The Shape of Rain

The Newirth Mythology #3

by Michael B. Koep

Michael B. Koepʼs final installment in The Newirth Mythology Trilogy brings a psychologist face to face with his greatest fear: madness. On the other side of the world, a professor of mythology struggles to interpret a sudden shift in the historical timeline, the mysterious discovery of the ruins of an ancient city and the anomalous nature of Locheʼs writing.

Discredited mythology professor, Astrid Finnley believes gods and immortals once battled for a place in Creation--for a place of their own on the earth. When she is summoned to a secret archeological dig site in Northern Idaho to translate an ancient script, she uncovers an unthinkable nightmare: a woman buried alive--for over a thousand years.

Psychologist Loche Newirthʼs assassination is ordered to prevent him from rewriting history. But his former mentor, Dr. Marcus Rearden wants him alive to torture, to command, to control. When Loche discovers his son is also a target, he flees, pursuing a lead that promises to end what his writing has started. Instead, the path vaults him back to the prehistory of his story--to a time when a venomous army of gods lay siege to the City of Immortals, and his little boy stands in the balance.


The Newirth Mythology Trilogy is a wholly original, imaginative and remarkably inventive approach to the thriller genre. Koep's final installment, The Shape of Rain is a poetic, action packed and existential page turner that will leave you haunted and wowed.

Genres: Fantasy

688 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2018

About the author

Michael B. Koep has been a college educator, an international touring musician and a dynamite waiter. He is a swordsman, an avid world traveler, a visual artist, and a professional rock drummer. He has climbed the pyramids of Giza, fenced an Italian master and has done battle with the infamous North Korean propaganda loudspeakers by aiming a massive PA across the DMZ and taking a drum solo. He is known as a drummer and lyricist for progressive rock group KITE , as well as the percussionist for the rock power trio The RUB. Michael is a winner of a Costello Poetry Prize and the award winning author of The Newirth Mythology. His next book GIGMENTIA: A Drummer's Love Song to Rock Shows, Fatherhood, Writing, and the Passing of a Beloved Mom releases in July, 2023. He lives in North Idaho with with his family in a house filled with books, vinyl records, paint brushes, maps and musical instruments.

Reviews

[Amy Bruestle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
5 stars!!!!!

🚨 *******SPOILER 🚨 ALERT******* 🚨

Another wonderful book, the last book, of this amazing trilogy! As far as content, I personally think this was the best book of all of them! I had a much harder time putting it down than I did the previous two books. The way it all came together was great! Oh, and the end....I kept saying to myself “I know Edwin is alive! He has to be alive! They must’ve killed someone else and no one knew because of the mask the person was wearing!” So when Loche is reunited with Edwin at the end, that was awesome! Also, another one of my favorite parts was how instead of Loche being the author of the red notebook, it was Queen Yafarra! What a cool twist! All in all, a wonderful book, a wonderful series, and WONDERFUL characters! I’m not going to lie, I am a bit sad that it is over...but with all good stories, it must end. I would rather it end now with the perfect ending it had than to have it be drawn out for the sake of fans and then become too complicated or not have the impact it does currently.

Lastly, I cannot say it enough!! I am SOOOO grateful to have learned about the giveaway section on Goodreads! It was there that I first came across “The Invasion Of Heaven” - Book #1 of this trilogy - and entered and won the book. If it weren’t for that, I know there is no way that I would have ever stumbled upon nor heard of this series! Plus, this isn’t even my genre forte either! I have learned so much from reading different books and genres that I would have otherwise never known existed by entering these giveaways! Of course they still have to sound somewhat interesting for me to enter them, I don’t just enter them all,but since they are free, I am way more likely to reach out of my comfort zone and try something new than I would be had I had to pay for it, for fear I would be wasting my money because I would end up not liking the book. Anyways, now that I have rambled enough, I’m just going to shut up now. Lol.

[Viking Jam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Publishing Date: October 2018

Publisher: Will Dreamly

ISBN: 9780997623420

Genre: SciFi? Fantasy?

Rating: DNF

Publisher’s Description: Discredited mythology professor Astrid Finnley believes gods and immortals once battled for a place in creation. When she is summoned to a secret archaeological dig site in Northern Idaho to translate an ancient script, she uncovers an unthinkable nightmare: a woman buried alive for over a thousand years. Meanwhile, titular psychologist Loche Newirth – the author of prophetic writings that are changing the course of history – is in mortal (and perhaps immortal) danger. With his former mentor attempting to torture, command and control him, Newirth must face a new threat. He discovers that his son is also a target. To right all that has seemed to go so wrong, he chooses a path that ultimately takes him back to a time when a venomous army of gods lay siege to the City of Immortals.

Review: As evidenced by the amount of time I put into crafting review templates so you, the reader, can have a cogent if not biased opinion on novels you are considering. I do not DNF novels lightly. I consider many aspects of this choice, boredom being right up there with writing inability.

In fairness since the author lives in Coeur d'Alene and I am FROM there, I will attempt once more down the road a bit to read this in it’s entirety. For now, no thanks.

[Dorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shape of Rain
(The Newirth Mythology-Part 3)
By Michael B. Koep
2018
will dreamly arts

Brilliant!! Absolutely amazing!! An adventurous, wonderfully twisted, perfectly crafted thriller about love-fear-madness-murder-prophecy-art and history.
Psychologist Loch Newirth is on the run when he realizes that it is not just him they are hunting, but also his young son, they follow leads that may help them end the madness the diaries he has kept have started. They want him to rewrite histories timeline. Meanwhile, his mentor, Marcus Reardon wants to keep him alive, for his own reasons.
"Truth in the stories contain power-as long as the population believes them. Immense power."
Newirth finds himself taken back to a prehistoric time of bloody Gods and the City Of Immortals, Wyn Avuqua and their queen, Yafarra.
"A missing, a longing, a need that can only be defined by the shape of rain, the weight of tears, the measure between love and endings."
Koeps ability to take the reader into alternative worlds,on a journey of mind and spirit is unique and wonderfully done. I was drawn into the history and culture of Wyn Avuqua, the Itonalya Tomb and Thi.
Unique and well worth reading. Highly recommend this series. Its unforgettable.

[abdulia ortiz-perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from Smith Publicity Publishers for honest Review.
This is the first time me reading anything from this author. Wish I new about him. This is book 3 of the trilogy. So need to read book 1 and 2 now.


This book is an all-nighter, thoroughly engaging, thought-provoking, and cleverly keeps you guessing throughout with many unexpected twists, leaving you begging for more. New author Michael Koep has laid the groundwork for a thrilling and suspenseful trilogy. His writing style is enticing and unique, drawing the reader in from the beginning. I loved this book! It is smart, creative and has characters that make you love them. I found Keop's way of dealing with the subject matter to be very intelligent and unique. Would recommend this to anyone looking for a good read.


What a great read! This had me hooked from the beginning. What a Rollercoaster! The sitting, theme, and the Characters had me pulled so in. Everything was well put together and it was just perfect. This novel would have you guess and thinking all the way to the end. What a great thrill and suspense. I love a great suspense that would have me think and guessing. This novel did just that to me. To the point that am wrong. When the ending comes am on shock. I wouldn't of never believe or guess. Like OMG!

[J.M. Cavender · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth a read as soon as you finish the other two books in the #NewirthMythology series! Koep really doesn't give you a chance to settle down in this book - there is something going on at all times, it seems.
Loved it! I am adding him to my list of favorite and talented authors in the adult fantasy/paranormal section!

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately this is part of a series (I didn't understand it) and it was a bit hard to understand the plot at the beginning.
It's a good story, enjoyable and entertaining.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

[J.D. DeHart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blending mythology, history, and the classic elements of a thriller, this book gives us a main character to root for and threats that drive the plot onward.

Highly entertaining fiction.

[Sil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book blew my mind a few times. Great writing.

[Brenda Knight]

Once I started reading this series, (The Newirth Mythology), I knew I couldn't stop! I absolutely had to get the entire series so I could read right through it. I was mesmerized by the concept, the story, the characters, the world building, all of it. I won book 2, Leaves of Fire, from a Goodreads Firstreads giveaway. I knew I had to start with book 1, The Invasion of Heaven, so I did not want to begin reading book 2 first. Several months later, I won book 1 in the series again, from Goodreads. Now all I had to do was remember where I put book 2. It did not take me very long to locate. I started reading book 1 and absolutely could not put it down. Then I started reading book 2 and knew I had to get my hands on book 3, The Shape of Rain, ASAP. I did not foresee my luck holding out for winning the 3rd book of the trilogy, especially since I had not yet seen a giveaway for book 3, and it had been available for purchase for a while. Thank goodness for Amazon.com! I was able to purchase a used copy of book 3 for a price within my limited budget.
A huge "Thank you!" to the author, Michael B. Koep for signing the Goodreads giveaway copies. I will treasure them always.
Just a note to readers: Book 3 is a very large volume. Read it anyway. You will not get bored and every page is necessary to complete the story as written in books 1 & 2. Book 3 could've been broken down to be Book's 3 & 4, but the author started out writing a trilogy, so he completed the series in 3 books.
Bottom line, I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a really good fantasy or new mythology story. You will not be disappointed.

[Brent Soderstrum · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the 3rd book, and final, book from the Newirth Mythology series. This is without a doubt the weirdest book series I have ever read. This behemoth of a series ender consisted of basically two stories. In one Astrid Finnely investigates the grounds where gods and immortals battled-which just so happen to be in Northern Idaho. This also happens to give her academic life credibility. She had spent her entire career studying mythology hoping against hope that it could be real. She finds out that it is.

The second story gathers all the characters from the past two books and goes back and forth in time, and geographically to flesh out the previous stories and tie them to what Astrid is discovering. Keep in mind all of this was created by the mind of Loche Newirth. He wrote it and it became real. Through in his child, Edwin, who is really God and you have a weird ending to a weird series.

Koep is a good storyteller. This just wasn't for me. The final book was huge. I kept hoping it would end which isn't a good sign.

[Chloe Edwards · Rating 2 out of 5]

The third and newest book in the series, The Shape of Ruin was actually my least favourite unfortunately. I really liked the aspects that it explored, the madness that Locke was so scared of in particular. The historical periods within this book were my favourite and I did really like Astrid, she saved this book for me a little bit. This whole series is very fast paced, there is always something happening. The writing, especially in this book was very poetic and I do like Koeps writing style and I think if he wrote something a bit different I would definitely like to try it!

(Taken from my blog)

[Kristian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished. Wow. It is a fascinating book and very cool series. Things change up constantly and although it is a thick book, it reads rather quickly. There is a very nice place. The author does state in the Afterward that there was a lot to tie up. Now that I know the story I will return to the first book soon to really look at the details. There are over a hundred pages of notes and information in the back of his book. Excellent job. Will definitely read it again.

[CDWB · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm Reading the Series again!

This is the last book in the trilogy and I'm sad because I can't just pick up the next book. Michael is an absolute genius in the way he can weave a story plus remembering everything that happened in prior books. I was just blown away reading his last book. He took you from 1010 a.d to the here and now effortlessly. These are books to be savored, read again and again, and just marvel at his storytelling.

[Harley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5

This series finale was wonderful. I can't say much without spoilers, but this book just keeps giving.

I did have to dock it half a point because the first half of the book feels a bit slow, although all the content of the first half really sets up the second.

The ending was perfect. Some strings tied up, others left up to the readers judgement.