Review: Slow pacing and head-hopping hurt...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 12, 2014
This post-apocalyptic literary novel chronicles the life of several immortals, mostly Mathias and Dorian, in the centuries prior to and years immediately following The End of Days. It is told from an omniscient viewpoint, which personally is the most difficult for me to read. I am not a fan of head-hopping prose, and this story switched so quickly I struggled. Greatly.Also, the plot is decidedly alinear, and we jump through the centuries meeting and discarding acquaintances--some who reappear later to actually participate in the plot. However, it is never clear when these people will be important, so I had trouble connecting.Mathias is an immortal. He knows because his aging is severely slowed after adulthood, and also because he failed at suicide in the 1860's. The End has come in 2070, and Mathias is pretty jaded years later. He failed at foiling the Fiery Ones destruction of Europe's cosmopolitan world, and scrapes by doing odd mercenary work until he learns of Luca, a repainter who matches the description of Mathias' dead lover from 1984. Mathias contracts Dorian, a former lover (from the mid-nineteenth century) to bring Luca to his home.Turns out Luca the repainter is the reincarnation of Mathias's lost Luca, and they are reunited. Which, I liked.Dorian has a good bit of the plot as well. We learn of his time as an escort, and his failed loves. One such is Petra, who does return to him a century later, as she is also immortal. Dorian and Mathias are not particular friends in the story, despite both being immortal, however they come to an uneasy coexistence near the end.In the end, of the book not the world, the plot lines meander toward convergence. It seemed to me there were many crises that became resolved but no clear climax/resolution. And, it turns out that The End, of the world not the book, was orchestrated by seraphim. Oh, and Lucifer opposed this fiery destruction. Talk about Revelations....This book wasn't my style of read. I had issues with the pacing and diction was a problem. I'm one of those sticklers for choosing the right word, and there are homophone hang-ups here. (Taught/taut, duel/dual among others...).Also, the story didn't so much resolve as it did end. I knew it would be this way with 100 pages to go, however. The way pacing was going I was sure I'd be unsatisfied with the resolution. Also, this being the first of a series, I knew more would need to happen in the second book. That being said, I'm not left with the "must read sequel" craze.All romantic portions of the prose were perfunctory in nature. I felt as though the relationships, such as they were, were solid and caring, but we rather skipped the passion...I received a free copy of this book via the Don't Buy My Love program at Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.