Hell's Horizon is the second book in The City trilogy. I have a review up for the first book Procession of the Dead. I do have plans on reading the third book, I just don't know when because every time I go to my library and check, it is not on the shelf. With that being said I hope you enjoy!
Al Jeery is a member of The Cardinal's personal guard. The Cardinal rules over the City, and the City is nothing but corruption. Al starts to question his loyalty to The Cardinal when he is taken to Party Central to investigate a murder. Al discovers something at the crime scene and other things just don't add up. A series of corpses and a horrifying mystery is the path that Al trails down almost unwillingly. While he's there he learns of a few disturbing facts that have been held from him. The Incan forefathers, the crazy Cardinal, and Paucar Wami all have their play with Al. Wami is a deadly man who kills without remorse. Al thinks he and Wami are two different people, but he is about to find out that there is more to Wami than meets the eye.
The events in Hell's Horizon take place along side Procession of the Dead. So throughout the book Capac is mentioned and the reader is able to see a different side of things from the previous book. Things are no longer one sided. The Cardinal lets a couple of facts be known that makes the reader go "oh, that's why he did that". The beginning of this book captivated me and had me wanting more. The middle disappointed me, and the end swung around and picked itself back up. Al is a interesting character, mixing Wami in with him and all the murder just makes him that more interesting. I kind of knew that there was more to Al then what was being given and sure enough there is. Shan paints a great picture when it comes to details of things happening, but there wasn't too many details about Al's features. You do get a few details though, here and there but it is very quick and if you are not paying attention close enough you may miss them. I loved it when things got interesting which was a fair amount of the time, it wasn't as wordy anymore. For Hell's Horizon when things were good, they were really good. But when they weren't it was upsetting because the first book was so good. Thankfully there isn't any repeating of scenes from Procession of the Dead. Things were mentioned in passing, which helped pin point when events where taking place in comparison with the first book.
I was really disappointed with the middle of the book, once the murders got going and things got interesting, the book almost seemed to halt and become really wordy. Yes, there were little hints dropped along the way but, for myself, I don't think it would have mattered if I would have skipped over them. *SPOILER-ALERT* I basically knew that Bill (Al's cop friend) and Pricilla (a friend of a friend of Al's) where in on the murders, I just didn't know how exactly.*SPOILER-ENDED* I figured a few major things out that pertained to the murders, I am not sure if the reader was supposed to know early on, but if so Shan did a great job.
Being more disappointed with how the content went in the book, I still liked the book more than not. The beginning and the end where terrific, especially the end. I can't wait to read the third book, I honestly have not a clue what Shan has done I haven't read the summary yet. I recommend this book to be read, and I would love to own this book as well. I am a huge fan of Shan's and I hope I am not completely upset with this last book. Even with being marked as a 'adult' book I think teenagers could really get into the trilogy. There is a sexual scene, but it is very PG and could have been extremely worse.
Rating: a lower 4 out of 5.
Page Count: 324 pages (hardcover)
Price: $19.99
Next Book: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Thank so much for reading!
~Jade
Showing posts with label The City Trilogy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The City Trilogy. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Monday, April 14, 2014
Procession of the Dead by Darren Shan
This is the first book in The City trilogy by Darren Shan. This is in the "Adult" section of my library but I see nothing wrong with younger ones reading this. There are two sexual parts, but they do not last longer then a few paragraphs and they are not explicit. Though honestly it would be up to a parent or guardian to actually decide if it is suitable for their child's age. I actually didn't know that Shan had this trilogy out because he is more widely known for his "Teen" books.
Capac Raimi arrives at the City ready to show his stuff and prove that he is worthy of it all. The City isn't what it seems though, there is a strange assassin with snake tattoos on his face, and who moves like liquid. Blind Incan priests that no one sees, friends and people mysteriously disappear and no one remembers them once they do. Then there is The Cardinal, he has eyes and ears everywhere. He is the ruler of the City. Capac has no clue, till it is almost too late, how deeply The Cardinal is rooted into him. Most conflicting is that Capac can't remember anything besides coming to the City. He can't remember anything before stepping off of the train and into the belly of the City.
After reading the little insert about this book I was expecting nothing about gangsters. There is and it was nice to get away from the super supernatural books. I was lost in the beginning, I wasn't sure what was going on or what to think of this book. Not long after that things got ironed out for the most part and I was hooked. I hated not being able to read this book because every other turn had me guessing about what was going to come next. I really loved how Shan named his character. The names of almost every character is not common names. There is a meaning to some of the more exotic names and to explain them the way that I want to, would take a lot of typing and I think I would bore most all of you. Some are of Incan background, and each of the chapter titles are those of the Incan months. It was very easy to picture what was going on with Capac and other characters, Shan detailed everything just right (for me at least). It was very fun to guess what was going on and what was going to happen next. It wasn't easy to predict what was going to happen, which again was a great change of speed from some other books I have reviewed. One thing that loved the most, is that once I thought I had everything figured out, something would happen and I was left guessing again. Guys, I could keeping going with things that I liked about this book, but in order for that to happen I would have to spoil everything. I haven't even scratched the surface.
As for things I didn't like, there wasn't anything major. The one thing that I had a slight problem with is the ending. I love it to a point. It was simple, but the action before it was great. I was expecting a bigger ending, but the one given isn't horrible. It leaves the reader guessing about what is going to be happening in the next book.
Like I said before I could go on and on about things that I loved about the book. In honesty I recommend this book to everyone, it may not be everyone's cup of tea but I am sure that you could find some aspect of the book to like or even love. The ending was the only thing I take issue with but I am willing to overlook it due to the content. I will be reading the second book, so long as my library has it on the shelf. I would love to own this book, and I see myself rereading it. Being a fan of Shan, this book is not what I am used to reading from him but I love it nonetheless. This is an "older" book being published in 1999, but I think it is worthy of now
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Page Count: 278 pages (hardcover).
Price: $19.99
Next Book: Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
Thanks for reading!
~Jade
Capac Raimi arrives at the City ready to show his stuff and prove that he is worthy of it all. The City isn't what it seems though, there is a strange assassin with snake tattoos on his face, and who moves like liquid. Blind Incan priests that no one sees, friends and people mysteriously disappear and no one remembers them once they do. Then there is The Cardinal, he has eyes and ears everywhere. He is the ruler of the City. Capac has no clue, till it is almost too late, how deeply The Cardinal is rooted into him. Most conflicting is that Capac can't remember anything besides coming to the City. He can't remember anything before stepping off of the train and into the belly of the City.
After reading the little insert about this book I was expecting nothing about gangsters. There is and it was nice to get away from the super supernatural books. I was lost in the beginning, I wasn't sure what was going on or what to think of this book. Not long after that things got ironed out for the most part and I was hooked. I hated not being able to read this book because every other turn had me guessing about what was going to come next. I really loved how Shan named his character. The names of almost every character is not common names. There is a meaning to some of the more exotic names and to explain them the way that I want to, would take a lot of typing and I think I would bore most all of you. Some are of Incan background, and each of the chapter titles are those of the Incan months. It was very easy to picture what was going on with Capac and other characters, Shan detailed everything just right (for me at least). It was very fun to guess what was going on and what was going to happen next. It wasn't easy to predict what was going to happen, which again was a great change of speed from some other books I have reviewed. One thing that loved the most, is that once I thought I had everything figured out, something would happen and I was left guessing again. Guys, I could keeping going with things that I liked about this book, but in order for that to happen I would have to spoil everything. I haven't even scratched the surface.
As for things I didn't like, there wasn't anything major. The one thing that I had a slight problem with is the ending. I love it to a point. It was simple, but the action before it was great. I was expecting a bigger ending, but the one given isn't horrible. It leaves the reader guessing about what is going to be happening in the next book.
Like I said before I could go on and on about things that I loved about the book. In honesty I recommend this book to everyone, it may not be everyone's cup of tea but I am sure that you could find some aspect of the book to like or even love. The ending was the only thing I take issue with but I am willing to overlook it due to the content. I will be reading the second book, so long as my library has it on the shelf. I would love to own this book, and I see myself rereading it. Being a fan of Shan, this book is not what I am used to reading from him but I love it nonetheless. This is an "older" book being published in 1999, but I think it is worthy of now
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Page Count: 278 pages (hardcover).
Price: $19.99
Next Book: Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
Thanks for reading!
~Jade
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