvester lives with his mother in a small flat in Islington. Money’s been tight ever since his parents separated and his dad just disappeared and his mum works in a greasy spoon cafe to make ends meet. Life’s not all bad though – Ben’s a talented artist and it’s when he’s sketching at Highgate Cemetery one afternoon that he meets Mr October, who alerts him to the fact that he’s a person with a True Calling and a special gift.
Soon Ben’s accompanying Mr October in his work for the Ministry of Pandemonium – a department that accompanies lost souls to the afterlife before demons can claim them for their own. As Ben juggles his night job with starting at a new school, he’s also trying to work out just what his gift is and how he can use it. And all the time, the forces of darkness are threatening both him and the people he cares about.
Chris Westwood’s middle grade dark fantasy is a solid introduction to an interesting world where those with magical gifts help shepherd the recently deceased into the next life before demons can claim them. It’s a well-imagined and coherent set-up and the depiction of the Ministry as being over-worked and under-resourced is smoothly handled while the bureaucracy leads to some smiles (particularly the way that fatalities are catalogued according to reference numbers).
Mr October is an intriguing character – literally a man of many faces and a keeper of mysteries who slowly introduces Ben to the work and his own abilities. Ben himself is a compassionate character – perhaps a little too kind and right-minded to be strictly believable – but his home background helps to explain it and I particularly enjoyed the close relationship he enjoys with his mother (who refreshingly does not use her own troubles as an excuse to neglect her son).
There are some wonderfully dark moments – the different demons are deliciously evil and Westwood’s imagination really goes to town when he puts Ben in peril. However the story itself is slow to unfold and Ben’s journey to discover his gift lacks drive until the end when Westwood brings together different plot lines (some of which I did find a little predictable).
All in all though there’s a lot here to enjoy and the book ends with a promise of a sequel which I will definitely be reading.
The Verdict:
There are some deliciously dark moments in this middle grade fantasy by Chris Westwood and the central idea of a Ministry existing to help ghosts pass on to the afterlife is well executed and very believable. For me the story was a little too slow, mainly because it concentrates on introducing Ben to the work of the Ministry and his own special gifts. However there’s plenty of action and the promise of a sequel will definitely see me reading more.
THE MINISTRY OF PANDEMONIUM will be released in the UK in March 2011. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
