Wooing the Echo: Book One of the Christopher Penrose Novels

by Lee Morgan

Chasing a ghost and echoes of magic, Christopher discovers the darkness that looms behind desire. Christopher is haunted and hollow with the loss of a friend unlike any other. When a stranger arrives with the secrets of 'Old Craft' sorcery and communion with the dead, Christopher’s fate will be altered forever. On that crooked path the façade of normal life falls away to reveal a world of wonder, but also danger. As the ghosts of the dead stir, what secrets will rise to the surface with them, and will Christopher survive the horror that is love's other face? ‘Wooing the Echo’ is the first in an edgy new series that follows the life of Christopher Penrose. It is a journey into a world of the occult, seething with real, adult and believable magic.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Witchcraft, Vampires

357 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 2013

About the author

Lee Morgan lives on a communal homestead on kunanyi/Mt Wellington in nipaluna/Hobart, where he creates sanctuary for other weirdos, raises books, people, and ideas from the grave. He has had novels and non-fiction published by Moon Books, Three Hands Press, The Witches Almanac and Rebel Satori. Having survived an enormous tumour, Lee currently is busy filling the room in his skull with new brains, writing Folk Horror, and queering the world one step at a time.

Reviews

[Lollie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm stuck between two and three stars for this... as you can see, it took me almost two years to read.
The idea for this story is a fairly good one, I have nothing against that at all.
I think the problem lies in the writing itself. Verbose might come close to covering it. The need for describing in detail the way someone was sitting, or the landscape (which can be good at times), or a persons physique seemed to steal the word count for actually fleshing out the characters. I felt absolutely nothing for ANY of the characters, no connection whatsoever.
So eventually it just became a wordy book about people doing some magicy stuff... which is a pity because as I said, the idea for the story was a good one.

[Zerikai Lament · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful occult fiction! So much of occult fiction is written by people who aren't practitioners, and it SHOWS in the writing to those who ARE practitioners. That is not a problem in this book. This combined with a fantastic story and well developed characters make this a fantastic book! Can't wait to read more in the series!!

[Eoghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drugs, sex, Witchcraft, love and the Undead, it has it all. Loved this book, the author lee Morgan has me hooked, look'en forward to get my hands on the rest if the series.

[G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good writing, enjoyable.
The perspective of the author makes this a good book.

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been searching for a story like this since I first began studying witchcraft and spirituality a few years ago. It's definitely different, and that's what I love about it. While it is indeed a work of fiction, it is based on real-life ritual and practice; even the folkloric creatures introduced are presented realistically. I was very impressed. The characters are so well-written that I felt at some point they would materialize in my house. I fell in love with all of them - especially the prodigy, Eugene. Christopher's loving and spiritual relationship with his departed friend tore at my heart, because it reminded me very much of the relationship I once had with my (now deceased) partner of many years.

The ONLY issue I had with this book is not with the story itself, but with the editing - I feel like a lot of punctuation was out of place and some parts seemed to just be written weird...it bothered me enough that I felt I had to take off a star. But other than that, the prose itself was exquisite and at times I had to put the book down to process the beauty and truth in what I had just read. I liked the way poetry tied everything together, as well. Overall, this is a strange, gorgeous, fresh new book and it is definitely worth a shot if you've got an open mind.

[Kira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down!

[Sam Schroder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book!