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Eight God Engine
Jaq understands running. At sixteen, she escaped the mystic cult that raised her, stealing a million dollars on her way out. She's been on the move ever since. Jaq understands hiding. Staying quiet is the only strategy that works against monks who enslave dead gods to keep a lid on the supernatural world. Until the monks find her, a mass murderer begins stalking her, and she's forced to stand in the path of a Divine Force of Destruction.All within the course of a week. ...might be time for a new strategy.
279 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 8, 2021
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March 6, 2022
"If I Explain Where We're Going, We Won't Get There" ~ My Review of Eight God Engine
Our protagonist, Jaqueline (Jaq), is a former janitor who now subcontracts herself out for her psionic abilities. In a world that contains monasteries of occult Masters and the superheroic Sentinels who have emerged as an evolutionary response, Jaq runs from her past by camouflaging herself right at the nexus—where contract kills and Sentinel Insurance rub up against the cosmic entities and their agendas. That is, when she's not at the coffeeshop gathering java for regular offerings to an old demon acquaintance of hers…
Author Stephen R. Donaldson once said: "…there are some writers who can make me trust them right from the start: although I can't see how they do it, they give me the clear impression that they know what they're doing, and that what they're doing matters. When that happens, I settle in to enjoy the experience."
For me, that point in this novel was a little while after the first few chapters—that is when author O. Josephs's debut effort (2021) reveals itself to be much deeper than the frenetic beginning promised.
When it starts, it is just a romp. Breakneck-paced noir action, through and through. Which was a problem, since the reader isn't really given the baseline knowledge of the magic system to know what's what. In the early stages, the book leans heavily on the (apparent) vulnerability of the protagonist. Jaq is a late teen/early adult (what is becoming the typical) modern female main character: edgy, unforgiving, and emo…while still also somehow being unafraid. Jaq, as well as the majority of her supporting players, are all in just a bit over their heads. This creates a wonderful sense of tension, even when, as the reader, like I said we're just hanging on for more information. And it's close call. It's fun, but by chapter three, you begin to wonder if there's any steak under all this sizzle?
But, as you go, you realize that the author has made a strategic choice. This world (and Jaq's backstory) is simply too elaborate to reveal early in the book. It is slowly demonstrated as you go and so the 'hurry up and explain something' of the beginning soon gives way to that ease that Donaldson mentions. Best of all, the fire hose of nuance isn't just unidirectional. It also explains and reveals earlier scenes in the book with a nod and a wink. Eventually, we realize: We're in good hands.
Of course, that approach can also have some unintended hilarious side-effects: such as when Jaq finally figures out the arc of just what is happening (the basic plot, in other words) and we look up and it is the end of Chapter Fifteen.
Some other highlights that really landed:
√ The comic book homages ("The Heckler" "masks")
√ Killer Chess Allegories
√ "Slivering" - a form of heavy-duty mindfulness that we all could use
√ Structurally, its fast pace (each chapter averages about seven pages) matches the action of the text
√ The Spazzini - the literal fans and junk scavengers of the comic-book style destruction that takes place in this world. That a spicy metaphor!
There were some negatives for me: First, Josephs might be engaging in some hand-waving with the plot. I'm not sure the rival that turns out to be the Prime Mover for this story really needed to do what they did, for example. But, It will take a re-read (and maybe a white-board) to suss it out for certain. There are a lot of agendas at play by the end, so maybe it is air tight. Not sure.
Second, Jaq is not an entirely relatable character. She is uber-competent and unrelentingly negative (and in a couple scenes, quite sadistic). This is true to the character. Her life has been horrific. But, as a point of view character, we want to be able to i) relate to her and ii) root for her. Her being constantly under duress is what saves it. We care because, at some level, we want the girl to be okay. But, I would have liked to have liked her more, at some level. For example, without spoiling it, if her "Radar" maneuver had occurred about ten chapters sooner, it would have gone a long way for me.
And finally, some of the dialogue veers from noir into cartoonish. Not that it's all bad. In fact, many of the characters' voices are truly distinct, something that first-time authors, myself included, find challenging in that first effort. So, that was a mixed bag.
But, all of this is just detritus that some critic spazzini can collect and reflect upon. The action remains a constant joy. And Josephs' portrayal of the magic system and how it is used is just all so well done, that I absolutely loved it.
Not everything is tied up neatly at the end (it would have been jarring had it been, frankly). But it is both a satisfying resolution and something that leaves me wanting more. Look, for a self-published, debut novel, this is the exemplar of what the traditional publishing is missing.
I rarely get past chapter two of any novel these days. Maybe 15% of the time. Recently, I started a regimen: Some subset of books that I don't DNF right away, I literally do a "Three-Chapter Review" of them—where I talk about why I'm going to give those works a chance and finish them, and why. And of those I finish, it's only a small subset that I actually review. Let me tell you, most reviews don't score as high as this one.
You see where I'm going with this. This is a wonderful damn novel. Everyone should check it out.
8.2/10 ****
Our protagonist, Jaqueline (Jaq), is a former janitor who now subcontracts herself out for her psionic abilities. In a world that contains monasteries of occult Masters and the superheroic Sentinels who have emerged as an evolutionary response, Jaq runs from her past by camouflaging herself right at the nexus—where contract kills and Sentinel Insurance rub up against the cosmic entities and their agendas. That is, when she's not at the coffeeshop gathering java for regular offerings to an old demon acquaintance of hers…
Author Stephen R. Donaldson once said: "…there are some writers who can make me trust them right from the start: although I can't see how they do it, they give me the clear impression that they know what they're doing, and that what they're doing matters. When that happens, I settle in to enjoy the experience."
For me, that point in this novel was a little while after the first few chapters—that is when author O. Josephs's debut effort (2021) reveals itself to be much deeper than the frenetic beginning promised.
When it starts, it is just a romp. Breakneck-paced noir action, through and through. Which was a problem, since the reader isn't really given the baseline knowledge of the magic system to know what's what. In the early stages, the book leans heavily on the (apparent) vulnerability of the protagonist. Jaq is a late teen/early adult (what is becoming the typical) modern female main character: edgy, unforgiving, and emo…while still also somehow being unafraid. Jaq, as well as the majority of her supporting players, are all in just a bit over their heads. This creates a wonderful sense of tension, even when, as the reader, like I said we're just hanging on for more information. And it's close call. It's fun, but by chapter three, you begin to wonder if there's any steak under all this sizzle?
But, as you go, you realize that the author has made a strategic choice. This world (and Jaq's backstory) is simply too elaborate to reveal early in the book. It is slowly demonstrated as you go and so the 'hurry up and explain something' of the beginning soon gives way to that ease that Donaldson mentions. Best of all, the fire hose of nuance isn't just unidirectional. It also explains and reveals earlier scenes in the book with a nod and a wink. Eventually, we realize: We're in good hands.
Of course, that approach can also have some unintended hilarious side-effects: such as when Jaq finally figures out the arc of just what is happening (the basic plot, in other words) and we look up and it is the end of Chapter Fifteen.
Some other highlights that really landed:
√ The comic book homages ("The Heckler" "masks")
√ Killer Chess Allegories
√ "Slivering" - a form of heavy-duty mindfulness that we all could use
√ Structurally, its fast pace (each chapter averages about seven pages) matches the action of the text
√ The Spazzini - the literal fans and junk scavengers of the comic-book style destruction that takes place in this world. That a spicy metaphor!
There were some negatives for me: First, Josephs might be engaging in some hand-waving with the plot. I'm not sure the rival that turns out to be the Prime Mover for this story really needed to do what they did, for example. But, It will take a re-read (and maybe a white-board) to suss it out for certain. There are a lot of agendas at play by the end, so maybe it is air tight. Not sure.
Second, Jaq is not an entirely relatable character. She is uber-competent and unrelentingly negative (and in a couple scenes, quite sadistic). This is true to the character. Her life has been horrific. But, as a point of view character, we want to be able to i) relate to her and ii) root for her. Her being constantly under duress is what saves it. We care because, at some level, we want the girl to be okay. But, I would have liked to have liked her more, at some level. For example, without spoiling it, if her "Radar" maneuver had occurred about ten chapters sooner, it would have gone a long way for me.
And finally, some of the dialogue veers from noir into cartoonish. Not that it's all bad. In fact, many of the characters' voices are truly distinct, something that first-time authors, myself included, find challenging in that first effort. So, that was a mixed bag.
But, all of this is just detritus that some critic spazzini can collect and reflect upon. The action remains a constant joy. And Josephs' portrayal of the magic system and how it is used is just all so well done, that I absolutely loved it.
Not everything is tied up neatly at the end (it would have been jarring had it been, frankly). But it is both a satisfying resolution and something that leaves me wanting more. Look, for a self-published, debut novel, this is the exemplar of what the traditional publishing is missing.
I rarely get past chapter two of any novel these days. Maybe 15% of the time. Recently, I started a regimen: Some subset of books that I don't DNF right away, I literally do a "Three-Chapter Review" of them—where I talk about why I'm going to give those works a chance and finish them, and why. And of those I finish, it's only a small subset that I actually review. Let me tell you, most reviews don't score as high as this one.
You see where I'm going with this. This is a wonderful damn novel. Everyone should check it out.
8.2/10 ****
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