![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
As the witch pyres of the Spanish Inquisition blanket Renaissance Europe in a moral haze, a young African slave finds herself the unwilling apprentice of an ancient necromancer. Unfortunately, quitting his company proves even more hazardous than remaining his pupil when she is afflicted with a terrible curse.
Yet salvation may lie in a mysterious tome her tutor has hidden somewhere on the war-torn continent. She sets out on a seemingly impossible journey to find the book, never suspecting her fate is tied to three strangers: the artist Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, the alchemist Dr Paracelsus and a gun-slinging Dutch mercenary. As Manuel paints her macabre story on canvas, plank and church wall, the apprentice becomes increasingly aware of the great dangers that surround her. She realises she must revisit the foul necromancy of her childhood – or death will be the least of her concerns.
It’s the mid 15th century. Awa and Halim are African slaves assigned to accompany the beautiful and vain courtesan Omorose to Spain as a gift for the Spanish king but en route they’re shipwrecked and kidnapped by an ancient necromancer who seeks to teach them his unholy arts. Following a series of events (including lesbian zombie rape and cannibalism) Awa foreswears her necromantic abilities and finds herself on the run across Medieval Europe. Pursued by a zealous member of the Inquisition, she has 10 years to find a book to free herself from a terrible curse. Her only allies are Niklaus Deutsch (a mercenary and artist), Dr Paracelsus (a doctor interested in Awa’s necromancy) and Monique (a lesbian Dutch mercenary). But the more Awa tries to escape her fate, the more she finds herself forced to draw on the very necromantic powers she wants to abandon and death seems to await her at every turn …
Jesse Bullington’s second novel is an exuberant, sweary dark fantasy rich in Medieval detail that carried me from page to page. It’s easier to empathise with the main characters than in THE SAD TALE OF THE BROTHERS GROSSBART (although Awa’s naivety did annoy me at times and Paracelsus and Monique are little more than caricatures) and although the pace did sag at times, the story was such that I kept reading on and I would definitely check out his next book.
With her unrequited crush on the arrogant Omorose and her refusal to force the dead to abide by her will, Awa’s as much a moral anchor as it’s possible given the nature of the novel. I enjoyed her growing friendship with Deutsch and Monique but the description of her as being “clever but stupid” is an excuse to contrive her motivation to fit the plot and the blasé way she trusts people she really shouldn’t did irritate me at times. Deutsch is an equally interesting character, a committed and gifted artist who murders men for money so that he can better praise God with his art, he’s devoted to his wife but fascinated by Awa and her abilities. Monique and Paracelsus were less well drawn, although I did enjoy their scenes.
It’s not a perfect novel – the pace sags at times and sometimes relies on contrivance to keep moving – but I did enjoy it and will check out Bullington’s other work.
The Verdict:
Jesse Bullington’s second novel is an exuberant, sweary dark fantasy rich in Medieval detail that carried me from page to page. It’s easier to empathise with the main characters than in THE SAD TALE OF THE BROTHERS GROSSBART (although Awa’s naivety did annoy me at times and Paracelsus and Monique are little more than caricatures) and although the pace did sag at times, the story was such that I kept reading on and I would definitely check out his next book.
As the witch pyres of the Spanish Inquisition blanket Renaissance Europe in a moral haze, a young African slave finds herself the unwilling apprentice of an ancient necromancer. Unfortunately, quitting his company proves even more hazardous than remaining his pupil when she is afflicted with a terrible curse.
Yet salvation may lie in a mysterious tome her tutor has hidden somewhere on the war-torn continent. She sets out on a seemingly impossible journey to find the book, never suspecting her fate is tied to three strangers: the artist Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, the alchemist Dr Paracelsus and a gun-slinging Dutch mercenary. As Manuel paints her macabre story on canvas, plank and church wall, the apprentice becomes increasingly aware of the great dangers that surround her. She realises she must revisit the foul necromancy of her childhood – or death will be the least of her concerns.
It’s the mid 15th century. Awa and Halim are African slaves assigned to accompany the beautiful and vain courtesan Omorose to Spain as a gift for the Spanish king but en route they’re shipwrecked and kidnapped by an ancient necromancer who seeks to teach them his unholy arts. Following a series of events (including lesbian zombie rape and cannibalism) Awa foreswears her necromantic abilities and finds herself on the run across Medieval Europe. Pursued by a zealous member of the Inquisition, she has 10 years to find a book to free herself from a terrible curse. Her only allies are Niklaus Deutsch (a mercenary and artist), Dr Paracelsus (a doctor interested in Awa’s necromancy) and Monique (a lesbian Dutch mercenary). But the more Awa tries to escape her fate, the more she finds herself forced to draw on the very necromantic powers she wants to abandon and death seems to await her at every turn …
Jesse Bullington’s second novel is an exuberant, sweary dark fantasy rich in Medieval detail that carried me from page to page. It’s easier to empathise with the main characters than in THE SAD TALE OF THE BROTHERS GROSSBART (although Awa’s naivety did annoy me at times and Paracelsus and Monique are little more than caricatures) and although the pace did sag at times, the story was such that I kept reading on and I would definitely check out his next book.
With her unrequited crush on the arrogant Omorose and her refusal to force the dead to abide by her will, Awa’s as much a moral anchor as it’s possible given the nature of the novel. I enjoyed her growing friendship with Deutsch and Monique but the description of her as being “clever but stupid” is an excuse to contrive her motivation to fit the plot and the blasé way she trusts people she really shouldn’t did irritate me at times. Deutsch is an equally interesting character, a committed and gifted artist who murders men for money so that he can better praise God with his art, he’s devoted to his wife but fascinated by Awa and her abilities. Monique and Paracelsus were less well drawn, although I did enjoy their scenes.
It’s not a perfect novel – the pace sags at times and sometimes relies on contrivance to keep moving – but I did enjoy it and will check out Bullington’s other work.
The Verdict:
Jesse Bullington’s second novel is an exuberant, sweary dark fantasy rich in Medieval detail that carried me from page to page. It’s easier to empathise with the main characters than in THE SAD TALE OF THE BROTHERS GROSSBART (although Awa’s naivety did annoy me at times and Paracelsus and Monique are little more than caricatures) and although the pace did sag at times, the story was such that I kept reading on and I would definitely check out his next book.
