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Book Review: Eynhallow by Tim McGregor

cover art for Eynhallow by TIm McGregor

Eynhallow by Tim McGregor

Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2024

Available: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy: Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com

 

 

Tim McGregor’s writing evokes the ghosts of 19th century English writers who captured the mystery of human beings and the wild forces of nature that remain untamed around us and in us. His latest book, Eynhallow, is an irresistible mix of science fiction and horror, with a twist of Gothic terror and a dash of old legends.

 

This story about an unusual, hardy woman opens in 1797 in the nearly deserted Orkney Islands, where four families are struggling to survive. Agnes, a devoted mother, has always acted out of necessity, the only reason she married and stays with her abusive husband. She now cooks and delivers meals to their new, wealthy neighbor, for a price. Her days revolve around family life, and occasionally helping to bring a neighbor’s child into the world. It is a monotonous existence, but Agnes has a curious and active mind that is constantly evaluating and analyzing everything and everyone around her. She also has many questions she feels she must answer about herself, what she wants, and whether she can have what she most desires.

 

As she pursues these answers, Tim McGregor’s atmospheric descriptions of the weather, vegetation, houses, characters, and even the church and food take on a life of their own, putting the reader into a state of growing uneasiness about Agnes’s safety and security. Slowly but surely, we discover that she has a role to play in another story, a famous one about a monster created from dead human body parts, who is now alive. McGregor brings the two stories together in surprising ways, reminding us of what we already know about Victor Frankenstein and his Creature, and filling in new details about the challenges of dealing with the monster’s demands and the unforeseen consequences of what Frankenstein dreamed would be the greatest scientific achievement of all time.

 

In the end, Eynhallow, meaning holy island, is far from it. It is a place of violence, pain, torture, and death. Just as Mary Shelley made her audience consider the boundaries between God and man, the spiritual and the scientific, and life and death, so too does Tim McGregor, but with an important difference. McGregor’s audience has had a much greater chance to explore these boundaries and observe their crossing. It is in that context, one of greater understanding, that we can truly see an earlier horror story becoming a contemporary one… and a permanent nightmare.

 

 

Reviewed by Nova Hadley

Posted on March 19, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: Kiranis: Secrets of the Universe (Kiranis #3) by Ronald A. Geobey

Cover art for Kiranis #3 by Ronald A. Geobey

Kiranis: Secrets of the Universe, by Ronald A. Geobey

Temple Dark Books, 2023

ISBN: 9781739749248

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy:  Amazon.com

 

 

The saga continues…

The third volume in the Kiranis series, Secrets of the Universe continues the far-reaching galactic odyssey.

 

As in the previous two books, it is staggering in scope, and takes place in an entirely new era, with a new slate of characters.  However, while the series is still a very good read, it’s starting to feel like the foundation may be trembling a bit. Adding more detailed explanations to certain parts would certainly help shore the story up.

 

The basic idea still revolves around the hidden planet Kiranis and the fate of Earth, although the Garran race and their planet, Sieltor, play a part also.  A couple of the characters from previous books do play a part, Cassandra Messina being one, and as always, the prophet Naveen flits in and out of the story.  Having a new cast of characters is good and bad in this case: lt allows for a whole new dynamic group of characters, unfortunately just as we got used to the last batch (it’s a shame Sam Vawter didn’t make it back in, he was one of the best characters). At face value, the story is excellent, and as always, adds new items that play a crucial part of the story.  In this case, this includes the Barrier as one of the big ones, and the new spaceship drive that appears to be powered by the sun.  There’s a lot of dialogue in the book, but also a number of large space battles: the author certainly has a flair for creating them with a lot of ships, and a lot of destruction.

 

As good as the story is, it might be getting to be too much for some readers, I’ve never read a series with a scope as large as this one.  It would help to explain a few things a bit more: the author tends to insert new things from his imagination (and they are well-imagined), but they just appear without narrative paragraphs to really clear them up.  While things start to make sense as the story progresses, it would help to offer more details up front.  The Fate Lines are a prime example, I’m still not really sure how those work, and how the characters use them.  The Barrier is another example: it was not in the other two books, and some background would have helped, as it is such a big part of the story.  There is a lot of mental, psy-type material in the book, it’s tougher to grasp than tangible things.  Clearing these areas up would help propel the story to the next level.

 

Bottom line?  It’s still very good and worth the read for fans of the series, but could use a few tweaks at this point for clarification, so readers don’t get totally blown out of the water.  Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on March 12, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

cover art for The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno Garcia

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Del Rey, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593355336

Available:: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

Buy: Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com

 

 

This reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau takes place on the Yucután peninsula in 1871 against the backdrop of the Yucután Caste War. A hacendero, Joseph Lizdale, hires the adventurer Montgomery Langdon, a functional alcoholic with a special set of skills that include hunting, taxidermy, and working with dangerous animals, as mayordomo for the isolated estate occupied by Doctor Moreau, who is researching creating human/animal hybrids as replacements for rebellious Mayan workers, his daughter Carlota, and the more successful hybrids.

 

Six years later, Montgomery is content in the company of the Moreaus and their hybrids and Carlota has grown into a young woman. Lizdale’s funding is drying up, and the doctor’s research is stalled. Eduardo and Isidro Lizdale arrive without the elder Lizdale’s knowledge demanding men to help chase down Mayan rebels. Carlota defuses the confrontation by inviting them in. She and Eduardo fall in love and he asks her to marry him. Change, and revelations, are coming.

 

The point of view alternates between Carlota and Montgomery. I really liked Montgomery’s voice and enjoyed his character. Carlota frequently grated on me probably due to her naivete and meekness, but she was kind and loyal. Watching their relationship develop was interesting- he was a more thoughtful man than he often appeared.

 

The monstrousness of Moreau and his work is evident to the reader early on but it’s only as Carlota realizes it that we really see it. The monstrousness of the hacenderos, even one as handsome as Eduardo, is easily revealed. The hybrids, who appear to be monsters to the humans, are less monstrous than their creator and those who wish to exploit them.

 

This is a fast, engaging, easy read. You don’t have to be familiar with the source material, but it did enhance my reading experience.

 

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on January 24, 2024 by , Reply
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