Ambitious and otherworldly, though a storyline worth following rarely shines through.
A twisting quest winds through varying realms in Cramer’s debut.
Waking up naked, alone and without much in the way of a memory, Horus finds himself in a world both magical and violent. After defeating a mysterious foe, Horus learns that he is in a place outside traditional understandings of the afterlife. Having done something in a former life to obtain a position outside the Wheel of Life, Horus is in a world no longer bound by the rules of Earth. As a servant girl explains to him, “Once people gets here, there aint but two commandments: love God with all your heart, and Do not kill…lessin it’s for food, defendin your property, yourself or someone else (sic).” Taking up with a family of cherubs ruled by the beautiful Valkyrie Kyenna, Horus embarks on a journey that takes him to bizarre regions of both heaven and hell. Hunted by a cruel, powerful figure named Raphael, Horus embarks on a complex journey of discovery, combat and shifting geographies. Featuring creatures ranging from the purely mythological (such as the god Mercury) to the disgusting (such as hand-sized cockroaches), the story includes a wide range of characters, settings and motives. Impressive in its use of such a diverse array of ideas, the imaginative story proves difficult to follow. Clouded by lengthy explanations of everything from magical weapons to a group of black Confederate soldiers to a talking Satan that was “a composite of a male model and a body builder in his late 20’s to early 30’s with blond hair,” there is often little to ground readers in any understanding of the main characters and their motivations.
Ambitious and otherworldly, though a storyline worth following rarely shines through.Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-1494856021
Page Count: 414
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
This first novel, ostensibly about the friendship between two boys, Reuven and Danny, from the time when they are fourteen on opposing yeshiva ball clubs, is actually a gently didactic differentiation between two aspects of the Jewish faith, the Hasidic and the Orthodox. Primarily the Hasidic, the little known mystics with their beards, earlocks and stringently reclusive way of life. According to Reuven's father who is a Zionist, an activist, they are fanatics; according to Danny's, other Jews are apostates and Zionists "goyim." The schisms here are reflected through discussions, between fathers and sons, and through the separation imposed on the two boys for two years which still does not affect their lasting friendship or enduring hopes: Danny goes on to become a psychiatrist refusing his inherited position of "tzaddik"; Reuven a rabbi.... The explanation, in fact exegesis, of Jewish culture and learning, of the special dedication of the Hasidic with its emphasis on mind and soul, is done in sufficiently facile form to engage one's interest and sentiment. The publishers however see a much wider audience for The Chosen. If they "rub their tzitzis for good luck,"—perhaps—although we doubt it.
Pub Date: April 28, 1967
ISBN: 0449911543
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1967
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