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The Gospel of the Knife
Christopher Nix is 14 years old, and it’s 1969. His life is a turbulent echo of the times as he discovers sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll in the heart of Florida. But into this struggle between the young long-haired hippie and the rednecks who’d just as soon kill him comes a strange offer that will completely change his life.
The Nix family is contacted by a mysterious benefactor who wants to send Chris to an exclusive private school, no expense spared. Mr. Jay Dumont claims that Chris’s grandfather saved his life during WWI, and though Grandpa Uvdall is dead, the debt remains to be paid. But as Chris will discover, there is a great deal more to it than that. He will have to accept and understand the Powers that have surrounded his family all his life, and learn to use his own magical gifts, if he is to survive Dumont’s plan.
As he did with Dogland , Will Shetterly uses a deceptively simple tale to explore some very deep issues. The Gospel of the Knife, a World Fantasy Award nominee, explores questions of faith and responsibility, and the always complex relationship between man and God and the world.
The Nix family is contacted by a mysterious benefactor who wants to send Chris to an exclusive private school, no expense spared. Mr. Jay Dumont claims that Chris’s grandfather saved his life during WWI, and though Grandpa Uvdall is dead, the debt remains to be paid. But as Chris will discover, there is a great deal more to it than that. He will have to accept and understand the Powers that have surrounded his family all his life, and learn to use his own magical gifts, if he is to survive Dumont’s plan.
As he did with Dogland , Will Shetterly uses a deceptively simple tale to explore some very deep issues. The Gospel of the Knife, a World Fantasy Award nominee, explores questions of faith and responsibility, and the always complex relationship between man and God and the world.
- GenresFantasy
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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66 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 10, 2008
To say I wasn't enamoured of this book was an understatement. I tried to beg off reviewing it, to no avail....
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November 24, 2019
Caveats:
I read an ARC, and things may have changed in the final presentation.
Second person makes me itch because I hate being told what to do.
There's mention made that this is a sort of sequel to Dogland. Ignore that. This story will go more smoothly if you do; the tone is different enough that it'll throw you off, and there's enough going on that could do that already.
We start off in Book One with a hippie kid growing up in a small town (big enough to have a 'black quarter' though) full of... for lack of a better term, rednecks, in the late sixties. That was an interesting enough story.
Book Two starts a Chosen One trope where he's sent to a special academy and discovers he's weird and very powerful, and that puts him in danger. Plus the usual 'new kid at a boarding school' conflicts. Also interesting, but it feels detached from the previous story.
Book Three is a fifth gospel on the life of the Christ. You'll recognize similarities, but it's different enough that the devout will probably find it offencive. This was really weird, and several times I wondered if my copy had been corrupted and I'd accidentally gotten a second book that had overwritten the last half of the first book.
Book Four ties us back into Books One and Two, and gives us a conclusion that I kind of understood and am uncertain about the aftereffects of. But it felt like a satisfying ending that fit the rest of the book.
I spent a lot of the last half of the book feeling like I mostly understood what was happening, which was a little frustrating, but I came out the other side happy I'd made the trip.
I read an ARC, and things may have changed in the final presentation.
Second person makes me itch because I hate being told what to do.
There's mention made that this is a sort of sequel to Dogland. Ignore that. This story will go more smoothly if you do; the tone is different enough that it'll throw you off, and there's enough going on that could do that already.
We start off in Book One with a hippie kid growing up in a small town (big enough to have a 'black quarter' though) full of... for lack of a better term, rednecks, in the late sixties. That was an interesting enough story.
Book Two starts a Chosen One trope where he's sent to a special academy and discovers he's weird and very powerful, and that puts him in danger. Plus the usual 'new kid at a boarding school' conflicts. Also interesting, but it feels detached from the previous story.
Book Three is a fifth gospel on the life of the Christ. You'll recognize similarities, but it's different enough that the devout will probably find it offencive. This was really weird, and several times I wondered if my copy had been corrupted and I'd accidentally gotten a second book that had overwritten the last half of the first book.
Book Four ties us back into Books One and Two, and gives us a conclusion that I kind of understood and am uncertain about the aftereffects of. But it felt like a satisfying ending that fit the rest of the book.
I spent a lot of the last half of the book feeling like I mostly understood what was happening, which was a little frustrating, but I came out the other side happy I'd made the trip.
September 21, 2009
I heard Will Shetterly talk (with his wife and author Emma Bull and friend and writer Steven Brust) once, and have been meaning to read Will's stuff ever since. I came across this at the library, and was excited to get it out.
It's... weird. It's good. It's surprising. Did I mention it's weird?
It's divided into four books. In Book One, a white hippie boy in the sixties tries out sex and deals with his parents. Told in second person, you hear Chris' internal monologue and it's just hysterical. Try this from the big make out scene: "Are you doing this right? Making out is easier for women, just hugging and kissing while men have to figure out what to do next. She hasn't said no. You must be doing all right. Her hands are on your back, low on your back, pulling your hips into hers. That means something. Is this dry humping, or is it not dry humping unless her legs are wrapped around you? Why do they call it dry humping if the point isn't to stay dry?" The whole book isn't about sex, but I just cracked up at the truthfulness of a fourteen year old wondering about this experience he's having for the first time.
But I know Will Shetterly writes fantasy, and wondered in Book One where the fantasy was. Book Two answers that. Wow. Fascinating revelations about Chris and his new benefactor. Creative. Mysterious. Unexpected. Nicely done.
Book Three is a long-lost missing gospel of Jesus. Oooo. Weird. Remember that it's fiction, 'cause this may not be for the deeply religiously conservative or for the faint of heart.
Book Four ties it all together in a really "wow" kind of way. I won't give away any more than that. But nicely done.
I'll definitely try more of Will's books.
It's... weird. It's good. It's surprising. Did I mention it's weird?
It's divided into four books. In Book One, a white hippie boy in the sixties tries out sex and deals with his parents. Told in second person, you hear Chris' internal monologue and it's just hysterical. Try this from the big make out scene: "Are you doing this right? Making out is easier for women, just hugging and kissing while men have to figure out what to do next. She hasn't said no. You must be doing all right. Her hands are on your back, low on your back, pulling your hips into hers. That means something. Is this dry humping, or is it not dry humping unless her legs are wrapped around you? Why do they call it dry humping if the point isn't to stay dry?" The whole book isn't about sex, but I just cracked up at the truthfulness of a fourteen year old wondering about this experience he's having for the first time.
But I know Will Shetterly writes fantasy, and wondered in Book One where the fantasy was. Book Two answers that. Wow. Fascinating revelations about Chris and his new benefactor. Creative. Mysterious. Unexpected. Nicely done.
Book Three is a long-lost missing gospel of Jesus. Oooo. Weird. Remember that it's fiction, 'cause this may not be for the deeply religiously conservative or for the faint of heart.
Book Four ties it all together in a really "wow" kind of way. I won't give away any more than that. But nicely done.
I'll definitely try more of Will's books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 20, 2007
This novel is billed as a follow up to Shetterly's earlier Dogland novel. If you read Dogland before reading this book - pretend you didn't.
The main character of Chris Nix may be the same in both books may be part of the same family, but the two novels might as well be in completely different genres.
When 14 year old Chris Nix as offered a scholarship to a exclusive boarding school by a mysterious benefactor, its an opportunity his struggling family can't possibly pass up. Naturally, there is more to the scholarship than initially meets the eye, and Chris finds himself heir to a supernatural extended family with control over earths affairs far exceeding those of even the fabled illuminati.
While I enjoyed the novel as a fun tale, I had been expecting something with rather more depth, in part because of my earlier reading of Dogland.
I think I would have enjoyed the book more had I read it as a young adult. As an adult I found the motivations of the main characters a bit hard to swallow, characterizations to be a bit two dimensional, and some events in the main plotline had the feeling of Dues Ex Machina.
Call it summer beach reading - I enjoyed it, but it wouldn't make my favorites of all time list.
The main character of Chris Nix may be the same in both books may be part of the same family, but the two novels might as well be in completely different genres.
When 14 year old Chris Nix as offered a scholarship to a exclusive boarding school by a mysterious benefactor, its an opportunity his struggling family can't possibly pass up. Naturally, there is more to the scholarship than initially meets the eye, and Chris finds himself heir to a supernatural extended family with control over earths affairs far exceeding those of even the fabled illuminati.
While I enjoyed the novel as a fun tale, I had been expecting something with rather more depth, in part because of my earlier reading of Dogland.
I think I would have enjoyed the book more had I read it as a young adult. As an adult I found the motivations of the main characters a bit hard to swallow, characterizations to be a bit two dimensional, and some events in the main plotline had the feeling of Dues Ex Machina.
Call it summer beach reading - I enjoyed it, but it wouldn't make my favorites of all time list.
June 17, 2015
OK, this is a great book that I never would have read if a friend hadn’t told me about it. We were discussing 2nd person point of views and how they seldom work. I always thought they read like a “Choose Your Own Adventure Book.” However, she pointed me to Shetterly’s website: http://qwertyranch.blogspot.com/2007/... and I read the first chapter online. It was wonderful. 2nd Person POV worked! It sucked me right in and I kept reading. And reading. I stopped reading “Gospel” to go back and read the first one “Dogland”, but it just didn’t grab me like the second book did and I was dying to know what happened next in “Gospel” so I returned to it and finished it. It was wonderful. I was so impressed by the book I went to his website and found his wife, Emma Bull’s, book mentioned. That sounded interesting enough for me to put on my wish list. And I will certainly be on the lookout for any new books of his to appear. And I’ll probably eventually go back and read Dogland. Interesting stuff. The book is about a boy with a magical destiny and powers yet unrealized going to college and growing up.
February 20, 2013
Strange. I know I read this book several years ago, but re-reading it recently I found it took me entirely by surprise.
Strange is also a good word for this book. The first part feels like a continuation of the semi-autobiographical Americana tale of Christopher Nix started in the beautiful "Dogland". The second part feels like a boarding school YA fantasy. The third (the "Gospel of the Knife") seems a flight of religious fancy in a radical re-telling of the New Testament (I know! Really, that's what it is!) and then the fourth part is much much too short and everything ends.
I like the way Will Shetterly is capable of writing, and I think we share many beliefs in common.
Somehow he managed to make a second-person present tense voice (for parts 1, 2 and 4) work - once I was used to it I had to keep doublechecking that it was still 2nd person, since it seemed to vanish and be less intrusive over time. But the really long diversion into 3rd person Biblical re-telling threw the whole rhythm off.
In the end, I'm glad I read it, but I can't say it was truly satisfying.
Strange is also a good word for this book. The first part feels like a continuation of the semi-autobiographical Americana tale of Christopher Nix started in the beautiful "Dogland". The second part feels like a boarding school YA fantasy. The third (the "Gospel of the Knife") seems a flight of religious fancy in a radical re-telling of the New Testament (I know! Really, that's what it is!) and then the fourth part is much much too short and everything ends.
I like the way Will Shetterly is capable of writing, and I think we share many beliefs in common.
Somehow he managed to make a second-person present tense voice (for parts 1, 2 and 4) work - once I was used to it I had to keep doublechecking that it was still 2nd person, since it seemed to vanish and be less intrusive over time. But the really long diversion into 3rd person Biblical re-telling threw the whole rhythm off.
In the end, I'm glad I read it, but I can't say it was truly satisfying.
August 30, 2012
I'm not going to lie. This was disappointing. If it wasn't a sequel to Dogland (which I adore), I probably wouldn't have bothered picking it up. I thought it would continue the story of the Nix family, but, instead, it follows Christopher Nix as he is sent off to a mysterious private school. I kind of wish Will Shetterly had given Chris a different name and made this a stand-alone book. The Gospel of the Knife lacks the subtle magic and charm of Dogland.
January 18, 2013
A sequel to "Dogland". Teen age angst mixed with New Age cultist undertones, combined with the story of The Gospels turned into a Greek mythology inspired soap opera. The Gospels written, with God The Father split into two parts, El and Yahweh and Jesus, not really God, trying to navigate between the two. Bounces between a teenage boy's life in the present and the days when Jesus walked the earth.
Read
November 26, 2014Couldn't finish this. Loved Dogland, could just barely tell that this was the same author. The abrupt shift from a largely realistic tone to an epic YA-fantasy Chosen One story was an interesting choice, but I couldn't stand many things about how it was written. Maybe I'll try it again some day.
March 5, 2008
I want to re-read Dogland and then try this again. I used to think that writing from the "you" persona would be interesting, but I found it intrusive and a little annoying. Shetterly is great at setting, and that's true here, too, but I wasn't expecting religion, and it did not appeal to me in the way his other books have.
March 13, 2011
Bounced on this one halfway through - hard. Told in second person, and while the artistic choice may have been because of the theme of gods, etc., and the royal 'we,' but it really just came across as pretentious and self-important. The book reads as if the author is very impressed with himself. I wasn't.
December 26, 2007
I had a difficult time getting comfortable with the second person narrative style. Then, as soon as I got used to it... there was a long section written in a Biblical style.
I usually like Will Shetterly's books (Dogland, Elsewhere, NeverNever), but this one just didn't work for me.
I usually like Will Shetterly's books (Dogland, Elsewhere, NeverNever), but this one just didn't work for me.
February 13, 2008
Sequel to Dogland and Not as good as first book - too far fetched
June 4, 2008
Books written in second person are odd.
October 7, 2011
Not as good as Dogland. Started out promisingly, but then deteriorated. The "book within a book" was too long.
June 19, 2013
Weird. Similarities to the Bible but also some alien secret society.
April 12, 2017
This self-centered wish-fulfillment story is an extraordinarily disappointing sequel to DOGLAND, which I liked a great deal.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews