A captivating, otherworldly sequel that should appeal to both new and returning readers.
An immortal and a psychiatric patient may be the only ones who can stop a potential catastrophe on Earth in this second installment of a fantasy series.
James Montgomery is a centuries-old immortal with abilities such as telepathy. Fate has linked him with John Parella Jr., who, in the mid-1990s, is undergoing psychiatric treatment in Pennsylvania. Evidently, both men are on quests that may restore balance in the world. If they aren’t successful, Earth will face an “unimaginable fate” affecting the entire universe. James is on his way to Penang, Malaysia, with his wife, SuiLeng, and her two sons. His destiny entails evolving into a more powerful being. He begins his “transmogrification process” at Snake Temple, with one of four stages of transformation. With help from his brother-in-law, Winston, James endures a few torturous days and attains greater strength as well as a slightly altered physical appearance. Meanwhile, John has heard voices for years, but psychiatrists, like Dr. Katherine Duhring, quickly learn he may not be insane. With John under hypnosis, Zach emerges—not an alternate personality but a separate entity residing in John’s subconscious. Enigmatic Dr. Adolphus Junger has his eyes on both men, with an apparent extrasensory perception allowing him to watch James in Malaysia. But James and Winston soon return to the United States in hopes of freeing the former’s imprisoned fraternal twin, who’s an immortal gorgon. Though James isn’t short on enemies, his biggest threat may be Abdullah, a mysterious individual who could prove a menace to SuiLeng and her boys. Terranova’s (Gemini Ascending: Book 1: Eternal Twins, 2017, etc.) sequel begins with Chapter 22, following a summary of the preceding installment’s 21 chapters. The succinct summary adequately details the earlier plot but doesn’t clarify everything. For example, it’s unclear how Junger has been “manipulating” James’ life or how he can “steer the fate of the world.” This book nevertheless clearly elucidates other plot points, like what specific danger Earth is possibly facing and Junger’s somewhat cryptic but still engrossing genesis. Though much of the narrative is dialogue, Terranova’s concise prose generates memorable scenes. James’ mental and physical trials at Snake Temple, for one, include regular beatings and exposure to snake venom. The doctor monitoring John’s subconscious sees “a dirt crossroads in a lush valley,” surrounded by “streams, fields, and farm land.” The story triumphantly fuses fantasy with real-world relationships: Junger and Katherine’s association is complicated since they’re former lovers; SuiLeng isn’t keen on James’ telepathic link to his twin, especially during private spousal moments. But Terranova’s novel isn’t quite the “self-contained” story that he asserts it is in his preface. Though the Book 1 recap eases new readers into the tale, it still feels like part of a larger saga. The sequel opens with subplots in progress (for example, John’s hypnosis) and leaves numerous plot threads untied for, presumably, a future installment to pick up. Regardless, the strong ending will likely spark readers’ interest in continuing the series.
A captivating, otherworldly sequel that should appeal to both new and returning readers.Pub Date: Nov. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-977207-86-9
Page Count: -
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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