What do you think?
Rate this book
Deadlands #3
Boneyard
The newest book based on the hit Weird West RPG franchise Deadlands!
Step right up to see the oddities and marvels of The Blackstone Family Circus and Travelling Wonder Show! Gasp at pit wasps the size of a man’s forearm. Beware the pumpkin-headed corn stalker, lest it plant its roots in you!
Annie Pearl is the keeper of oddities, the mistress of monsters. Her unique collection of creatures is one of the circus’s star attractions, drawing wide-eyed crowds at every small frontier town they visit. But Annie is also a woman running from her past . . . and the mother of a mute young daughter, Adeline, whom she will do anything to protect.
Hoping to fill its coffers before winter sets in, the circus steers its wagons to The Clearing, a remote community deep in the Oregon wilderness, surrounded by an ominous dark wood. Word is that a traveling show can turn a tidy profit at The Clearing, but there are whispers, too, of unexplained disappearances that afflict one out of every four shows that pass through the town.
The Clearing has it secrets, and so does Annie. And it may take everything she has to save her daughter―and the circus―from both.
A gripping tale of the Weird West, set on the haunted frontier of DEADLANDS, the award-winning game from Pinnacle Entertainment Group.
Step right up to see the oddities and marvels of The Blackstone Family Circus and Travelling Wonder Show! Gasp at pit wasps the size of a man’s forearm. Beware the pumpkin-headed corn stalker, lest it plant its roots in you!
Annie Pearl is the keeper of oddities, the mistress of monsters. Her unique collection of creatures is one of the circus’s star attractions, drawing wide-eyed crowds at every small frontier town they visit. But Annie is also a woman running from her past . . . and the mother of a mute young daughter, Adeline, whom she will do anything to protect.
Hoping to fill its coffers before winter sets in, the circus steers its wagons to The Clearing, a remote community deep in the Oregon wilderness, surrounded by an ominous dark wood. Word is that a traveling show can turn a tidy profit at The Clearing, but there are whispers, too, of unexplained disappearances that afflict one out of every four shows that pass through the town.
The Clearing has it secrets, and so does Annie. And it may take everything she has to save her daughter―and the circus―from both.
A gripping tale of the Weird West, set on the haunted frontier of DEADLANDS, the award-winning game from Pinnacle Entertainment Group.
352 pages, Paperback
First published October 17, 2017
55 people are currently reading
1062 people want to read
About the author
Seanan McGuire
508 books17.1k followersHi! I'm Seanan McGuire, author of the Toby Daye series (Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses), as well as a lot of other things. I'm also Mira Grant (www.miragrant.com), author of Feed and Deadline.
Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and share my house with two monsters in feline form, Lilly and Alice (Siamese and Maine Coon).
I do not check this inbox. Please don't send me messages through Goodreads; they won't be answered. I don't want to have to delete this account. :(
Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and share my house with two monsters in feline form, Lilly and Alice (Siamese and Maine Coon).
I do not check this inbox. Please don't send me messages through Goodreads; they won't be answered. I don't want to have to delete this account. :(
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
September 29, 2017
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!
I've been a big fan of Seanan McGuire for a while so I was super excited to get this ARC, only to realize, belatedly, that it was a part of a series based on a western-style tabletop RPG filled with darkness, magic, monsters, undead, mad science, and a very particular brand of steampunk devoted to the American Wild West.
That's not a dealbreaker. Far from it. I like Weird West stuff. In fact, just to prepare myself for this title, I went out and got the first of the Deadlands books and devoured it, enjoying the fast-paced fun immensely.
So of course, my expectations were very high with this one by an author I've followed religiously.
Unfortunately for me, it felt a bit uneven. There's a ton of great things that can and probably will happen in this RPG setup, but most of that was left out of the book until after the traveling circus made it to Oregon. After that point, however, it picked up wonderfully and I had a great time.
Where it felt slow to me was due to the immersion of being in a circus. And it's odd that I'd feel that way because I enjoyed McGuire's particular circus branding in her InCryptid series.
For that reason, though, it took me a long time to get into the characters and things didn't really start clicking until after the main action began fairly deep into the text. Alas! It ended well and I loved all the supernatural stuff and the history and the wraparound of the main character arc, but I just wish I hadn't had to work so hard to get there.
Maybe it's just me! A lot of people apparently love circus tales and maybe I just don't! :) Even so, I did like this one a lot even if I happened to like the first book in the series better.
I should say, however, that this one felt a lot more genuine, full of deep and complicated characters... unlike the twisted stock characters from the other book. That's definitely a huge kudo for McGuire. :)
Weird West for the win! Anyone hungry?
I've been a big fan of Seanan McGuire for a while so I was super excited to get this ARC, only to realize, belatedly, that it was a part of a series based on a western-style tabletop RPG filled with darkness, magic, monsters, undead, mad science, and a very particular brand of steampunk devoted to the American Wild West.
That's not a dealbreaker. Far from it. I like Weird West stuff. In fact, just to prepare myself for this title, I went out and got the first of the Deadlands books and devoured it, enjoying the fast-paced fun immensely.
So of course, my expectations were very high with this one by an author I've followed religiously.
Unfortunately for me, it felt a bit uneven. There's a ton of great things that can and probably will happen in this RPG setup, but most of that was left out of the book until after the traveling circus made it to Oregon. After that point, however, it picked up wonderfully and I had a great time.
Where it felt slow to me was due to the immersion of being in a circus. And it's odd that I'd feel that way because I enjoyed McGuire's particular circus branding in her InCryptid series.
For that reason, though, it took me a long time to get into the characters and things didn't really start clicking until after the main action began fairly deep into the text. Alas! It ended well and I loved all the supernatural stuff and the history and the wraparound of the main character arc, but I just wish I hadn't had to work so hard to get there.
Maybe it's just me! A lot of people apparently love circus tales and maybe I just don't! :) Even so, I did like this one a lot even if I happened to like the first book in the series better.
I should say, however, that this one felt a lot more genuine, full of deep and complicated characters... unlike the twisted stock characters from the other book. That's definitely a huge kudo for McGuire. :)
Weird West for the win! Anyone hungry?
October 11, 2017
Seanan, I doubted you, and I shouldn't have. #ashamed.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy for review (and additional thanks for adding the Kindle version so I didn't have to try to read this on a really tiny phone screen in an even tinier font that settings wouldn't seem to change in Adobe Digital Editions!).
I have never heard of Deadlands before this, not at all. But I think I'm going to attempt to get my hands on the first two books in this series of standalones set in the Deadlands world. Sure, they won't be Seanan, who is poetic and deep and knows both how to plot and how to develop characters like a pro (better than a pro, really, a savant)... but she made me like this world enough to try them.
The plot revolves around a circus, a setting that seems to be one Seanan loves. In this world, however, we aren't witnessing her beloved Price family make their way in the Incryptid world, no, we're witnessed Annie Pearl find her way in the world and live a life of love and protection for her daughter, Adeline. And in this world, there are strange creatures, but not the same kind as in Incryptid. In this world, pretty much everything is dangerous.
I'll stop there, because I don't want to spoil the characters, but I will say that the first section of this book almost led me to give up -- but if you follow in my footsteps, please continue on as I did. Once they hit The Clearing and the creepy begins to set in, it'll grip you like the cold, hungry hands of... oops, spoilers again. Perfect October/Halloween-ish read, and it's Seanan, so you're not risking a thing by picking this one up. With Seanan, you're pretty much guaranteed a winner.
Now, you go join the circus while I go find myself copies of the other Deadlands books. And be warned, Seanan will inspire a voracious reading hunger, just like in the... oops, spoilers again.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy for review (and additional thanks for adding the Kindle version so I didn't have to try to read this on a really tiny phone screen in an even tinier font that settings wouldn't seem to change in Adobe Digital Editions!).
I have never heard of Deadlands before this, not at all. But I think I'm going to attempt to get my hands on the first two books in this series of standalones set in the Deadlands world. Sure, they won't be Seanan, who is poetic and deep and knows both how to plot and how to develop characters like a pro (better than a pro, really, a savant)... but she made me like this world enough to try them.
The plot revolves around a circus, a setting that seems to be one Seanan loves. In this world, however, we aren't witnessing her beloved Price family make their way in the Incryptid world, no, we're witnessed Annie Pearl find her way in the world and live a life of love and protection for her daughter, Adeline. And in this world, there are strange creatures, but not the same kind as in Incryptid. In this world, pretty much everything is dangerous.
I'll stop there, because I don't want to spoil the characters, but I will say that the first section of this book almost led me to give up -- but if you follow in my footsteps, please continue on as I did. Once they hit The Clearing and the creepy begins to set in, it'll grip you like the cold, hungry hands of... oops, spoilers again. Perfect October/Halloween-ish read, and it's Seanan, so you're not risking a thing by picking this one up. With Seanan, you're pretty much guaranteed a winner.
Now, you go join the circus while I go find myself copies of the other Deadlands books. And be warned, Seanan will inspire a voracious reading hunger, just like in the... oops, spoilers again.
June 17, 2022
This is the third in a series of novels based on a role-playing game. Not having read any of the other books or being at all familiar with the game, I don't know how much of this one is original to McGuire and how much is set in existing infrastructure. It's set in an alternate-weird wild West with steam-punkish horror overtones and is the story of a woman who escaped an abusive religious patriarchy by running away with her disabled daughter to join a circus. The circus setting is very interesting and well-drawn, and comparisons to McGuire's InCryptid series are unavoidable. (She's even named Annie.) The circus goes to a remote town in Oregon, where they encounter two very unusual bands of creatures inhabiting mountains near to the town, the townspeople prove to be untrustworthy, Annie's husband leads an attack to reclaim her and her daughter (his "property"), and there's quite a bit of conflict and chasing about before a not-really-satisfactory conclusion. The circus sequences are captivating, but there's a bit too much of chasing around, lost in the woods without even Tom Gordon around to help. The characters are very realistic, and it was a pretty fun read, but I'm not sufficiently moved to look for more books in the series.
January 6, 2018
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/01/06/...
While I’ve read a lot of tie-in fiction in my time, this might be one of few instances where I’ve picked up a book based on a franchise or media property that I’ve had no prior experience with. Happily, like most media tie-ins, Boneyard is completely accessible to anyone, whether or not they are familiar with the Deadlands role-playing game or have even read the previous books in the series.
For many years, Annie Pearl has been a mainstay of the Blackstone Family Circus, known for her role in growing and caring for the traveling show’s collection of unique oddities. But long before she was Mistress of Monsters, she was Grace Murphy, married to a mad scientist who conducted unspeakable experiments on his young wife. The last straw finally came when the crazed Dr. Murphy set his eyes on their daughter Adeline, prompting Annie to steal away in the middle of the night with the infant girl and their pet lynx cub in tow. After many weeks and many miles, she eventually ended up at the mercy of Nathaniel Blackstone, the kind-hearted circus owner who took in the tired mother and her sickly child. Life in the circus is not easy, however, and everyone who joins must earn their keep. Luckily for Annie, she’s a hard worker who will do anything to protect and provide for her daughter…and as it turns out, she’s pretty good at taking care of the circus creatures too. Time passes, and their menagerie of horrors grows.
But like most traveling circuses, Blackstone’s is always a knife edge between survival and starvation. To make the most out of the remaining season, they decide to steer their wagons towards The Clearing, a small town deep in the woods of Oregon where their residents are always hungry for entertainment. Word is though, one in four shows that pass through The Clearing never emerge from the wilderness again, but with the alternative to not going being the circus’s ruin, Nathaniel Blackstone judged it to be worth the risk. Ultimately, it would be a decision he would come to regret, as the crew finds itself beset by trouble soon after their arrival. Two of their members disappear into the woods after their first show, one of them being young Adeline. Together with Martin, whose girlfriend has also gone missing, Annie must brave the darkness and enter the terror-filled wilds to rescue her daughter from the monsters of the night.
These days, a lot of people still balk when they hear the term “media tie-in”, and hey, I don’t blame them. While the genre has come a long way in the last few decades, there’s still a lot of stigma surrounding books based on movies or games, because the sad truth is, a vast majority of them just aren’t that great. Thankfully though, publishers in recent years have pushed hard to try and change those perceptions, especially for their popular franchises and big-name projects. One way they’ve started to do so is by contracting well-known authors, and in this case, the makers of Deadlands have partnered up with the talented and award-winning Seanan McGuire to pen the latest novel based on the world of their Weird West RPG.
I won’t deny it; I was pretty excited when I heard, and if you’re already familiar with McGuire’s style, then you’ll probably know exactly what I’m talking about. She’s been known to write stories that are on the dark and quirky side—in other words, perfect for a Weird Western. There was also little doubt she would be bringing the full force of her creativity to the setting and atmosphere, and I was not disappointed. McGuire’s commitment to detail can be seen and felt even in the opening paragraphs, which paint a harsh but gratifying reality for those who have fully dedicated their lives to the Blackstone Family Circus. Sure, the going can get tough, but the circus takes care of its own, and Annie and Adeline find themselves surrounded by love and friendship as they travel across the miles of untamed frontier, entertaining crowds wherever their wagon wheels take them.
It is an existence that is at once idyllic and grim, much like the setting, which ultimately takes on a personality of its own. While the Deadlands RPG takes place in the American “Wild West” during the last quarter of the 19th century, it is also a world filled with monsters and other malicious entities, creating a combination of historical and horror elements which serves as the basis of the novel. Throw some mad science and steampunk into the mix, and the result is an intense and chilling supernatural fantasy further bolstered by an intriguing plotline and well-developed characters. In fact, if I only have one complaint, it was that the ending felt jarringly abrupt. Given the time and care spent building upon both Annie and Martin’s storylines, I would have expected the denouement to be handled with the same meticulous treatment. Instead, I just got the impression that the author was in a hurry to wrap things up.
Still, despite some pacing missteps, Boneyard managed to hit that elusive sweet spot between creepy horror and action entertainment. Seanan McGuire was able to charm me with her courageous protagonists and, more importantly, make me feel connected to a game world that was completely new and foreign to me. Weird West fans will eat this one right up, and I imagine readers with prior experience or more than just a passing familiarity with the Deadlands RPG will probably appreciate it even more.
While I’ve read a lot of tie-in fiction in my time, this might be one of few instances where I’ve picked up a book based on a franchise or media property that I’ve had no prior experience with. Happily, like most media tie-ins, Boneyard is completely accessible to anyone, whether or not they are familiar with the Deadlands role-playing game or have even read the previous books in the series.
For many years, Annie Pearl has been a mainstay of the Blackstone Family Circus, known for her role in growing and caring for the traveling show’s collection of unique oddities. But long before she was Mistress of Monsters, she was Grace Murphy, married to a mad scientist who conducted unspeakable experiments on his young wife. The last straw finally came when the crazed Dr. Murphy set his eyes on their daughter Adeline, prompting Annie to steal away in the middle of the night with the infant girl and their pet lynx cub in tow. After many weeks and many miles, she eventually ended up at the mercy of Nathaniel Blackstone, the kind-hearted circus owner who took in the tired mother and her sickly child. Life in the circus is not easy, however, and everyone who joins must earn their keep. Luckily for Annie, she’s a hard worker who will do anything to protect and provide for her daughter…and as it turns out, she’s pretty good at taking care of the circus creatures too. Time passes, and their menagerie of horrors grows.
But like most traveling circuses, Blackstone’s is always a knife edge between survival and starvation. To make the most out of the remaining season, they decide to steer their wagons towards The Clearing, a small town deep in the woods of Oregon where their residents are always hungry for entertainment. Word is though, one in four shows that pass through The Clearing never emerge from the wilderness again, but with the alternative to not going being the circus’s ruin, Nathaniel Blackstone judged it to be worth the risk. Ultimately, it would be a decision he would come to regret, as the crew finds itself beset by trouble soon after their arrival. Two of their members disappear into the woods after their first show, one of them being young Adeline. Together with Martin, whose girlfriend has also gone missing, Annie must brave the darkness and enter the terror-filled wilds to rescue her daughter from the monsters of the night.
These days, a lot of people still balk when they hear the term “media tie-in”, and hey, I don’t blame them. While the genre has come a long way in the last few decades, there’s still a lot of stigma surrounding books based on movies or games, because the sad truth is, a vast majority of them just aren’t that great. Thankfully though, publishers in recent years have pushed hard to try and change those perceptions, especially for their popular franchises and big-name projects. One way they’ve started to do so is by contracting well-known authors, and in this case, the makers of Deadlands have partnered up with the talented and award-winning Seanan McGuire to pen the latest novel based on the world of their Weird West RPG.
I won’t deny it; I was pretty excited when I heard, and if you’re already familiar with McGuire’s style, then you’ll probably know exactly what I’m talking about. She’s been known to write stories that are on the dark and quirky side—in other words, perfect for a Weird Western. There was also little doubt she would be bringing the full force of her creativity to the setting and atmosphere, and I was not disappointed. McGuire’s commitment to detail can be seen and felt even in the opening paragraphs, which paint a harsh but gratifying reality for those who have fully dedicated their lives to the Blackstone Family Circus. Sure, the going can get tough, but the circus takes care of its own, and Annie and Adeline find themselves surrounded by love and friendship as they travel across the miles of untamed frontier, entertaining crowds wherever their wagon wheels take them.
It is an existence that is at once idyllic and grim, much like the setting, which ultimately takes on a personality of its own. While the Deadlands RPG takes place in the American “Wild West” during the last quarter of the 19th century, it is also a world filled with monsters and other malicious entities, creating a combination of historical and horror elements which serves as the basis of the novel. Throw some mad science and steampunk into the mix, and the result is an intense and chilling supernatural fantasy further bolstered by an intriguing plotline and well-developed characters. In fact, if I only have one complaint, it was that the ending felt jarringly abrupt. Given the time and care spent building upon both Annie and Martin’s storylines, I would have expected the denouement to be handled with the same meticulous treatment. Instead, I just got the impression that the author was in a hurry to wrap things up.
Still, despite some pacing missteps, Boneyard managed to hit that elusive sweet spot between creepy horror and action entertainment. Seanan McGuire was able to charm me with her courageous protagonists and, more importantly, make me feel connected to a game world that was completely new and foreign to me. Weird West fans will eat this one right up, and I imagine readers with prior experience or more than just a passing familiarity with the Deadlands RPG will probably appreciate it even more.
September 13, 2018
After a somewhat slow start the story picked up and was really good and a bit creepy. A little different that what I expected from reading the description but I really liked it. No need to know anything about the game it's based on (I don't know a thing about it), the story stands alone.
November 15, 2017
I was a bit worried before I started this because I have no experience with the game this series is based on or the other two books in the series itself, but I will read every single book Seanan writes so I decided to dive right in. And although I'm sure there are some hidden Easter Egg type things for fans of the series, this is a standalone book and I didn't have any trouble following the plot or the world-building. So if anyone decided not to try it because it's technically the third in a series, I wouldn't worry about it.
Anyway, I just love reading Seanan's books because it's so clear that she's always writing about things she loves and that it's so fun for her to write, which makes it fun for me to read. The circus setting is something she has visited several times before and it's always really great, as are her creatures [and human characters] that blur the lines between men and monsters. I really loved how this was set up with the different POVs and how the story was revealed very slowly as you tried to piece it together for yourself. Some people might think it's a little bit slow, but for me it was very intriguing.
Also after an annoying book I read last week I was so glad to read something like this where themes of femininity [and motherhood] are compared to nature in a very realistic and even savage way. Seanan always hits the nail right on the head.
Anyway, I just love reading Seanan's books because it's so clear that she's always writing about things she loves and that it's so fun for her to write, which makes it fun for me to read. The circus setting is something she has visited several times before and it's always really great, as are her creatures [and human characters] that blur the lines between men and monsters. I really loved how this was set up with the different POVs and how the story was revealed very slowly as you tried to piece it together for yourself. Some people might think it's a little bit slow, but for me it was very intriguing.
Also after an annoying book I read last week I was so glad to read something like this where themes of femininity [and motherhood] are compared to nature in a very realistic and even savage way. Seanan always hits the nail right on the head.
March 4, 2018
These characters have internal battles they are fighting before they come to the external ones. They grow in their experiences and understandings along with fighting what's after them. Great parallel here with both. Sometimes external battles help make the internal ones clearer. Annie has more baggage she's carrying along, more battles she'll have to fight with what and who is after her.
****FULL REVIEW****
*I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Emily is a new voice actor for me. I found I liked her early on. She tells us the story as though I'm sitting and listening to a talented story teller. When she comes to the voices of the characters she puts added tones and innuendos into the voices that fit for the characters. Each character had their own voice and emotion to fit their personality and the moment they are in. She even voices a little girl as young as she should sound. Emily did a great job with voicing all characters differently. Wow. She's one great voice actor. Emily's tension grew with the story as we went. In the darkest moments, her voice was strong with emotion, tension, and worry. I felt all the emotions and was drawn to keep listening. Amazing work. I enjoyed her voice acting very much!
I've not read or listened to any of Seanan's books yet. This is my first. And I liked how she hints at things with details instead of just saying what the obvious is. Like the description of bruises and seeing ribs, instead of telling there was abuse or lack of food. This gives me a feel rather than just knowing what has possibly happened.
We start the book with the Blackstone Family Circus traveling and get a feel for the people in the circus. It's a bit slower paced as we meet the characters in their surroundings.
As the story is told, we get it mostly from Annie's view point. But there are times we get the view from Nathanial's mind along with a few others. It's a graceful shift in the story that you don't realize it right away that you are seeing the story from another's view. It keeps the story going forward with a smooth transition.
I think if I was reading this book, I would have stopped. It felt slow moving for me. But, Emily's narration kept me holding on. And I started to grow curious about The Clearing. Chapter seven is about when I started getting interested in the story. The reaction of the town to the circus people and Oddities Annie cares for. Things picked up for me in the book when we got to The Clearing. When we got into the woods, oh yes, this is what I was looking for. But before all this, it felt slow.
When we get to The Clearing, we start to see the personality of the people who live here. They are... unkind. And the things that could go oh so wrong with what the circus has and the way these town folk are... oh so wrong can happen. Though, when out on the search I get lost in Annie's thoughts as she's walking through the forest. I just didn't feel to connect with this character. I felt as though it was more character driven and I just wasn't into it. I wanted more events to happen.
The cover depicts some of the Oddities that Annie cares for very well. I really like this cover.
These characters have internal battles they are fighting before they come to the external ones. They grow in their experiences and understandings along with fighting what's after them. Great parallel here with both. Sometimes external battles help make the internal ones clearer. Annie has more baggage she's carrying along, more battles she'll have to fight with what and who is after her.
****FULL REVIEW****
*I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Emily is a new voice actor for me. I found I liked her early on. She tells us the story as though I'm sitting and listening to a talented story teller. When she comes to the voices of the characters she puts added tones and innuendos into the voices that fit for the characters. Each character had their own voice and emotion to fit their personality and the moment they are in. She even voices a little girl as young as she should sound. Emily did a great job with voicing all characters differently. Wow. She's one great voice actor. Emily's tension grew with the story as we went. In the darkest moments, her voice was strong with emotion, tension, and worry. I felt all the emotions and was drawn to keep listening. Amazing work. I enjoyed her voice acting very much!
I've not read or listened to any of Seanan's books yet. This is my first. And I liked how she hints at things with details instead of just saying what the obvious is. Like the description of bruises and seeing ribs, instead of telling there was abuse or lack of food. This gives me a feel rather than just knowing what has possibly happened.
We start the book with the Blackstone Family Circus traveling and get a feel for the people in the circus. It's a bit slower paced as we meet the characters in their surroundings.
As the story is told, we get it mostly from Annie's view point. But there are times we get the view from Nathanial's mind along with a few others. It's a graceful shift in the story that you don't realize it right away that you are seeing the story from another's view. It keeps the story going forward with a smooth transition.
I think if I was reading this book, I would have stopped. It felt slow moving for me. But, Emily's narration kept me holding on. And I started to grow curious about The Clearing. Chapter seven is about when I started getting interested in the story. The reaction of the town to the circus people and Oddities Annie cares for. Things picked up for me in the book when we got to The Clearing. When we got into the woods, oh yes, this is what I was looking for. But before all this, it felt slow.
When we get to The Clearing, we start to see the personality of the people who live here. They are... unkind. And the things that could go oh so wrong with what the circus has and the way these town folk are... oh so wrong can happen. Though, when out on the search I get lost in Annie's thoughts as she's walking through the forest. I just didn't feel to connect with this character. I felt as though it was more character driven and I just wasn't into it. I wanted more events to happen.
The cover depicts some of the Oddities that Annie cares for very well. I really like this cover.
These characters have internal battles they are fighting before they come to the external ones. They grow in their experiences and understandings along with fighting what's after them. Great parallel here with both. Sometimes external battles help make the internal ones clearer. Annie has more baggage she's carrying along, more battles she'll have to fight with what and who is after her.
October 24, 2022
Mini blurb: A circus freakmaster who's been on the run for years with her mute daughter finds herself face to face with unspeakable horrors - until the very human one she fled catches up with her, and she has to fight it with all her strength and cunning, plus the help of a few of (sometimes unlikely) allies.
(Please note: this novel is based on Weird West RPG franchise Deadlands. All the books in the series are set in the same universe, but they are completely independent from one another. Also, please note: the 3.5 star rating reflects my personal genre bias, but this was actually pretty good - it could have been a 4 if not for that).
***
Rated 3.5 really.
Honestly? If this wasn't a Seanan McGuire novel, I would have bailed after a handful of chapters. Not only I'm not a fan of Wild West - or Weird West - narratives (though I really liked the Incryptid prequel stories): I flat out don't like historical fiction...or alternate history set in the long-gone past...or steampunk. Also, the beginning of this book was a bit tedious. But once I hit Ch.8, things started to get juicy, and my interest was piqued.
McGuire does monsters like no other, especially those who can't help what they are and ultimately prove to be, if anything, more honest and wholesome than their human counterparts. And Boneyard indeed offers plenty of monsters of all kinds - from the "oddities" the main character takes care of, to the two different types of creatures who inhabit the woods near which the circus pitched its tents, to a McGuire favourite...the mad scientist. She also does strong female characters like few authors do, and again, there are many kinds of them in Boneyard - mothers, daughters, lovers, even gunslingers, each and every one of them sporting such strength, if in different ways and doses, and breaking stereotypes while being children of their age. Mixing fierce motherhood, mad science offspring, creature lore, reluctant allies, circus mythology and a pinch of romance in ways both familiar and unexpected, Boneyard starts off a little slow but ultimately delivers a nice punch.
(My only real complaint...what can the pumpkin-head creature on the cover DO, really? I expected it to be a major player, and it's barely there for the monster headcount...I feel cheated, dammit).
Note: definitive review (I don't have enough to say to justify writing a full-length one later).
(Please note: this novel is based on Weird West RPG franchise Deadlands. All the books in the series are set in the same universe, but they are completely independent from one another. Also, please note: the 3.5 star rating reflects my personal genre bias, but this was actually pretty good - it could have been a 4 if not for that).
***
Rated 3.5 really.
Honestly? If this wasn't a Seanan McGuire novel, I would have bailed after a handful of chapters. Not only I'm not a fan of Wild West - or Weird West - narratives (though I really liked the Incryptid prequel stories): I flat out don't like historical fiction...or alternate history set in the long-gone past...or steampunk. Also, the beginning of this book was a bit tedious. But once I hit Ch.8, things started to get juicy, and my interest was piqued.
McGuire does monsters like no other, especially those who can't help what they are and ultimately prove to be, if anything, more honest and wholesome than their human counterparts. And Boneyard indeed offers plenty of monsters of all kinds - from the "oddities" the main character takes care of, to the two different types of creatures who inhabit the woods near which the circus pitched its tents, to a McGuire favourite...the mad scientist. She also does strong female characters like few authors do, and again, there are many kinds of them in Boneyard - mothers, daughters, lovers, even gunslingers, each and every one of them sporting such strength, if in different ways and doses, and breaking stereotypes while being children of their age. Mixing fierce motherhood, mad science offspring, creature lore, reluctant allies, circus mythology and a pinch of romance in ways both familiar and unexpected, Boneyard starts off a little slow but ultimately delivers a nice punch.
(My only real complaint...what can the pumpkin-head creature on the cover DO, really? I expected it to be a major player, and it's barely there for the monster headcount...I feel cheated, dammit).
Note: definitive review (I don't have enough to say to justify writing a full-length one later).
October 18, 2017
I received an Advance Review Copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 Stars
As I was telling my friend and fellow blogger SleepingKoala45, who blogs at Wishful Thinking, only yesterday, I'm just not much of a gamer. I find myself playing less and reading more as I um, get older. (insert grimace) So perhaps my taking up this book in the Deadlands book series, which is part of the Deadlands Weird West RPG (role-playing game) franchise seems to be a curious choice. Those of you who know me as a huge Seanan McGuire fan are probably unsurprised! However, I have to honestly say that this book just didn't grab me as much as some of her other work.
As mentioned, the book stems from a gaming franchise and since I don't play the game and I'm not much Weird West fan, it's reassuring that the book actually reads perfectly well as a standalone for those, like me, with no background in the game or the Weird West world. And, in addition to not being a Weird Wester (honestly, the West has never been my thing and I can barely even keep it together to stay with HBO's Westworld, and that's a show with great writing and excellent actors), I'm also not much of a carnie/circus/freak show fan or even much of a horror fan. So, you can see my problem here. But I am willing to follow this author off my well-beaten paths. I firmly believe that Seanan McGuire is simply incapable of writing a bad book. This just wasn't, perhaps, the best book for me. I'd have to say that Annie is an interesting character though not my favorite in this author's pantheon of Georgia Masons, Toby Dayes, Alice Healy-Prices, and Henry Marchens. That said, without giving too much away, the advent of Wendigos in the wild was rather exciting. While not a horror fan, I do enjoy folklore monsters and the Algonquin mythical cannibal creature is deliciously monstrous. Wendigos did not disappoint.
If you're a Weird West fan or a Deadlands player, this book will likely hit the spot!
3.5 Stars
As I was telling my friend and fellow blogger SleepingKoala45, who blogs at Wishful Thinking, only yesterday, I'm just not much of a gamer. I find myself playing less and reading more as I um, get older. (insert grimace) So perhaps my taking up this book in the Deadlands book series, which is part of the Deadlands Weird West RPG (role-playing game) franchise seems to be a curious choice. Those of you who know me as a huge Seanan McGuire fan are probably unsurprised! However, I have to honestly say that this book just didn't grab me as much as some of her other work.
As mentioned, the book stems from a gaming franchise and since I don't play the game and I'm not much Weird West fan, it's reassuring that the book actually reads perfectly well as a standalone for those, like me, with no background in the game or the Weird West world. And, in addition to not being a Weird Wester (honestly, the West has never been my thing and I can barely even keep it together to stay with HBO's Westworld, and that's a show with great writing and excellent actors), I'm also not much of a carnie/circus/freak show fan or even much of a horror fan. So, you can see my problem here. But I am willing to follow this author off my well-beaten paths. I firmly believe that Seanan McGuire is simply incapable of writing a bad book. This just wasn't, perhaps, the best book for me. I'd have to say that Annie is an interesting character though not my favorite in this author's pantheon of Georgia Masons, Toby Dayes, Alice Healy-Prices, and Henry Marchens. That said, without giving too much away, the advent of Wendigos in the wild was rather exciting. While not a horror fan, I do enjoy folklore monsters and the Algonquin mythical cannibal creature is deliciously monstrous. Wendigos did not disappoint.
If you're a Weird West fan or a Deadlands player, this book will likely hit the spot!
September 21, 2018
I quite enjoy Seanan McGuire's books, so I keep an eye out for them in the bookstore. When I was browsing last fall, and saw this particular novel, I immediately thought that it would be a good Christmas present for my husband, and as a beneficial side effect, I'd get to read it too. We've been roleplayers for a long time, and have at least two Deadlands campaigns under our belts, the world in which Boneyard is set.
Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
September 23, 2017
This is a tale filled with rich characterisation and a story that will hold your attention. An impressive read. The worldbuilding is so close to reality that it takes little to cross into a world where monsters can be found and created. As the story progresses new facets of the characters are revealed that enrich them in ways that could not initially be either considered or necessarily viewed positively.
There is a growing tension throughout with threats to the core characters from a number of sources. That some do not make it to the end is to be expected. It is interesting to note however that one of the weakest characters becomes pivotal in how the book turns out.
The writing is well-paced with a clear writing style that holds the attention of the reader. A very satisfying read, well recommended.
There is a growing tension throughout with threats to the core characters from a number of sources. That some do not make it to the end is to be expected. It is interesting to note however that one of the weakest characters becomes pivotal in how the book turns out.
The writing is well-paced with a clear writing style that holds the attention of the reader. A very satisfying read, well recommended.
October 30, 2020
I'm not at all familiar with the game that this is based on or the other books it led to, but I really enjoyed Boneyard (Deadlands #3) by Seanan McGuire. Seanan McGuire has quickly become one of my favorites and I love her style of western fantasy horror. I need more of that genre combination in my life.
November 6, 2017
I received this as an e-book ARC in exchange for an honest review. And here goes honest:
I am a big fan of the RPG game Deadlands. I love books about circuses. Seanan MacGuire is a gifted writer. What could go wrong?
In this case, everything. This has to be one of the worst paint by numbers books I’ve ever read. I’ve read Game-based novels before and have never have encountered such a dispirited read.
The world is not fleshed out. Deadlands is a multifaceted world. If I didn’t know the world already I never would have been able to figure it out. MacGuire does it no justice.
This circus sounds like the most boring show on earth. We know there are wainwrights, we know there are seamstresses, we know there is a freak show and the main character Annie’s caravan of monsters. The rest, not so sure.
Annie has run away from an abusive marriage to a mad scientist. He’s a wuss when it comes down to it. There’s Annie’s daughter Adelaide, the most interesting character in the book. She actually does things that are brave an interesting. There’s a young couple, Martin and Sophia, who’s fate isn’t even mentioned in the closing pages of the novel.
Everything happens to Annie but she does let stuff get done for her. The denouement between Annie and her husband is done in less than 10 minutes and Annie is spared the hard decisions when monsters take matters out of her hands.
The writing style is choppy with lots of very short sentences. It’s mostly tell and no show. The text is repetitive. The “twists” are what I call “ass-pulls” because they come out of absolutely nowhere.
I can’t count the number of times I felt like throwing this book against the wall, exasperated.
What a waste of so many time and potential.
Read one of MacGuire’s other books, a Wayward Children book or a Toby Daye. Then you will understand why I was so utterly disappointed in this outing.
#netgalley
I am a big fan of the RPG game Deadlands. I love books about circuses. Seanan MacGuire is a gifted writer. What could go wrong?
In this case, everything. This has to be one of the worst paint by numbers books I’ve ever read. I’ve read Game-based novels before and have never have encountered such a dispirited read.
The world is not fleshed out. Deadlands is a multifaceted world. If I didn’t know the world already I never would have been able to figure it out. MacGuire does it no justice.
This circus sounds like the most boring show on earth. We know there are wainwrights, we know there are seamstresses, we know there is a freak show and the main character Annie’s caravan of monsters. The rest, not so sure.
Annie has run away from an abusive marriage to a mad scientist. He’s a wuss when it comes down to it. There’s Annie’s daughter Adelaide, the most interesting character in the book. She actually does things that are brave an interesting. There’s a young couple, Martin and Sophia, who’s fate isn’t even mentioned in the closing pages of the novel.
Everything happens to Annie but she does let stuff get done for her. The denouement between Annie and her husband is done in less than 10 minutes and Annie is spared the hard decisions when monsters take matters out of her hands.
The writing style is choppy with lots of very short sentences. It’s mostly tell and no show. The text is repetitive. The “twists” are what I call “ass-pulls” because they come out of absolutely nowhere.
I can’t count the number of times I felt like throwing this book against the wall, exasperated.
What a waste of so many time and potential.
Read one of MacGuire’s other books, a Wayward Children book or a Toby Daye. Then you will understand why I was so utterly disappointed in this outing.
#netgalley
October 20, 2017
The nitty-gritty: An action-packed and thrilling story that's got something for everyone: terrifying monsters, stolen children, evil scientists, and of course, a circus sideshow full of dangerous creatures. Welcome to the show!
You know me, I just can’t pass up a new book by Seanan McGuire! And so I immediately said “yes” when I was offered a copy of Boneyard , the latest novelization of the popular RPG franchise Deadlands . Not being a gamer myself, I was a little worried that I might not “get” or enjoy this, but I was DEAD wrong (insert groaning here). Although this is book #3 of the series, it’s not necessary to read the other books first. Boneyard is a self-contained story, and although I must admit there were a couple of areas where I thought I was missing out on some important back story descriptions, overall I can’t complain. Since I’m not familiar with the video game, I can’t comment on whether or not McGuire’s story captures the essence of the game, but I found it fast-paced and suspenseful, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself while reading it.
The story follows a small, close-knit group of circus performers, headed by circus owner Nathanial Blackstone. Annie Pearl is in charge of the “oddities” of the Blackstone Family Circus, mysterious but very dangerous creatures that Annie has found during their travels and brought together to form one of the most popular of the circus' attractions. Annie is accompanied by her young daughter Adeline, a mute girl who always seems to be sick. We learn early on that Annie was forced to flee from the hot and arid desert town of Deseret (although the reasons are vague and mysterious) and she and Adeline have been with the circus ever since.
As the season is winding down, Nathanial decides to squeeze in one last stop in a small town called The Clearing, way up north in the state of Oregon. But rumors are circulating about strange disappearances in The Clearing, and the circus folk are nervous. Not everyone wants to follow Nathanial to Oregon, but those who are desperate for one more opportunity to earn some coin agree to the long journey.
When they finally arrive, they discover a secluded village surrounded by a dark wood, and the “clearing” is literally a cleared out bowl-like space in the middle of the encroaching forest. The circus performers set up camp and get ready for the show, but they are met with distrust and an overall sense that they aren’t welcome. When disaster strikes, and Adeline goes missing, Annie will do everything in her power to find her little girl, even if it means braving the monster-filled woods to do so.
I loved the format of Boneyard . McGuire’s story is mostly a straightforward narrative, but it’s interspersed with “interludes” that take place in Deseret, told from the perspective of Annie’s estranged husband, Michael. These interludes slowly reveal just what happened to make Annie leave her husband, and the story gets creepier and creepier with each new piece of carefully doled-out information. I won’t tell you anything about what happened in Deseret, but believe me when I say Annie had a great reason for leaving, and an even better reason for stealing Adeline out from under Michael’s clutches. Boneyard has several mysteries running throughout the story, and this was one of my favorites.
The other big mystery revolves around the woods in The Clearing, which are home to several monstrous creatures. Once again, McGuire drops her clues at just the right time, building the tension until the reader is nearly ready to snap. I had a few “jump” moments while reading this book, which honestly doesn’t happen to me that often. During one tense scene, my daughter snuck into the bedroom while I was reading and I nearly had a heart attack! One of the monsters is based on a folkloric creature called the wendigo and used to great effect, and the other is a wolf-like creature that actually ended up helping our lost characters. Both creatures were terrifying in their own way and added a great deal of depth to the story.
You may be wondering when I’m going to mention the circus in this review, which the book cover clearly leads one to believe is the main focus of the story. And true, Boneyard describes circus life, especially Annie’s wagon full of oddities, in the first part of the story, but when the circus gets to Oregon, the focus abruptly changes to the mystery of the monsters in the woods and their weird connection to the townspeople of The Clearing. In fact, one of my criticisms of this story is that there wasn’t more focus on the circus. I loved the chapters that described Annie’s strange creatures, and how important it is for her to care properly for them to make sure they don’t escape their cages. But the scary pumpkin head creature on the book cover? It’s barely mentioned at all, and I really wanted to know more about it.
But McGuire’s got a lot of story to fit into just over 300 pages, and as usual she does an admirable job of it. It’s no wonder she doesn’t spend more time with the circus folk when there are evil scientists in the desert to deal with, in addition to all the horrors found in The Clearing and its surrounding woods. The only other negative for me was the inclusion of a romance between Annie and Nathanial, which I suppose might tug on some readers’ heartstrings, but for me it just seemed silly for the couple to stop and kiss when things are literally falling apart around them. What won’t seem silly is the fierce love and devotion that Annie feels for Adeline, and finding out why she’s mute, as well as learning about the circumstances surrounding her birth, were some of my favorite parts of the story.
I also want to briefly mention the interior black and white illustrations by Steve Ellis, which added a nice touch to the book. I know Deadlands is a series, but whether or not the stories are related is still a mystery to me. I know for certain, though, that I wouldn’t mind running into these characters again.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.This review originally appeared on Books, Bones & Buffy
“Run?” asked Annie. “Run where? The trees close in on all sides. If it’s the woods I need to fear, my fate is sealed.”
“Run until Oregon is only a memory,” said the stranger grimly. “It’s not the woods you should fear. It’s the things that walk in their shade. For those things are hungry beyond all measure, and they can never, never be satisfied.”
You know me, I just can’t pass up a new book by Seanan McGuire! And so I immediately said “yes” when I was offered a copy of Boneyard , the latest novelization of the popular RPG franchise Deadlands . Not being a gamer myself, I was a little worried that I might not “get” or enjoy this, but I was DEAD wrong (insert groaning here). Although this is book #3 of the series, it’s not necessary to read the other books first. Boneyard is a self-contained story, and although I must admit there were a couple of areas where I thought I was missing out on some important back story descriptions, overall I can’t complain. Since I’m not familiar with the video game, I can’t comment on whether or not McGuire’s story captures the essence of the game, but I found it fast-paced and suspenseful, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself while reading it.
The story follows a small, close-knit group of circus performers, headed by circus owner Nathanial Blackstone. Annie Pearl is in charge of the “oddities” of the Blackstone Family Circus, mysterious but very dangerous creatures that Annie has found during their travels and brought together to form one of the most popular of the circus' attractions. Annie is accompanied by her young daughter Adeline, a mute girl who always seems to be sick. We learn early on that Annie was forced to flee from the hot and arid desert town of Deseret (although the reasons are vague and mysterious) and she and Adeline have been with the circus ever since.
As the season is winding down, Nathanial decides to squeeze in one last stop in a small town called The Clearing, way up north in the state of Oregon. But rumors are circulating about strange disappearances in The Clearing, and the circus folk are nervous. Not everyone wants to follow Nathanial to Oregon, but those who are desperate for one more opportunity to earn some coin agree to the long journey.
When they finally arrive, they discover a secluded village surrounded by a dark wood, and the “clearing” is literally a cleared out bowl-like space in the middle of the encroaching forest. The circus performers set up camp and get ready for the show, but they are met with distrust and an overall sense that they aren’t welcome. When disaster strikes, and Adeline goes missing, Annie will do everything in her power to find her little girl, even if it means braving the monster-filled woods to do so.
I loved the format of Boneyard . McGuire’s story is mostly a straightforward narrative, but it’s interspersed with “interludes” that take place in Deseret, told from the perspective of Annie’s estranged husband, Michael. These interludes slowly reveal just what happened to make Annie leave her husband, and the story gets creepier and creepier with each new piece of carefully doled-out information. I won’t tell you anything about what happened in Deseret, but believe me when I say Annie had a great reason for leaving, and an even better reason for stealing Adeline out from under Michael’s clutches. Boneyard has several mysteries running throughout the story, and this was one of my favorites.
The other big mystery revolves around the woods in The Clearing, which are home to several monstrous creatures. Once again, McGuire drops her clues at just the right time, building the tension until the reader is nearly ready to snap. I had a few “jump” moments while reading this book, which honestly doesn’t happen to me that often. During one tense scene, my daughter snuck into the bedroom while I was reading and I nearly had a heart attack! One of the monsters is based on a folkloric creature called the wendigo and used to great effect, and the other is a wolf-like creature that actually ended up helping our lost characters. Both creatures were terrifying in their own way and added a great deal of depth to the story.
You may be wondering when I’m going to mention the circus in this review, which the book cover clearly leads one to believe is the main focus of the story. And true, Boneyard describes circus life, especially Annie’s wagon full of oddities, in the first part of the story, but when the circus gets to Oregon, the focus abruptly changes to the mystery of the monsters in the woods and their weird connection to the townspeople of The Clearing. In fact, one of my criticisms of this story is that there wasn’t more focus on the circus. I loved the chapters that described Annie’s strange creatures, and how important it is for her to care properly for them to make sure they don’t escape their cages. But the scary pumpkin head creature on the book cover? It’s barely mentioned at all, and I really wanted to know more about it.
But McGuire’s got a lot of story to fit into just over 300 pages, and as usual she does an admirable job of it. It’s no wonder she doesn’t spend more time with the circus folk when there are evil scientists in the desert to deal with, in addition to all the horrors found in The Clearing and its surrounding woods. The only other negative for me was the inclusion of a romance between Annie and Nathanial, which I suppose might tug on some readers’ heartstrings, but for me it just seemed silly for the couple to stop and kiss when things are literally falling apart around them. What won’t seem silly is the fierce love and devotion that Annie feels for Adeline, and finding out why she’s mute, as well as learning about the circumstances surrounding her birth, were some of my favorite parts of the story.
I also want to briefly mention the interior black and white illustrations by Steve Ellis, which added a nice touch to the book. I know Deadlands is a series, but whether or not the stories are related is still a mystery to me. I know for certain, though, that I wouldn’t mind running into these characters again.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.This review originally appeared on Books, Bones & Buffy
October 3, 2022
I didn’t know exactly what to expect with this book but it was fun. A weird western adventure horror.
September 20, 2021
Annie Pearl is the mistress of oddities for a travelling circus. The troupe are following rumors to The Clearing, an isolated village in Oregon that is supposedly very financially rewarding to entertainers who come out of the way. But there are also rumors that every so often visitors disappear.
This was friggin great! Perfect spook level, so atmospheric, and amazing characterization. This is really a brilliant story of the resilience of a woman, overcoming an abusive relationship, protecting her child, and having a connection with the broken and unwanted.
This was friggin great! Perfect spook level, so atmospheric, and amazing characterization. This is really a brilliant story of the resilience of a woman, overcoming an abusive relationship, protecting her child, and having a connection with the broken and unwanted.
January 17, 2025
I really, REALLY wanted to like this book. I love weird west, have always been intrigued by Deadlands (but never played it) and I find circuses fascinating, so when I saw this book I was immediately hooked on the concept. I quickly read the first two books just so I could get to it (not necessary but they were good). It started off strong, the setting brings you right in, and McGuire has a pretty good talent for descriptions and metaphor (albeit she can sometimes beat you over the head with them long after you get it).
Unfortunately, she can't seem to get out of the way of her own story, at least that's how it comes across knowing little about her. I didn't dislike the character Annie but she felt more like somebody's wish-fulfillment than character I was supposed to relate to. She's a flawless, strong beauty with a powerful animal companion who would do anything for her. Every 'horse girls' dream. I sympathized with her plight of escaping a tyrannical husband, but unfortunately it quickly became apparent that was about only note we were ever going to get. You see, Annie and her daughter are great and wonderful, but almost every other character (particularly the men) seems to want nothing from life but to covet or oppress her. It's like they know they're in a book and she's the main character. I don't believe I've ever heard the term "female gaze" before, but it feels oddly apropos.
I don't want to go into too much to avoid spoilers, but a few examples to prove I'm not just being unfair: Long after we've established her troubled past with her ex, a character she kinda trusts (and who has just been through something traumatic) grabs her arm, and we take a diversion to remind the read "She promised herself she would never allow a man to grab her". Ok, I get it. Then later a character describes a monster, who could be lurking nearby, as having large claws, and again we get a random diversion to remind us "Annie was familiar with the harmful hands of men, like those of her husband". Alright already, men bad, girl good.
One of the most egregious and silly examples however, was this long tangent she went on about how women are more familiar with death, because they risk it every time they sleep with a man and risk pregnancy, whereas men only _choose_ to play with death in their silly adventures. Now I would never make light of what pregnant women go through, especially before modern medicine, nor suggest they don't understand death, but this is just silly and pointless. It's bad enough to just downplay half the population, many of which die in their roles as protectors and providers, but the setting is literally called Deadlands... it's about a very dangerous alternative history where men and women are dying all the time, indiscriminately. Even outside the fictional version of event, it takes place during an extended version of the Civil War, where hundreds of thousands of men were dying through no fault of their own. I think a generous estimate is that about 2-3 women died per 100 births at this time, which is awful, but I doubt a character alive at this time would be so callous about the 1 in 6 men dying in battle, but maybe it shouldn't be a competition at all. Maybe get the anachronistic chip off your shoulder and just tell a good story.
Anyway, the story manages to somehow be disappointing and yet predictable. It quickly moves away from the circus theme I so looked forward to and into a more general horror, but sadly at the time it was written, the horror themes used were already a bit played out by better sources (and I won't say which to give it away, but you'll probably be able to think of a few). All in all, I found that I enjoyed Ghostwalker more, which is unfortunate since it was by no means perfect and I only read it because I was so excited to get to Boneyard. Great idea, failed in execution.
Unfortunately, she can't seem to get out of the way of her own story, at least that's how it comes across knowing little about her. I didn't dislike the character Annie but she felt more like somebody's wish-fulfillment than character I was supposed to relate to. She's a flawless, strong beauty with a powerful animal companion who would do anything for her. Every 'horse girls' dream. I sympathized with her plight of escaping a tyrannical husband, but unfortunately it quickly became apparent that was about only note we were ever going to get. You see, Annie and her daughter are great and wonderful, but almost every other character (particularly the men) seems to want nothing from life but to covet or oppress her. It's like they know they're in a book and she's the main character. I don't believe I've ever heard the term "female gaze" before, but it feels oddly apropos.
I don't want to go into too much to avoid spoilers, but a few examples to prove I'm not just being unfair: Long after we've established her troubled past with her ex, a character she kinda trusts (and who has just been through something traumatic) grabs her arm, and we take a diversion to remind the read "She promised herself she would never allow a man to grab her". Ok, I get it. Then later a character describes a monster, who could be lurking nearby, as having large claws, and again we get a random diversion to remind us "Annie was familiar with the harmful hands of men, like those of her husband". Alright already, men bad, girl good.
One of the most egregious and silly examples however, was this long tangent she went on about how women are more familiar with death, because they risk it every time they sleep with a man and risk pregnancy, whereas men only _choose_ to play with death in their silly adventures. Now I would never make light of what pregnant women go through, especially before modern medicine, nor suggest they don't understand death, but this is just silly and pointless. It's bad enough to just downplay half the population, many of which die in their roles as protectors and providers, but the setting is literally called Deadlands... it's about a very dangerous alternative history where men and women are dying all the time, indiscriminately. Even outside the fictional version of event, it takes place during an extended version of the Civil War, where hundreds of thousands of men were dying through no fault of their own. I think a generous estimate is that about 2-3 women died per 100 births at this time, which is awful, but I doubt a character alive at this time would be so callous about the 1 in 6 men dying in battle, but maybe it shouldn't be a competition at all. Maybe get the anachronistic chip off your shoulder and just tell a good story.
Anyway, the story manages to somehow be disappointing and yet predictable. It quickly moves away from the circus theme I so looked forward to and into a more general horror, but sadly at the time it was written, the horror themes used were already a bit played out by better sources (and I won't say which to give it away, but you'll probably be able to think of a few). All in all, I found that I enjoyed Ghostwalker more, which is unfortunate since it was by no means perfect and I only read it because I was so excited to get to Boneyard. Great idea, failed in execution.
July 25, 2025
Monsters of the forest and the lab
Boneyard is the third novel in the Deadlands Series, based on the RPG of the same name. This is not, in my experience, a promising origin for a novel, but in my quest to read all of Seanan McGuire's fiction, I read it. I have not read and do not intend to read any other books in the series (or to play the game). Since this is book 3, I have undoubtedly missed out on some world-building. Here's what I gather from Boneyard: the series takes place in an alt history world in which the Mormons managed to establish a technological empire in Deseret (what we call Utah) based in part on the uses of a substance called ghost rock. Most of that, as it turns out, is not very important to this installment.
Despite its ominous sound, the word "boneyard" refers to a commonplace thing. When a traveling carnival stops in a town, in addition to the rides and shows they set up a support camp where the carnies can live, get fed, etc. This camp is called the boneyard. It is usually intended to be private -- townies are not welcome in the boneyard. Boneyard takes place in a traveling carnival, and most of the characters are members of The Blackstone Family Circus and Travelling Wonder Show. (Readers familiar with McGuire's work will not be surprised. In her biosketches she has described herself as having grown up in the carnival, and carnivals appear frequently in her novels.)
Blackstone is in trouble as the story begins. The Great Plains are suffering through bad times, and the next two towns on Blackstone's route have just canceled. Without the income from those two towns, Blackstone will not survive the winter, so Hal Blackstone and his carnies are forced to contemplate desperate solutions. Hal has heard of a town in the forests of Oregon called The Clearing. Most shows that go there report near-paradisiacal conditions, but there are rumors that some vanish mysteriously.
Well, you can guess what this means. There are monsters in the Oregon forest. That is so predictable I'm not even going to label it a spoiler. . In addition, there is a danger chasing our heroine Annie Pearl from Deseret.
It's satisfyingly scary -- a pretty good horror novel. It all wraps up in a mostly satisfying conclusion that suffers a bit from Dei ex Machina. Not by any means the best of McGuire's work -- it lacks the humor that make her best novels so much fun. But also not the worst.
Blog review.
Boneyard is the third novel in the Deadlands Series, based on the RPG of the same name. This is not, in my experience, a promising origin for a novel, but in my quest to read all of Seanan McGuire's fiction, I read it. I have not read and do not intend to read any other books in the series (or to play the game). Since this is book 3, I have undoubtedly missed out on some world-building. Here's what I gather from Boneyard: the series takes place in an alt history world in which the Mormons managed to establish a technological empire in Deseret (what we call Utah) based in part on the uses of a substance called ghost rock. Most of that, as it turns out, is not very important to this installment.
Despite its ominous sound, the word "boneyard" refers to a commonplace thing. When a traveling carnival stops in a town, in addition to the rides and shows they set up a support camp where the carnies can live, get fed, etc. This camp is called the boneyard. It is usually intended to be private -- townies are not welcome in the boneyard. Boneyard takes place in a traveling carnival, and most of the characters are members of The Blackstone Family Circus and Travelling Wonder Show. (Readers familiar with McGuire's work will not be surprised. In her biosketches she has described herself as having grown up in the carnival, and carnivals appear frequently in her novels.)
Blackstone is in trouble as the story begins. The Great Plains are suffering through bad times, and the next two towns on Blackstone's route have just canceled. Without the income from those two towns, Blackstone will not survive the winter, so Hal Blackstone and his carnies are forced to contemplate desperate solutions. Hal has heard of a town in the forests of Oregon called The Clearing. Most shows that go there report near-paradisiacal conditions, but there are rumors that some vanish mysteriously.
Well, you can guess what this means. There are monsters in the Oregon forest. That is so predictable I'm not even going to label it a spoiler. . In addition, there is a danger chasing our heroine Annie Pearl from Deseret.
It's satisfyingly scary -- a pretty good horror novel. It all wraps up in a mostly satisfying conclusion that suffers a bit from Dei ex Machina. Not by any means the best of McGuire's work -- it lacks the humor that make her best novels so much fun. But also not the worst.
Blog review.
October 19, 2017
https://lynns-books.com/2017/10/16/bo...
I think, having read a few of Seanan McGuire’s novels now, I can safely say that she has a wonderful ability to write about the dark, the different and the downright creepy. So, given that I love the dark and the different loving this book wasn’t really a surprise. Plus, there’s just something so right about reading a creepy book at this time of the year isn’t there?
The Deadlands series is based on a RPG of the same name that brings together a strange combination of the wild west, steampunk and horror. I have no idea what the game is like to be totally honest or how the books relate to it but I’ve read the first and now the third book and so can safely say that (1) there’s clearly plenty of material to go on (2) this is the weird, weird West; and (3) these books can all be read as standalones – although the completist in me is crying out to go and pick up No.2 now and I’ll have to do so otherwise it will just nag and worry at me.
The Boneyard brings to us The Circus. Who can resist the circus really? It promises delights at the same time as it promises something dark and mysterious, something dangerous maybe, and The Blackstone Family Circus and Travelling Wonder Show is no exception. It has it’s very own collection of oddities. A caravan full of the wondrous and unusual, run by the secretive Annie Pearl. As the story begins we’re given to understand that this year the Circus is down on it’s luck. It’s almost the end of the season and the coffers that keep everyone going during the leaner months just don’t stack up this year. There’s nothing else for it – the Circus needs one more visit – the Clearing, an unusual place, set in the forests of Oregon. The Clearing has it’s own strange stories – people who go to the Clearing don’t always return, but the people there pay well to be entertained and needs must when the devil vomits in your kettle, food doesn’t just put itself on the table after all.
The first part of the story is a little bit slower paced, but I really enjoyed it because McGuire takes the time to establish the main characters. The primary focus is of course on Annie, she has a past that she’s running away from, the detail of which is steadily revealed, and she makes for fascinating reading. A wonderful character to be honest, McGuire excels at drawing her characters in such a believable way that you almost feel like you know them personally. Annie is travelling with her young daughter Adeline. Adeline cannot speak or make any sounds although she was perfectly capable of doing so as a newborn baby. Her father seems to be something of a monster (definitely gave me Frankenstein vibes), he had a plan that involved Adeline but Annie stole her away and has been on the run ever since.
I don’t want to go over the top about the characterisation but I have to just say that McGuire is a wonder at writing relationships such as the mother and daughter one displayed here. It’s probably what makes her books so appealing to me because her characters are flawed, they’re not always capable of doing everything by themselves, they just feel ‘real’, she has a way of expressing emotions and feelings that is absolutely spot on. Of course, she also delivers some other very appealing traits involving folklore, fairytales, dark forests, monsters, shadows and other things from your worst nightmares.
Two things that I must throw a mention in for are the forest – which is almost like a character in itself. Surrounding the Clearing with it’s statuesque trees it feels sometimes as though it’s closing in, looming, if you will in an almost claustrophobic fashion. The shadows seem to have a life of their own, they feel menacing and almost invasive, and all of this makes for an overall impression of being trapped, being watched, being stalked. The second thing – Annie’s caravan of novelties. I loved this. I have a clear picture in my mind’s eye. Huge poisonous pit wasps, killer spiders whose natural anatomy includes a skull on the back! Piranha like fish that are always hungry, but, my absolute favourite – this strange corn husk critter with a pumpkin head – this one gave me the serious heebie-jeebies – given the chance it would plant itself into the body of a corpse – so that’s now inside my brain ready and willing to cause nightmares! This caravan of oddities, seriously, I loved it. And, the absolute best, not an oddity at all, a lynx cat that has been with Annie for many years. I loved that lynx.
Basically as the story progresses the ante is upped with two storylines set to crash together in a most dramatic fashion.
So, any criticisms. Nothing that spoiled the read at all for me. I guess in some ways the two storylines felt almost a bit superfluous – like The Clearing would have been simply enough by itself, but, I’m thinking that’s probably linked to some element of the game and, seriously, I’m not going to complain about an over abundance of things to entertain me. The horror side of things – it’s got some gruesome and scary elements to the story but if you’re seriously into horror then I don’t expect it will scare you.
I really enjoyed this, a very entertaining read that feels perfect as the nights draw in.
I received a copy through Netgalley courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
I think, having read a few of Seanan McGuire’s novels now, I can safely say that she has a wonderful ability to write about the dark, the different and the downright creepy. So, given that I love the dark and the different loving this book wasn’t really a surprise. Plus, there’s just something so right about reading a creepy book at this time of the year isn’t there?
The Deadlands series is based on a RPG of the same name that brings together a strange combination of the wild west, steampunk and horror. I have no idea what the game is like to be totally honest or how the books relate to it but I’ve read the first and now the third book and so can safely say that (1) there’s clearly plenty of material to go on (2) this is the weird, weird West; and (3) these books can all be read as standalones – although the completist in me is crying out to go and pick up No.2 now and I’ll have to do so otherwise it will just nag and worry at me.
The Boneyard brings to us The Circus. Who can resist the circus really? It promises delights at the same time as it promises something dark and mysterious, something dangerous maybe, and The Blackstone Family Circus and Travelling Wonder Show is no exception. It has it’s very own collection of oddities. A caravan full of the wondrous and unusual, run by the secretive Annie Pearl. As the story begins we’re given to understand that this year the Circus is down on it’s luck. It’s almost the end of the season and the coffers that keep everyone going during the leaner months just don’t stack up this year. There’s nothing else for it – the Circus needs one more visit – the Clearing, an unusual place, set in the forests of Oregon. The Clearing has it’s own strange stories – people who go to the Clearing don’t always return, but the people there pay well to be entertained and needs must when the devil vomits in your kettle, food doesn’t just put itself on the table after all.
The first part of the story is a little bit slower paced, but I really enjoyed it because McGuire takes the time to establish the main characters. The primary focus is of course on Annie, she has a past that she’s running away from, the detail of which is steadily revealed, and she makes for fascinating reading. A wonderful character to be honest, McGuire excels at drawing her characters in such a believable way that you almost feel like you know them personally. Annie is travelling with her young daughter Adeline. Adeline cannot speak or make any sounds although she was perfectly capable of doing so as a newborn baby. Her father seems to be something of a monster (definitely gave me Frankenstein vibes), he had a plan that involved Adeline but Annie stole her away and has been on the run ever since.
I don’t want to go over the top about the characterisation but I have to just say that McGuire is a wonder at writing relationships such as the mother and daughter one displayed here. It’s probably what makes her books so appealing to me because her characters are flawed, they’re not always capable of doing everything by themselves, they just feel ‘real’, she has a way of expressing emotions and feelings that is absolutely spot on. Of course, she also delivers some other very appealing traits involving folklore, fairytales, dark forests, monsters, shadows and other things from your worst nightmares.
Two things that I must throw a mention in for are the forest – which is almost like a character in itself. Surrounding the Clearing with it’s statuesque trees it feels sometimes as though it’s closing in, looming, if you will in an almost claustrophobic fashion. The shadows seem to have a life of their own, they feel menacing and almost invasive, and all of this makes for an overall impression of being trapped, being watched, being stalked. The second thing – Annie’s caravan of novelties. I loved this. I have a clear picture in my mind’s eye. Huge poisonous pit wasps, killer spiders whose natural anatomy includes a skull on the back! Piranha like fish that are always hungry, but, my absolute favourite – this strange corn husk critter with a pumpkin head – this one gave me the serious heebie-jeebies – given the chance it would plant itself into the body of a corpse – so that’s now inside my brain ready and willing to cause nightmares! This caravan of oddities, seriously, I loved it. And, the absolute best, not an oddity at all, a lynx cat that has been with Annie for many years. I loved that lynx.
Basically as the story progresses the ante is upped with two storylines set to crash together in a most dramatic fashion.
So, any criticisms. Nothing that spoiled the read at all for me. I guess in some ways the two storylines felt almost a bit superfluous – like The Clearing would have been simply enough by itself, but, I’m thinking that’s probably linked to some element of the game and, seriously, I’m not going to complain about an over abundance of things to entertain me. The horror side of things – it’s got some gruesome and scary elements to the story but if you’re seriously into horror then I don’t expect it will scare you.
I really enjoyed this, a very entertaining read that feels perfect as the nights draw in.
I received a copy through Netgalley courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
June 30, 2023
I usually love wendigo lore and books/ movies/ etc that deal with them. I wanted to enjoy this book so badly and kept telling myself that it would get really good any moment now.
But my goodness I just could not get into it, though I feel so bad about this rating.
But my goodness I just could not get into it, though I feel so bad about this rating.
October 21, 2018
First, I should say that I read this knowing nothing about the world of the RPG in which this book is set, but I did not in any way feel like that meant I was missing anything. This book can be read completely as a stand-alone.
I enjoyed the story and Annie was an interesting character. However, even if it was a full length novel, for some reason I only feel about as attached to the character(s) as I would usually do after a short story. Maybe this has something to do with there being very little dialogue and character interaction in the book... It's very introspective, and full of long descriptive passages that do an excellent job of creating a creepy atmosphere, but did very little in regards to making me form a connection with the characters. For me, characters that pull me in and make me feel what they're feeling are the most important aspect of a book - that's just my personal preference. So, even if the writing was beautiful and beautifully creepy/atmospheric, it doesn't really feel like more than a 3 star read to me. The fact that I thought about giving it 4 stars anyway - despite my lack of attachment to the character(s) - should be enough to tell you that this story is still well worth reading, though.
I enjoyed the story and Annie was an interesting character. However, even if it was a full length novel, for some reason I only feel about as attached to the character(s) as I would usually do after a short story. Maybe this has something to do with there being very little dialogue and character interaction in the book... It's very introspective, and full of long descriptive passages that do an excellent job of creating a creepy atmosphere, but did very little in regards to making me form a connection with the characters. For me, characters that pull me in and make me feel what they're feeling are the most important aspect of a book - that's just my personal preference. So, even if the writing was beautiful and beautifully creepy/atmospheric, it doesn't really feel like more than a 3 star read to me. The fact that I thought about giving it 4 stars anyway - despite my lack of attachment to the character(s) - should be enough to tell you that this story is still well worth reading, though.
October 17, 2017
I received an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review from NetGalley.
I will be totally honest and say that Deadlands: Boneyard is not my cup of tea. I am not familiar with the Deadlands RPG system that the books are based around, but I don’t think that affected my overall enjoyment of the book.
McGuire does weird well, and she seamlessly blends circuses, mad scientists, steampunk, and the wild, wild wilderness in Oregon. She builds a cohesive world and interesting characters. My issue is the plot.
There are no holes, dangling threads but boy is it slow to start. I’ve read a lot of McGuire’s writing (just about everything I can get my hands on) and a slow start isn’t atypical for her, but Deadlands: Boneyard was the first where I struggled with the slow start. McGuire spends the first four chapters of the book just setting the scene. It isn’t until part of the way through the fourth chapter does the plot start to finally take shape. Once it gets going, she builds and maintains tension with skill making Deadlands: Boneyard a perfect October, pre-Halloween read.
McGuire’s writing is lyrical and descriptive, though she does sometimes get lost in metaphorical descriptions it does make for a nice turn of phrase.
If the wild, weird West is your kind of thing, Deadlands: Boneyard will be your kind of book.
I will be totally honest and say that Deadlands: Boneyard is not my cup of tea. I am not familiar with the Deadlands RPG system that the books are based around, but I don’t think that affected my overall enjoyment of the book.
McGuire does weird well, and she seamlessly blends circuses, mad scientists, steampunk, and the wild, wild wilderness in Oregon. She builds a cohesive world and interesting characters. My issue is the plot.
There are no holes, dangling threads but boy is it slow to start. I’ve read a lot of McGuire’s writing (just about everything I can get my hands on) and a slow start isn’t atypical for her, but Deadlands: Boneyard was the first where I struggled with the slow start. McGuire spends the first four chapters of the book just setting the scene. It isn’t until part of the way through the fourth chapter does the plot start to finally take shape. Once it gets going, she builds and maintains tension with skill making Deadlands: Boneyard a perfect October, pre-Halloween read.
McGuire’s writing is lyrical and descriptive, though she does sometimes get lost in metaphorical descriptions it does make for a nice turn of phrase.
If the wild, weird West is your kind of thing, Deadlands: Boneyard will be your kind of book.
October 27, 2019
I feel like I should put these at the top this time around 'cause, you know, horror book.
Content warnings:
Ooooh, that was creepy. Creepy, spooky, bloody, monster-y fun. I read the first 200-ish pages in basically one sitting. Would highly recommend. (Would also suggest a "haunted forest" ambient noise track while you read.)
It's good even if you're unfamiliar with the game, too - this is the first Deadlands thing I've ever come into contact with and I had no problem keeping up, it just reads like a slightly steampunk alternate-history book.
The one element I find iffy is the use of as one of the main villains/monsters. It feels uncomfortably appropriative and I'm honestly surprised Seanan would do that.
Content warnings:
Ooooh, that was creepy. Creepy, spooky, bloody, monster-y fun. I read the first 200-ish pages in basically one sitting. Would highly recommend. (Would also suggest a "haunted forest" ambient noise track while you read.)
It's good even if you're unfamiliar with the game, too - this is the first Deadlands thing I've ever come into contact with and I had no problem keeping up, it just reads like a slightly steampunk alternate-history book.
The one element I find iffy is the use of as one of the main villains/monsters. It feels uncomfortably appropriative and I'm honestly surprised Seanan would do that.
October 26, 2020
This was just a whole lot of pulpy good fun! I'm so glad I saved this for the last of the month! How could I not with a cover like that? EVIL PUMPKIN DUDE!
Boneyard is an atmospheric tale about the Blackstone Family Circus and those who inhabit it. Set in the weird west, it's based on the RPG "Deadlands". Not having played the game didn't detract from my enjoyment any, as far as I could tell.
Mad scientists! Oddities! Monsters! Creepy kids! A haunted forest! SEANAN MCGUIRE!
Giving myself permission to leave this as my full review, because I've got a million things going on and not every book needs a word vomit emotional deep dive!
::she says, already a ball of anxiety, worried about not completing something:: Just breathe, Holly. Just breathe.
Boneyard is an atmospheric tale about the Blackstone Family Circus and those who inhabit it. Set in the weird west, it's based on the RPG "Deadlands". Not having played the game didn't detract from my enjoyment any, as far as I could tell.
Mad scientists! Oddities! Monsters! Creepy kids! A haunted forest! SEANAN MCGUIRE!
Giving myself permission to leave this as my full review, because I've got a million things going on and not every book needs a word vomit emotional deep dive!
::she says, already a ball of anxiety, worried about not completing something:: Just breathe, Holly. Just breathe.
June 29, 2018
4.5 stars. I’ve never played the Deadlands games before and I doubt I will. That being said, I’ll give any book about the circus/carnivals a try and I’ll read anything written by Seanan McGuire, so Boneyard was a no brainer read for me. It was a really intriguing mix of vintage sideshow with fantasy and horror elements and just a bit of steampunk. Incredibly well written (like everything McGuire writes) with captivating characters, an interesting story line and unique supernatural elements.
October 13, 2017
I’ve read all of Seanan McGuire’s novels and so very many of her numerous short stories. She has certain themes that she’ll hit over and over. For instance, she like seasonal monarchs, Snow White, mermaids, and circuses or carnivals. (In fact, my next review will be for Into the Drowning Deep, a Mira Grant joint about mermaids)! A few of her short stories have been set in a circus and they’ve been some of my favorites. The most recent Incryptid novel has Antimony undercover in a circus and it’s a blast.
All this preamble brings us to Boneyard. This novel is set in the Deadlands or Weird West RPG world. I don’t know anything about that, but I will read anything Ms. McGuire publishes so here I am! This was a very creepy story of a traveling circus and focuses on the oddities wrangler, Annie Pearl and her mute daughter, Adeline. The circus needs the money from one more stop so they can get through the winter. They end up in The Clearing, Oregon. And here is where all the creep comes in. Everything is mysterious in the best Old West way and I won’t give it away.
Overall, this was an interesting and moving story in addition to being creepy and awesomely “Seanan.” The characters are all drawn well and will make you love (or love to hate) them. The story is as always for Ms. McGuire, well written and paced. I enjoyed this immensely even if I didn’t get the underlying Deadlands stuff.
ARC provided by NetGalley and Tor for review.
All this preamble brings us to Boneyard. This novel is set in the Deadlands or Weird West RPG world. I don’t know anything about that, but I will read anything Ms. McGuire publishes so here I am! This was a very creepy story of a traveling circus and focuses on the oddities wrangler, Annie Pearl and her mute daughter, Adeline. The circus needs the money from one more stop so they can get through the winter. They end up in The Clearing, Oregon. And here is where all the creep comes in. Everything is mysterious in the best Old West way and I won’t give it away.
Overall, this was an interesting and moving story in addition to being creepy and awesomely “Seanan.” The characters are all drawn well and will make you love (or love to hate) them. The story is as always for Ms. McGuire, well written and paced. I enjoyed this immensely even if I didn’t get the underlying Deadlands stuff.
ARC provided by NetGalley and Tor for review.
October 10, 2023
This was absolutely outstanding! A fast paced horror thriller about a circus doing battle with Wendigo's in the Weird West.
This one got me surprisingly emotional by the end, high recommendation.
This one got me surprisingly emotional by the end, high recommendation.
October 15, 2017
Electronic ARC provided by NetGalley.
This is one of the only Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant books so far that just hasn't quite worked for me. I'm not entirely sure why, because I love the idea of a main character who is a single mom traveling with a carnival. The writing is strong, as I would expect from McGuire, and the characters are once again refreshingly diverse. I'm not familiar with the Deadlands setting, so it's possible that I would have been more engaged if I understood more about the world, although at the same time I feel like Boneyard stands well on its own. I didn't feel like I was missing major pieces of the story while reading. It's also possible that I just hit this book at the wrong time. I had just read three new McGuire/Grant books in a row and so I may have just been ready to break it up with something else.
While Boneyard didn't quite work for me I would still recommend that people who are generally interested in McGuire's writing (or in the Deadlands setting) give it a try.
This is one of the only Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant books so far that just hasn't quite worked for me. I'm not entirely sure why, because I love the idea of a main character who is a single mom traveling with a carnival. The writing is strong, as I would expect from McGuire, and the characters are once again refreshingly diverse. I'm not familiar with the Deadlands setting, so it's possible that I would have been more engaged if I understood more about the world, although at the same time I feel like Boneyard stands well on its own. I didn't feel like I was missing major pieces of the story while reading. It's also possible that I just hit this book at the wrong time. I had just read three new McGuire/Grant books in a row and so I may have just been ready to break it up with something else.
While Boneyard didn't quite work for me I would still recommend that people who are generally interested in McGuire's writing (or in the Deadlands setting) give it a try.
October 31, 2017
I received this novel from Macmillan-Tor/Forge through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review: my thanks to all of them for this opportunity.
As a fan of author Seanan McGuire, I could not let myself miss this new book that promised to be something different from her usual Urban Fantasy offerings: from GoodReads I learned that the Deadlands book series is derived from a role-playing game, and since I know nothing of the gaming world I wondered if this might have somehow prevented me from fully enjoying the story, but I should not have worried because Boneyard walks quite surely on its own legs and what’s more it’s the kind of story that draws you in and does not let you come up for air until the end. Which is hardly surprising at all, since it’s Seanan McGuire we’re talking about after all and, no matter how biased this might sound, her craft as a storyteller is such that she can draw you in and keep you there, not in spite of the darkness and the fear, but because in her hands these elements can become as mesmerizing as more light-hearted ones.
What’s more, the story’s background is set in the Wild West, in the era of bold settlers forging their way over uncharted territory to build a new life, but with the added spice of a supernatural/horror theme (and some steampunk elements as well): what could be more attractive, particularly since I read the book in the days just before Halloween? For this very reason I decided that posting this review today would be quite appropriate 🙂
The story in short: the Blackstone Family Circus faces some difficult decisions, since winter is approaching and the show has not gathered enough income with their tour to survive comfortably during the cold season, so they are debating whether to accept a potentially remunerative gig in the Oregon settlement of the Clearing, a place where some companies are rumored to have reaped good earnings while others suffered unexplainable losses. Annie Pearl is the keeper of the “oddities”, bizarre and often deadly creatures that she gathered all over the country, like the nibblers – piranha-like fish cursed with perpetual hunger and terrible teeth that jut “out at all angles, making it impossible for the fish to feed without biting themselves”: Annie has been with the circus for several years, and we soon learn that she escaped with her mute daughter Adeline from the house of her worse-than-abusive husband, and has been hiding with the circus ever since. Once the company reaches the Clearing, a bowl-like hollow surrounded by a dense, strangely looming forest, they find the settlers less than welcoming and prone to bizarre behavior, to say the least.
The very first night after their arrival, the circus people find themselves fighting fire, nightmarish predatory creatures and the hostile indifference of the townies, and it falls on Annie – desperately searching for Adeline in the treacherous woods – to uncover the Clearing’s horrible secrets while also facing the long-dreaded return of her husband Michael bent on reclaiming what he considers his properties. The main action develops over that long, horror-filled night that seems to go on forever, both for the characters and in the reader’s perception: to call this a compulsive read would indeed be the understatement of the century…
On the surface Boneyard is a story about horror and the supernatural, focused on surviving in a hostile environment that’s splendidly represented by the forest surrounding the Clearing, a place where trees seem to possess a life of their own and a malicious will, and shadows can take shape and form, pressing on the unwary travelers to sap their energy and life. Yet, on a deeper level, it’s a tale about facing one’s fears and refusing to succumb to them, about never giving in to despair to the point it might consume us: the legend of the wendigo that’s so skillfully employed here is indeed a case in point, where the hunger-stricken colonists give in to their deprivation and become the beast, devoured by a craving for flesh that can never be sated because it goes beyond the mere material plane and ends destroying one’s soul.
Annie has indeed been hiding for a long time, her sole goal that to protect Adeline: she left her home town of Deseret with literally only the clothes on her back, her infant daughter and the lynx Tranquility and we see through the artfully inserted interludes what she left behind – a man whose unwavering faith in science and in his god-given right to own her, body and soul, reveal him as a true monster. Despite her need for concealment, however, Annie has grown stronger: caring for the “oddities” in her wagon she has learned to master different kinds and levels of fear and when push comes to shove she understands that she needs to take survival into her own hands and be the aggressor so that she will not become the victim. Her example helps others find their own courage and the will to fight against the darkness: in this young Martin and his girlfriend Sophia are wonderful examples of timid people who, once faced with the prospect of annihilation, prefer to go down fighting rather than cower in fear waiting for the monsters to kill them.
The other great element of this story is the unstated but always present question about the nature of monsters and how the worst of them always start in human form: the wendigo I already quoted looks like a nightmarish beast, its appearance nothing but the outward manifestation of the shadier, more horrifying sides of our soul; the inhabitants of the Clearing have accepted the price to be paid to the flesh-eating creatures in the woods turning into willing accomplishes, even the younger among them – as shown by the kids who willfully send Adeline into the woods knowing what might find her. The worst monster however remains Michael Murphy, Annie’s husband, whose depths of depravity and madness I will refrain from describing, leaving this discovery to my fellow readers.
By comparison, the creatures that Annie shows to the paying customers, the “oddities” meant to engender fear and revulsion, end up looking like friendly beings, the danger they represent merely coming from inescapable nature and not from the exertion of a twisted will – and their contribution to the story’s development does nothing but reinforce this notion, particularly in the case of Tranquility the lynx, who deserves a special mention.
Once more Seanan McGuire reveals her skills as writer, offering us a gripping story and some unforgettable characters: no matter the tale she chooses to reveal, rest assured that it will be an amazing experience.
Originally posted at SPACE and SORCERY BLOG
As a fan of author Seanan McGuire, I could not let myself miss this new book that promised to be something different from her usual Urban Fantasy offerings: from GoodReads I learned that the Deadlands book series is derived from a role-playing game, and since I know nothing of the gaming world I wondered if this might have somehow prevented me from fully enjoying the story, but I should not have worried because Boneyard walks quite surely on its own legs and what’s more it’s the kind of story that draws you in and does not let you come up for air until the end. Which is hardly surprising at all, since it’s Seanan McGuire we’re talking about after all and, no matter how biased this might sound, her craft as a storyteller is such that she can draw you in and keep you there, not in spite of the darkness and the fear, but because in her hands these elements can become as mesmerizing as more light-hearted ones.
What’s more, the story’s background is set in the Wild West, in the era of bold settlers forging their way over uncharted territory to build a new life, but with the added spice of a supernatural/horror theme (and some steampunk elements as well): what could be more attractive, particularly since I read the book in the days just before Halloween? For this very reason I decided that posting this review today would be quite appropriate 🙂
The story in short: the Blackstone Family Circus faces some difficult decisions, since winter is approaching and the show has not gathered enough income with their tour to survive comfortably during the cold season, so they are debating whether to accept a potentially remunerative gig in the Oregon settlement of the Clearing, a place where some companies are rumored to have reaped good earnings while others suffered unexplainable losses. Annie Pearl is the keeper of the “oddities”, bizarre and often deadly creatures that she gathered all over the country, like the nibblers – piranha-like fish cursed with perpetual hunger and terrible teeth that jut “out at all angles, making it impossible for the fish to feed without biting themselves”: Annie has been with the circus for several years, and we soon learn that she escaped with her mute daughter Adeline from the house of her worse-than-abusive husband, and has been hiding with the circus ever since. Once the company reaches the Clearing, a bowl-like hollow surrounded by a dense, strangely looming forest, they find the settlers less than welcoming and prone to bizarre behavior, to say the least.
The very first night after their arrival, the circus people find themselves fighting fire, nightmarish predatory creatures and the hostile indifference of the townies, and it falls on Annie – desperately searching for Adeline in the treacherous woods – to uncover the Clearing’s horrible secrets while also facing the long-dreaded return of her husband Michael bent on reclaiming what he considers his properties. The main action develops over that long, horror-filled night that seems to go on forever, both for the characters and in the reader’s perception: to call this a compulsive read would indeed be the understatement of the century…
On the surface Boneyard is a story about horror and the supernatural, focused on surviving in a hostile environment that’s splendidly represented by the forest surrounding the Clearing, a place where trees seem to possess a life of their own and a malicious will, and shadows can take shape and form, pressing on the unwary travelers to sap their energy and life. Yet, on a deeper level, it’s a tale about facing one’s fears and refusing to succumb to them, about never giving in to despair to the point it might consume us: the legend of the wendigo that’s so skillfully employed here is indeed a case in point, where the hunger-stricken colonists give in to their deprivation and become the beast, devoured by a craving for flesh that can never be sated because it goes beyond the mere material plane and ends destroying one’s soul.
Annie has indeed been hiding for a long time, her sole goal that to protect Adeline: she left her home town of Deseret with literally only the clothes on her back, her infant daughter and the lynx Tranquility and we see through the artfully inserted interludes what she left behind – a man whose unwavering faith in science and in his god-given right to own her, body and soul, reveal him as a true monster. Despite her need for concealment, however, Annie has grown stronger: caring for the “oddities” in her wagon she has learned to master different kinds and levels of fear and when push comes to shove she understands that she needs to take survival into her own hands and be the aggressor so that she will not become the victim. Her example helps others find their own courage and the will to fight against the darkness: in this young Martin and his girlfriend Sophia are wonderful examples of timid people who, once faced with the prospect of annihilation, prefer to go down fighting rather than cower in fear waiting for the monsters to kill them.
The other great element of this story is the unstated but always present question about the nature of monsters and how the worst of them always start in human form: the wendigo I already quoted looks like a nightmarish beast, its appearance nothing but the outward manifestation of the shadier, more horrifying sides of our soul; the inhabitants of the Clearing have accepted the price to be paid to the flesh-eating creatures in the woods turning into willing accomplishes, even the younger among them – as shown by the kids who willfully send Adeline into the woods knowing what might find her. The worst monster however remains Michael Murphy, Annie’s husband, whose depths of depravity and madness I will refrain from describing, leaving this discovery to my fellow readers.
By comparison, the creatures that Annie shows to the paying customers, the “oddities” meant to engender fear and revulsion, end up looking like friendly beings, the danger they represent merely coming from inescapable nature and not from the exertion of a twisted will – and their contribution to the story’s development does nothing but reinforce this notion, particularly in the case of Tranquility the lynx, who deserves a special mention.
Once more Seanan McGuire reveals her skills as writer, offering us a gripping story and some unforgettable characters: no matter the tale she chooses to reveal, rest assured that it will be an amazing experience.
Originally posted at SPACE and SORCERY BLOG
Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews