wolfshine's review
5.0
Spread across a variety of cultures and time, Calling the Reaper is an amazing novel that shows the results of the seven deadly sins - death. When each of the characters in this piece meet their end, they are taken from their world to Purgatory, a place of eternal hopelessness, by the Reaper. I'm excited to see where the characters go from here, and I eagerly await for the next book in this series!
greendragonauthor's review
4.0
This was a fun, creepy read. I truly enjoyed the symbolism and weaving together of the tales, the semi-historical fantasy settings and the disparate personalities within each story. Mr. Pere has done a lovely job.
taisie22's review
5.0
Calling the Reaper is the initial book in the First Book of Purgatory series. The concept is that the realm of mankind lies between Paradise and Purgatory. Valkyries hold sway in Paradise, ready to collect the souls of any person who qualifies for heaven by the choices they made in life. The Reaper collects the souls of those who made the wrong choices.
Here we have eight separate stories where a man or woman is confronted with a decision at the end of their life. I liked very much how the stories intermingled even though they take place in separate places. The native people in the story 'Sacrifice' evolve to become the tribal people in 'Mourning Dove Song'.
All of the stories are well-written and interesting. They take place in worlds that are similar to our own and the detail is excellent. I especially enjoyed reading Vengeful Ghost (Shogunate world), Sacrifice (Inca/Mayan world), Mourning Dove Song (the Old West), Legend No More (Vikings), Broken Steel, Broken Words (Teutonic knights), and Born of Titians (Romans), or at least that's how I interpreted the stories parallel worlds. (There are also pirates and Russian worlds in the other two stories which are also absorbing).
I found myself rooting for most of these protagonists to be taken by Valkyries (I won't tell you how they ended up). The characters are generally likable people who are faced with hard choices, so I had sympathy for most of them, even when they made a bad decision.
This is a fine piece of work and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
Here we have eight separate stories where a man or woman is confronted with a decision at the end of their life. I liked very much how the stories intermingled even though they take place in separate places. The native people in the story 'Sacrifice' evolve to become the tribal people in 'Mourning Dove Song'.
All of the stories are well-written and interesting. They take place in worlds that are similar to our own and the detail is excellent. I especially enjoyed reading Vengeful Ghost (Shogunate world), Sacrifice (Inca/Mayan world), Mourning Dove Song (the Old West), Legend No More (Vikings), Broken Steel, Broken Words (Teutonic knights), and Born of Titians (Romans), or at least that's how I interpreted the stories parallel worlds. (There are also pirates and Russian worlds in the other two stories which are also absorbing).
I found myself rooting for most of these protagonists to be taken by Valkyries (I won't tell you how they ended up). The characters are generally likable people who are faced with hard choices, so I had sympathy for most of them, even when they made a bad decision.
This is a fine piece of work and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
brokebybooks's review
3.0
Beware: Colonizer perspectives calling natives barbarians and locals.
Basically: Decent, entertaining read though I was really confused. It sets up the world slowly to keep you guessing and the ending has me very excited to continue the series.
Calling the Reaper opens with a pirate tale and I’ll admit I was initialing confused. I had no idea why I was reading about that given the blurb. Soon enough I went “ohhhhh” in realization.
After my initial confusion and the second story, I sped along enjoying the ride. Though I have my favorites like The Kiss and Sacrifice, each is a solid mini-story. Of the eight stories, two are about women and most are non-Western in setting.
There are stories from colonizers calling locals barbarians and savages though. While one story is set from inside such a society and shows how the invading forces is wrong in such assumptions, it doesn’t negate the harm of perpetuating colonial rhetoric.
Calling the Reaper follows eight separate stories of various people throughout the world and each story is split into three parts: backstory, set-up, and death. After each story is a glimpse at the larger picture, the players behind the chess pieces, with letters and excerpts from various texts. Which is very well done.
Again, at first, I was confused at how it all came together. It’s not until the very end when the pieces drop into place to reveal the big picture. Now THAT has me excited to continue. Too bad I can’t talk about it without spoiling it :/
Recommended for: fans of dark, bloody fantasy with a bunch of different POVs.
Basically: Decent, entertaining read though I was really confused. It sets up the world slowly to keep you guessing and the ending has me very excited to continue the series.
Calling the Reaper opens with a pirate tale and I’ll admit I was initialing confused. I had no idea why I was reading about that given the blurb. Soon enough I went “ohhhhh” in realization.
After my initial confusion and the second story, I sped along enjoying the ride. Though I have my favorites like The Kiss and Sacrifice, each is a solid mini-story. Of the eight stories, two are about women and most are non-Western in setting.
There are stories from colonizers calling locals barbarians and savages though. While one story is set from inside such a society and shows how the invading forces is wrong in such assumptions, it doesn’t negate the harm of perpetuating colonial rhetoric.
Calling the Reaper follows eight separate stories of various people throughout the world and each story is split into three parts: backstory, set-up, and death. After each story is a glimpse at the larger picture, the players behind the chess pieces, with letters and excerpts from various texts. Which is very well done.
Again, at first, I was confused at how it all came together. It’s not until the very end when the pieces drop into place to reveal the big picture. Now THAT has me excited to continue. Too bad I can’t talk about it without spoiling it :/
Recommended for: fans of dark, bloody fantasy with a bunch of different POVs.
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