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Gods of The Nowhere: A Novel of Halloween
The ancient Celts believed that the veil separating the worlds of the living and the dead was at its thinnest on Halloween; it was then that the dead could get through. But could it work the other way? Could we go to them? High school senior Sam McGrath is convinced it can be done. For as long as he can remember, The Nowhere has been beckoning him, reaching out with cold and ancient fingers.Crippled from a childhood injury, Sam has always been different, but he knows now that his differences go far beyond the physical. Only his best friend since childhood – a brash and beautiful Latina named Lucia – knows of his strange gifts, and she has vowed to help Sam. Together they intend to find the world where their nightmares are born.GODS OF THE A NOVEL OF HALLOWEEN blends modern characters with legend and folklore to create a new myth. It’s a spine-chilling adventure and the ultimate Halloween read.
294 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 3, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
April 16, 2015
Gods of Nowhere is the perfect book to celebrate Halloween. The book is Halloween. From the Irish myths at the heart of Samhain (and the prelude of the novel itself) to all the modern Halloween iconography, this book doesn't disappoint. It's equal parts adventure and horror -- though I didn't find the book terribly creepy. Highly recommended for a seasonal read.
November 5, 2014
A strong 3.75 rounded up to 4. Had its moments!
June 5, 2017
God’s of The Nowhere by James Tipper, is a horrific fantasy about a boy who descends from a great druid and doesn’t know it. Some bad things start happening on his 16th birthday. He has to learn the clues of who he is with the help of his best friend. They travel to the land of nowhere and encounter all sorts of terrible creatures.
I came across Gods of the Nowhere from a comment recommending it for all hallows read. I am glad I did because it truly is the ultimate Halloween read! If you read it on Kindle, I suggest you choose the publisher font to enhance your reading experience. It's gothic and beautiful.
I came across Gods of the Nowhere from a comment recommending it for all hallows read. I am glad I did because it truly is the ultimate Halloween read! If you read it on Kindle, I suggest you choose the publisher font to enhance your reading experience. It's gothic and beautiful.
December 7, 2014
Incredibly disappointing, since the overwhelming good reviews on goodreads had me really excited to read this book. It reads like a self-published piece with no editor - a potentially interesting idea with horrible execution and poor writing. I was literally cringing as I read this because the clunky writing reminded me of exactly how I used to write when I was in middle school. I generally do not post reviews on books I didn't enjoy because I don't want to publicly bash someone's work, but in this case I really want to help even out all those baffling 5-star reviews that convinced me to read this in the first place. If you enjoy Halloween and teen fiction, go ahead and give it a try but don't let the shining reviews here on goodreads feed your expectations.
January 23, 2014
The idea of a thriller novel that brings together magic, mythology, religion, and suspense to tell the story of Halloween=good. The execution of this idea in Gods of the Nowhere=humorously bad.
There was nothing scary or chilling about this novel, except that the majority of reviews for it seem positive (Frightening!)
I'm with my fellow book-club member on this: Highly recommend skipping Gods of the Nowhere.
There was nothing scary or chilling about this novel, except that the majority of reviews for it seem positive (Frightening!)
I'm with my fellow book-club member on this: Highly recommend skipping Gods of the Nowhere.
August 26, 2015
I liked it!! Terrific book!!
October 11, 2015
Gods of the Nowhere: A Novel of Halloween really is the ultimate Halloween read. Every fall, I enjoy reading books that are dark and creepy with some sort of Halloweenish vibe, but this is the first book I've read that so perfectly captures All Hallows Eve. It managed to be adventurous and imaginative without being juvenile. It was fun, yet had a bit of a horror-like tone... Basically, it would be a great Tim Burton movie!
Most of all, I love the world-building James Tipper did here. The Nowhere was so well-described that I was able to paint a very vivid picture of it in my mind and I thoroughly enjoyed the crypt of animated skeletons, village of evil witches, army of bloodthirsty Leeches, swamps full of monsters, etc. It was like a dark, evil Wonderland/Underworld hybrid full of all things Halloween.
I also liked how Gods of the Nowhere: A Novel of Halloween tied in some of the origins of Halloween, or Samhain by bringing in Celtic druids. The book actually begins in medieval times with a battle between two Celtic druids leading armies belonging to kings. While I found the beginning battle pretty hard to pay attention to, eventually those scenes tied in to the rest of the storyline and I liked that it was included.
To be honest, I had difficulty paying attention intermittently throughout the whole book, but I really think that it's just where my mind is at lately... Lala-Land. Despite my attention-deficit type issues, I still say this is a fantastic Halloween novel that was a perfect October read.
☆☆☆☆
Most of all, I love the world-building James Tipper did here. The Nowhere was so well-described that I was able to paint a very vivid picture of it in my mind and I thoroughly enjoyed the crypt of animated skeletons, village of evil witches, army of bloodthirsty Leeches, swamps full of monsters, etc. It was like a dark, evil Wonderland/Underworld hybrid full of all things Halloween.
I also liked how Gods of the Nowhere: A Novel of Halloween tied in some of the origins of Halloween, or Samhain by bringing in Celtic druids. The book actually begins in medieval times with a battle between two Celtic druids leading armies belonging to kings. While I found the beginning battle pretty hard to pay attention to, eventually those scenes tied in to the rest of the storyline and I liked that it was included.
To be honest, I had difficulty paying attention intermittently throughout the whole book, but I really think that it's just where my mind is at lately... Lala-Land. Despite my attention-deficit type issues, I still say this is a fantastic Halloween novel that was a perfect October read.
☆☆☆☆
August 23, 2015
I was very disappointed in this book, I was looking for something Halloweeny, but all I got was a story that never gets exciting. I wished I had known this was a book about teenagers and magic, I would have stayed away, I think. The only thing interesting in this book are some of the creatures living in The Nowhere, it does show the author's imagination... but the rest, it's just one of those books about magic... I guess they are "inspired" by the Harry Potter series (dreaming of the same money probably), but they're just pale copies. Well, this is a pale copy since I haven't read any of the others, I cannot judge them, but after reading this one I have no desire whatsoever to read any of them. Here the characters are dull, their feats of daring-do are yawn producing and the ending is so predictable that, well, it's just plain boring... It's a good thing it can be read quickly and that IS the best thing about it.
October 8, 2013
Good book for Halloween! Great story filled with characters you can hate or love (or both!). The author follows the "rule of three" pretty much to the letter, making it somewhat predictable, but nonetheless a fun spooky read! The writing was smooth (although a few typos in the first edition) and evenly paced. On a bit of a negative note, the book is largely blasphemous, so if that bothers you don't pick this one up.
September 9, 2014
Best horror/fantasy book I have read in quite a while. The book deals with my favorite holiday-Halloween. Solid plot and character development. I wondered if I would like a book mainly about teens, albeit older teens. But the book held my attention and is easy reading. If witches, assorted fantasy characters, cemeteries, lots of animated corpses and a killer car interest you, then this is your book.
October 31, 2015
I gave this book a fair chance, but at 175 pages I just felt like I was wasting my time on it. This book really could have used a good editor. It had some good moments, but overall both the writing and the plot felt week. It's a shame, because it had a lot potential.
August 28, 2016
Thank goodness I finally finished this one! It was a real struggle, but I persevered. Just ehhh.....
August 6, 2015
The novel Gods of the Nowhere: A novel of Halloween is an interesting Horror book about the Celtic rituals around Halloween and what the Gods do for it. I can;t really say a lot about the book or else it will give everything away or be entirely confusing and no one will understand the review so I will try my best. This novel is set in 200 Ad Ireland and talks about the veil of the living and dead being the thinnest on Halloween so that's when the Duieties or the Powerful Celtic Priests are able to do the most magic. These Priests are doing magic to win a war over taxes but something really bad and horrible goes wrong and the Devil is parading around the towns looking for new victims.
Even thought this book really creeped me out at night and I had to read it mostly during the day it was a great horror story but not as terrifying as Coraline was which was nice because I had no nightmares for a while. I have been traveling and I have visited Ireland so it intrigued me to read this novel about the Celtic rituals used during Halloween and to keep the Devil away because I have been to the place they were talking about. I also liked the twist at the end because as the reader the ending is not something that you would expect out of a novel like this one but it isn't upsetting at all. I also thought it was a good read and well written, if you are looking for a good horror book this would be the one I would tell others to read because its not blood and gore 24/7. I would put a warning on it though that it is not something to be taken lightly, that a person should be cautious to whom they have read it because it can be very freaky.
Even thought this book really creeped me out at night and I had to read it mostly during the day it was a great horror story but not as terrifying as Coraline was which was nice because I had no nightmares for a while. I have been traveling and I have visited Ireland so it intrigued me to read this novel about the Celtic rituals used during Halloween and to keep the Devil away because I have been to the place they were talking about. I also liked the twist at the end because as the reader the ending is not something that you would expect out of a novel like this one but it isn't upsetting at all. I also thought it was a good read and well written, if you are looking for a good horror book this would be the one I would tell others to read because its not blood and gore 24/7. I would put a warning on it though that it is not something to be taken lightly, that a person should be cautious to whom they have read it because it can be very freaky.
October 15, 2013
I do not often leave a book unfinished. This was a pick for book club and I could only get about half way through. Book Club changed books for the month of October because of how boring the book became. This is not a scary book by any means, it is cheesy more then anything. When the two main characters were in "nowhere", (where the dead go if they don't go to Heaven or Hell) and they were talking to Jack of the Lantern....I just couldn't read any more.
November 3, 2014
I really enjoyed this book, and I read it (obviously) at the perfect time. I did feel more like a young adult book to me, rather than adult fiction. That said, I found the way the author wove so many different cultural/religious/etc viewpoints of the Samhain season into the book, and his version of how and why we have the traditions that we do. Sometimes it felt a bit hammy, but overall it was a very quick and pleasurable read. Recommended.
October 22, 2013
A fun read for the month of October.
May 29, 2014
I don't know how to give it 3 1/2 stars so just went with 4. It actually was good but not what I was expecting. Great for kids...probably make a great movie too.
October 20, 2014
This book was terrible. I mean really, really terrible. Clunky dialogue,cringe-worthy plot - the only scary thing about this book was how predictable it was.
November 7, 2014
http://sizbooks.tumblr.com/post/10139...
My book review :)
My book review :)
September 23, 2015
This is the perfect book for Halloween lovers. Totally fun to read. Lots of histroy, myth and fantasy blended together.
November 5, 2014
Gods of The Nowhere is an imaginative novel, perfect for reading during Halloween. However, it's slow to start and more than a bit scatter-shot, which ultimately bring it down to just "solid" level.
Sam McGrath has never been an ordinary teen. He's haunted by ghosts, can see the future, and his family died under mysterious circumstances. He is drawn into The Nowhere, a purgatory-like dimension between Heaven and Hell, to defeat an ancient evil that's trying to break into our world.
Overall, the plot is creative with good descriptive language that make The Nowhere a vast and terrible place. Sam's journey through it feels epic and important. My main complaint, however, was that the author tried to do too much. Everything is crammed in. Vampires, ghosts, werewolves, skeletons, demons, witches, aliens. Mysterious legends and teachings from Egypt, Rome, Ireland, Mexico, the Middle East, Eastern Europe. Instead of picking a few ideas and really focusing on and developing them, all these creatures and cultures are thrown into the mix and it's becomes a bit haphazard. Interesting and promising ideas like a city of witches are barely touched. Secondary characters aren't developed. The book feels over-stuffed.
But even with so much happening in The Nowhere, it takes an awfully long time to get there. The whole preface to the book is this drawn-out story set in Celtic Ireland that could have easily been cut. And then there is a very long section dealing with Sam's life in the real world. That section is more necessary, but it still could have been shortened. It was nearly half-way through the book before he got to the Nowhere and the plot really got going.
And though the pace did pick up, it was still weighed down by some major exposition dumps that ground momentum to a halt. And yet while these longs back-stories are told, major scenes happen off-screen, .
It was a good Halloween story with a lot of heart and imagination, but it felt like the author had too many ideas and wasn't quite able to distill them into a focused, well-paced narrative.
Sam McGrath has never been an ordinary teen. He's haunted by ghosts, can see the future, and his family died under mysterious circumstances. He is drawn into The Nowhere, a purgatory-like dimension between Heaven and Hell, to defeat an ancient evil that's trying to break into our world.
Overall, the plot is creative with good descriptive language that make The Nowhere a vast and terrible place. Sam's journey through it feels epic and important. My main complaint, however, was that the author tried to do too much. Everything is crammed in. Vampires, ghosts, werewolves, skeletons, demons, witches, aliens. Mysterious legends and teachings from Egypt, Rome, Ireland, Mexico, the Middle East, Eastern Europe. Instead of picking a few ideas and really focusing on and developing them, all these creatures and cultures are thrown into the mix and it's becomes a bit haphazard. Interesting and promising ideas like a city of witches are barely touched. Secondary characters aren't developed. The book feels over-stuffed.
But even with so much happening in The Nowhere, it takes an awfully long time to get there. The whole preface to the book is this drawn-out story set in Celtic Ireland that could have easily been cut. And then there is a very long section dealing with Sam's life in the real world. That section is more necessary, but it still could have been shortened. It was nearly half-way through the book before he got to the Nowhere and the plot really got going.
And though the pace did pick up, it was still weighed down by some major exposition dumps that ground momentum to a halt. And yet while these longs back-stories are told, major scenes happen off-screen, .
It was a good Halloween story with a lot of heart and imagination, but it felt like the author had too many ideas and wasn't quite able to distill them into a focused, well-paced narrative.
November 1, 2013
This book was pretty fun read in order to get in the mood for Halloween.
The novel centered around a boy by the name of Sam "Hain" MacGrath. Sam is a normal kid who lives in Colma, CA. (A city outside of San Francisco that is one large graveyard) Through a lot of premonitions and strange happenings Sam has always felt out of place, until he discovers that he comes from a long line of Irish druids descended from the great Mog Ruith.
The prologue depicts a battle in Ireland around 600 AD where Mog Ruith and another druid face off on the holiday of Samhain (Pronounced Sow-en) [Also Sams first and middle name put together] {the forerunner to Halloween}.
Turns out that this battle Mog Ruith has always fought was not over when Sam came around in modern day. He ends up going on a quest into the Nowhere in order to stop Mog Ruith's evil master Simon Magus (Yes, the false prophet Peter and Paul had to deal with)
The Book is very universalist in scope with the opening quote being "All legends are but truths whispered" The Nowhere is considered a dimension that is separate from Earth, Heaven, and Hell. The Nowhere is a place where people who were neutral in life go, in stead of Heaven or Hell. It also makes mention of billions of other dimensions not yet discovered. It also brings in the "Star People" (Aliens) who taught Simon Magus his sorcery.
Besides throwing every legend in the book into one story, I appreciated how they brought out the history of halloween through storytelling. The Origins of Samhain, Dia de los Muretos, the legend of Jack of the Lantern, and of course some church history with the downfall of Simon Magus.
It was a pretty short book, so for next Halloween if your down to learn a little bit of its history I'd recommend reading this book.
The novel centered around a boy by the name of Sam "Hain" MacGrath. Sam is a normal kid who lives in Colma, CA. (A city outside of San Francisco that is one large graveyard) Through a lot of premonitions and strange happenings Sam has always felt out of place, until he discovers that he comes from a long line of Irish druids descended from the great Mog Ruith.
The prologue depicts a battle in Ireland around 600 AD where Mog Ruith and another druid face off on the holiday of Samhain (Pronounced Sow-en) [Also Sams first and middle name put together] {the forerunner to Halloween}.
Turns out that this battle Mog Ruith has always fought was not over when Sam came around in modern day. He ends up going on a quest into the Nowhere in order to stop Mog Ruith's evil master Simon Magus (Yes, the false prophet Peter and Paul had to deal with)
The Book is very universalist in scope with the opening quote being "All legends are but truths whispered" The Nowhere is considered a dimension that is separate from Earth, Heaven, and Hell. The Nowhere is a place where people who were neutral in life go, in stead of Heaven or Hell. It also makes mention of billions of other dimensions not yet discovered. It also brings in the "Star People" (Aliens) who taught Simon Magus his sorcery.
Besides throwing every legend in the book into one story, I appreciated how they brought out the history of halloween through storytelling. The Origins of Samhain, Dia de los Muretos, the legend of Jack of the Lantern, and of course some church history with the downfall of Simon Magus.
It was a pretty short book, so for next Halloween if your down to learn a little bit of its history I'd recommend reading this book.
October 14, 2014
This was a fun and whimsical look at the origins of Halloween, with stories detailing the legends behind Jack-O-Lanterns, witches, and all things we associate with the holiday. However, I found that the author paid unnecessary attention to detailing specific movements and thoughts of the characters; a habit I find common in insecure writers. The story was full of holes, and worst of all (to me) was the inexcusable amount of grammatical and punctuation errors. It certainly got me in the Halloween spirit, but I wouldn't read it again or recommend it to anyone looking for anything more than a quick, easy read.
November 5, 2014
This was a fun Halloween themed novel. I enjoyed the inhabitants of Nowhere, the Irish myths and the various Halloween legends incorporated in this book more than the plot itself. It is a mix of fantasy and adventure based around Halloween. I enjoyed reading it and learned some new myths and legends, but found the plot pretty straight forward.
October 21, 2015
The only reason this book got an extra star was because I enjoyed learning about the history of how Halloween started and where some of the customs came from. If you're looking for a scary read, this is NOT the book for you. I chose this book for my book club to read for October and I was the only one who even got past the first 20 pages. Very disappointing :(
July 27, 2016
Disappointed. Granted it's supposed to be a kids book but the villain was boring, the cast of characters was sometimes unbelievable and a little too daft for what sometimes tried to be darker than it really was. Young teens may enjoy it around Halloween but it's not a masterpiece by any stretch.
August 30, 2017
For over three years, this has been on my to-read list. And for what? For naught. A narrative that wastes such good mythology. The good that can be said is that the mythologies are well researched and honestly represented. The bad is that they are thrown together artlessly.
November 27, 2017
Good idea ....terrible prose. The story is an interesting concept but the prose are so bad I had to give up about half way through which is unusual for me. Tripper constantly changes tense from present to past which annoyed me to no end. If you can get past that it might be worth a read for you
October 9, 2013
Not bad. This would be better for teens. I did like the way there were connections between The Nowhere and the real world at Halloween time. But not as scary as I thought it would be.
October 29, 2014
3.5 stars
a fun read, seems geared to Christian young adults. I appreciated all the research that went into all things Halloween and more.
a fun read, seems geared to Christian young adults. I appreciated all the research that went into all things Halloween and more.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews