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MythWorld #1
The Festival of Bones: Mythworld Book One
The Festival of Bones begins with a manuscript and ends with a murder. Jude, a mysterious prodigy invites a professor of ancient literature and a former singer to a nightclub where he shows them a mysterious manuscript—the Prime Edda, which might have been used by the composer Richard Wagner in some sort of ritual related to his Ring Operas.
Jude found the manuscript in the Himalayas, along with proof of alternate histories of the world, histories that have overlapped with our own, causing things as we know them to shift and change. He believes that somehow, the stories in the Edda relate to a forthcoming inversion, which he wants to witness.
Together, they start to translate the work, but soon find themselves pursued by a number of parties all seeking to seize the Edda—and perhaps bring about the end of the world in the terrible Winter known as Ragnarok.
Jude found the manuscript in the Himalayas, along with proof of alternate histories of the world, histories that have overlapped with our own, causing things as we know them to shift and change. He believes that somehow, the stories in the Edda relate to a forthcoming inversion, which he wants to witness.
Together, they start to translate the work, but soon find themselves pursued by a number of parties all seeking to seize the Edda—and perhaps bring about the end of the world in the terrible Winter known as Ragnarok.
211 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 31, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
June 27, 2011
Available for the first time in English, the first book in James Owen's Mythworld series feels very much of a piece with his Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series. (Only with a less unwieldy title.) Owen excels at taking disparate fictional and real-world historical sources and finding connections that forge an exciting new mythology. In this series, a mysterious young Zen Magician named Jude presents a pair of scholars with a text that seems to shed new light on the way the world has always viewed the epic Norse myths that underpin such works as Wagner's Ring cycle. But that's only scratching the surface, and secrets are eventually revealed with the power to change the world.
The preceding paragraph is a pretty gross simplification of a complex plot, one I'm not entirely certain I grasp. It's a bit frustrating, but that's also one of the things I love about Owen's work. I enjoy knowing that it will probably benefit from rereading. And I always come away from one of his books feeling like I've learned more about art and literature than I do from any other fantasy novels.
I also love that his heroes, including those in this book, are scholars rather than tough, strong guys. That's a good message to send, and I'm glad to be reminded that's always been a throughline in his work.
Unfortunately, as this is an earlier work than the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica, it also contains my biggest issue with the earlier novels in that series: lack of characterization. While we do get some background information for the main characters, and each does possess some personality traits to distinguish one from another, it's hard to tell from the dialogue. Much of the book reads like a series of academic lectures about the history of Norse mythology or calendars. When the characters have big parts to play, they become distinct, but in the little moments that comprise so much of the story, they feel interchangeable. This is particularly unfortunate in a story that depends so much upon the historical details that the characters are explaining. Because I have trouble connecting with the characters doing the explaining, I start to get a little lost in the explanations.
Overall, though, the story and the mythology Owen is creating is fascinating enough to me to overcome those flaws. While this is the first English publication of these stories, he apparently already has a good chunk of them written (the first series of seven books is almost complete, according to his press release). So we should be seeing new installments appearing fairly frequently. I look forward to seeing the world he is building.
The preceding paragraph is a pretty gross simplification of a complex plot, one I'm not entirely certain I grasp. It's a bit frustrating, but that's also one of the things I love about Owen's work. I enjoy knowing that it will probably benefit from rereading. And I always come away from one of his books feeling like I've learned more about art and literature than I do from any other fantasy novels.
I also love that his heroes, including those in this book, are scholars rather than tough, strong guys. That's a good message to send, and I'm glad to be reminded that's always been a throughline in his work.
Unfortunately, as this is an earlier work than the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica, it also contains my biggest issue with the earlier novels in that series: lack of characterization. While we do get some background information for the main characters, and each does possess some personality traits to distinguish one from another, it's hard to tell from the dialogue. Much of the book reads like a series of academic lectures about the history of Norse mythology or calendars. When the characters have big parts to play, they become distinct, but in the little moments that comprise so much of the story, they feel interchangeable. This is particularly unfortunate in a story that depends so much upon the historical details that the characters are explaining. Because I have trouble connecting with the characters doing the explaining, I start to get a little lost in the explanations.
Overall, though, the story and the mythology Owen is creating is fascinating enough to me to overcome those flaws. While this is the first English publication of these stories, he apparently already has a good chunk of them written (the first series of seven books is almost complete, according to his press release). So we should be seeing new installments appearing fairly frequently. I look forward to seeing the world he is building.
March 31, 2015
This was a fairly good book. I liked it quite a bit. Not an original tale by any means, but told well enough to keep the reader interested, and wanting more when it's over. A decent read for a day or two, and one I'd not hesitate to recomend to others.
October 3, 2018
Alright. This was probably by far the most boring book I've ever had the displeasure of reading, as was probably evident through my progress updates.
Honestly, at least 70% of this read like they came straight out of a textbook on literary history, and were, without the necessary education in that field (which most people probably don't possess), largely not understandable; the rest of the book was excessively long backstories on the individual characters.
So there's Professor Number One. He's a genius for the history of literature. There's Professor Number Two. He's a musical prodigy. There's Professor Number Three, who's a mathematical prodigy, trained in magic by Tibetian monks, and he doesn't have any qualms killing people.
The book is about how time is circular, and... somehow that ends in Professor Number Three orchestrating that Two kills One. It's necessary because Three says so, but that's all we know. Also, the only way we find out about all that is because Three says it in the end.
The writing style makes me think the author accidentally ate a Thesaurus and had been given a minimum of words to write. Naturally, this makes for an enjoyable writing style. Or not.
The characters stayed distant and very plain, with no real effort made to make them feel like they have depth; they didn't experience growth or come to any sort of greater understanding; yet the story was not told from Three's perspective, even though his story would've been the one that might actually have been interesting to read instead of those from characters who are discarded by the end of the book.
As far as I understand it, this whole book was an exposition for... something. But we don't know what, so as a reader I'm completely disinclined to read the next book because it doesn't feel like a story started taking its course.
In conclusion: No thanks.
Honestly, at least 70% of this read like they came straight out of a textbook on literary history, and were, without the necessary education in that field (which most people probably don't possess), largely not understandable; the rest of the book was excessively long backstories on the individual characters.
So there's Professor Number One. He's a genius for the history of literature. There's Professor Number Two. He's a musical prodigy. There's Professor Number Three, who's a mathematical prodigy, trained in magic by Tibetian monks, and he doesn't have any qualms killing people.
The book is about how time is circular, and... somehow that ends in Professor Number Three orchestrating that Two kills One. It's necessary because Three says so, but that's all we know. Also, the only way we find out about all that is because Three says it in the end.
The writing style makes me think the author accidentally ate a Thesaurus and had been given a minimum of words to write. Naturally, this makes for an enjoyable writing style. Or not.
The characters stayed distant and very plain, with no real effort made to make them feel like they have depth; they didn't experience growth or come to any sort of greater understanding; yet the story was not told from Three's perspective, even though his story would've been the one that might actually have been interesting to read instead of those from characters who are discarded by the end of the book.
As far as I understand it, this whole book was an exposition for... something. But we don't know what, so as a reader I'm completely disinclined to read the next book because it doesn't feel like a story started taking its course.
In conclusion: No thanks.
August 16, 2022
“This, as far as I can tell, is the Prime Edda — a completely unknown work of Snorri Sturluson’s. What’s more, this manuscript apparently belonged at one time to Franz Liszt, who worked on the translation before giving it to a young companion of his whom he referred to as ‘Dearest Friend’.
..."Wagner," breathed Galen. "It's Wagner." [loc. 875]
Alexandra David-Neel! Trepanning! Wagner and Liszt! A lost Edda! Absinthe! A magician going by the stage name of 'Obscuro', whose name is actually Jude!
All so promising. But also: very few female characters, none of them with any significance to the plot; not much in the way of characterisation (our three protagonists are all white male academics); a sprawling, convoluted and sometimes repetitive plot full of conspiracies and ancient wisdom; some clunky writing... Despite being published in 2002, I suspect this was written a lot earlier ('Yugoslavian Airlines'?). And despite my acquiring it in 2012 (!) it's taken me a decade to get around to reading it. (Or so I thought: see below.) Luckily I wasn't hooked -- 'luckily' because the rest of the series seems to be currently unavailable, and has possibly never been published in English.
Come for the Norse myth, stay for the trepanned zombie students roaming the streets of Vienna, but don't expect resolution.
...Oh, for heaven's sake: turns out this was another accidental reread. My original review from 2012/13.
September 22, 2024
A blend of MY DINNER WITH ANDRE, INDIANA JONES, and THE PRESTIGE, this is a tale for readers who love pulling on a thread to see what happens. Owen sets the table by placing a magical, almost surreal tale in the heart of Vienna. The Austrian city comes alive as part of an adventure ensnaring three university men in the story of a rare manuscript found in the most unlikely of places and presented in the most unlikely of ways. Fans of mind puzzles, mysteries, and the X-Files will love this book.
September 28, 2017
A little too zen for me to rate it any higher. An interesting and compelling read about a genius sociopath whose motivations are not completely revealed by the end of the book (there are four books after all) and his also smart (but not quite as smart) two companions.
goodReads shows four books in this series but it seems like the last two don't exist in English?
goodReads shows four books in this series but it seems like the last two don't exist in English?
February 5, 2021
Alles recht weit her geholt und wenig glaubwürdig. Vor allem die “Zombie“ Studierenden haben mich fast zum Zuklappen des Buches gebracht.
unexamined
March 10, 2017Not grabbing me right now, may return to it.
June 23, 2011
I've anticipated this series for a long while, having fallen in love with Mr. Owen's worlds while inside The Imaginarium Geographica. And he did NOT disappoint.
This Urban Fantasy sets "Jude" along with his companions Michael and Galen, on a non-stop collision course with history and make believe, so expertly intertwined that you'll be hard-pressed to set it aside and not find out where Mr. Owen gleaned his sources!
You'll read on in sheer astonishment, run hard along with the characters in life threatening moments. You'll be breathless along with them as they discover what it is they hold...
And you'll be shocked by where it takes them, one and all.
Mythworld's: The Festival of Bones was first published in Germany in the early 2000's so we here in the USA have had a long wait for it's arrival. Believe me... it was a wait well worth it. Not only are we now able to hold it in eBook form, but it is designed and executed by the author's own hand, his award winning skill shining through in every minute detail.
If you love Fantasy of the Epic variety, I URGE you to download Mythworld. You will be pleased that you did.
This Urban Fantasy sets "Jude" along with his companions Michael and Galen, on a non-stop collision course with history and make believe, so expertly intertwined that you'll be hard-pressed to set it aside and not find out where Mr. Owen gleaned his sources!
You'll read on in sheer astonishment, run hard along with the characters in life threatening moments. You'll be breathless along with them as they discover what it is they hold...
And you'll be shocked by where it takes them, one and all.
Mythworld's: The Festival of Bones was first published in Germany in the early 2000's so we here in the USA have had a long wait for it's arrival. Believe me... it was a wait well worth it. Not only are we now able to hold it in eBook form, but it is designed and executed by the author's own hand, his award winning skill shining through in every minute detail.
If you love Fantasy of the Epic variety, I URGE you to download Mythworld. You will be pleased that you did.
April 14, 2014
I really enjoyed the first two-thirds of this book, which offered an intriguing collection of characters and some fascinating narrative threads. The early reveals were similarly compelling, but the later chapters got a little convoluted,
Personally, I found an issue of balance: the earlier sections managed to present potentially dry material while maintaining an atmosphere of intrigue and discovery, while this faltered later in the novel, resulting in lectures unsupported by enough passion or drama. This might reflect my own ignorance of the historical context, however, and there is still plenty to engage with.
Overall, this was an enjoyable first encounter with James A. Owen, and I'll be interested to see where he takes the series from here.
Personally, I found an issue of balance: the earlier sections managed to present potentially dry material while maintaining an atmosphere of intrigue and discovery, while this faltered later in the novel, resulting in lectures unsupported by enough passion or drama. This might reflect my own ignorance of the historical context, however, and there is still plenty to engage with.
Overall, this was an enjoyable first encounter with James A. Owen, and I'll be interested to see where he takes the series from here.
March 30, 2014
Touching on Norse Mythology, Zen Buddhism, a library greater than Alexandria, and a dash of science, this novel came together surprisingly well. It begins reminiscently of a Douglass Adams novel, wherein nothing goes right, quite a bit goes wrong, and you suspect things will become only more madcap as the novel progresses. The main protaganists are a motley crew of a Professor of Mathematics, a Musical-Prodigy-Turned-Collegiate-Rector, and a Historian reminiscent of Indiana Jones, except more paying obscene amounts of money for rare documents, and less life-or-death adventures.
I won't tell you about the plot, except to say it turns surprisingly serious at the end, and left me interested in the next installment.
I won't tell you about the plot, except to say it turns surprisingly serious at the end, and left me interested in the next installment.
September 24, 2014
The Festival of Bones is the first book in a series I have no intention to read any more of. The story revolves around a couple of gifted university professors and the academic equivalent of Axe-cop. Though I use the word "story" generously here.
This is a poorly told exposition dump. A lie too big. It takes roughly 20 pages to go from a whimsical breaking of the mundane world to a complete mess of being subversive for the sake of it. And it never really recovers. It aspires to Genius Bonus by dropping in longwinded references to history and literature, but manages to look more like a 12 year old who just learned a new, long word. And then it goes and contradicts its own established logic. Literally saying the opposite of a previous thing while intending to say the same.
This is a poorly told exposition dump. A lie too big. It takes roughly 20 pages to go from a whimsical breaking of the mundane world to a complete mess of being subversive for the sake of it. And it never really recovers. It aspires to Genius Bonus by dropping in longwinded references to history and literature, but manages to look more like a 12 year old who just learned a new, long word. And then it goes and contradicts its own established logic. Literally saying the opposite of a previous thing while intending to say the same.
June 9, 2012
Wonderful as expected. I'll no doubt be reading this again. And again....I'm never the least bit disappointed with a single sentence in anything James A Owen writes, and this book is no exception. I consider his writing to be one of the reasons I'm inspired to write, and if I could, I'd buy the whole world a copy of Here There Be Dragons. I wouldn't need to buy any more, they'd go out and get the rest on their own, and read them all without stopping. I'm certain of it. Don't miss out on any instance where this author puts pen to paper! You'll wonder how you ever lived before you knew about The Archipelago of Dreams and The Imaginarium Geographica. I promise :)
October 15, 2012
I liked it because it had a very unique style, but there's so much depth to it that I'm not 100% sure I understood the resolution of it. At times it felt like a philosophical or historical non-fiction as the characters set up the different pieces of the story.
Still, James Owen's signature humor and wit shine throughout the whole book, making it a very entertaining read. And I still want to read the next one.
While it had the fingerprints of his IMAGINARIUM GEOGRAPHICA series on it, this is a somewhat more adult novel. It's darker and more graphic than that other series, so bear that in mind.
Still, James Owen's signature humor and wit shine throughout the whole book, making it a very entertaining read. And I still want to read the next one.
While it had the fingerprints of his IMAGINARIUM GEOGRAPHICA series on it, this is a somewhat more adult novel. It's darker and more graphic than that other series, so bear that in mind.
June 8, 2015
This had everything to be up my alley: mythology, action, mystery, even crime.
However, to me, this reads like a badly planned book. Confusing, too much exposition in some parts and too little in others, characters that sometimes are well written other times seem flat and not alive, and a plot that could be complex and interesting but to me reads as just odd and missing something.
I am sure some people will love this book. I hated it as it could have been a wonderful book for me, but instead I had to force myself to finish it.
One positive point: it will make me look for a good fantasy/mythology/action/mystery/crime book. I am sure there are more of them and this mix intrigues me.
However, to me, this reads like a badly planned book. Confusing, too much exposition in some parts and too little in others, characters that sometimes are well written other times seem flat and not alive, and a plot that could be complex and interesting but to me reads as just odd and missing something.
I am sure some people will love this book. I hated it as it could have been a wonderful book for me, but instead I had to force myself to finish it.
One positive point: it will make me look for a good fantasy/mythology/action/mystery/crime book. I am sure there are more of them and this mix intrigues me.
April 12, 2014
I'm not entirely sure what I just read. I think it may have made a bit more sense in the original German and possibly also to historians. The main character was definitely interesting, creepy, and brilliant and I loved some of the philosophy discussions that are had. I'm just not feeling the huge chunk of historical prose that the novel centered around and felt like I either missed some historical background or it was made up and I just didn't follow it all well enough.
April 25, 2014
I couldn't figure this book out. I get it. But I don't get it. I think it might be me. I'm not intellectually interested in made up facts and histories or in participating in mysteries that are never solved. I liked the part where they got chased by students with poles in their heads. Moving on...
June 19, 2015
This is another one to add to the list of 'was mostly interesting but ended unsatisfyingly and isn't quite good enough to motivate me to go and get the next one'. Oh well. It was definitely interesting and if I had the next book I'd definitely read it. But I don't. So I probably won't.
February 27, 2013
I really enjoyed this book, look forward to the next book.
April 18, 2014
Neither interesting in concept nor characters.
April 12, 2014
Good book, very entertaining, but I won't follow this series: I don't like where the story is going.
July 18, 2014
Not my style of book at all.
June 8, 2015
Verquer geschrieben, Story unglaubwürdig, nicht nochmal und die 6 Folgebände können mir gestohlen bleiben!
August 24, 2015
A very intense, but engaging read. A definite read for those who love a literary reads. Interesting plot, fun characters make the book a good choice to read.
August 2, 2015
The prologue proves that this book is *not* for me.
02 Aug 2015
02 Aug 2015
February 26, 2016
Engaging book but not thrilled by the ending. Really, not much of an ending at all since there are multiple books in the series after this one.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews