A review by urthwild_darknessbeckons
A Myth to the Night: Parts I-V by Cora Choi
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