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palmkd's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
This Sci-Fi tale takes place in an alternate 1920s Chicago where there's a lot of guns (plus robots and augmented humans) along with the prohibition and big brother. It's a bit alternate history, a bit cyberpunk and a lot thriller. Starting in 1928, the story follows Liam, a former soldier of Irish Decent who is missing some memories after a major world war.
I didn't think I had many expectations for this story, but it turns out I was expecting a 1920s inspired historical fiction SFF tale, but I was not expecting a gun slinging post-war thriller with only a few scenes of the titular beverage. The concept was clever but the execution was not a fit for me. There are some despicable characters, but some good ones too and a lot of mind games. In this case, while I prefer the Head of Zeus/Goldsboro cover I wish I had taken a closer look at the US cover by Daw books as I feel it better represents the story.
Content warnings: violence, death, murder, blood, war, guns, rape, mental illness, suicide
I didn't think I had many expectations for this story, but it turns out I was expecting a 1920s inspired historical fiction SFF tale, but I was not expecting a gun slinging post-war thriller with only a few scenes of the titular beverage. The concept was clever but the execution was not a fit for me. There are some despicable characters, but some good ones too and a lot of mind games. In this case, while I prefer the Head of Zeus/Goldsboro cover I wish I had taken a closer look at the US cover by Daw books as I feel it better represents the story.
Content warnings: violence, death, murder, blood, war, guns, rape, mental illness, suicide
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Death, War, Violence, and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide, Alcohol, Rape, and Drug use
azrah786's review
4.5
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I was gifted a copy by Head of Zeus in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, gun violence, injury, blood, death, drug/alcohol use, ptsd, war themes, sexual content
An historical sci-fi thriller that truly blew me away!
Absynthe takes place in an alternate retro futuristic version of the 1920’s America where automatons walk the streets and the biotech industry is thriving, but not everything is as dazzling as it seems. We follow Liam Mulcahey, a reclusive veteran now working as a mechanic for his friend’s family, who due to a head injury has lost most of his memories from the Great War between American and the Saint Lawrence Pact – a coalition between Britain, Canada, France and Germany.
However, upon witnessing a perplexing Uprising attack at a public event that the government all but disregards his account of and then again at a speakeasy with his friends whilst they are indulging in the hallucination inducing drink Absynthe, Liam starts to get flashbacks of his squadron, the Devil’s Henchmen, during the war and the serum they took which gave them telepathic abilities. As more starts to come back to him and his best friend’s life is threatened, Liam starts to question who he can trust and what the government is hiding.
The concepts and overarching storyline of this book were brilliantly unique and though the pacing was a little slow at times I was hooked from the first few chapters, both by Liam’s journey of uncovering his memories and the immersive setting the author has imagined. Bellecourt has beautifully paired the post-war, roaring 20’s era with a steampunk atmosphere to create an exciting backdrop for an action packed story.
Now I will admit things did get a little dense at times which alongside the slowing down of the story also led to info-dumpy moments.. There are just a lot of moving parts but I honestly feel that everything came together in such a satisfying way by the end and I enjoyed it immensely!
Along with Liam the various side characters became wonderfully fleshed out more and more as the story progressed and there was a little bit of the found family trope (one of my favourites!!) within the story too! However, it was the sci-fi elements that stole the show. I’m not going to give too much more about this away, it’s better experienced first-hand but I will say that it gave of vibes of The Matrix, Inception and Sense8!
I have never wanted a book to be adapted to screen so badly because it’s the kind you know will just turn out to be fantastic!
It requires a little bit of patience to get through but if you like settings with a steampunk aesthetics and mind-bending sciencey stories you have got to check this book out.
Final Rating – 4.5./5 Stars
**I was gifted a copy by Head of Zeus in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, gun violence, injury, blood, death, drug/alcohol use, ptsd, war themes, sexual content
An historical sci-fi thriller that truly blew me away!
Absynthe takes place in an alternate retro futuristic version of the 1920’s America where automatons walk the streets and the biotech industry is thriving, but not everything is as dazzling as it seems. We follow Liam Mulcahey, a reclusive veteran now working as a mechanic for his friend’s family, who due to a head injury has lost most of his memories from the Great War between American and the Saint Lawrence Pact – a coalition between Britain, Canada, France and Germany.
However, upon witnessing a perplexing Uprising attack at a public event that the government all but disregards his account of and then again at a speakeasy with his friends whilst they are indulging in the hallucination inducing drink Absynthe, Liam starts to get flashbacks of his squadron, the Devil’s Henchmen, during the war and the serum they took which gave them telepathic abilities. As more starts to come back to him and his best friend’s life is threatened, Liam starts to question who he can trust and what the government is hiding.
The concepts and overarching storyline of this book were brilliantly unique and though the pacing was a little slow at times I was hooked from the first few chapters, both by Liam’s journey of uncovering his memories and the immersive setting the author has imagined. Bellecourt has beautifully paired the post-war, roaring 20’s era with a steampunk atmosphere to create an exciting backdrop for an action packed story.
Now I will admit things did get a little dense at times which alongside the slowing down of the story also led to info-dumpy moments.. There are just a lot of moving parts but I honestly feel that everything came together in such a satisfying way by the end and I enjoyed it immensely!
Along with Liam the various side characters became wonderfully fleshed out more and more as the story progressed and there was a little bit of the found family trope (one of my favourites!!) within the story too! However, it was the sci-fi elements that stole the show. I’m not going to give too much more about this away, it’s better experienced first-hand but I will say that it gave of vibes of The Matrix, Inception and Sense8!
I have never wanted a book to be adapted to screen so badly because it’s the kind you know will just turn out to be fantastic!
It requires a little bit of patience to get through but if you like settings with a steampunk aesthetics and mind-bending sciencey stories you have got to check this book out.
Final Rating – 4.5./5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content, Death, War, and Mental illness
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