Wormwood

Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: "Shadowmancer" was awful. It was ok for young adults, but the characters were uninteresting and the writing tedious.

Much to my surprise "Wormwood" is an improvement. Taylor chucked his "Shadowmancer" characters and setting and made new characters and a new setting. The biggest improvement was in the overall tone of the book. The book feels overall darker, making more appropriate for the teen age group, as opposed to the pre-teens.

Again, as with "Shadowmancer," not too many characters were ones which you sympathize with much... but unlike the prior book, their situations are interesting enough to keep me curious as to what would happen next.

The writing feels smoother and more worked out. It's obvious that Taylor isn't writing books that will become classics, but in the present "Wormwood" is an entertaining weekend or beach read.

Rating:
Summary: Gamier 2nd Attempt....
Review: Again, I read the dustjacket description and thought I'd give this a try. I only got about 10 pages into Wormwood and put it aside. The plot *?!* does not grab you, you have no empathy with the young girl Agetta and Sabian Blake is lukewarm at best. If you liked Shadowmancer then by all means pick this up. If you skipped G.P. Taylor's first book then do the same with this, move on to something else.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Contrary to the reviews below, I think that Wormwood is an excellent read! You must keep in mind that this is a book written for teenagers and not adults. This is a great fantasy/spiritual novel!


Rating:
Summary: fabulous urban fantasy
Review: Dr. Sabian Blake is an astronomer and a student of the kabala. He is euphoric when the tome Nemorensis mysteriously falls into his hands. Inside are prophesies of the future.It says that the comet WORMWOOD is coming and "many will die from its bitterness". Sabian calculates when the comet will appear in the sky, but when it actually arrives night becomes day until the world is briefly engulfed in total darkness.

Simon wants the honor of being recognized for discovering the comet. He discusses this with a friend, but is overheard by his servant Agetta, who steals from him whenever she can. Agetta meets with Lady Flamberg, a woman who is more than she seems. Flanders arranges for Agetta to steal the Nemorensis, which the servant does. The forces of good and evil mobilize as the comet comes closer to earth. If evil wins, the comet will strike the planet. Only the common thief servant Agetta can decide the fate of humanity.

This work is targeted for young adults, but older readers will gain much pleasure also especially those who enjoy the Chronicles of Narnia and Lewis Carroll. G.P. Taylor is a wonderful storyteller who makes the unbelievable seems real while combining science fiction and fantasy into an action-packed yet character driven tale as the two key players learn life lessons. Sabian discovers that wanting power at the expense of his humanity makes him a magnet for dark forces while Agetta finds out that thievery is not the best way to survive especially since those same malevolent souls claim her as one of them. WORMWOOD is a fabulous urban fantasy with strong sci fi elements.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: Good, although perhaps not great, read
Review: First off, I am a sucker for any book that takes place in London during the past 300 years. That gets the book one or two stars without trying too hard. But even better than that, the book is a solid, largely entertaining read. No great moral or philosophical lessons to be learned - even though we have a number of fallen angels, guardian angels, and angels come to retrieve their fallen comrades. And we have a underlying discussion of why earth is about to get annihilated by a comet - where is God and why is he doing this - but largely this is a enjoyable fantasy about good and evil, various mystical and fantastical creatures, and a number of angels in various states of grace or disgrace - all supposedly vying for control of London and the world at large. Of course we really find out that what they are most interested in is their own longevity rather than any particular loftier goal.

I particularly enjoyed the local "color" of London during the 1700's. I learned a few things about how the poorer sorts slept in a rooming house when they could not afford the price of a bed. I thought the writing nicely atmospheric, and I enjoyed most of the characterizations. The plot moves fairly well, although I will admit that by page 200, I was ready for the comet to hit, characters to end up wherever they were going, and for the book to end.

I do not always look for deep reading - and this was a solid read. I read the whole book on a one day business trip - its excellent plane reading - and then I was ready for something a little more substantial. All in all ... recommended with reservations.

Rating:
Summary: Worm-ridden "Wormwood"
Review: G.P. Taylor struck out with his much-hyped debut, the tepid religious fantasy "Shadowmancer." And the follow-up, "Wormwood," is even less engaging than "Shadowmancer" was -- while it's fairly well written, it's loosely strung together with dull characters and a plodding plot.

In the mid 1700s, London is gripped by panic -- somehow the earth is overspinning, and suddenly stops so that London is plunged into permanent night. A young servant girl, Agetta, is terrified of what is going to happen, especially because her master, Kabbalah master and scientist Dr Sabian Blake, is predicting that a comet called Wormwood will strike the earth.

This information comes from the mysterious book, Nemorensis, that Blake was given by a stranger. The Nemorensis supposedly contains all the secrets of the universe. Unfortunately, the book also exerts a sinister influence over Agetta. But in an attic is Tegatus, an angelic being who might just be the savior London needs...

Religious fantasy, or fantasy with religious undertones, is not a bad thing -- J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and others allowed their religions to influence their life's work. But G.P. Taylor not only has the subtlety of a battering ram -- he's also quite boring. The story plods along in a string of little plot-related scenes, without building up much momentum.

One of the biggest problems is the way Taylor handles the fantastical elements of his book. Okay, there are weird creatures. Most fantasy books have those. But his seem to just be thrown into the mix for no apparent reason. His handling of superstition and science in the 1700s is sketchy at best, no matter how brilliant a scientist Blake is meant to be.

Taylor has a decent enough writing style, and he has a certain flair for description and atmosphere. But his style is also very repetitive and over-the-top -- where are the editors when you need them? What's worse, his idea of creating a fantasy world seems to be to just toss in a few weird elements that have nothing to do with the plot. The actual fantasy plot is just more of Taylor's lukewarm, generic Christian sentiments.

The characters are as thin as the pages. There are a lot of characters for a relatively slim fantasy book, and many of them are left underdeveloped. Blake and Agetta are the only ones who receive any character development, and that isn't saying much. Agetta in particular seems almost manic, considering how fast her moods swing. Tegatus is just freakin' boring.

G.P. Taylor strikes out again with "Wormwood," another dull religious fantasy that leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Boring, messy, and not worth the effort it takes to wade through.

Rating:
Summary: ghastly tripe for Goths
Review: G.P. Taylor, an Anglican vicar who sold his motorcycle to self-publish his first book, "Shadowmancer," sounds like an interesting character. Unfortunately, he's not much of a writer. His characters change motivations more frequently than they change their clothes, and plot development doesn't seem to be a priority. Add to that overripe prose and a tendency to bring up interesting questions and then drop them without really addressing them, and you end up with poorly-written drivel. There are better ways to waste your time.