Simon Myth

School of Ages #4

by Matt Posner

Time has gone wrong at School of the Ages

Kindle Edition

First published July 19, 2013

About the author

I am a former novelist, no longer active in publishing. I continue to write when I can, but trying to sell writing is a tough gig -- maybe too tough for me.

Reviews

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Info: Genre: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy/Magical Reality
Reading Level: Young Adult (with the caveat that sensitive readers should have guidance and support)
Recommended for: I think most anyone would enjoy this series.
Trigger Warnings: All the books have had bullying, but William Goodenough goes way overboard in this one; killing, fighting, violence, murder, war, messing with people's abilities and controlling their minds

My Thoughts: All my reviews for this series have been very long, even without all the extra stuff I've added, such as the series information, the links to my other reviews, the synopsis, and all the book information. I really can't help that, because I've just loved these books so much, and they always give me so much to think about. Some of the things I've forgotten to mention: I adore Simon's parents. They are so supportive of him and all his weirdness, while remaining very much his parents. I've been really looking forward to this book, and to learning more about the mysterious Corby Crow and his six grandmothers, and the author has been teasing me unmercifully with little bits here and there while I've been waiting on tenterhooks for this. The way the last book ended tore out my heart and stomped on it, but I can't help but come back for more. This, to me, is the sign of a very successful series, one that I have become incredibly invested in, and one I almost hope will go on indefinitely, even if the author (at least notice) said the next would probably be the last. And all this? Has been written before I even started reading the book.

I truly had best intentions to read this book before publication, but alas, other things interfered. The copy I received was an ARC, so it was not formatted or proofed, and therefore I will ignore all problems I might see. I do want to buy all final editions of this book, since currently only book 2 is one I bought myself, and the others have come from the author. But I would love to have those final copies, so I'll be doing that eventually.

I really do not know what to think about William Goodenough. I always wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but then there was that incident with Vijay Dass, then later with his parents... it's very confusing. I hope he'll end up being one of the good ones. I was very disappointed about what happened with Corby as well, but at the same time I understand why it had to be that way, with the circumstances surrounding what his grandmothers did. Delphine continues to be a real joy, and Miss Chatterjee is a very interesting character. I was fascinated with the use of Hindu mythology in this book, and the bits and pieces we learned. It's very obvious that Posner has done extensive research into many things for this series.

It kills me that I will have to wait so long for the next book. Two years! It's unbearable! However, knowing what I know, based on what I've read in these books so far, this will very much be worth the wait. I will hate to see the series ended though, and I hope we see many more books from this talented pen. Very highly recommended, all of it.

Series Information: School of the Ages series
Book 1: The Ghost in the Crystal, review linked here
Book 2: Level Three's Dream, review linked here
Book 2.5: Sara Ghost, review linked here
Anthology: Tales of Christmas Magic, review linked here
Book 3: The War Against Love, review linked here
Book 4: Simon Myth
Book 5: The Wonderful Carol, to be published 2015
Please note that reviews linked are my original reviews done after my first reading and subject to minor change after re-reading. For latest review, see Goodreads
See also: Author interview linked here

Disclosure: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: A rakshasa—an unbeatable demon dressed like a gangster—has attacked Simon's family in Bombay, and Simon has never felt more alone. The War Against Love ripped away important pieces of his life: even his best friend Goldberry is not his friend anymore. What hope remains? Time goes wrong at the school when strange and sometimes dangerous older versions of his friends appear inside the building, and then Simon finds himself in the land of ancient India, in the time of the Mahabharata, and in the company of its greatest heroes, the five Pandava brothers. Will Simon return to his own time to face down his monstrous uncle—or will he remain lost, and forever be... Simon Myth?

Also enjoy: the war for Goldberry's heart; the mysterious schemes of Corby Crow and the Russian witch coven called the Six Grandmothers; an evil Arch-Mage invading the school; Yakov Mermelstein making a golem; a riddle-game against a talking corpse; and Delphine, the cute little French girl, learning to dance Bhangra.

[T.M. Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simon Myth is School of the Ages Book Four.

Simon's family is attacked by a rakshas (a demon in flesh) that is also a gangster ... and Simon's uncle.

Simon has been devastated by the losses he suffered at the end of the War Against Love (book 3). Viratasur, a monster who is a member of his family, is too powerful for him to oppose.

Back at school, time has gone wrong as future versions of the school students appear at random, and some of them are evil.

Then Simon vanishes! He is lost in time, stranded in ancient India at the time of the Mahabharata where he meets its great heroes.

Can Simon return to his time to face this terrible foe? Or will he forever be a myth... SIMON MYTH??

~ My review~

Simon Magus's fight is far from over. His family is attacked in Bombay by a demon that has taken on human form and is also a relative. With the apparent loss of his best friend, Goldberry, Simon feels more alone then ever. Then time itself begins to twist, and different versions of his friends begin showing up. It couldn't get much worse, right? Wrong! Simon himself disappears from his current time and is thrown to ancient India. It will take everything he's learned to find his way back and defeat the demon that would destroy everything he holds dear.

While Simon is trapped in India we finally get more insight into Corby Crow and his six grandmothers. Corby is one of my favorite characters in this series, I loved getting to know him more in depth this time around. And then there is Simon's 'unofficial' best friend, Mermelstein. These two characters have grown so much over the duration of four books. Not only as individuals, but as friends. Quite honestly, I don't understand half of what Yakov is saying half the time, but his presence within the context of any of the stories is commanding.

Every time I think that Posner has given me all he's got, especially after what transpired in book three, he surprises me again. Simon has had a few love interests along the way, most notably Leah *heavy sigh*. But I have always, always held out hope for a particular connection with a particular character, *happy dance*! I can't elaborate, apologies, but I wouldn't want to ruin it for you. I will say I did not expect that lovely little twist at the end, but I am quite pleased. What was I saying? Oh Yes! Something new!!

With each installment in this series, novellas included, Posner introduces something fresh and new while still holding true to the core of his story within 'The School of The Ages'. Simon and his friends have faced so many challenges and dealt with some despicable characters over the years, this demon is by far the worst. I know I've called this series a darker Harry Potter a time or two, and I'm going to do a comparison again. It's like the evil that is present within this story is hell bent on making sure Simon is completely alone and broken, because there is no other way to truly defeat him. And Goodenough, I never liked him and I like him even less now.

Magic, madness and mayhem, that is Simon Myth. As always I'm so intrigued with the worlds and scenarios that Posner creates for his characters. If you like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and just a skoch bit of romance, you'll love The School of The Ages series!!

[D.J. Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Complex fantasy with depth. Lots of sly humor; endlessly inventive. I particularly enjoyed Simon’s journey with the Pandavas.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my review of the third book in this series, I complained that the series was deteriorating, and expressed the hope that it would improve again before I quit it in disgust. I'm glad to say that, although this book still has issues, I enjoyed it more than the previous one, and it does address some of the problems of the previous volume.

The editing is still patchy. There are a lot of typos, some misplaced punctuation, and the odd homonym error (some of which may themselves be typos, like sun/son, but heckling/haggling is obviously just the wrong word). I've seen a lot worse, but it's a little distracting.

There are still continuity errors. A garment of lion skins turns into a garment of bear skins in the course of a couple of pages.

There are shifts in storytelling style, and scenes or paragraphs out of chronological order for no seemingly good reason. There are unforeshadowed uses of magic that would be less jarring if they were foreshadowed. There is a very large family in which the kinship terms are badly confused (edit: the author tells me this is down to Indian language and culture, not his mistake). There are a lot of Yiddish and Hindi words dropped in without explanation or translation, which makes whole sections of the book hard to follow. There's a list of Goldberry's clothes that goes on for at least three times longer than I felt it needed to.

One of my big concerns in the previous book, though, was that Simon, the main character, was becoming a violent, heartless person with little discipline in his use of far-too-strong magic. While I wouldn't say that concern has been completely removed, this book does go some way towards addressing it and restoring Simon to a more admirable heroic character. I also wouldn't say that he's learned his lesson, exactly, but he has the potential to have learned his lesson, about violence and also about love.

Ah, love. Simon, as a teenager, believes in each book that the current object of his affections is the perfect person for him, whom he will love forever. This is, of course, not actually the case, as he must repeatedly and painfully discover. Now that I see the trend, I can take the references to the "perfection" of the annoying, unstable Ana in the previous book as the teenage exaggeration that it is.

With those two big imperfections out of the way, the small imperfections don't do as much to bring down my enjoyment of what is, in fact, a good series. The characters are interesting, the plots are compelling and the setting is engaging. I just wish that a good developmental editor and a good proofreader were involved.

[S.L. Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Having purchased and reviewed the previous three books, I had high expectations, and Mr. Posner didn't let me down.

School of the Ages is a school for magicians in New York City. This is Simon's fourth year at the school, so I highly recommend reading the other books first if you haven't already. In my opinion, they were diverse, thought provoking and well written.

In School of the Ages: Simon Myth, many of Simon's allies and foes return. Some continue to play prominent roles, including Goldberry, Mermelstein, Avery, Dempsey, Mina and Goodenough. A few characters who were background characters in previous books have been rounded out and given more depth. I especially enjoyed getting to know Corby Crow and his grandmothers. And quite a few new characters were introduced, including a demon in the form of a gangster, a bunch of teenage magicians from another magic school in San Francisco and a group of heroes from ancient Indian myth.

Many of the story lines in Simon Myth were well done, while others could have been cut almost entirely. For example, I'm not sure why we were introduced in such detail to the San Francisco magicians. What happened to Simon at the game could have been accomplished without introducing us in such fine detail to so many of their students who didn't really play a further role in this book. Other story lines were imperative to the overall story and were also enjoyable to read such as Simon's adventures with the mythological Pandava brothers.

The big bad in this book is the demon dressed as a gangster who attacks Simon's family in India. Throughout the book, this danger weighs on Simon's mind, especially since his grandmother, Devi, insisted he return to school and let her and his uncles worry about the demon. At the end of the book, many of the characters return to India to deal with Simon's family's problem. Leading up to this, Simon learns who his true friends and foes are.

If you enjoy books with diverse characters, intense action scenes, a little romance and some magic, then you too will likely enjoy Simon Myth.