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Friday, April 17, 2015

Toula Mavridou-Messer: Mortal End: A Simmering Pit of Jiggery Pokery

Mortal End: A Simmering Pit of Jiggery PokeryMortal End: A Simmering Pit of Jiggery Pokery by Toula Mavridou-Messer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was a really interesting blend. It had a sort of Gaiman take on Terry Pratchett humor, which I found to be very interesting. It also managed to build an interesting and grotesque world.

It isn't often when I find a book that builds up a world quiet so well as this one. It really felt like the town had history to it, demented as that history may have been. History is a funny thing. It can easily be over-looked when creating a story and a lot of times it isn't a huge deal when such things happen. Walking the line between a vivid world and a vague world is an art in and of itself.

That is not to say, of course, that creating a world is not important. Far from. Environment is key as without it there is no way to influence the characters and their actions. That being said, there have been many great novels where the setting is secondary, such as Vonnegut's "The Sirens of Titan."

This novel, however, constructs an interesting and plausible world with ease. Further, it produces a history to that world and its characters. It does this without arduous details and lists of family histories, which is far from easy, even for the most seasoned of writers.

I also enjoyed how each character had their own motivations and plans. Each character had his own personality and way of doing things, yet they were also uniquely damaged and deranged.

There were, however, times when I felt that these characters fell a little flat, yet those times were few and far between.

No, if there were any real issues I had it would be that, at times, it felt as if the multiple threads of story were a little too spread out. It did not feel as though they connected and, during those times, I felt myself removed from the setting.

Aside from that, however, this book was quick, strange, and easy to read. If you are looking for a dark fantasy mystery that you can breeze through then this is a great place to come.

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View all my reviews or buy the book here Mortal End: A Simmering Pit Of Jiggery Pokery

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