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lazarusreads's review against another edition
4.0
I remember first reading this book over 10 years ago and loving it. I find that having read a lot more books since then that I found the pacing a little slow, but still really enjoyed it. Once the story takes off, the action and character development kept me wanting to know more and more. The more I read I couldn’t stop.
mzzmia's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it. Despite the fact that it was hard to get into at first and it took a bit for things to really get moving, the concept was well-plotted and the writing solid. If the reader is unfamiliar with Celtic mythology they may find that the references to deities and mythic heroes leaves them a bit in the dark. The only issue I had was that the characters were very hard to like but as this is the first in a series I suspect that they will do plenty of growing in the later books. The only question is, will this one leave you wanting to read the others?
dtaylorbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Ah, trust Pyr to come through on their claim of awesome fantasy. First THIEF’S COVENANT and now WORLD’S END. Two very different fantasies, mind, but both are still filled with the WORDS and make me giddy for the worlds they build.
I wasn’t as grossly blown over by Chadbourn’s writing as I was Marmell’s but they’re not two books that can really be compared; they just happen to be released by the same publisher and the fact that they can both be filed into fantasy. That’s where the similarities end. AGE OF MISRULE is very much an adult novel with adult sex scenes, adult themes and a darkness and overwhelming sense of despair that I don’t think is found in YA (not to this extent anyway). Combining elements of urban fantasy, traditional fey, dark fantasy, Arthurian legend and horror, Chadbourn creates this book baby that snuffs out the crying of all the rest. It’s action-packed but written in a way that tempers that action, just not in a bad way. I never found myself bored although there were a couple of characters I just couldn’t get on board with but with an ensemble cast that’s to be expected, not liking everyone. AGE OF MISRULE is truly a dark book and just when you think there’s a light at the end of the tunnel you get cracked across the jaw with a Maglite and are left a little stunned.
A couple of negatives really stood out for me when reading, and I do mean only a couple. The first was Chadbourn’s overuse of the word ‘somehow.’ A lot of convenient things ‘somehow’ happened constantly that allowed the story to progress on. Without that ‘somehow’ a character would have lost a weapon, their footing, their grip, whatever little element it was that the ‘somehow’ was connected to. It happened enough that it stuck out in my sieve of a brain so that’s pretty damn often.
The second was Laura. Goddamn did I not like her. She was just a very standoffish, terse, off-putting person that kept everyone at arm’s length as a double means of protecting herself and projecting an image. I think when Chadbourn introduced her past into the mix as a means of explaining why she was the way she was was a means of softening her blow but I’m not someone that allows a person’s past to be an excuse to act like a dick. And Laura’s a dick. To everyone. I don’t care what was in her eyes or what kind of tone was on the edge of her voice; she’s an asshole and just because bad shit happened to her doesn’t give her carte blanche to treat people however damn well she pleased. Plus she totally threw a wrench into the Church/Ruth spokes that I was NOT a fan of so there’s that too. But it really boils down to her personality. Her history sucks. I get it. But it doesn’t give her a pass to be a douche in life and I’m expected to feel bad for her. No. Move on. Get over it. Next.
I really liked Ruth as a character and as a storyline, which was not immediately solved by the end of this book. Aside from Church she’s the only other character, really, with a greater-than-group destiny thing going on and it appears to be far apart from the group’s main issue of being the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons. It brings a different level of intrigue to the table. Church as well, bearing the burden of being a leader without feeling up to the challenge, and then having that weakness rubbed in his face, knocking him down a peg when he thought he did good. These characters just can’t catch a break and I love it. It keeps them on their toes and it allows their real personalities to shine.
The world that Chadbourn created, this amalgam of our current world (present day London/Britain) getting consumed by a world past was grossly rich and most of the time terrifying. While his descriptions of the Night Walkers became a bit redundant (a lot of gorge-rising and vague hideousness) as the story carried on, their presence at the beginning, and the reactions they invoked did an excellent job of getting their horrible point across. It’s one thing to see a beast tear apart a man. It’s another to have it be so horrifying that you vomit and pass out because their visage is so beyond human comprehension that your brain doesn’t know what else to do. Not to mention it’s one thing to see a dragon flying across the sky. It’s quite another to have it torch the motorway you’re on. The detail was just incredibly rich and envisioning all of these scenes was completely effortless.
I cannot wait to read book two. I really can’t. Each character brings something to the table, even if it’s something to not like, and they’re all adjusting to this grossly changing world as believably as I feel they would. I didn’t, at any point, not believe what I was reading, irrespective of the whole fantasy element. And the subtle humor had me giggling at just the right moments. For instance the introduction of an integral tool in the characters’ search was noted as being a deus ex machina by Church. Which it totally was. I love an author than can poke fun at himself.
I wasn’t as grossly blown over by Chadbourn’s writing as I was Marmell’s but they’re not two books that can really be compared; they just happen to be released by the same publisher and the fact that they can both be filed into fantasy. That’s where the similarities end. AGE OF MISRULE is very much an adult novel with adult sex scenes, adult themes and a darkness and overwhelming sense of despair that I don’t think is found in YA (not to this extent anyway). Combining elements of urban fantasy, traditional fey, dark fantasy, Arthurian legend and horror, Chadbourn creates this book baby that snuffs out the crying of all the rest. It’s action-packed but written in a way that tempers that action, just not in a bad way. I never found myself bored although there were a couple of characters I just couldn’t get on board with but with an ensemble cast that’s to be expected, not liking everyone. AGE OF MISRULE is truly a dark book and just when you think there’s a light at the end of the tunnel you get cracked across the jaw with a Maglite and are left a little stunned.
A couple of negatives really stood out for me when reading, and I do mean only a couple. The first was Chadbourn’s overuse of the word ‘somehow.’ A lot of convenient things ‘somehow’ happened constantly that allowed the story to progress on. Without that ‘somehow’ a character would have lost a weapon, their footing, their grip, whatever little element it was that the ‘somehow’ was connected to. It happened enough that it stuck out in my sieve of a brain so that’s pretty damn often.
The second was Laura. Goddamn did I not like her. She was just a very standoffish, terse, off-putting person that kept everyone at arm’s length as a double means of protecting herself and projecting an image. I think when Chadbourn introduced her past into the mix as a means of explaining why she was the way she was was a means of softening her blow but I’m not someone that allows a person’s past to be an excuse to act like a dick. And Laura’s a dick. To everyone. I don’t care what was in her eyes or what kind of tone was on the edge of her voice; she’s an asshole and just because bad shit happened to her doesn’t give her carte blanche to treat people however damn well she pleased. Plus she totally threw a wrench into the Church/Ruth spokes that I was NOT a fan of so there’s that too. But it really boils down to her personality. Her history sucks. I get it. But it doesn’t give her a pass to be a douche in life and I’m expected to feel bad for her. No. Move on. Get over it. Next.
I really liked Ruth as a character and as a storyline, which was not immediately solved by the end of this book. Aside from Church she’s the only other character, really, with a greater-than-group destiny thing going on and it appears to be far apart from the group’s main issue of being the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons. It brings a different level of intrigue to the table. Church as well, bearing the burden of being a leader without feeling up to the challenge, and then having that weakness rubbed in his face, knocking him down a peg when he thought he did good. These characters just can’t catch a break and I love it. It keeps them on their toes and it allows their real personalities to shine.
The world that Chadbourn created, this amalgam of our current world (present day London/Britain) getting consumed by a world past was grossly rich and most of the time terrifying. While his descriptions of the Night Walkers became a bit redundant (a lot of gorge-rising and vague hideousness) as the story carried on, their presence at the beginning, and the reactions they invoked did an excellent job of getting their horrible point across. It’s one thing to see a beast tear apart a man. It’s another to have it be so horrifying that you vomit and pass out because their visage is so beyond human comprehension that your brain doesn’t know what else to do. Not to mention it’s one thing to see a dragon flying across the sky. It’s quite another to have it torch the motorway you’re on. The detail was just incredibly rich and envisioning all of these scenes was completely effortless.
I cannot wait to read book two. I really can’t. Each character brings something to the table, even if it’s something to not like, and they’re all adjusting to this grossly changing world as believably as I feel they would. I didn’t, at any point, not believe what I was reading, irrespective of the whole fantasy element. And the subtle humor had me giggling at just the right moments. For instance the introduction of an integral tool in the characters’ search was noted as being a deus ex machina by Church. Which it totally was. I love an author than can poke fun at himself.
brewergnome's review against another edition
3.0
Ok. Not fantastic, but intriguing. A few predictable bits.
lu_wilson's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED this book!! It's so different than anything else I have read lately. I'm not usually a big sci-fi book fan, but this was brilliant. Mythical creatures from British Celtic folklore slipping through into modern day Britain and causing chaos. What I loved most was the fact that the author had taken the time to learn about the areas mentioned in the book. I'm from the SW and the references to the Jamaica Inn, the Moors and Buckfastleigh were spot on. I will now always imagine the huntsman when driving along that stretch of the A38!!
lyfaster's review against another edition
3.0
You know, it took me like eight months since I started reading this book to finish it. I stopped roughly half-way at some point and was all like: "Oh gawd, its going to be Dawnthief all over again." Well I continued after a while. And lo and behold, it was in fact like Dawnthief all over again. At least I finished this one....
Characters (3/5)
Shavi is the winning grace of this novel. Because he is freaking cool. He isn't even the main character and his presence doesn't exist until half-way through the book. Veitch started off as interesting and then became more of an annoyance. Tom was always an annoyance. Laura....why the hell hasn't her character developed, even after all of the sh*t she had to go through?!?! WTF.
Oh and Ruth. Lol. Don't even get me started on Ruth.
But then there is Church. The gary stu of this book. Of course his life can't all be perfect! He must have a dark and debilitating past! (IN ORDER TO BECOME THE HERO GOTHAM NEEDS!) No. No I say. Church 'finds' an 'inner hero' of sorts. And yet, it doesn't do anything of importance.
World (3/5)
I see what Chadbourn did here. Its almost Lovecraftian, the descriptions/lack thereof regarding the Fomori. Underline almost. Nothing is ever fully described or detailed. The mythos is so incredibly verbose and complex (Which I do applaud!) but the fun of it all gets lost in random narration, which is overly tedious for me to care about when all I want is for the plot to progress.
Prose (2/5)
I put this book down the first time because it was heady, intense and overly saturated with meaningless descriptions that overloaded the brain. I picked it up. And only then after re familiarizing myself with the way Chadbourn goes about his life did I manage to pick up my reading speed with this novel. Painfully slow, but I managed to chunk through the viscous swamp of adjectives.
Pacing (2/5)
It could have been better. It should have been better. If the pacing was better than the book could have been much better. But it wasn't.
Plot (3/5)
There was a line once uttered through in the novel. A literary device of great renown, one I find incredibly fascinating. "Deus ex Machina", which pretty much sums up all the solutions. The premise was interesting, I'll give him that. But I felt as if Chadbourn failed to deliver.
All in all....
3+3+2+3+2=13/25 = .52*5 = 2.6
Which rounds to 3....
And yet, I'll be giving the second one a go.
Characters (3/5)
Shavi is the winning grace of this novel. Because he is freaking cool. He isn't even the main character and his presence doesn't exist until half-way through the book. Veitch started off as interesting and then became more of an annoyance. Tom was always an annoyance. Laura....why the hell hasn't her character developed, even after all of the sh*t she had to go through?!?! WTF.
Oh and Ruth. Lol. Don't even get me started on Ruth.
But then there is Church. The gary stu of this book. Of course his life can't all be perfect! He must have a dark and debilitating past! (IN ORDER TO BECOME THE HERO GOTHAM NEEDS!) No. No I say. Church 'finds' an 'inner hero' of sorts. And yet, it doesn't do anything of importance.
World (3/5)
I see what Chadbourn did here. Its almost Lovecraftian, the descriptions/lack thereof regarding the Fomori. Underline almost. Nothing is ever fully described or detailed. The mythos is so incredibly verbose and complex (Which I do applaud!) but the fun of it all gets lost in random narration, which is overly tedious for me to care about when all I want is for the plot to progress.
Prose (2/5)
I put this book down the first time because it was heady, intense and overly saturated with meaningless descriptions that overloaded the brain. I picked it up. And only then after re familiarizing myself with the way Chadbourn goes about his life did I manage to pick up my reading speed with this novel. Painfully slow, but I managed to chunk through the viscous swamp of adjectives.
Pacing (2/5)
It could have been better. It should have been better. If the pacing was better than the book could have been much better. But it wasn't.
Plot (3/5)
There was a line once uttered through in the novel. A literary device of great renown, one I find incredibly fascinating. "Deus ex Machina", which pretty much sums up all the solutions. The premise was interesting, I'll give him that. But I felt as if Chadbourn failed to deliver.
All in all....
3+3+2+3+2=13/25 = .52*5 = 2.6
Which rounds to 3....
And yet, I'll be giving the second one a go.
inurlibrary's review against another edition
3.0
Final verdict: 2 1/2 stars.
This one had potential but wasn't executed well. I picked it up based on the subject matter (the premise that the old Celtic gods were returning, and a post-apocalyptic world without technology), but there was too much going on, the characters weren't very likable, and certainly didn't come off as very smart. There was an awful lot of jumping around, location-wise, and the idea that most of the population of the country hadn't noticed the current events was entirely unrealistic. The plot could have been streamlined, and the writing could have been better.
All said, I am going to give the rest of the series a shot, recognizing that this is the first of a series and was written a while ago. But I fully admit this is one that I wanted to like, and not one that I actually did.
This one had potential but wasn't executed well. I picked it up based on the subject matter (the premise that the old Celtic gods were returning, and a post-apocalyptic world without technology), but there was too much going on, the characters weren't very likable, and certainly didn't come off as very smart. There was an awful lot of jumping around, location-wise, and the idea that most of the population of the country hadn't noticed the current events was entirely unrealistic. The plot could have been streamlined, and the writing could have been better.
All said, I am going to give the rest of the series a shot, recognizing that this is the first of a series and was written a while ago. But I fully admit this is one that I wanted to like, and not one that I actually did.
mw2k's review
Ah, that cover blurb was so promising...but what's between the covers is something else. A great idea that falls to pieces in the first fifty pages. Understated writing, characters you couldn't care less about...Terrible shame.
adubrow's review
You would think that a book about the world being ended by Celtic Gods would be able to hold my interest. Sadly you would be wrong.
Despite the interesting set-up and look into the concepts of non-duality (gods being both good and evil and evil only existing as long as there's good and vice versa), the pacing of this book irks me. The characters do too. Perhaps it's just I would rather read about the gods and their monsters than two people sharing a traumatic experience which will probably end in them hooking up soon. Too little of the gods and monsters is shown in the opening chapters for my tastes. I needed more meat. More visuals. More something.
In short, I think I was expecting far too much. I was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to read this so you can imagine my disappointment that I cannot bring myself to continue after reading about 100 pages. But I just don't have the time to invest in a three book series when I don't care about either of the main characters or their issues.
I might come back to this someday, but for now color me underwhelemed and unimpressed.
Despite the interesting set-up and look into the concepts of non-duality (gods being both good and evil and evil only existing as long as there's good and vice versa), the pacing of this book irks me. The characters do too. Perhaps it's just I would rather read about the gods and their monsters than two people sharing a traumatic experience which will probably end in them hooking up soon. Too little of the gods and monsters is shown in the opening chapters for my tastes. I needed more meat. More visuals. More something.
In short, I think I was expecting far too much. I was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to read this so you can imagine my disappointment that I cannot bring myself to continue after reading about 100 pages. But I just don't have the time to invest in a three book series when I don't care about either of the main characters or their issues.
I might come back to this someday, but for now color me underwhelemed and unimpressed.