Ethereal Influence, The Inquisition.

Written by Lana Bradstream.

Reviewed by Thomas Purser.

Thomas Purser received a free copy of Ethereal Influence, The Inquisition, in exchange for this review.




Ethereal Influence is an informative and well-written novel. The story is set during the sadistically insane times of the Inquisition.

Bradstream’s treatment of the eternal struggle for the human soul is as honest as it is brutal. The violence and futility of religion are entirely exposed, along with the degeneration of the sadistic perpetrators, who are as far removed from a compassionate and loving god as anyone could be.

Ethereal Influence has good characterisation, with both main protagonists, Ayla and Nikolaus, displaying the confused and often hypocritical thoughts and actions all of us can identify with.

Both characters have their weaknesses and their temptations to deal with, whilst at same time attempting to navigate a path through the chaotic and often highly disorientating and pitiless human experience.

The pace of the novel was consistent and added to the readability. From a reader’s point of view, there was no need to try and work out ambiguous and inconsistent explosive events that bare little or no relation to the rate the novel moves to its conclusion.

The continuity was coherent and well orientated which, again from a reader’s point of view, makes reading the novel a pleasure rather than a chore. There‘s nothing worse from a reader‘s perspective than finding oneself flicking back through the pages to make sense of a sudden and unexplained change in the plot.

Fortunately Lana Bradstream’s structured continuity, consistent pace and well-developed and contextual characterisations allow for effortless evocation of the plot and therefore make the novel effortlessly convincing.

I recommend Ethereal Influence, The Inquisition to everybody, but especially to those interested in human history and its wonderful and terrifying quest for truth and peace.