urthwild_darknessbeckons's review
3.0
On the island of Stauros sits an elite university where the elite members of the Order of the Shrike send their children for their final indoctrination; Stauros Island is unique not simply because of the prestigious school, but also because it was once the seat of power of the now largely forgotten Order of the Crane. Stauros is home to hundreds of story book phantoms and one human teenage ghost, Hugh Fogg forever an apprentice monk. In order to become the only power and enslave the world’s people 400 years before in an orgy of blood the Order of the Shrike massacred all the members of the Order of the Crane. Hugh Fogg, though deceased remains the only witness ‘living’ on the island. He is waiting for a mythical hero and he will remain until his ‘Slayer’ becomes flesh.
Personally, I found the story quite immersive if somewhat predictable not unlike most ancient myths. The hero, (most myths tend to favour the male), must rescue, liberate, one or more ancient things from a seemingly insurmountable evil ancient thing, force, person whilst gaining true love, immortality, becoming a demigod, or whatever. The hero must succeed, he can make many heartbreaking sacrificial decisions, but if he does not triumph, then the story cannot end and his tale will never be told. Have you, for instance ever heard of DeMarcus in the lion’s den or Julian and the Argonauts or even Jeremy and the whale? Exactly.
I have very few problems with the way the mythical characters in the book were portrayed, I do however, expect a lot more depth in my human characters alive or dead. There were times during the story when I believed that I was in for a rare epic treat some of Choi’s descriptions were beautiful, but sadly the characters and the plot were just not equal to the task. Half a dozen characters major or minor changing direction in the one relatively short novel? It was a little too convenient for me.
One irritant, I can understand up to a point that perhaps characters who have no choice but to remain in one place, the island for hundreds of years, would pick up modern slang from each new intake of students, however, I found it quite jarring and wondered why Hugh who had been self-cloistered for 19 years did not pick up on it.
The formatting of PDF was quite bad, careless even, however, I am guessing that most people reading this book electronically will be doing so with either epubs or in Kindle mobile format so I have not taken this into account during my final score.
Finally, I do not hate the pretty cover I just don’t think it tells a good enough story on its own. How many people actually know what a Shrike actually looks like, or even know of this bird’s existence?
Received in exchange for an honest review.
Urthwild
Personally, I found the story quite immersive if somewhat predictable not unlike most ancient myths. The hero, (most myths tend to favour the male), must rescue, liberate, one or more ancient things from a seemingly insurmountable evil ancient thing, force, person whilst gaining true love, immortality, becoming a demigod, or whatever. The hero must succeed, he can make many heartbreaking sacrificial decisions, but if he does not triumph, then the story cannot end and his tale will never be told. Have you, for instance ever heard of DeMarcus in the lion’s den or Julian and the Argonauts or even Jeremy and the whale? Exactly.
I have very few problems with the way the mythical characters in the book were portrayed, I do however, expect a lot more depth in my human characters alive or dead. There were times during the story when I believed that I was in for a rare epic treat some of Choi’s descriptions were beautiful, but sadly the characters and the plot were just not equal to the task. Half a dozen characters major or minor changing direction in the one relatively short novel? It was a little too convenient for me.
One irritant, I can understand up to a point that perhaps characters who have no choice but to remain in one place, the island for hundreds of years, would pick up modern slang from each new intake of students, however, I found it quite jarring and wondered why Hugh who had been self-cloistered for 19 years did not pick up on it.
The formatting of PDF was quite bad, careless even, however, I am guessing that most people reading this book electronically will be doing so with either epubs or in Kindle mobile format so I have not taken this into account during my final score.
Finally, I do not hate the pretty cover I just don’t think it tells a good enough story on its own. How many people actually know what a Shrike actually looks like, or even know of this bird’s existence?
Received in exchange for an honest review.
Urthwild
scostner's review
3.0
I'm not one of those folks who feel that they have to compare every middle grade novel to Harry Potter, but there are similarities in some of this story's elements. The setting is a boarding school. There are phantoms (ghosts) all over the campus. Two groups are struggling for power - one that wants freedom and one that rules through fear. In this case, the groups are the Order of the Crane and the Order of the Shrike. The Cranes gathered and preserved stories and legends from all over the world, believing that the tales held lessons necessary to live and have hope. When the Shrikes overthrew the Cranes, they burned all the books and the stories were slowly forgotten. Now everyone is finding it harder and harder to face and defeat their fears.
Hugh was a member of the Order of the Crane and has been searching for the Slayer of the Shadow of Fear. The Slayer is the only one who can defeat the Shadow and free the world from its deadly power. His search is difficult because he died during the massacre of the Cranes and his phantom is stuck on the island where the Order's monastery once stood (the island that is now a school run by the Shrikes). And he can only be seen and heard by the living at night. But he has persevered for 400 hundred years and still holds to his vow not to enter the afterlife until his quest is complete.
Can you imagine being the only one who remembers heroes like Roland, monkey gods from Asia, or leprechauns? Or how frustrating it must be to try year after year to find someone who can release the stranglehold of the Order of the Shrike and never finding him? If you enjoy stories about someone pursuing a cause hey believes in passionately, try out A Myth to the Night, and see if Hugh succeeds.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
Hugh was a member of the Order of the Crane and has been searching for the Slayer of the Shadow of Fear. The Slayer is the only one who can defeat the Shadow and free the world from its deadly power. His search is difficult because he died during the massacre of the Cranes and his phantom is stuck on the island where the Order's monastery once stood (the island that is now a school run by the Shrikes). And he can only be seen and heard by the living at night. But he has persevered for 400 hundred years and still holds to his vow not to enter the afterlife until his quest is complete.
Can you imagine being the only one who remembers heroes like Roland, monkey gods from Asia, or leprechauns? Or how frustrating it must be to try year after year to find someone who can release the stranglehold of the Order of the Shrike and never finding him? If you enjoy stories about someone pursuing a cause hey believes in passionately, try out A Myth to the Night, and see if Hugh succeeds.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
candidceillie's review
2.0
Once home to the illustrious Order of the Crane -- guardians of the world's myths and legends -- Stauros Island, now in the hands of the Order of the Shrike, is an elite university whose students are guaranteed positions of power upon graduating.
However, a dark curse hangs over the island: students are disappearing. The school officials declare it the work of a demon, and blame Hugh Fogg -- a young monk of the Order of the Crane who died 400 years earlier.
Could the spirit of a young man who died in 1615 come back to haunt an island and terrorize its students? If so, for what purpose? A Myth to the Night is Hugh's story and his struggle to see his mission complete.
I read the entire set through an ARC from Netgalley, so read the rest at your own risk.
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually liked it. The cover is absolutely lovely, and the premise is pretty interesting. The writing was good, but not great. There were a lot of opportunities for some really amazing things throughout the books, but I found that Choi preferred to have the characters tell us what was going on, instead of showing us.
For as long as the book was, I really wanted it to have more development of both the characters and the world. The world had bits and pieces that were developed, but we didn’t get to actually see any of the evil that the Order of the Shrike caused with their leadership. We never get anything past what Drev told us originally. I felt like I was being told to believe something when I’d been given no reason to believe. I didn’t care about any of the characters because I was never given any reason to. I also totally called both of Drev’s big plot twists, which was really disappointing because they were the main ones in the novel.
I love the idea of the phantoms living on the island and being visible and audible at night. It’s spooky and super nifty. The idea of the storybook characters coming to life because their books had been burned is amazing. The phantom monk being the main character was awesome – except that he was a very blah person who made no progress throughout the novel.
Basically, I was really disappointed because this book could have been much better than it was, with just some simple changes. I wanted to know what actually happened on the island in the end. I think it would have made more sense to have Hugh stick around to help teach about the Order of the Crane, since the entire order had been killed off 400 years previously.
However, a dark curse hangs over the island: students are disappearing. The school officials declare it the work of a demon, and blame Hugh Fogg -- a young monk of the Order of the Crane who died 400 years earlier.
Could the spirit of a young man who died in 1615 come back to haunt an island and terrorize its students? If so, for what purpose? A Myth to the Night is Hugh's story and his struggle to see his mission complete.
I read the entire set through an ARC from Netgalley, so read the rest at your own risk.
Spoiler
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually liked it. The cover is absolutely lovely, and the premise is pretty interesting. The writing was good, but not great. There were a lot of opportunities for some really amazing things throughout the books, but I found that Choi preferred to have the characters tell us what was going on, instead of showing us.
For as long as the book was, I really wanted it to have more development of both the characters and the world. The world had bits and pieces that were developed, but we didn’t get to actually see any of the evil that the Order of the Shrike caused with their leadership. We never get anything past what Drev told us originally. I felt like I was being told to believe something when I’d been given no reason to believe. I didn’t care about any of the characters because I was never given any reason to. I also totally called both of Drev’s big plot twists, which was really disappointing because they were the main ones in the novel.
I love the idea of the phantoms living on the island and being visible and audible at night. It’s spooky and super nifty. The idea of the storybook characters coming to life because their books had been burned is amazing. The phantom monk being the main character was awesome – except that he was a very blah person who made no progress throughout the novel.
Basically, I was really disappointed because this book could have been much better than it was, with just some simple changes. I wanted to know what actually happened on the island in the end. I think it would have made more sense to have Hugh stick around to help teach about the Order of the Crane, since the entire order had been killed off 400 years previously.
caidyn's review
It didn't catch my attention at all once I opened it up and tried reading. I didn't get far enough in to have a real opinion on the book besides that the hook wasn't there.
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