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marimoose's review against another edition
3.0
I'm still pingponging between a 3.5 or an even 3 rating. I suppose I'll decide once I properly review the book XD.
Full review found at Story and Somnomancy.
Full review found at Story and Somnomancy.
david_agranoff's review against another edition
5.0
I was very interested in this book from the first moment I knew it existed. Book of Eli is a favorite of mine, and what I considered to be a underrated classic in one of my favorite genre of story post apocalyptic. That movie was excellently structured and you could just tell it have a great script as it's backbone. I was very excited when I heard he had gotten the gig for writing Rogue One the first stand alone Star Wars film. I know it's a little thing but his involement with a never produced film based on Journey to the West meant a alot to me. Over looked in our culture Journey to the West is one of the most important fantasy novels ever written. (and by the way my dark fantasy novel Hunting the Moon Tribe has many influences and connects to JTTW)
So Whitta had my interest as Book of Eli, and when I read the concept it just several books in my To Be Read pile. Coming off having read the experimental narrative of Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones, and the bloated underedited Fireman by Joe Hill...Abomination was a joy to read. I don't mean this was knock but complement, Abomination has a very simple straight forward no non-sense way of telling it's story. This is great for several reason first of which is it is quick read and despite it's very dark tone could be appealing to YA and adult markets. You can feel Whitta's cinematic language on most pages and it plays very well as movie in the reader's head.
Abomination is a dark fantasy novel that skips a world like middle earth or Narnia for England of the dark ages. It is a really interesting time to set a monster novel. In the wake of the Roman empire europe was a mess and the King of the time Alfred had defended England from probably a dozen norse invasions. What if in a misguided attempt to fight off this relentless attack the king's spiritual leaders accidentally unleash monsters of Lovecraftian unexplainable vile-ness. With elements of high fantasy, historical fiction and straight brutal monster horror Abomination is high concept awesome-ness.
One of the strengths of the book is the two lead characters A young warrior named Indra and a disgraced Knight turned homeless begger named Wulric. These are two great characters, who in a narrative sense work together like peanut butter and Chocolate. Indra is a young fierce warrior, Wulfric is a once heoric figure, now dealing with having lost everything to the monsters he once fought, that now hide inside him.
Sometimes Screenwriters coming to this format over the the telling, not showing because they are not used to having the freedom of prose. Not a problem here. If anything is a weakness some of the back story with the evil bishop character and his magical ability could have used some back story or context. There is a twist towards the end that I don't think will surprise anyone but I also Whitta was right to not hide it.
Whitta published through Inkshares, which is basically a publishing kickstarter. It seems Abomination is Inkshares greatest success. I am glad it worked for him and hope he returns to Inkshares with more novels. Since my main publisher does my horror novels, and was not interested in my Science Fiction I tried Inkshares with crazy Dirty Dozen meets Phil K. Dick novel Goddamn Killing Machines. Despite really pushing to my social media I could not sell the concept of the pre-order to my readers. So it didn't work for me.
That said I love the idea of Inkshares and the fact that it worked enough to get this story infront of my eyes is reason enough to celebrate it. Fans of Dark Fantasy and Lovecraftian beasties should check this out for sure.
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gizmoto16's review against another edition
4.0
This one took a little bit for me to warm up to because at first, it seemed like it was just your typical male hero who doesn't want to be a hero but makes the tough choices because he's the only one who can. But about a quarter of the way in, the book takes a really interesting turn. And then we also switch to dual protagonists and get a really cool, strong female lead! I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.
dyanavelz's review against another edition
3.0
Es una historia muy padre. Realmente no esperaba tanto después de leer las primeras 40 páginas me desalenté un poco pero después de la mitad es muy padre. Es fantasía épica con un final muy lindo.
altruest's review against another edition
5.0
As someone who only knew Gary Whitta from his cameos on the technology podcast This Is Only A Test, I was pleasantly surprised to discover his career as a screenwriter, and even more as a recently published author. Knowing the quality of his work with The Book of Eli, I leaped at the chance to read his first novel. I am glad to say that I was in no way disappointed.
Abomination is a sort of alternate-but-not-alternate historical horror fiction that takes place in the dark ages, after the fall of the roman empire. The discovery of an ancient set of scrolls that detail rituals that allow the transformation of animals and even man into hideous abominations(see what I did there?) puts into motion a chain of events that leads to death, destruction and tragedy.
I'll leave the synopsis there, but suffice it to say that this book is mind-blowing. Whitta pulls no punches in the visceral gore and action, the terror leaps out of the page and sucks you in at every turn. Furthermore, the situations he puts his characters into are sometimes heartbreaking in their futility, which gives the story a lovecraftian feeling.
I enjoyed the book. It pulled me in and didn't let me go until I had finished it, and the conclusion was satisfying as well. 5 stars out of five, I definitely recommend.
Abomination is a sort of alternate-but-not-alternate historical horror fiction that takes place in the dark ages, after the fall of the roman empire. The discovery of an ancient set of scrolls that detail rituals that allow the transformation of animals and even man into hideous abominations(see what I did there?) puts into motion a chain of events that leads to death, destruction and tragedy.
I'll leave the synopsis there, but suffice it to say that this book is mind-blowing. Whitta pulls no punches in the visceral gore and action, the terror leaps out of the page and sucks you in at every turn. Furthermore, the situations he puts his characters into are sometimes heartbreaking in their futility, which gives the story a lovecraftian feeling.
I enjoyed the book. It pulled me in and didn't let me go until I had finished it, and the conclusion was satisfying as well. 5 stars out of five, I definitely recommend.
coboshimself_'s review against another edition
2.0
“True strength lay not in conquering one’s enemies but in conquering the foe that lay within.”
emmylux7's review against another edition
Unfinished at 45 pages
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway sponsored by Inkshares.
I'm honestly surprised I got past the first 10 pages with how utterly STUPID these characters were. The fact that Alfred stated OVER & OVER that he didn't trust the "Archbishop"; (I'm not even going to try to spell his name or look it up to see what it is). Yet he still gave him the right to not only investigate these "magic scrolls" but then perfect this magic is infuriating. I lost count at the amount of times I had to put the book aside & roll my eyes at the idiocy. Even Alfred's council didn't like this dude but decided to overlook it considering these "scrolls" could hold the answer to defeating the Norse. -GROANS; OH MY GOD YOU'RE SO INCREDIBLY STUPID I'M GLAD YOU'RE GETTING YOUR HEAD RIPPED OFF BY A PIG SPIDER THING!!
The fact that it takes seeing this psychopath turn a HUMAN into one of those creatures before they went "OH SHIT! Maybe we shouldn't be letting this guy do these experiments." made me want to punch babies. REALLY DUDES?! I COULD'VE TOLD YOU THIS GUY WAS BAD NEWS WHEN HE SACRIFICED 2 FREAKING DOGS!! Everyone knows that's the sign of pure evil; you never EVER hurt/kill a dog. Don't even get me started on the whole "Lets lock the crazy magic dude in the dungeon; w/ no gag over his mouth to prevent him from turning these 2 unsuspecting guards into those bug things". Only people w/ an IQ would do that. -scrunches face in annoyance;. By this point I was rooting for the sadistic supposed "Holy Man". Which I'm certain wasn't Whitta's goal. Either way I'm kicking this book to the curb before I loose anymore brain cells to it and I suggest you all do the same.
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway sponsored by Inkshares.
I'm honestly surprised I got past the first 10 pages with how utterly STUPID these characters were. The fact that Alfred stated OVER & OVER that he didn't trust the "Archbishop"; (I'm not even going to try to spell his name or look it up to see what it is). Yet he still gave him the right to not only investigate these "magic scrolls" but then perfect this magic is infuriating. I lost count at the amount of times I had to put the book aside & roll my eyes at the idiocy. Even Alfred's council didn't like this dude but decided to overlook it considering these "scrolls" could hold the answer to defeating the Norse. -GROANS; OH MY GOD YOU'RE SO INCREDIBLY STUPID I'M GLAD YOU'RE GETTING YOUR HEAD RIPPED OFF BY A PIG SPIDER THING!!
The fact that it takes seeing this psychopath turn a HUMAN into one of those creatures before they went "OH SHIT! Maybe we shouldn't be letting this guy do these experiments." made me want to punch babies. REALLY DUDES?! I COULD'VE TOLD YOU THIS GUY WAS BAD NEWS WHEN HE SACRIFICED 2 FREAKING DOGS!! Everyone knows that's the sign of pure evil; you never EVER hurt/kill a dog. Don't even get me started on the whole "Lets lock the crazy magic dude in the dungeon; w/ no gag over his mouth to prevent him from turning these 2 unsuspecting guards into those bug things". Only people w/ an IQ would do that. -scrunches face in annoyance;. By this point I was rooting for the sadistic supposed "Holy Man". Which I'm certain wasn't Whitta's goal. Either way I'm kicking this book to the curb before I loose anymore brain cells to it and I suggest you all do the same.
warriorpickle's review against another edition
4.0
this book was fun to read from start to finish. I love authors who just get to the point, which is what Mr. Whitta did here. I didn't feel like anything was not explained well enough either, which can be just as big of a problem as explaining to much. I hope Gary ends up writing more books because his first outing was a good one.
P.S. - This book is classified as a horror and while there are elements of that in here I wouldn't let that shy you away from reading this book is you don't normally enjoy horror. its more action adventure with a slice of fantasy. Happy reading!
P.S. - This book is classified as a horror and while there are elements of that in here I wouldn't let that shy you away from reading this book is you don't normally enjoy horror. its more action adventure with a slice of fantasy. Happy reading!
ayyismayo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5