Miserere by Teresa Frohock

Miserere: An Autumn Tale by Teresa Frohock

Books like Miserere are why I'm glad I make it a personal rule to finish reading all books I start. It's always tempting to put a title away for something else when the story doesn't capture me right away, and certainly I had my doubts that this one would be right for me when I first began. But sometimes, a book can be full of surprises.

I ended up loving Miserere. All I needed was some time to get into it, and part of the reason is its pacing. It's the kind of book that takes its time revealing itself to you, doling out details about its world in a trickle as you read. I was unable to make heads or tails of the story until I understood a bit of the context, that the universe of Miserere is made up of four planes: Heaven, Earth, Woerld, and Hell. Woerld is sort of like the first line of defense against Hell and its demons, as it were; all the religions there work to keep Fallen hordes from breaking through to Earth. It is in Woerld where the book mostly takes place.

Exorcist and man of faith Lucian Negru has been in exile for sixteen years, banished for abandoning his lover Rachael in Hell in exchange for the life of his twin sister, Catarina. Catarina, however, didn't want to be saved, as she'd sold her soul to the Fallen for the chance to rule Woerld. Lucian was crippled and imprisoned when he refused to go along with her plans, until one day he escapes and endeavors to save Rachael, who has since made it back from Hell, albeit possessed by a demon that is slowly taking over and killing her.  

Along the way, Lucian also rescues Lindsay, a young Earth girl who had slipped through the Veil into Woerld, just as he had many years before. Like Lucian, Lindsay possesses special powers, and will one day become one of the Kathoros, able to activate magic through prayer. Lucian is determined to make it his duty to train and protect her, but that's easier said than done with Catarina's minions on his tail and traitors at the heart of the Kathoroi. 

Such a rich world, with so much history and background. I don't think I was able to absorb it all until a third of the way through the book, mostly because not everything's explained right away. You're meant to be thrown into Miserere without much guidance, letting the story do the job of explaining the details as it progresses. Call me impatient, but I don't usually enjoy books like that; I much prefer it when the setting and characters are set up early so I know what I'm in for. But still, Miserere ended up making it up to me in spades!

Contrary to its description and the nature of its themes, this book isn't really about religion, though religious philosophies and the notion of faith are interwoven into the story. More significant are the ideas of redemption and mercy, of finding the strength and reason to go on again even after falling from grace. It's also about love, of whether or not it is possible to trust again after betrayal. 

Speaking of which, one of the first things that struck me about this book is how beautiful the writing is. I felt that the interplay of emotions between Lucian and Rachael unfolded very naturally and was presented almost perfectly, as were the descriptions of Lucien's mixed feelings for his traitorous sister. And yet, the writing was not at all flowery to the point of distracting, nor did it disrupt the flow of the story, which made this a very easy and smooth read. The execution in the details was also phenomenal; I am thinking of one scene in particular involving an exorcism that is quite possibly one of the most awesome and yet horrifying things I've ever read.

I just breezed through the second half of this book, since by then it had me completely hooked. One night, I found myself still up at 3am because I'd lost track of the hours reading this. I'm so glad I kept my mind open and gave this book a little time, as the reward was very much worth it.

Final verdict:

4.5 of 5 stars

This review also appears on Worlds Without End 
as part of the Women of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge

Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

My friend and I were discussing the problem of finding books featuring non-White protagonists written by non-North American descended authors. We noted that, more often than not in our limited scope, we’d find non-White protagonists written by White authors, or, White protagonists who find themselves in non-White environments, written by White authors. Generally speaking, the result are hit-or-miss when it comes to a respectful representation of a culture that one is not raised in.

Shortly after, I started reading Alif the Unseen and, after confirming the heritage of G. Willow Wilson, was impressed by her handling of the Middle Eastern culture - from dialogue, to religions, to terminology, to class and more. She also did an effective job of portraying the hacker culture within that cultural environment. The writing and dialogue presented aspects of the culture in ways that I could easily understand, without things being spelled out completely. Meaning could be inferred without much effort. Of course, I am not familiar with the Middle Eastern or hacker cultures, so I am assuming the portrayal did them justice.


The book moved smoothly through the main character’s introduction – his risqué profession his forbidden love and the girl next door – and then moved just as smoothly from the seen into the unseen, namely the world of the jinn that exists amidst our own, if only we are willing to believe.

This transition is where my only real disappointment in both the book and the author arrives, taking shape as the character called “the convert,” an American woman who has converted to Muslim and, for some reason, is the only person Vikram, the jinn Alif’s future now depends on, decides can identify the source of the mysterious book Alif has been given. In an interview, Wilson claims that the convert is “not really” herself, but “the place she ends up in the book is where I have ended up.”

Unfortunately, the convert and her sentiments come across, for me, like a raging opinion piece where Wilson denounces Western culture for being so blind. I found it particularly disturbing that, despite it being made clear that Alif enjoys reading fantasy novels from Western culture, it is stated in the book that Americans specifically can’t grasp the unseen world of the jinn. The convert also denounces non-Western culture for denying the Westerners who truly try to understand. The convert proclaims that non-Westerners are able to move freely between cultures, citing Kazuo Ishiguro, author of Remains of the Day, as an example of a person from non-Western culture writing about life in Britain. A very poor example, considering Ishigoro was raised British. The convert laments that no Westerner has successfully written an epic tale that works in the other direction, and I consequently got the distinct feeling that Wilson hoped to become that person who succeeded.

I had hoped the convert was just an interlude that allowed Wilson to express her feelings, but annoyingly, the character continued on with the main group, providing little purpose. Not even in the end when her beatific pregnancy was supposed to have commanded attention. I read the acknowledgements which referred to Wilson’s own pregnancy during the writing of the book and have concluded that Wilson’s claim that the convert isn’t really herself is slightly delusional.

Aside from this, I enjoyed the book. I enjoyed the use of and discussions about language and how mutable it is. I appreciated that the step into the fantastical was gradual and that the characters each displayed interesting and varying reactions to the discovery of the unseen world. I liked the religious comparisons and the questioning of beliefs, but respected that the characters that did have their own religious beliefs, remained true to those beliefs, while still being able to accept the unseen. I enjoyed that the main character was an annoying, whiny creature who did not suddenly find a backbone and become a respectable hero. And in a culture that Westerners believe poorly treats its women, the character of Dina serves as an interesting insight.

Final verdict:

 3 of 5 stars

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

Octavia E. Butler’s books are not for the squeamish and most certainly not for people who want happy, Hollywood endings. Things work out in the end – but never in a nice neat package. There is always a lot of loss in all of its most painful forms. Her works are very realistic in that matter. In fact, her works are realistic in all matters. They are a reflection of life and of the human spirit. They don’t allow you to escape into science fiction and fantasy as easily as other books in the genre might. They are harsh truths.

Butler’s books are considered science fiction, but she stresses that science fiction is not just about the fantastical, requiring a big suspension of disbelief. Even when her stories involve aliens, mutants or vampires, there is still the sense that such things could very well happen in our very near future.

Wayward Son by Tom Pollack with Jim Alves and John Loftus

Everything changes early one morning when Dr. Amanda James gets a call from an old college flame and fellow archaeologist, beseeching her to travel to Italy to help solve the puzzle of a mysterious set of bronze doors at a new dig site. Much to her surprise and bemusement, Amanda also receives an offer of stardom and celebrity from billionaire Luc Renard on the same day. The only catch? The job is in Tokyo, requiring Amanda to leave everything of her life behind including her current work at the Getty Museum. Unable to turn her back on archaeology and all the research that she loves, she turns down the offer, but Renard is not someone used to taking no for an answer...

At the dig site in Italy, Amanda takes up the challenge solving the secret of the bronze doors. Sealed by a code inscribed in ancient languages including Chinese and Egyptian, the researchers believe the doors should open up to an underground vault buried beneath a hundred feet of ash from the eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius. Once inside, Amanda discovers a room full of relics, including two unknown figures eternally locked in what appears to have been a struggle, killed and frozen in time by the volcanic effusion.

It is then Amanda suddenly experiences a shocking vision -- the life and times of the notorious Biblical figure Cain. Through her visions, she learns the truth -- that Cain actually walked the earth for thousands of years, cursed for the murder of his brother. Trapped in his immortal life, this is a story of Cain's road to redemption and fight to resist the devil's temptations.

At first, I thought I would love Wayward Son, based on my love for archaeology and the description of the book on various websites like Amazon and Goodreads. However, the book was nothing like I expected. Don't get me wrong, this was a well written book with a rather creative story. My problem with it isn't so much what the book was about, but with the way it was marketed.

From the synopsis, it sounded like a tale of suspense and adventure, something I would really love. As it turned out, this was not the case. I think I was initially drawn to these particular lines of the description: "Amanda is shocked to discover evidence left behind by a notorioius Biblical killer, who long ago wandered off the pages of history. When a strange relic unveils the miraculous truth about this villain, Amanda must battle sinister forces intent on suppressing her stunning revelation, before it alters the destiny of millions."

While the beginning of the novel started off promising, I have to say that description did not actually reflect the content of the book at all. The bulk of the story itself is actually much more low-key and subdued, and not as heart-pumpingly exciting as the synopsis made it sound. The life of "Biblical killer" who turned out to be Cain played out more like a historical drama, and he wasn't really portrayed like the "villain" as stated. While Wayward Son did have a touch of mystery and suspense, the description is unreliable. I would say this book would be more at home on a Christian fiction shelf.

I'm still glad I picked it up for the synopsis, misleading or not, because I don't know if I would have read this book otherwise. It's an intriguing read, though my only caveat to other potential readers, of course, is to be wary of the novel's descriptions.

My Rating (out of 5)