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Obsidian Heart #3
The Wraiths of War: Obsidian Heart book 3
Not yet published
Expected 2 Jan 79Alex Locke is desperately trying to hold onto the disparate threads of the complex web of time he has created. He travels to the First World War, living through the horrors of trench warfare in order to befriend a young soldier crucial to his story; then to the 1930s to uncover the secrets of a mysterious stage magician. He moves back and forth in time, always with the strange and terrifying Dark Man on his heels, gradually getting closer to uncovering the true nature of his destiny with the obsidian heart.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 14, 2016
11 people are currently reading
386 people want to read
About the author
Mark Morris
133 books239 followersLibrarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Mark Morris became a full-time writer in 1988 on the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, and a year later saw the release of his first novel, Toady. He has since published a further sixteen novels, among which are Stitch, The Immaculate, The Secret of Anatomy, Fiddleback, The Deluge and four books in the popular Doctor Who range.
His short stories, novellas, articles and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of anthologies and magazines, and he is editor of the highly-acclaimed Cinema Macabre, a book of fifty horror movie essays by genre luminaries, for which he won the 2007 British Fantasy Award.
His most recently published or forthcoming work includes a novella entitled It Sustains for Earthling Publications, a Torchwood novel entitled Bay of the Dead, several Doctor Who audios for Big Finish Productions, a follow-up volume to Cinema Macabre entitled Cinema Futura and a new short story collection, Long Shadows, Nightmare Light.
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Mark Morris became a full-time writer in 1988 on the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, and a year later saw the release of his first novel, Toady. He has since published a further sixteen novels, among which are Stitch, The Immaculate, The Secret of Anatomy, Fiddleback, The Deluge and four books in the popular Doctor Who range.
His short stories, novellas, articles and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of anthologies and magazines, and he is editor of the highly-acclaimed Cinema Macabre, a book of fifty horror movie essays by genre luminaries, for which he won the 2007 British Fantasy Award.
His most recently published or forthcoming work includes a novella entitled It Sustains for Earthling Publications, a Torchwood novel entitled Bay of the Dead, several Doctor Who audios for Big Finish Productions, a follow-up volume to Cinema Macabre entitled Cinema Futura and a new short story collection, Long Shadows, Nightmare Light.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
July 9, 2018
This is the third book in the series.
Book one was intriguing. An urban fantasy conspiracy horror thriller. A man is thrown around circumstance and being chased by a mysterious organisation. Book two, our protagonist starts becoming a lot more proactive, and we find out the rules of time travel, and the grandfather paradox.
This book starts off well. The cliff hanger from the previous book is dealt with a little too easily, but then we're back to Alex actually doing stuff, if not to get his daughter back, at least to make sure what has to happen happens. But then the whole grandfather paradox constrains things. It gives the impression that Alex might as well have simply sat and waited for whatever is destined to happen.
Some of the plot elements from the previous books are not satisfactorily explained. What was the nature of the apparitions of Lyn? How did the heart turn up when and where it did? But the main one is the inconsistency of time travel. Can time be changed? If not how did the alternative Alex go back and warn himself to hand over the to The Dark Man? Was there a timeline where he didn't? Why is that different from every other event in the series? If he can change time, couldn't he make things better than the horrors he saw? Save many of the people who were killed?
Book one was intriguing. An urban fantasy conspiracy horror thriller. A man is thrown around circumstance and being chased by a mysterious organisation. Book two, our protagonist starts becoming a lot more proactive, and we find out the rules of time travel, and the grandfather paradox.
This book starts off well. The cliff hanger from the previous book is dealt with a little too easily, but then we're back to Alex actually doing stuff, if not to get his daughter back, at least to make sure what has to happen happens. But then the whole grandfather paradox constrains things. It gives the impression that Alex might as well have simply sat and waited for whatever is destined to happen.
Some of the plot elements from the previous books are not satisfactorily explained. What was the nature of the apparitions of Lyn? How did the heart turn up when and where it did? But the main one is the inconsistency of time travel. Can time be changed? If not how did the alternative Alex go back and warn himself to hand over the to The Dark Man? Was there a timeline where he didn't? Why is that different from every other event in the series? If he can change time, couldn't he make things better than the horrors he saw? Save many of the people who were killed?
January 15, 2017
Following on from The Society of Blood, The Wraiths of War is the third and final novel in the Obsidian Hearts series that sees the reader follow our main protagonist, Alex Locke, as he attempts to find his missing daughter, uncover the secrets behind the obsidian heart, and figure out why he has been chosen to travel back and forth in time. The Wraiths of War brings this series to its conclusion, answering all those questions you’ve been asking yourself since the beginning, and uncovering the truth behind the Dark Man and Alex Locke’s involvement with the Wolves of London.
I have to admit that I found The Wraiths of War my favourite out of the three books. I found myself more drawn to this final novel as all of my questions were answered and everything finally made a lot of sense. This whole series can be a bit confusing at times with the time travelling and the many variations of Alex Locke turning up in different time periods at different ages. In this final novel, Locke continues to question his involvement and frequently comments on the consequences of his actions should he just let time continue without his involvement. It also brings into question the decision between what is right and wrong when he brings Frank into the future and away from his untimely death in World War One.
Yet again, Morris brings to this novel a lot of research though, in this case, with World War One. We are taken to prominent battlefields and made aware of the trench systems on both sides of the war, as well as given an insight into the overall morale on both sides. This is a key part of this series that I really enjoyed: the realism that is portrayed through Morris’s research into these time periods. It also shows the naivety of people, such as myself, who aren’t aware of some of the specifics from these periods which he also instills into Alex Locke who also didn’t fully understand the ways of living at those times.
I really loved the concept of this series and it is one I would recommend to fans of Mark A. Latham and his Apollonian Case Files series (and vice versa). I found many similarities between the two which gave me a nice sense of nostalgia for that series.
I have to admit that I found The Wraiths of War my favourite out of the three books. I found myself more drawn to this final novel as all of my questions were answered and everything finally made a lot of sense. This whole series can be a bit confusing at times with the time travelling and the many variations of Alex Locke turning up in different time periods at different ages. In this final novel, Locke continues to question his involvement and frequently comments on the consequences of his actions should he just let time continue without his involvement. It also brings into question the decision between what is right and wrong when he brings Frank into the future and away from his untimely death in World War One.
Yet again, Morris brings to this novel a lot of research though, in this case, with World War One. We are taken to prominent battlefields and made aware of the trench systems on both sides of the war, as well as given an insight into the overall morale on both sides. This is a key part of this series that I really enjoyed: the realism that is portrayed through Morris’s research into these time periods. It also shows the naivety of people, such as myself, who aren’t aware of some of the specifics from these periods which he also instills into Alex Locke who also didn’t fully understand the ways of living at those times.
I really loved the concept of this series and it is one I would recommend to fans of Mark A. Latham and his Apollonian Case Files series (and vice versa). I found many similarities between the two which gave me a nice sense of nostalgia for that series.
April 3, 2019
As enjoyable a reading experience as this was, I can't help feeling it was all a bit...pointless?
The first book did well to set up the story and leave me wanting more. The second book felt purely incidental, and the third, while addressing a number of the loose ends from book 1, ended really weakly - answering the big questions in the final few pages - and leaving the big question unanswered! The question of the dark man I'd answered myself somewhere in book 2, so I was hoping that I'd be wrong and that maybe would have improved the experience with a big surprise.
So in essence; worth a read as it's well written, but if you like complete closure it might be a waste of your time.
The first book did well to set up the story and leave me wanting more. The second book felt purely incidental, and the third, while addressing a number of the loose ends from book 1, ended really weakly - answering the big questions in the final few pages - and leaving the big question unanswered! The question of the dark man I'd answered myself somewhere in book 2, so I was hoping that I'd be wrong and that maybe would have improved the experience with a big surprise.
So in essence; worth a read as it's well written, but if you like complete closure it might be a waste of your time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2024
Reviewing the series as a whole here rather than just the third book as it is all fundamentally one story just split into three parts.
In summary it's not bad, but it isn't great either. I'm a big fan of timey-wimey pre-destination shenanigans in general and the Obsidian Heart trilogy is built on this and it's interesting to see such a story with a protagonist who is genre-savvy enough to both discuss and exploit it. The flip side though is that in keeping with that as a central theme the "twists" in the series were insanely easy to guess for anyone familiar with such stories and at points it felt frustrating to wait for the eventual reveal, especially when you can tell the author is dragging out the last few moments before it to try and make it land harder. Sorry mate but I worked *that* out about a book ago, just get on with it.
Which brings me to the main criticism I have of the books - the pacing. Mark Morris clearly has a talent for descriptive prose (the description of Frank's patient despatching of the rat in the trenches is a great example) but there's points in the story where events are unfurling at a rapid pace but the prose bogs the whole thing down in excess verbiage and it makes it feel like wading through treacle. Or descriptions of nightmarish creatures that end up reading like a shopping list rather than pumping the adrenaline.
And the same goes for the broader picture of the plot, the non-linear structure effectively means that the "final" confrontation of the story takes place in the second book rather than the third, which I'm fine with because the time-travel aspect gives plenty of scope for things to happen "after" that. But despite the author's constant reassurances (via the narrator) to us that it's not over etc etc the vast bulk of book 3 is spent backfilling the various stable time loops set up in the previous two. The principal antagonist makes a less than handful of appearances and only one of those even vaguely qualifies as a confrontation, and one of them is an oddly out-of-character exposition dump from him that screams of Morris having realised that he's running out of book and needs to answer the question of who the Dark Man is or he'll get lynched by his editor and readers.
So the end result is that stakes are super-low throughout Book 3, even the horrors of WWI are reduced to our hero marking time until he can tick off the item on his time-traveller's TODO list and just when it looks like things might taking a turn for the interesting with the whole zombie thing the main character pulls a Bill-and-Ted manoeuvre and his future self rocks up to solve it with a metaphorical wave of their hand and that plot thread is just snipped off never to be revisited. But hey at least it let us get back to the really interesting discussion of mud and various odours.
This isn't the only time something interesting gets left to die on the vine - the "apparition" of Lynn that popped up several times during the first two books? It just stops and is never explained or developed further. The creation and fates of the various Wolves of London? Nada. We get a cameo appearance from some of them during the climax of the third book but even the exposition-heavy denouement gives them nothing more than a sentence stating that the Dark Man "made them" and shrug of "don't know what happened to them" from Alex at the end. Dr Bishop? Nothing there either, it's just another item on Future!Alex's TODO list and one that isn't covered.
The same goes for 90% of the heart's powers that we see or are hinted at in the books. Narrator!Alex is never shown learning them or using them beyond the bare minimum - he uses it to time travel and to resurrect(ish) Frank, that's it. Maybe Morris was worried about having it become too much of a trump card for Alex if he just went around wielding the heart to solve all his problem but I still feel a bit short-changed there.
Ok, enough complaining. I'm still giving 3 stars here, so what did I like? I loved the concept, The characters were great: Alex - I loved seeing an everyman thrust way out of his comfort zone with no wise mentor figure to guide him on his first steps into a world of magic and mystery. His interactions with his various elder selves are always good value. At points he's petulant, whiny, and just plain tired, but he's also capable of great compassion, loyalty and selflessness. Clover was great too, and I though Morris did a great job of walking that fine line - keeping her behaviour plausible in the moment but also remaining true to how she would act given her real identity as Future!Kate. Present!Kate too, despite only appearing in relatively few scenes was well done, a child character that felt like a child rather than a miniature adult. For all my grumbling about orphaned plot threads earlier I was a fan of not explaining the full nature and origins of the heart itself, we got some fun to think about teases and that was enough. Some things are truly best left to the reader's imagination.
Am I glad I read (well, listened to via Audible) the Obsidian Heart trilogy? Yes, it was flawed but worthwhile. Would I recommend it? Maybe not, I like intricately constructed webs of time and non-linear cause and effect for their own sake, but I'm a bit of a weirdo. So I'd be wary of recommending this to anyone who didn't share my particular interests.
In summary it's not bad, but it isn't great either. I'm a big fan of timey-wimey pre-destination shenanigans in general and the Obsidian Heart trilogy is built on this and it's interesting to see such a story with a protagonist who is genre-savvy enough to both discuss and exploit it. The flip side though is that in keeping with that as a central theme the "twists" in the series were insanely easy to guess for anyone familiar with such stories and at points it felt frustrating to wait for the eventual reveal, especially when you can tell the author is dragging out the last few moments before it to try and make it land harder. Sorry mate but I worked *that* out about a book ago, just get on with it.
Which brings me to the main criticism I have of the books - the pacing. Mark Morris clearly has a talent for descriptive prose (the description of Frank's patient despatching of the rat in the trenches is a great example) but there's points in the story where events are unfurling at a rapid pace but the prose bogs the whole thing down in excess verbiage and it makes it feel like wading through treacle. Or descriptions of nightmarish creatures that end up reading like a shopping list rather than pumping the adrenaline.
And the same goes for the broader picture of the plot, the non-linear structure effectively means that the "final" confrontation of the story takes place in the second book rather than the third, which I'm fine with because the time-travel aspect gives plenty of scope for things to happen "after" that. But despite the author's constant reassurances (via the narrator) to us that it's not over etc etc the vast bulk of book 3 is spent backfilling the various stable time loops set up in the previous two. The principal antagonist makes a less than handful of appearances and only one of those even vaguely qualifies as a confrontation, and one of them is an oddly out-of-character exposition dump from him that screams of Morris having realised that he's running out of book and needs to answer the question of who the Dark Man is or he'll get lynched by his editor and readers.
So the end result is that stakes are super-low throughout Book 3, even the horrors of WWI are reduced to our hero marking time until he can tick off the item on his time-traveller's TODO list and just when it looks like things might taking a turn for the interesting with the whole zombie thing the main character pulls a Bill-and-Ted manoeuvre and his future self rocks up to solve it with a metaphorical wave of their hand and that plot thread is just snipped off never to be revisited. But hey at least it let us get back to the really interesting discussion of mud and various odours.
This isn't the only time something interesting gets left to die on the vine - the "apparition" of Lynn that popped up several times during the first two books? It just stops and is never explained or developed further. The creation and fates of the various Wolves of London? Nada. We get a cameo appearance from some of them during the climax of the third book but even the exposition-heavy denouement gives them nothing more than a sentence stating that the Dark Man "made them" and shrug of "don't know what happened to them" from Alex at the end. Dr Bishop? Nothing there either, it's just another item on Future!Alex's TODO list and one that isn't covered.
The same goes for 90% of the heart's powers that we see or are hinted at in the books. Narrator!Alex is never shown learning them or using them beyond the bare minimum - he uses it to time travel and to resurrect(ish) Frank, that's it. Maybe Morris was worried about having it become too much of a trump card for Alex if he just went around wielding the heart to solve all his problem but I still feel a bit short-changed there.
Ok, enough complaining. I'm still giving 3 stars here, so what did I like? I loved the concept, The characters were great: Alex - I loved seeing an everyman thrust way out of his comfort zone with no wise mentor figure to guide him on his first steps into a world of magic and mystery. His interactions with his various elder selves are always good value. At points he's petulant, whiny, and just plain tired, but he's also capable of great compassion, loyalty and selflessness. Clover was great too, and I though Morris did a great job of walking that fine line - keeping her behaviour plausible in the moment but also remaining true to how she would act given her real identity as Future!Kate. Present!Kate too, despite only appearing in relatively few scenes was well done, a child character that felt like a child rather than a miniature adult. For all my grumbling about orphaned plot threads earlier I was a fan of not explaining the full nature and origins of the heart itself, we got some fun to think about teases and that was enough. Some things are truly best left to the reader's imagination.
Am I glad I read (well, listened to via Audible) the Obsidian Heart trilogy? Yes, it was flawed but worthwhile. Would I recommend it? Maybe not, I like intricately constructed webs of time and non-linear cause and effect for their own sake, but I'm a bit of a weirdo. So I'd be wary of recommending this to anyone who didn't share my particular interests.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 28, 2016
If you've read the first 2 you'll need to read this but you'll be glad it's over boring
Easy to skip read 70% of this book get through get to the end know what happens and hope he doesn't write anymore about this long winded story that could have been one book
Easy to skip read 70% of this book get through get to the end know what happens and hope he doesn't write anymore about this long winded story that could have been one book
March 8, 2018
This is the conclusion of Alex Locke's adventures through time. I've spent a good amount of my own time travelling with 'Alex' wondering if the trilogy would reach a satisfying conclusion. I'm delighted to say it does, or at least did so for me. Despite one or two loose ends -- much of which could be explained by the possibilities of time travel and simply not knowing what might be possible in the future -- I put the book down with a smile wanting to revisit Alex Locke's world again and re-read this at some point now knowing all that I guessed and all that I learned.
Any series, whether a trilogy or longer, can require patience, can require reading the whole before it's possible to give any sort of true critique. Time travel stories usually tie me up in knots, make me frustrated and the reading (or viewing) experience almost painful, all of which keeps me on tenterhooks more than any other type of story -- the dreadful need to correct a timeline and the possible disastrous consequences of failure. There were moments like that in this book, though I never felt a need to hurry when reading this. I was as happy to enjoy Alex's quieter periods in his life as well as the more exhausting ones. Perhaps the most suspenseful moments in the 3rd book are when Alex has to face trench warfare (as stated in the blurb, so this is not a spoiler). What Mark Morris has written…well, I'm sure almost any accounting of war tends to fall short of reality, but he's certainly tried to express the horrors.
I've read several of Mark Morris's books but the Obsidian Heart trilogy feels like something he was destined to write, I applaud the work that must have been involved tying all the timelines together, and the three books will be among my book collection for a good long time.
Any series, whether a trilogy or longer, can require patience, can require reading the whole before it's possible to give any sort of true critique. Time travel stories usually tie me up in knots, make me frustrated and the reading (or viewing) experience almost painful, all of which keeps me on tenterhooks more than any other type of story -- the dreadful need to correct a timeline and the possible disastrous consequences of failure. There were moments like that in this book, though I never felt a need to hurry when reading this. I was as happy to enjoy Alex's quieter periods in his life as well as the more exhausting ones. Perhaps the most suspenseful moments in the 3rd book are when Alex has to face trench warfare (as stated in the blurb, so this is not a spoiler). What Mark Morris has written…well, I'm sure almost any accounting of war tends to fall short of reality, but he's certainly tried to express the horrors.
I've read several of Mark Morris's books but the Obsidian Heart trilogy feels like something he was destined to write, I applaud the work that must have been involved tying all the timelines together, and the three books will be among my book collection for a good long time.
February 18, 2021
Unfortunately predictable. I'd worked out the big twist in the first book, and the other twist in the second book. There was a third twist I didn't expect and the book wasn't terrible, but it kind of takes the fun out of the whole thing when you're just flipping the pages waiting for it to get to the reveal that you know is coming. It's like reading a book you've read before.
It felt like a big chunk of the book was spent stuck on one particular scene, going into massive amounts of detail.
There were also massive inconsistencies and plot holes that never got answered, things that the author just chose to push under the carpet in hopes that all would be forgiven when the big finale comes along - for me the big finale just wasn't worth it. In my opinion, the first two books were much more interesting.
It felt like a big chunk of the book was spent stuck on one particular scene, going into massive amounts of detail.
There were also massive inconsistencies and plot holes that never got answered, things that the author just chose to push under the carpet in hopes that all would be forgiven when the big finale comes along - for me the big finale just wasn't worth it. In my opinion, the first two books were much more interesting.
May 14, 2017
The final book in the series - and it was great. All the questions that were brought up in the first 2 books are answered in this one. While i guessed a couple of the twists - they were just guesses. I liked how the author tried to throw me off a little, but it all still made sense.
The best bit for me was the World War 1. I loved how the author described what was happening and how Alex was coping with it.
All in all, i really enjoyed this book and it completed the series completely for me.
The best bit for me was the World War 1. I loved how the author described what was happening and how Alex was coping with it.
All in all, i really enjoyed this book and it completed the series completely for me.
January 14, 2020
I think I understand what happened in this book. Obviously I can’t say without spoilers but know that time travel is a very complicated topic to write about. By the end of the book, Alex knows who he is, what his fate is, if Kate is safe and who The Dark Man is. I hadn’t worked a lot of it out which was good so the ending was a surprise in many ways.
February 22, 2023
2.5 stars rounded up for series points and the ending...
I liked the series overall and the ending was excellent. And I loved listening to all three books from my favourite narrator Ben Onwukwe.
The story as before is very contemplative which does impact any action. I must confess I had to fast-forward some parts because of over-explanation to get to the last 20% of the book which captured my attention once more.
Overall, I liked the series and the ideas explored but it did get bogged down in 'what ifs' and psychological torment (that I didn't care to share!).
I liked the series overall and the ending was excellent. And I loved listening to all three books from my favourite narrator Ben Onwukwe.
The story as before is very contemplative which does impact any action. I must confess I had to fast-forward some parts because of over-explanation to get to the last 20% of the book which captured my attention once more.
Overall, I liked the series and the ideas explored but it did get bogged down in 'what ifs' and psychological torment (that I didn't care to share!).
June 29, 2019
Well I thought it would end the way it did, no big surprise really. I found the part written in the trenches very moving, but also felt as though the author wanted to write a book on the war, so used this as a filler. No surprises on the ending, slightly disappointing.
January 9, 2021
Awesome. Once again all the time travel scrambled my egg brains a bit and all of the characters were difficult to keep track of, but a superb ending to a great trilogy. Even managed to surprise me when I thought I had everything figured out.
November 3, 2021
The last in a trilogy. The other books in the series where really exciting and full of surprises. In using this, the third book, to clear things up and finish the tale the author failed to keep the mystery and drama up sufficiently.
A bit disappointing.
A bit disappointing.
August 9, 2017
The series has got better with each book.
May 30, 2018
Loved this series and this last instalment wraps the story up, makes total sense and is a satisfying conclusion...............I think?
May 8, 2020
Please see my review at https://www.audible.co.uk/listener/A2...
May 21, 2020
Really enjoyed the end for this trilogy. Still trying to work out every time travel experience. Lots of fun!
February 18, 2021
So disappointing. Underwhelming and predictable twists. Nothing is of any consequence. Last chapter is good and almost convinced me to give it three stars.
February 27, 2021
I had hoped for more. A lot of things just got left unexplained and the big reveal wasn't a shocker to me.
Read
September 21, 2021I am not the biggest fan of the ending, but it's not terrible.
September 29, 2021
This book is the third in a series of 3 books. It ties up the story well. Really all three books are one story and must be read together.
February 19, 2023
Amazing at the start.. the ending too..the middle was okay..overall a good read!
July 26, 2023
That was a very satisfying ending. Loved it.
October 1, 2023
The finale to a great series. The ending of this book for me left way more questions than answers which I didn’t much appreciate, but still a great read and a great series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2017
Well, that was trippy. My brain feels melty. SO MANY PARADOXES. SO MANY FUTURE SELVES. AHHHH.
November 30, 2021
I didn't find this story as convincing as the earlier two, and was left rather unsatisfied by the conclusion and the 'big reveal'. The sections set during ww1 were well done, but a little distracting. A solid series, just the ending left me feeling a little 'meh'.
November 6, 2016
I have to say, I saw the ending coming. But that didn't detract from the enjoyment, such was Morris' skill with the delivery.
I've read all three books in the trilogy; the first (The Wolves of London) - reflecting poor Alex's experiences - had an air of confused terror. Like Alex, the reader is bounced all over the place, not really knowing what's going on or how to deal with it.
Book two (The Society of Blood) was - for me - a bit of a hiatus, the way middle books in a series often are.
This one is a jigsaw puzzle.
I found the first third of the book pretty hard going; given the setting, I thought it could have done with a bit more feeling: the narrative was just a bit too detached. However, after that, it picked up. Alex is learning more about how the heart operates, and closer (he hopes) to finding his kidnapped daughter. On the one hand, this reduces the terror level: Alex is figuring things out, and he's more in control of events. On the other hand, what we lose in panic, we gain in pure intellectual pleasure.
Morris' vision of time travel ignores a lot of the conventions used by other authors to make things less confusing. Morris just dumps the whole plate of spaghetti into your lap, sauce and all, and expects you to cope with the resulting mess. It must have taken a certain amount of authorly courage to do it. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Alex figuring it out, and working alongside him, waiting to see if I turned out to be right. A bit like a whodunnit, the clues are all there, if you look for them.
And when you finally get to the end, there's that happy feeling of putting the last jigsaw piece in place.
I've read all three books in the trilogy; the first (The Wolves of London) - reflecting poor Alex's experiences - had an air of confused terror. Like Alex, the reader is bounced all over the place, not really knowing what's going on or how to deal with it.
Book two (The Society of Blood) was - for me - a bit of a hiatus, the way middle books in a series often are.
This one is a jigsaw puzzle.
I found the first third of the book pretty hard going; given the setting, I thought it could have done with a bit more feeling: the narrative was just a bit too detached. However, after that, it picked up. Alex is learning more about how the heart operates, and closer (he hopes) to finding his kidnapped daughter. On the one hand, this reduces the terror level: Alex is figuring things out, and he's more in control of events. On the other hand, what we lose in panic, we gain in pure intellectual pleasure.
Morris' vision of time travel ignores a lot of the conventions used by other authors to make things less confusing. Morris just dumps the whole plate of spaghetti into your lap, sauce and all, and expects you to cope with the resulting mess. It must have taken a certain amount of authorly courage to do it. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Alex figuring it out, and working alongside him, waiting to see if I turned out to be right. A bit like a whodunnit, the clues are all there, if you look for them.
And when you finally get to the end, there's that happy feeling of putting the last jigsaw piece in place.
December 13, 2016
The Wraiths of War is the third part of the Wolves of London trilogy by Mark Morris. If you're tempted by the trilogy, definitely read the first one first because it's a bit of a long, convoluted story and you definitely need to start at the beginning! To summarise the general gist of the whole trilogy, it's about a man with an obsidian heart that can time travel. His life, as with anyone who can time travel probably, isn't that smooth, put it that way. In the final book, The Wraiths of War, there are a lot of loose ends being tied up. It has lengthy bits set around the First World War and I found those bits to be particularly good, definitely some of the most graphic and intense descriptions of life in the trenches that I've read in a while. There is a particularly gruesome bit involving a dead soldier in a shell hole, I will so no more about that for fear of spoilers. The bits away from the First World War weren't quite as gripping and like I say, there's a lot of ends to be tied up, so it's a bit bitty. I also guessed one of the reveals at the end, so a bit of an anti-climax there. But still, I'm glad that I read the series.
February 8, 2017
A good but not great end to the trilogy but it tries it's hardest to wrap almost all of it up.
October 22, 2016
Really good. One complaint - it should be mandatory in trilogies to provide a "story so far" recap at the start. I will need to reread the entire trilogy at some point, as I struggled to remember events from earlier books, which probably impaired my enjoyment a bit.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews