Revelator: The Neuromancer

Revelator #1

by William Control

Through the madness I shuffle. A wretched shell of the man I was when her Love possessed me. Lucifer has given me one chance at redemption. I am compelled to drag myself to the dusty finish line. Compelled by the love I have somewhere in my drowning heart and by the curiosity of a new adventure that will one day, surely kill me. This is the story of William Control

Genres: Fiction

110 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2013

Reviews

[Andrew]

I guess I should start off with the fact that I must clarify: I have no idea what the standards are for books that are somewhat centered around erotic/bondage themes, and while I wasn't the least bit surprised at all that a decent segment of this novel is a part of that (I mean... it's Will) I don't know how to rate it in comparison to others like it that could be called good or bad... Nonetheless, it was well written and didn't completely take over the plotline.

Will seems to become more and more mysterious as time goes on, and sometimes I have to wonder exactly how much in all his songs, writing, and general ideas that he talks about is true. Clearly with the narrator and protagonist being named William, you can figure right off the bat that at least some of what happened in here is part of Will's real experiences throughout life. Any big William Control fan knows that he's gone through tremendous struggles with every hard drug in the book, alcohol and crime as a teenager, and you can see that for sure with his character in Revelator. The rest... I'm not entirely sure, but I wouldn't be that shocked at anything else (aside from the obvious dream sequence) was true at some point, or even loosely based on an event. However, that just makes it much more enjoyable as a read to think about.

Naturally, there's a large portion based on religion and Will's personal thoughts on it. I think that his spin on Christianity's myths versus "the truth about God and Jesus" from Lucifer's point of view was an interesting take, but it's also something I've heard before from him numerous times, this part reminding me especially of Aiden's "Crusifiction" back from the Knives release in 2009. I don't really have any feelings about it though, being raised non-religiously I've never felt much like or dislike for Christianity or any of its similarly based religion... if anything, more for the people that try to base their living and other people's way of life off of it, which was also taken from that perspective in the dream sequence.

Part of this scene confused me; all that William's character wanted in that sequence was to get to his beloved Vivienne, and Lucifer had told him right where she was; in his kingdom of eternal Hell. Lucifer asked what he wanted and gave him a choice; if all he'd wanted was Vivienne, more than going to eternal paradise or getting a second chance at living what remained of his life, why didn't he ask to join her? Sure, they'd probably both be at least somewhat miserable, but they'd be reunited, which is what he wanted, wasn't it? But perhaps that's to come later, in another book? Am I overthinking this? The answer is probably yes. I enjoyed the fact that despite both William and Vivienne's lustful characteristics to the point of them taking part in crazy S&M bondage orgies, you could tell by every other piece featuring the both of them that they had a true, immense love for eachother, and that at the end of the day (or night, in this situation?) it's all about just those two and how much they live off of eachother. I feel like it shows there's important, meaningful lives and relationships for those that live a "sleazy" life, and that they're not all lowlife scum as people like them are often portrayed.

Based around its ending and then pondering afterwards everything that happened, I can see now that this is finally the story of Will's 2008 release, Hate Culture, coming into place in the form of actual books, and I wonder how exactly long some of these characters and scenes and how vivid they may or may not have been for so many years only to just now in the present find their way into a narrative, and I'm very excited about it! I strongly look forward to part II that Will puts out, which hopefully won't be too long of a wait!

[Jaime]

5+ stars

I am a huge fan of William Control's music, Hate Culture is one of my favourite albums and when he said he was writing a book as a prequel to Hate Culture i had to pre-order immediately.I read it all in one sitting its just under 110 pages but i loved every word. William has such a way with words i just couldn't stop reading i only wish it was a little longer lets hope its not a long wait for book 2.

[CJ Coronado]

Being a fan of the music of William Control and the prose and poems of wiL Francis, falling in love with this book felt natural. The plot takes place before William Control's debut album Hate Culture, and gives more insight of who the character William is. This book is depravity at its finest, and I loved every minute of it.

[Gloom Lab]

Reviewing these 3 together as the trilogy is rather short and took me a day and a half to finish. So I’ve been a fan of WiL Francis ever since I heard Die Romantic on a warped tour sampler disc back in 2005. I’ve seen him perform countless times and met him a few times as well. Needless to say I’ve been following William’s career for a long time. Knowing his history with BDSM culture, I knew what I was getting into with this story, but sadly, those parts were probably the best parts of the entire story. Being as well-read in classic literature as he is, I was expecting a lot more in the form of plot for this. The story itself didn’t hold up much and felt very much like something an angsty teenager in high school would write. The second book The Hate Culture was probably the best of the three. The story actually seemed to be going somewhere at that point. But by the end of The Hell of Heaven, I still couldn’t get out of my head how bad and cheesy the meeting between our narrator William and his love Vivienne was. And the ending just wasn’t satisfying either. Overall, this series fell victim to all the tropes of independent publishing.

[Topher Edwards]

Revelator: The Neuromancer explores the complex relationships between love and pain, good and evil, and madness and redemption. William Control's extensive experience in music gives his writing a lyrical quality that is highly descriptive and emotional.

'The Neuromancer' is, at it's core, a story of love and loss. We meet the main character (who seems oddly similar to the author in man ways, even sharing a name), broken and in the midst of a drug bender. What may be fate or circumstance leads him to meet and fall deeply in love with Vivienne. Together, they push the limits of love, pain, and trust.

The more explicit parts of the book, such as the graphic descriptions involving bondage, do not take away from the overall plot. Throughout the depravity, William maintains, for lack of a better word, a "classy" and romantic feel.

As the first book in a series, it does end on a cliffhanger that definitely leaves you wanting more.

[Ign33l]

So i found my lost love and that lost love is a memory that will feed me from myself. That is because there is no one that will love you like i did, and that is not possible to replicate.
I changed my self for love, for you, maybe for nothing but now you are all i need.

[Melanie]

I read this book in about a day and a half Back in January it is short and fast paced but like William Controls music it is not for everyone. The story basically starts out with the main character going on a drug binge and running for his life he meets a women falls in love and they both get killed in a car accident. How ever The main character is given another chance and that is where it leaves off. Again not a book for everyone as it is fairly explicit in certain details. How ever I really liked it and am looking forward to reading more as this is the first book in a series that he is writing.

[🌸]

Revelator Book One: The Neuromancer

I love William Control as an artist. Aiden gave away their very last album. William publishes his own novels. Perfection.

If you've ever wondered what William fantasizes about, you should pick this up. Very sexy and also very dirty. It's not punk in a way that he has to make mention of bands and clothing, but of cigarettes, aimless days, nihilism, love gone as quickly as it came.

[Rachel]

This story was not what I expected when I ordered this book. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was absolutely blown away.

William Control is such a beautiful man. His writings are raw, and aggressive, but at the same time... beautiful. The last chapter left me in tears.

I will definitely be reading the second.

[Gabbie]

Awesome! Not usually the type of thing I would read, but I am a huge fan of his music, so I figured I'd check it out. Filled with William Control's dark poetic diction made famous by his music, it is a must read for any fan or anyone interested in something sinister and out of the box.

[Carrie Pogue]

William did such an amazing job writing this book! I didn't expect anything less.

At times I was confused and other times my heart was torn. It can be a mind f@#k that's for sure but loved it!!

[Erica Leachman]

I couldn't put it down and I'm dying to know how much of this could be true. 4 stars because I'm a bit of a prude lol.

[Kirstie]

Soooo good!! I love William's words. His writing is outstanding and I even love the premise of the book.

[Edith]

I honestly read this because of my best friend, and I hated it. I was mostly confused the entire time.