Resurrection Man

Resurrection Man #1

by Sean Stewart

Hiding his psychic powers from a paranoid society, Dante Ratkay is forced to act upon a premonition about his own death and delves into his family's forbidden secrets in order to unleash a profound force deep within himself.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Alternate History, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1995

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Sean Stewart (born June 2, 1965) is a U.S.-Canadian science fiction and fantasy author.

Born in Lubbock, Texas, Sean Stewart moved to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1968. After stints in Houston, Texas, Vancouver, British Columbia, Irvine, California and Monterey, California, he now lives in Davis, California, with his wife and two daughters.

He received an Honors degree in English from University of Alberta in 1987, following which he spent many years writing novels. He gradually moved from writing novels to interactive fiction, first as lead writer on the Web based Alternate Reality Game The Beast.

He served as a consultant on several computer games, and was on the management team of the 4orty2wo Entertainment experiential marketing and entertainment company, where he was lead writer for Haunted Apiary aka ilovebees and Last Call Poker. His newest novel Cathy's Book seems to represent the melding of his two careers, as it crosses the alternate reality game format with a teen novel. In 2007, he and several 4orty2wo co-founders left that company to start Fourth Wall Studios.

Awards:
* Arthur Ellis Award Best First Novel winner (1993): Passion Play
* World Fantasy Award Best Novel winner (2001): Galveston

Reviews

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something changed in the world after World War II. Magic started seeping back in, shouldering past mankind’s disbelief and logic, spawning minotaurs and nightmares in the waking world. There are also special people touched by the magic tide: angels. Gifted with second sight, and other more wild and arcane powers, though nothing as straightforward or pedestrian as laser eyes or healing factors, it is unclear if angels are a bulwark for humanity or the sign of its end. Angels live a double life, at once part of the workaday concerns of human society, but also hooked into the world’s new (or old) beating heart. More often than not they run the risk of their more prosaic perceptions and concerns being subsumed into the deeper realities that lie beyond, and beneath, the mundane world.

If I had to identify the most significant characteristics of Sean Stewart’s works I’d have to put fully developed characters and well-wrought prose on centre stage. And magic. Nobody does magic like Sean Stewart.

In _Resurrection Man_ we meet Dante, an angel who has tried to deny his powers ever since they first rose to the surface in his early childhood. He was more or less successful in denying his deeper nature until the day, under the influence of his shadowy foster brother Jet (or is he a changeling, or Dante’s shadow?), he discovers his own dead body lying in his childhood bedroom. What’s an angel to make of a manifestation like that?

Even though I read this first book in Stewart’s trilogy about magic flooding back into the world previously, it’s been enough years since then that I had forgotten most of the details of the story except the broadest strokes. It might be compared to something by Tim Powers or Jonathan Carroll, but I’d say it’s more three-dimensional than Powers and more coherent than Carroll (at least based on what I remember from each of those authors). For me Stewart goes well beyond the label of urban fantasy, writing something altogether sui generis. And while I can’t seem to shut up about how much I love Stewart’s take on magic (have I mentioned no one does it like him?) and for all the importance of magic in Stewart’s worlds it’s the characters (I really want to say the people) that fill out the story and invest the worlds he creates with life.

One question I was left with at the end of this reading was just who is the main character? Dante, the angel, and titular resurrection man? Or his changeling brother Jet, the shadow? The story couldn’t have worked without either of them and their dichotomy lies at the very heart of it. This isn’t my favourite book by Stewart, but it is still excellent, and probably the perfect place to start if you’re lucky enough to be engaging with his work for the first time. Enjoy!

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resurrection Man begins stunningly, when Dante, his sister Sarah, and his adopted brother Jet discover Dante's dead body; naturally enough, Dante takes this as a sign that he's about to die and starts to investigate. The setting is an alternate America, where magic started to return to the modern world during WWII, when golems appeared in concentration camps; Stewart builds his picture of the world piece by piece, taking it steadily further and further away from our own world and creating a creepier and creepier atmosphere.

As with Nobody's Son, however, though the world and the magic are intriguing, it's the characters that really matter, and the relationships in Dante's family: Dante himself; Jet, his dark other half; Sarah, tormented by her past; and their parents and Aunt Sophie. Stewart's powers of invention are remarkable; the three books of his that I've read (this, Nobody's Son, and Mockingbird) are all quite different from each other, but all very effective in their own ways.

[Yve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Resurrection Man has one of the most disorienting beginnings that I've ever encountered. I came to the book with pretty much no frame of reference - I bought it because I loved the title and cover art, from the cover one can ascertain that it has something to do with "angels," that's it - and in Chapter 1, Stewart jumps into a scene wherein his as-yet mysterious hero Dante and his shadowy brother Jet (both sinister but in different ways) have discovered Dante's body and are performing an amateur autopsy in an old boathouse. Not only is the cause of death unclear, the reality of the death is a big question and Stewart takes his time to explain it. This aura of secrets and unreality is what makes Resurrection Man so compelling.

The novel is also tied together with Classical references and quotations - the Greeks beloved by Dante's atheist father competing with the Christian echoes - and the inexorable pull of World War II like a giant abyss in the middle of the century, the pervasive human cruelty and somehow, the advent of magic in the modern world.

The "angels" here are not emissaries sent from the heavens but (it seems) humans, who are hyper-perceptive of the subconscious and the supernatural. Dante is an angel and his specialty is Death - being brought up by a pragmatic doctor and haunted by the disgusting and shameful images that his powers bring to him, he understandably does his best to avoid his angelic side. Of course, he eventually has to confront it and use it to dig up information about long-unspoken/unknown family tragedies. The family history and the touches of urban fantasy reminded me at times of John Crowley's Little, Big - I'd highly recommend Resurrection Man to any fans of that book.

[J.B. McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating combination of horror, magic, fallen angels that never flew, and a mystery.

This is what I imagine Edgar Allen Poe would write, if tasked to write fantasy. The language is poetic, with so many gossamer lines drawn between actions and characters, the metaphysical brought into the physical. I felt like I could see four layers deep that the author was writing, but there were another sixteen that were just beyond my grasp.

It’s a dark book, even if it has an eventual bittersweet HFN. As an author it mesmerized me and made my brain boil with ideas. As a reader I had to be careful when I read it, so it didn’t affect my emotional state too much. Couldn’t put it down.

[Gylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my very favorite novels. I've read it 5 or 6 times, and every time through find something new and more resonant. Like nearly all Stewart's novels, Resurrection Man mixes fantasy with reality. However, this one contains his most human - and most heartbreaking - characters. Jet is my personal favorite here. Especially his transformation and reflections at the end of the novel.

[Lizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jet very much reminded me of Loki. I enjoyed this dark, macabre -yet interesting tale.

[Shelli Ingle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book on 50% on sale at the Arc Thrift Store back in back August and I ended up reading it.

If you are a fan of Neil Gaiman and Supernatural, you will like it.

This can can be depressing, there are cute moments and the books ended it in a good note with a very cute ending. It's very fast pace.

It focused on an angel that named Dante that didn't accept his faith and ends up helping his adopting brother [Spoiler: he's actually cousin],because his brother wants to known why his parents had rejected.

I love the relationship between Dante and Jet, because they reminds me of my two older brothers.

I even really like that some symbolized in this book, because it mostly focused on butterflies and a phoenix. Butterflies and phoenix both means "Life", "Death", "Resurrection", "Letting go", "Move on" and "Rebirth". I think they does fit the story so well. :)

It can give you paranormal vibe, too, like Anne Rice.

I highly recommend it. ;)

[Etola · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect, heading into this book. But it was an interesting ride! It was a very quiet, internal book: really a character study of the main character and his inner struggles coming to terms with his hidden powers, against the backdrop of family drama in an alternate modern world where magic is flooding back. The writing was excellent, evocative and dreamlike. Some of its handling of racial dynamics have not aged well, imho, and there was more medical/surgery imagery and dead bodies than I usually care for. But as a character drama, it was tight, thematically strong, and subtle.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall my reaction was that this is fine. I bought this book as a blind date book, so I didn’t know much of what to expect. I feel like it took most of the book for me to really understand the world that was being built. I didn’t love the writing style and large parts of the book felt disjointed. There was just a lot going on, it feels like it could have been simplified some to establish the setting more clearly.

[Toby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this and the general story was interesting enough but the ebook was so full of typos that it made it actually hard to read. The author has a habit of changing who is speaking without much/any warning which might be more engaging if I hadn't been struggling the whole time to figure out if the random wrong words were intended non-sequiturs or poor editing

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kind of get the “message” of this book, but the author is laboring under the delusion that the reader cares about these characters. There is a lot of telling and not showing in this book, with very little depth of character or relationships. This might have been more interesting if it was a family saga book with more details and storytelling- but it just comes off as a lazy outline.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A world awash in a rising tide of magic. Hard not to like. But I wish he'd spent more time with the evil twin, the character I really liked. Damien was a bit of a wash-out. I really liked the world-portrayal, the strangeness of it all, but there wasn't enough of it to carry the book on its own

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread- I love Sean Stewart’s brand of fantastical realism (or magically real fantasy). This is a world with magic but it’s about family secrets and guilt. It’s an early novel and feels like it, though.

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I finally got around to writing a review of this book which I unabashedly love. I hope everyone – I mean EVERYONE – reads it. This is not an easy book to read, not one for skimming, certainly not light reading. But this book is worth every bit of effort you put into it and more besides. It is a book likely to reveal something new each time you read it.

Dante Ratkay is an angel who largely ignored his magical abilities until confronted with his own dead body. Not an illusion, not a phantom, but an actual, corporeal replica except it's dead. Can an opening be more intriguing? Unable to ignore this revelation, Dante undertakes to uncover its significance.

What I anticipated being an intriguing read with horror elements became so much more. Beyond the frightening moments and the intriguing mystery which sustains through the more ambiguous, obscure parts of the narrative, what distinguishes RESURRECTION MAN is the characters-- their individuality and their interaction with one another.

The story demonstrates in various ways the disparity between what the characters thought of themselves and how others saw them. It is more than grass-is-greener envy and differentiation. It is a study of perspective, of self-flagellation, of self-forgiveness--


*********
xxx we carry our aloneness differently. Mine is no secret. I stand always apart from the center of things, observing. Dante, on the other hand, carries his isolation into every crowd. He laughs and jokes and seizes conversation, satanic eyebrows flaring... but he only lends himself; he never gives. He never stays, he never puts down roots. He floats through time, too cagey to dock or let an anchor down; and life drifts by him on the bank.

It is a picture I return to: the two of us, in the place we built together. Dante, already eager to be gone; and me, behind the camera, absent from the picture, as if I wasn't even there.
***************


Corollarily, it establishes that love and affection are rarely unaccompanied by tolerance, leniency, admiration, emulation, condonation, absolution. In moments of keen observation, the characters see themselves reflected in each other's eyes. In revelatory moments, they learn something new about one another. They measure themselves against one another and this informs a substantial part of their identity.

RESURRECTION MAN tells us many things we already know or ought to know except in a sublime, singular manner. Relationships are complex-- they can bolster confidence or cause inward retreat, they can propel you forward or cause inertia, they can flourish or stagnate. But, most of all, this book tells us that no one can exist in a vacuum, sans all relationships. Even the decision not to enter into or continue a relationship is a form of relationship, however many levels removed from the traditional concept. This book had much to contribute to the matter of fathers and sons, siblings, friendships, romantic entanglements--


*************
“When you have a child,” he said at last, “it brings a lot of grief.” He held up a hand. “Not the child's fault; at the worst the child brings exhaustion, bad temper... dry-cleaning bills.” xxx “'Fathers are children for the second time,' as Aristophanes almost said. When you have a child, you see in him yourself, your younger self. And when you look at him and worry, you do it because you think of all the things you lost, growing up. All the hurt...” He stopped himself, blinked and smiled. “So now, looking at you, you fine, tall, smart young man, I can see all the mistakes I'm going to make with you and your siblings, and your aunt, and my practice, and God knows your mother.”

“You? Make mistakes? I thought it was impossible!”

Anton smiled. “I did too, at your age. That was pretty old to be so foolish!”

“Whereas I know I hardly ever do anything right,” Dante said. “I must be exceedingly wise.”

Anton shook his head, looking sadly at his son through a haze of blue smoke. After a long silence, he said, “No. You're an even bigger fool than I was.”
*****************

Every moment in this book seems to stop time. At that particular moment, it is the most determining event, the most incredible discovery, the most important knowledge. While every moment contributes to the big picture, each one can exist independently, encompassing its own complete mini-story. So, while the entirety of this book can be said to be greater than the sum of its parts, it is equally true that every distinct part of this book is a whole in itself.

Lastly, the ending deserves to be unspoiled but I'll say this about it: it is possessed of a circular beauty, simultaneously contained and transcendent. After reading it, I immediately reread the opening which became even more meaningful. Be prepared for self-reflection and a reevaluation of your relationships after reading this book. And tears, quiet tears. I wonder how many rereads it will take before RESURRECTION MAN no longer makes me weep.

[Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peculiar and poetic, with minotaurs.

[Brian Gaston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an OK book but it didn't get me to read others in the series.

[Caomhghain · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was hard to make up my mind on this. In the end I decided it was too meandering in plot. The characterisation was excellent but the author was not in total control of all his material.

[Paul Close · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, surreal tale. Not quite the bite of Iain Banks, but close. Leaves you wanting more.

[Les · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written book. It's both lyrical and melencoly. I think it resonated much more with me today (at 65) than it would have 20 or 30 years ago.

[Abigail Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not what I was expecting! I loved it, loved the ending.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprised by how much I was able to enjoy this book without ever really understanding what it was “about” until the end.
Very sad, in a good way.

[L.K. Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. I must say, the beginning dragged for me a bit. It took me until about 60% in until I’d moved to the edge of my couch and shooed away anything/one who interrupted me. It was a short read but was crammed full of a lot of imagery and very poetic prose that had my heart aching. Towards the end, it even managed to form a lump in my throat. Let me give you two examples of some of Stewart’s beautiful thoughts, though there are so many I’d like to provide but I fear I’d give away the whole book:

Sarah grunted. “People don’t have fates.”
“No: fates have people,” Jet said, suddenly serious. “It’s quite, quite different.”

There is a class of walkers who share a certain camaraderie. We are not drunks, tramps, hookers, cops, priests, party-goers or night-shift workers: we are merely outsiders. On the rare occasions when we meet we acknowledge one another with a tiny tilt of the head, or a quick nod; but each of us carries his or her own solitude. We are invisible and we cannot be touched.

At some point, I’d like to reread this book now that I know a bit more and have a clearer picture of the world and angels. I think I missed a lot at the beginning that would be neat to uncover.

Overall, the story was very interesting, and though the world was earth, it was a very unique take. Meaning, it was more of the history that changed the present day and it did not use a futuristic spaceship setting. I'd have a hard time cramming it into the sci-fi category, but I'm not sure where else it would fit.

Anyways, the story had me wondering what in the hell was going to happen. had me wondering what in the hell was going to happen. I had so many questions, I didn’t even know where to start. It wasn’t a book that fed you what you needed to know in an orderly and concise manner. That said, I wouldn’t consider this a light read. My recommendation is to pick this up and spend some quality time with it. I think you’ll get more out of it. Admittedly, I don’t think I digested all I should have when I read this.

The characters were interesting, each living within their own haunted house of horrors. I found it fascinating to get to know them and what made them tick. Jet was my favorite, but Dante was right on his heels. This book had some great character development.

The only reason this got 4 instead of 5 stars is simply because it took me so long to get into it. So while the ending was satisfying, moving, and just damn beautiful, I wish I would have been more invested in the beginning. If I had been, I bet those welling tears would have spilt over.

In the end, I’d highly recommend this to anyone who wants a serious read with stunning prose and some damn intense emotions.

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was Don Webb who first pointed me in Stewart's direction, but it took me quite a while before I finally picked up a novel of his. This of course was due to no active avoidance, but simply because I have way too many books to read as it is. Still, if I never got any recommendations, I would miss out on some amazing books, of which Resurrection Man is one of them.

I like fantasy based in the real world--something magical hidden under the surface. When young, I remember being fascinated by magicians, tarot cards, and voodoo. I liked science fiction, but ESP and telekinetics did not intrigue me as much as the rituals of fantasy. This was the difference between science and magic, even when both could accomplish the same effect. Later in life, this preoccupation with magic had me gravitating to magic realism in my reading, a subject which I still actively seek out.

Resurrection Man is not quite magic realism (at least in my definition of the term) because Stewart's world is not our own. It has many similarities, but the differences--angels working for the police, feng shui necessary for building placement--are striking. What makes Stewart seem like magic realism is for his style of writing about this alternate world, almost laconic, but seemingly realistic.

The plot is a strange mixture of mystery and secrets that also appealed to me, as the protagonist must deal with his own angelic nature (not as heavenly as you might think), the past of his aunt's husband, and a possible child, both born yet unborn. I liked Resurrection Man a lot, and I'm looking forward to reading another book by Stewart to see if he can capture my interests so completely once again.

['Nathan Burgoine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book from Mr. Dude, which I shot through in a quick couple of days to and fro from work. It's interesting - a contemporarily set magical realism world, our world, to be exact, where magic has quietly been returning since around World War II.

By contemporary times, that magic is flexing its muscles. There are people with natural abilities - who are dubbed angels - and there are people who try to master its forces more externally - who are dubbed wizards. This tale focuses on an angel.

Our hero discovers his own body, and slowly has to come to terms with what that means: he's fairly sure this corpse will turn up for real in seven days, and his autopsy (of his own body) shows a spider sac growing inside the body. He's going to die. His brother, a literally marked man, asks our hero to do the one thing he has never done: embrace his angel abilities, and help his brother find out who he really is, and what happened to leave the butterfly mark on his brother's face.

Meanwhile, as the angel realizes that his abilities focus on the raising of the dead, and his family live grows more and more complicated, and the mystery about his "brother" deepens, the one-week clock continues to tick.

Solid writing (but also damned disturbing imagery) make this a book to keep an eye out for.

[Ryan Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems fitting that a time when I'm surrounded by death that the books I've chosen to read are helping me through it. For what it's worth, this is a good one. A bit muddled, absolutely, and some elements feel weird for weirdness's sake, but by the time the ending rolls around and everything becomes clear(ish), Stewart's message comes through loud and clear in a quite profound way. When I reached the final chapters, I wished I could spend more time with these characters, the sign of something very special.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all of Sean Stewart's stuff. And he's hard to find. I rarely see him in bookstores, just occasionally seeing a novel here or there. But he's always worth it.

Resurrection Man reads like one of his earlier novels. It is still awesome, but maybe lacks a little of the polish that shows up in his later books. Some things are left, deliberately or not, a little obscured and confusing. But it wrapped up well.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had much to recommend it by way of interesting futuristic technologies set amidst a serial-murder mystery plot. However, the good ideas in this novel were not balanced with realistic characters, and the relationship between the protagonists was improbable. At least it was long (over 500 pages).

[Brian Schrock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keep reading.

When I first started to read this book, I struggled to adapt to Stewart's writing style. I adjusted as I read further and I began to really enjoy the story that Stewart superimposed on this subtle fantasy backdrop.

If you've arrived at this review because you wanted to know if you should continue reading---I believe you should.

[Kiro Selanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The good: great writing; interesting and original ideas. The bad: the ending is rushed. Plot threads that were teased throughout the book are discarded in a few pages (the confrontation with the man who caused Jet's unusual birth; Sarah's ghost). The rushed second half is what keeps this book from getting 5 stars.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was OK. I found it really confusing at first. I didn't know what was going on. Things got a little better, but it was still just an OK read. Too bad. I thought it had a lot of potential.