What do you think?
Rate this book
Gifted #2
Pariah
The boy on the mortuary slab is dead; so why doesn’t he act like it?
Forensic sorcerer Frank Sampson reckons it’s something to do with the bizarre magic symbols carved into his flesh. He thinks he knows the sorcerer behind it; but the trouble is, he also thinks he may be in love with her. Or not . . .
Life can get confusing when your loyalties are divided, you’re on the run, and the Inquisition are on your tail with a stack of dry firewood and a box of matches.
Forensic sorcerer Frank Sampson reckons it’s something to do with the bizarre magic symbols carved into his flesh. He thinks he knows the sorcerer behind it; but the trouble is, he also thinks he may be in love with her. Or not . . .
Life can get confusing when your loyalties are divided, you’re on the run, and the Inquisition are on your tail with a stack of dry firewood and a box of matches.
- GenresFantasyYoung Adult
400 pages, Paperback
First published February 4, 2016
91 people want to read
About the author
Donald Hounam
9 books13 followersDonald Hounam grew up just outside Oxford. He toyed with Medieval history at St Andrews University, and wrote a PhD thesis on apocalyptic beliefs in the early Crusades.
He threw paint around at the Ruskin School of Drawing in Oxford, then found himself in Dublin where he threw more paint around and reviewed films until his flatmate set the building alight one Christmas, whereupon he scuttled back to England and started making up stories...
He threw paint around at the Ruskin School of Drawing in Oxford, then found himself in Dublin where he threw more paint around and reviewed films until his flatmate set the building alight one Christmas, whereupon he scuttled back to England and started making up stories...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 4, 2016
I'm really not sure how I feel about this second installment in Donald Hounam's Gifted series. I was looking forward to it because of the cliffhanger at the end of the first book, but I've come away feeling confused and disappointed.
I was concerned from the first page, because the book opens with Frank Sampson, sorcerer and troublemaker extraordinaire, receiving a letter from the Society of Sorcerers forcing him to go on a pilgrimage to Rome. That wasn't the problem: the issue was that it was dated 2015.
I couldn't remember the series being set in modern times, so I flipped back through to my notes about the first book... And in my review, I'd commented that I was sure it must have been set in the early 1900's. Hm.
Either my attention span was lacking through the entirety of the first book, or Donald Hounam did not make that information clear!
Then there was a bit of back story, which wasn't explained at all: there were a couple of shallow references to something called the college wars, and it's stated that 'the Hole' in 'Doughnut City' was caused by the Oxford university campuses deciding to battle each other... It doesn't make any sense, and it doesn't seem like any planning went into it.
The plot is quite interesting, featuring another mystery that can only be solved by sorcery, but it feels like there wasn't much story. A lot of the narrative is just Frank complaining that Kazia, the girl he likes, isn't interested in him, and being called a "Skinny little freak!" by every character we encounter (which is a damned irritating repetition).
I feel as though a sequel wasn't really necessary in this instance (particularly when you consider the fact that the cliffhanger from the first novel wasn't resolved...) but there's closure at the end of the book. Hopefully this will be our last visit with Frank Sampson and friends.
I was concerned from the first page, because the book opens with Frank Sampson, sorcerer and troublemaker extraordinaire, receiving a letter from the Society of Sorcerers forcing him to go on a pilgrimage to Rome. That wasn't the problem: the issue was that it was dated 2015.
I couldn't remember the series being set in modern times, so I flipped back through to my notes about the first book... And in my review, I'd commented that I was sure it must have been set in the early 1900's. Hm.
Either my attention span was lacking through the entirety of the first book, or Donald Hounam did not make that information clear!
Then there was a bit of back story, which wasn't explained at all: there were a couple of shallow references to something called the college wars, and it's stated that 'the Hole' in 'Doughnut City' was caused by the Oxford university campuses deciding to battle each other... It doesn't make any sense, and it doesn't seem like any planning went into it.
The plot is quite interesting, featuring another mystery that can only be solved by sorcery, but it feels like there wasn't much story. A lot of the narrative is just Frank complaining that Kazia, the girl he likes, isn't interested in him, and being called a "Skinny little freak!" by every character we encounter (which is a damned irritating repetition).
I feel as though a sequel wasn't really necessary in this instance (particularly when you consider the fact that the cliffhanger from the first novel wasn't resolved...) but there's closure at the end of the book. Hopefully this will be our last visit with Frank Sampson and friends.
February 3, 2016
Frank Sampson is in a whole world of trouble and about to take the plunge into a whole lot more. A dead boy in the mortuary who doesn't seem to be conforming to the behaviour one would expect from the deceased, Frank's unrequited love for the manipulative, illegal sorcerer, Kazia, still on the loose, and the Sorcerers’ Society signing on the type of dotted line that will all end in flames with Frank in them.
It doesn't look good.
So how, you ask, is the much put upon teenage sorcerer going to get out of this one? The answer is probably by the seat of his pants and much inventive sorcery.
Pariah, Donald Hounam’s second outing into the Gifted world, is a very fresh and unique take on the world of boy wizards. Frank's world of sorcery is not one of glamour, but sheer hard graft. Even then your professional body might take against you if, like Frank, your face doesn't fit. This is down and dirty sorcery with a permanently shifting set of goal posts for our hero, as he attempts to crisis-manage the rapidly unfolding events.
Like the first book in the series, Gifted , this novel has a murder mystery element to it. The first concerns the boy in the mortuary, and the second Marvo or Detective Constable Magdalena Marvell's obsession with her sibling who was killed in a road traffic accident. The story is complex, but with plenty of satisfying twists and turns for anyone who enjoys the thrill of a whodunnit mixed with a character on the run, and a novel use of magic.
Frank is already in trouble and should be on a pilgrimage to Rome, but has jumped off the train shortly after it left the station because he has unfinished business with his old mentor Matthew Le Geyt and the ever elusive and unobtainable Kazia. So Frank finds he needs to hone his blagging and sorcery skills even more than usual, because he has the habit of always being in the wrong place at the wrong time. His life is also further complicated by that fact that he needs to go where his presence will alert the Society of Sorcery he has not on the pilgrimage as they have instructed.
On this outing Hounam has made sure time a reader can access Frank's angst-ridden and darkly funny monologue far more quickly. This is partly because the author has taken time to slip in helpful explanations within the fast-paced narrative, but there is also a glossary at the end explaining terms and a bit of the history associated with Frank’s alternative Oxford. This is very necessary because Frank's world is rich with all sorts of immensely clever magical extensions of things that are familiar to us from our own world (forensic sorcery being one), and is populated by some wonderfully wrought characters.
That Frank's gift for sorcery comes at a price adds a subtle depth to the insecurities already inherent in any teenager who has been severed from problematic parents at a young age because he is special. Frank also lives under the shadow of a not so bright future where his magical abilities begin to fade after their peak at the age of seventeen and evaporate entirely by the age of twenty five. You can also only work magic if you are licensed. Frank has just lost his. Then of course, heaven forbid if the love (or lust?) of your life is a female, who is also a manipulative and unlicensed sorcerer. To perform unlicensed sorcery results in being burnt at the stake.
No pressure then.
Marvo is also not having such a great time, with an equally bleak future to look forward to. As a ‘tatty’ she is capable of great insights into crime, but knows that by the age of thirty she will be completely blind. All this serves to heighten the sense that there so much to do and so little time.
That Frank's gift is a huge responsibility is made evident by the history of Oxford, which is also referred to as Doughnut City in this alternative world. After something called the 'college wars', Oxford was devastated by magic, leaving the centre of it (now called 'The Hole') just a pile of rubble and radiating with magic in a similar way to the radiation in the aftermath of a nuclear bomb. The Hole is now residence of the disaffected and the poor. The price of living there is skin lesion and limb loss. This is where we find Frank hiding out as we come upon him negotiating for a shark he needs for one of his spells from one of his dodgy, yet colourful contacts.
There is so much to this original and inventive world that it's not surprising the first book took some getting used to, particularly as it was being viewed solely through the eyes of Frank, an individual with the social skills of a halibut and a very jaundiced view of his so far dismal life. There is certainly a sense of an old head on young shoulders in the responsibilities he has taken on board in his work as a sorcerer. The result is a narrative full of grim humour and brilliantly conceived observations and one of those books you will want to re-read to see what nuances you missed the first time.
This is the kind of book that ends up in the young adult section of a bookshop because of the age of its main protagonists. But by refusing to talk down to its intended audience, Pariah makes it a hugely entertaining read for adults as well. The Pratchettesque feel of the characters and the witty banter gives the reader plenty to take in and think about. The characters and the strange love triangle of Frank (unrequited love for Kazia), Marvo (unrequited love for Frank) and Kazia (bad girl, or has she just been made that way?) works really well. Frank's constant battle to do the right thing, ability to wriggle out of every dire situation he's plunged really does make for addictive reading.
It doesn't look good.
So how, you ask, is the much put upon teenage sorcerer going to get out of this one? The answer is probably by the seat of his pants and much inventive sorcery.
Pariah, Donald Hounam’s second outing into the Gifted world, is a very fresh and unique take on the world of boy wizards. Frank's world of sorcery is not one of glamour, but sheer hard graft. Even then your professional body might take against you if, like Frank, your face doesn't fit. This is down and dirty sorcery with a permanently shifting set of goal posts for our hero, as he attempts to crisis-manage the rapidly unfolding events.
Like the first book in the series, Gifted , this novel has a murder mystery element to it. The first concerns the boy in the mortuary, and the second Marvo or Detective Constable Magdalena Marvell's obsession with her sibling who was killed in a road traffic accident. The story is complex, but with plenty of satisfying twists and turns for anyone who enjoys the thrill of a whodunnit mixed with a character on the run, and a novel use of magic.
Frank is already in trouble and should be on a pilgrimage to Rome, but has jumped off the train shortly after it left the station because he has unfinished business with his old mentor Matthew Le Geyt and the ever elusive and unobtainable Kazia. So Frank finds he needs to hone his blagging and sorcery skills even more than usual, because he has the habit of always being in the wrong place at the wrong time. His life is also further complicated by that fact that he needs to go where his presence will alert the Society of Sorcery he has not on the pilgrimage as they have instructed.
On this outing Hounam has made sure time a reader can access Frank's angst-ridden and darkly funny monologue far more quickly. This is partly because the author has taken time to slip in helpful explanations within the fast-paced narrative, but there is also a glossary at the end explaining terms and a bit of the history associated with Frank’s alternative Oxford. This is very necessary because Frank's world is rich with all sorts of immensely clever magical extensions of things that are familiar to us from our own world (forensic sorcery being one), and is populated by some wonderfully wrought characters.
That Frank's gift for sorcery comes at a price adds a subtle depth to the insecurities already inherent in any teenager who has been severed from problematic parents at a young age because he is special. Frank also lives under the shadow of a not so bright future where his magical abilities begin to fade after their peak at the age of seventeen and evaporate entirely by the age of twenty five. You can also only work magic if you are licensed. Frank has just lost his. Then of course, heaven forbid if the love (or lust?) of your life is a female, who is also a manipulative and unlicensed sorcerer. To perform unlicensed sorcery results in being burnt at the stake.
No pressure then.
Marvo is also not having such a great time, with an equally bleak future to look forward to. As a ‘tatty’ she is capable of great insights into crime, but knows that by the age of thirty she will be completely blind. All this serves to heighten the sense that there so much to do and so little time.
That Frank's gift is a huge responsibility is made evident by the history of Oxford, which is also referred to as Doughnut City in this alternative world. After something called the 'college wars', Oxford was devastated by magic, leaving the centre of it (now called 'The Hole') just a pile of rubble and radiating with magic in a similar way to the radiation in the aftermath of a nuclear bomb. The Hole is now residence of the disaffected and the poor. The price of living there is skin lesion and limb loss. This is where we find Frank hiding out as we come upon him negotiating for a shark he needs for one of his spells from one of his dodgy, yet colourful contacts.
There is so much to this original and inventive world that it's not surprising the first book took some getting used to, particularly as it was being viewed solely through the eyes of Frank, an individual with the social skills of a halibut and a very jaundiced view of his so far dismal life. There is certainly a sense of an old head on young shoulders in the responsibilities he has taken on board in his work as a sorcerer. The result is a narrative full of grim humour and brilliantly conceived observations and one of those books you will want to re-read to see what nuances you missed the first time.
This is the kind of book that ends up in the young adult section of a bookshop because of the age of its main protagonists. But by refusing to talk down to its intended audience, Pariah makes it a hugely entertaining read for adults as well. The Pratchettesque feel of the characters and the witty banter gives the reader plenty to take in and think about. The characters and the strange love triangle of Frank (unrequited love for Kazia), Marvo (unrequited love for Frank) and Kazia (bad girl, or has she just been made that way?) works really well. Frank's constant battle to do the right thing, ability to wriggle out of every dire situation he's plunged really does make for addictive reading.
October 22, 2019
It was really cool. The beginning was the one that made it slow. I was ready to stop reading it, but then it kinda got better and better and it's probably just my imagination, but the book was really really good, and even though i didn't read the first book, i could kind of understand what was happening.
Read
August 22, 2016I just started reading Donald Hounman's book "Pariah."
"Pariah" is about a forensic sorcerer called Frank Sampson who comes across a boy on the mortuary slab who's supposed to be dead, but is in fact alive. He believes it has something to do with the magic symbols marked into the boy's flesh, and he thinks he knows the sorcerer behind it, but he thinks he may be in love with her.
Frank's conflict lies in his loyalties- the right thing to do vs. what he wants for himself.
The book is difficult to understand in the first few pages. The author doesn't introduce what world the protagonist lives in, or what events occurred to lead up to the current point in the story.
The cover of this book, with its modern look and interesting markings caught my attention at once. It looked complex, with depth, which fits under the type of books I like to read.
While I was reading the book, I wasn't very focused on the book because the author didn't "grab" me. He has a great plot, which is filled with fast-paced action, mystery and thrill, but the bots in between were quite dull and completely lost me.
I think this book is a pass, because I personally didn't enjoy it very much and I felt as if I wa forcing myself to finish it.
"Pariah" is about a forensic sorcerer called Frank Sampson who comes across a boy on the mortuary slab who's supposed to be dead, but is in fact alive. He believes it has something to do with the magic symbols marked into the boy's flesh, and he thinks he knows the sorcerer behind it, but he thinks he may be in love with her.
Frank's conflict lies in his loyalties- the right thing to do vs. what he wants for himself.
The book is difficult to understand in the first few pages. The author doesn't introduce what world the protagonist lives in, or what events occurred to lead up to the current point in the story.
The cover of this book, with its modern look and interesting markings caught my attention at once. It looked complex, with depth, which fits under the type of books I like to read.
While I was reading the book, I wasn't very focused on the book because the author didn't "grab" me. He has a great plot, which is filled with fast-paced action, mystery and thrill, but the bots in between were quite dull and completely lost me.
I think this book is a pass, because I personally didn't enjoy it very much and I felt as if I wa forcing myself to finish it.
May 14, 2016
Here is the thing.
I think I made and did not make a mistake in requesting this book.
Hear me out: you read a summary of a book, think "well this could be nice!" and buy it. Sometime you get it right. Sometime you don't.
What I mean is: there are some genres you just.don't.like.
I don't like romance, thrillers and modern fantasy. And this book falls into one of these categories.
BUT.
I did not like this book because I, personally, don't enjoy these kind of settings. It has nothing to do with the plot, the characters or the writer's abilities.
The characters are quite good (though again, I don't like teens in general and hey, so that I didn't like them means they were well portrayed!): fully fleshed and interesting.
The setting is very, very, very well build and made. The way it handles magic is quite unique and interesting.
The plot was complex and fast=paced.
So yeah. I didn't like it but it was my mistake. Then again if you do like this genre, you'll probably love this.
I think I made and did not make a mistake in requesting this book.
Hear me out: you read a summary of a book, think "well this could be nice!" and buy it. Sometime you get it right. Sometime you don't.
What I mean is: there are some genres you just.don't.like.
I don't like romance, thrillers and modern fantasy. And this book falls into one of these categories.
BUT.
I did not like this book because I, personally, don't enjoy these kind of settings. It has nothing to do with the plot, the characters or the writer's abilities.
The characters are quite good (though again, I don't like teens in general and hey, so that I didn't like them means they were well portrayed!): fully fleshed and interesting.
The setting is very, very, very well build and made. The way it handles magic is quite unique and interesting.
The plot was complex and fast=paced.
So yeah. I didn't like it but it was my mistake. Then again if you do like this genre, you'll probably love this.
February 26, 2016
A fiercely imaginative story set in an exquisitely detailed story world.
This is an excellent sequel to "Gifted" with the same characters - Frank and Marvo are investigating the magical shenanigans and demons lured into existence by Kazia and others.
Great fun and totally immersive.
This is an excellent sequel to "Gifted" with the same characters - Frank and Marvo are investigating the magical shenanigans and demons lured into existence by Kazia and others.
Great fun and totally immersive.
August 4, 2016
I really enjoyed the book. The world building was very good and the story was very well written. My attention was captured from the first page and I couldn't put the book down. Looking forward to reading more from the author.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews