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RED
Dylyn and Moira become weapons against the Red when a gate is opened in the Guildhall of the Visioners. As their bodies and minds transform, they must join with other survivors to learn how to use their new powers to save their world from ruin. Red is an action packed adventure of battle, magic, and epic power.
594 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 5, 2019
11 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 23, 2021
Janssen's Red bothered me. Like for weeks.
I highly recommend it to others.
The narrative runs smooth; the description of settings and character are excellent, given that the characters often find themselves in complex settings - non-physical realms of mind and space – and experiencing non-human states of mind. Those are hard places for an author to describe, but Janssen pulls it off and easily allows our imaginations to move through feelings and scenes that, well, we’ve never imagined.
What is most striking about this book, however; what will make it linger in your mind for days and maybe weeks later, are Red’s themes and lessons which are extremely counter-cultural in their morality. Those themes and lessons are also extremely challenging… as in, you think, could there be some truth to those lessons?
The primary example of this is what Red says about rage.
Rage, the book seems to say, is a virtue and a tool to higher consciousness and survival, even a tool to better relationships. Yes, the rage that Janssen’s characters experience makes them forget themselves, forget reason, tears away their humanity, pushes them to unleash unholy violence and destruction, and physically and mentally changes who they are. But the characters that let rage overwhelm them also win, again and again; they become better warriors and better lovers, even as they become less and less themselves.
When the heroes emerge from their rage, trying to remember the horror that they wrought, they also emerge with higher awareness and heightened sensibilities, and their relationships with lovers, friends and even nature are improved, enhanced, and more fulfilling.
Rage, Janssen seems to be saying, is not only key to our survival and progress as human beings, it is the only way we can move forward in our relationships and, maybe on a broader level, to the next epoch of human history.
This is not your average fantasy story, where compassion and the smallest/weakest/most humble of creatures can overcome those that conquer by power and fear. Instead, in Red, rage overcomes the enemy. And rage begets power.
As well, Janssen overturns the sci-fi/fantasy theme of cleverness and ingenuity overcoming overwhelming (evil) might. Cleverness does not help at all against the enemy in Red, only rage. But rage begets knowledge and cleverness.
Romantic love also figures prominently in the book, but Janssen again upends the usual tropes: Love does not conquer; rage does, though rage begets love. The characters draw closer and more in tune with each other only through shared rage; baptisms of fire and blood.
I don’t mean to say that Red is an angry book, full of spit and vengeance. It’s actually a story of hope, which it shares with other narratives where all odds are against the heroes. The heroes are good, solid, nicely flawed human beings, and the reader cheers for their loves and victories and mourns when their lives are lost.
But Janssen makes it wholly believable that love and human ingenuity area no match for the heroes’ enemies. It is wholly believable that rage was the only thing that could have worked. In other words, Janssen’s thesis on rage is not only believable, but the reader is led to accept this rage as a normative tool for our success as humans.
If you’re like me, you have an uneasy relationship with rage, your own and those of others. Only bad things happen with rage, we think. It is different from anger, because anger can be righteous and rational. Rage is not. Rage is loss of self. Janssen seems to agree that rage is not rational and that it is a loss of self. But still, he convinces us it is a virtue. In making rage his heroes’ tool to success, Janssen has quietly reversed our moral gears by the end of the book.
Is Red a good book? I think that a book that bothers you, makes you think about your own relationship with the dark, angry corners of your mind - weeks after you’ve blissfully enjoyed reading about the book’s heroes slaying monsters and star-crossed lovers finding bliss - that’s a good book.
PS: Buy the paperback. The cover art is stunning.
I highly recommend it to others.
The narrative runs smooth; the description of settings and character are excellent, given that the characters often find themselves in complex settings - non-physical realms of mind and space – and experiencing non-human states of mind. Those are hard places for an author to describe, but Janssen pulls it off and easily allows our imaginations to move through feelings and scenes that, well, we’ve never imagined.
What is most striking about this book, however; what will make it linger in your mind for days and maybe weeks later, are Red’s themes and lessons which are extremely counter-cultural in their morality. Those themes and lessons are also extremely challenging… as in, you think, could there be some truth to those lessons?
The primary example of this is what Red says about rage.
Rage, the book seems to say, is a virtue and a tool to higher consciousness and survival, even a tool to better relationships. Yes, the rage that Janssen’s characters experience makes them forget themselves, forget reason, tears away their humanity, pushes them to unleash unholy violence and destruction, and physically and mentally changes who they are. But the characters that let rage overwhelm them also win, again and again; they become better warriors and better lovers, even as they become less and less themselves.
When the heroes emerge from their rage, trying to remember the horror that they wrought, they also emerge with higher awareness and heightened sensibilities, and their relationships with lovers, friends and even nature are improved, enhanced, and more fulfilling.
Rage, Janssen seems to be saying, is not only key to our survival and progress as human beings, it is the only way we can move forward in our relationships and, maybe on a broader level, to the next epoch of human history.
This is not your average fantasy story, where compassion and the smallest/weakest/most humble of creatures can overcome those that conquer by power and fear. Instead, in Red, rage overcomes the enemy. And rage begets power.
As well, Janssen overturns the sci-fi/fantasy theme of cleverness and ingenuity overcoming overwhelming (evil) might. Cleverness does not help at all against the enemy in Red, only rage. But rage begets knowledge and cleverness.
Romantic love also figures prominently in the book, but Janssen again upends the usual tropes: Love does not conquer; rage does, though rage begets love. The characters draw closer and more in tune with each other only through shared rage; baptisms of fire and blood.
I don’t mean to say that Red is an angry book, full of spit and vengeance. It’s actually a story of hope, which it shares with other narratives where all odds are against the heroes. The heroes are good, solid, nicely flawed human beings, and the reader cheers for their loves and victories and mourns when their lives are lost.
But Janssen makes it wholly believable that love and human ingenuity area no match for the heroes’ enemies. It is wholly believable that rage was the only thing that could have worked. In other words, Janssen’s thesis on rage is not only believable, but the reader is led to accept this rage as a normative tool for our success as humans.
If you’re like me, you have an uneasy relationship with rage, your own and those of others. Only bad things happen with rage, we think. It is different from anger, because anger can be righteous and rational. Rage is not. Rage is loss of self. Janssen seems to agree that rage is not rational and that it is a loss of self. But still, he convinces us it is a virtue. In making rage his heroes’ tool to success, Janssen has quietly reversed our moral gears by the end of the book.
Is Red a good book? I think that a book that bothers you, makes you think about your own relationship with the dark, angry corners of your mind - weeks after you’ve blissfully enjoyed reading about the book’s heroes slaying monsters and star-crossed lovers finding bliss - that’s a good book.
PS: Buy the paperback. The cover art is stunning.
Displaying 1 of 1 review