Denizens: Interlands Book Two

Interlands #2

by Vincent H. O'Neil, Henry V. O'Neil

Book Two of the Interlands series takes up right where INTERLANDS left off:

Historian Angela Morse is trying to keep a secret. At the end of the book INTERLANDS, she'd spent months searching the forests near Providence for a lost stone obelisk once worshiped by a colonial-era cult that perished at its feet. When she found the monument, Angie realized it contained a malevolent spirit and decided to never reveal its existence. Unfortunately, the supernatural entities awakened by her quest have other ideas …

Praise for INTERLANDS:

Strong Lovecraftian themes are present throughout the story, most notably cosmicism, and in the end, a few unanswered questions. Lovecraft fans won’t be disappointed. I found the book to be so engaging that I stopped everything and read it from start to finish in one day.

-- S.A. Nappa in "Speculative Fiction Reviews"

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 12, 2015

About the author

Vincent H. O’Neil is the Malice Award-winning author of the Exile mystery series from St. Martin's Press and the military science fiction Sim War series (writing as Henry V. O'Neil) from HarperCollins.

He is also the author of the theater-themed murder mystery DEATH TROUPE, and two books in a New England-based horror series, INTERLANDS and DENIZENS.

Most recently, he released an innovative news series that pairs a futuristic fiction novel with a non-fiction book.

The novel, A PAUSE IN THE PERPETUAL ROTATION, describes a future United States where people are embracing an underground philosophy called The Unused Path. The non-fiction book, THE UNUSED PATH, is a genuine self-improvement / life philosophy manual that is featured extensively in the novel.

Learn more at www.vincenthoneil.com

Reviews

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm very pleased to see this book, the second in the author's Interlands series. The first volume impressed me, not only because of the writing skills evidenced, but because the the author was able to depict Lovecraftian cosmic vistas without once invoking polysyllabic deities or pulling out some moldy volume of forgotten lore.

Because this book follows immediately upon the events of the first book, there is the usual awkwardness required for those who entered the theater after the start of the film, so to speak, but it is mercifully short and is grounded more in characterization than in repetitive narration. In fact, it is O'Neil's wonderful characters that bring the story to life; grounding them so thoroughly in reality takes the horrors and dark forces out of the supernatural realm and hits the reader right in the face.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Denizens is a rather different animal than Interlands. Where Interlands focused on Angie's search for the obelisk and wrestling with whether the increasing weirdness in her life was supernatural or if she was just going nuts. In Denizens it is patently obvious to nearly everyone involved that there is something weird going on. The question becomes, "what does the obelisk want?" To eat people apparently.

And I need to comment on the tragically short-lived new character of Staker. Where most characters deal with the threat of unknowable entities from other planes of existence by running away, giving up or bargaining. Not Staker, he stabs it in the heart because extra dimensional monsters demanding human sacrifice is shit up with which humanity will not be putting. Doesn't work, but I suspect that's because he was weighed down by his own awesomeness.

Alright, I'm probably projecting more positive qualities onto Staker than were intended (it's heavily implied he was the pawn of another entity) but I always get a kick out of that character in horror novels who responds to monsters with a "Well, I'll just kill it."

And then there's Zoe, who I find I like in a 'love to hate' kind of way. She's the resident psychically sensitive character and seems to think she's above everyone else. At one point she describes another character as 'pretending far more than she was ever able'. Eh, I don't hate her but that particular bit of arrogance was off-putting.

But the book is clear that she's as out of her league as anyone else is and the obelisk makes sure she knows it. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing indeed.

And now I'm looking forward to the next one to see what's up with the Fate's Punchbowl.

[Johann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hits the Cosmic Horror Spot!!

Angie has had a near death experience and is recovering. When she finally gets out of the hospital she gets connected with her roommate and best friend, Zoe.
But when she comes home again things aren't the same as when she left it. The good news is that she will finally work for a very famous archeologist named Oliver Price. The bad news is that the very same object that caused her to be in the hospital in the first place has another chance at taking her out because this object is always hungry for a good sacrifice.

This is the 2nd book in what looks like a possible continuing series. Highly recommend reading the first one before this one as this continues right after the other left off.
Very LovecraftIan with a little dash of Peter Straub's Dark Matter! Enjoyed tremendously!!