A review by carol26388
Mourning Cloak by Rabia Gale
3.0
Interesting, but uneven.
Something about either the narrative style or the set-up reminds me of Frank Tuttle's writing, so that kept me interested. However, at the heart of it, the world-building is incompletely realized/conveyed. The setting opens on a man who is tending bar, aware he's being haunted by a being known as a mourning cloak who can kill with a touch. He has powders and wards to keep his property safe; his guests wear charms to protect them. Then he flips a switch to turn out the lights, takes the trash out to the dumpster and heads to the back to sleep. Awakened by a blast of magic, he leaps from his bed, grabs a crossbow, reconsiders, then grabs a blood-hungry sword to find the mourning cloak in the alley outside his property.
Yeah, about that.
It is a bit tropey, but that doesn't usually bother me. Retired, broken soldier, lost love, angry at his gods, fighting against bloodlust, etc. There's an interesting angle that has to do with golem-like creatures and transformations. The plot moves along quickly, which I appreciated, and has a lot of external events propelling the main character onward. Writing suffers a bit from what I call Try To Hard, where no one merely 'walks,' they 'stumble' or 'amble;' people 'growl' or 'utter' instead of 'say.' It's just on the edge of Too Much. The world-building initially felt like Substitution School--let's make it 'magic' by switching out one word and leaving all other conveniences intact ('dumpster'? Really?).
There's a type of twist or two, more than a bit of mental anguish over lost love, and a solid ending. Apparently, there's another novella that follows, but I think I'll likely pass. It's not bad; but one of the main themes/plots just isn't my cup of fantasy tea, and the world-building isn't strong enough to compensate.
Anyway, I'd call it an "it's okay-plus" on the carol. scale of enjoyment, so I'll round up to three stars.
Something about either the narrative style or the set-up reminds me of Frank Tuttle's writing, so that kept me interested. However, at the heart of it, the world-building is incompletely realized/conveyed. The setting opens on a man who is tending bar, aware he's being haunted by a being known as a mourning cloak who can kill with a touch. He has powders and wards to keep his property safe; his guests wear charms to protect them. Then he flips a switch to turn out the lights, takes the trash out to the dumpster and heads to the back to sleep. Awakened by a blast of magic, he leaps from his bed, grabs a crossbow, reconsiders, then grabs a blood-hungry sword to find the mourning cloak in the alley outside his property.
Yeah, about that.
It is a bit tropey, but that doesn't usually bother me. Retired, broken soldier, lost love, angry at his gods, fighting against bloodlust, etc. There's an interesting angle that has to do with golem-like creatures and transformations. The plot moves along quickly, which I appreciated, and has a lot of external events propelling the main character onward. Writing suffers a bit from what I call Try To Hard, where no one merely 'walks,' they 'stumble' or 'amble;' people 'growl' or 'utter' instead of 'say.' It's just on the edge of Too Much. The world-building initially felt like Substitution School--let's make it 'magic' by switching out one word and leaving all other conveniences intact ('dumpster'? Really?).
There's a type of twist or two, more than a bit of mental anguish over lost love, and a solid ending. Apparently, there's another novella that follows, but I think I'll likely pass. It's not bad; but one of the main themes/plots just isn't my cup of fantasy tea, and the world-building isn't strong enough to compensate.
Anyway, I'd call it an "it's okay-plus" on the carol. scale of enjoyment, so I'll round up to three stars.