Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding new book
Review: "Murcheston: The Wolf's Tale" is a wonderfully written novel that follows the tale of the Duke of Darnley infliction of lycanthropy. After Darnley, a self-absorbed aristocrat discovers himself to be a werewolf he begins a journal in the hope of sharing his discover with the world. He embarks on a relentless search for answers believing the one's that he finds to be untrue and bias. His journal quickly becomes a rationalization for the crimes he has committed to mankind; however there is never any regret. Holland does a wonderful job of allowing us to peer into the mind of Darnley as his mental state spins into oblivion. This book is a must read and will become a classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Limping Lycanthrope
Review: A man becomes a werewolf, much to the distress of those around him-after countless variations on the werewolf legends, via novels and films, one would be justified in asking `so what?' The answer, as found in David Holland's Murcheston would be: `so nothing.' In Holland's novel we find a protagonist who is quite overjoyed to find that he has become a werewolf, as this state allows him to transcend traditional morality. Hardly an original idea but, in the hands of a more capable writer, one that might have led to a novel of some psychological insight, one that delved into the depths of the human psyche and so forth (see Hesse's Steppenwolf), but Holland's treatment of his character's predicament remains frustratingly superficial, limited to scenes in which the character, for example, describes the great exhilaration he feels running through the fields, pouncing upon prey, etc. What emerges is not an examination of morality, or an exploration of human psyche, but just another ably-told adventure yarn. And while Holland ostensibly places the action of the novel in Victorian England, at no point does the writer exhibit any great knowledge of that place and era. When one's characters mouth idioms like "taken for a loony," "crap," and "f--- society," one hardly feels transported back to Victorian London. No, while reading this, one is painfully aware of being in the presence of a contemporary writer, moreover, one with nothing much in particular to say. The geographical descriptions are also strictly generic, at no point re-creating England in the mind's eye. As far as traditional yarn-spinning, Guy Endore's The Werewolf of Paris would be a good place for those readers interested in lycanthropic fiction to start. And for a re-creation of Victorian England by a contemporary sensibility, I would steer readers toward K. W. Jeter's Infernal Devices, a much more capable and truly entertaining tale placed within that era. While Mr. Holland is to be respected for working upon, and actually finishing, a novel-no easy task, as any frustrated writer will attest-still, I feel compelled to warn others before they part with their hard-earned cash for the results.
Rating:
Summary: PROOF THAT HORROR CAN BE ART
Review: David Holland's "Murcheston: The Wolf's Tale," is a refreshing rejection of the splatterpunk school of contemporary horror. Rather than churning out just another hack'n' slash gorefest, Holland goes for a refined, richly atmospheric morality tale--which, consequently, is what traditional horror is all about, not graphic decapitations and streaming blood. Perhaps Holland's novel could be alternately known as "Interview with the Werewolf," as in essence that is what much of the novel is. Through his diary, we're with him all the way as the Lord Darnley records his transformation from draconian but all-too-human aristocrat to monster wolf. The ensuing insight into the nature of evil, human and inhuman, and by contrast the opposing nature of good, is starkly illuminating and particularly pertinent to our own society. If the Victorian world in which Holland set his tale was one teetering on the brink of a moral abyss, what of our own, wherein morality is often defined in terms perhaps a bit too Darnley-like: you are your own judge, and no man--no God--can ever condemn you. Despite the supernatural basis of his story, Holland eschews many of the overly fantastic and traditional trappings of his genre, and so avoids some of the cliches that sink so many fantasy tales. His characters, human and otherwise, are well-developed and easy to identify with. Holland's style is scholarly but realistic and holds the reader in thrall to the end. A wonderful cauldron of misty mountains, spiraling emotions, moon-haunted skylines, and stealthy death, "Murcheston" is one of the very, very few horror novels that deserves to be called "literature." If you are a frustrated horror fan who longs for something more than the usual fare, "Murcheston" has my highest possible recommendation.
Rating: 
Summary: A Bit One-Noted
Review: Edgar Lenoir, the thirteenth Duke of Danby, is wealthy, powerful, and takes his responsibilities seriously. However, everything changes following a hunting rip in the Carpathian Mountains when Edgar kills a wolf, which is not quite the pure blood lupine it appears to be. Before killing the beast, the animal claws Edgar, which leaves him sick. He recovers to return to his home in Victorian England. On the first full moon since he returned to England, Edgar turns into a werewolf, frolicking on his estate with a sense of freedom he never felt before. He cherishes his so-called affliction, embracing lycanthropy to the point that his human soul begins to shrivel. Unable to deal any longer with the human cattle, Edgar withdraws from society. His isolation ends when he wanders into London only to receive protection from his best friend Charles Meredith and the man's wife Elizabeth, the only woman Edgar ever loved. However, his transformation horrifies them, but not as much as Edgar's plans for the city. MURCHESTON: THE WOLF'S TALE is a gothic-like novel complete with foggy nights, an isolated manor, and a damsel in danger and distress. The story line is written in the Victorian style, which adds to the overall impact of the tale. Tom Holland writes a werewolf tale that will set the standard for future such books to be measured against as he makes werewolves seem genuine and Edgar's joyful dissent into hell feel very real. This novel will be for years to come the definite fictional work on lycanthropy.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Your Typical Were-Book
Review: Murchestion: The Wolf's Tale is more than a good werewolf book, its a good book in general. It tells the tale of a Duke in Victorian England who is infected with Lycanthropy, the werewolf virus. Through third person narration and personal journals, Holland leads the reader through the Duke's new life with surprising frankness. Murcheston is different from a lot of werewolf fiction out there. Holland keeps things very simple: take a man, make him a werewolf, and explore his condition together. The plot doesn't get over powered with the supernatural, rather, the main character tries base his condition firmly in science. This might turn off some readers, but I rather liked the serious take on the subject. This is not a swash buckling adventure, but rather a serious story that deals as much with the adventures the Duke has stalking through the woods as it does with the psychological and sociological aspects of releasing you're inner beast. As one doing research for his own stab at werewolf fiction I found it an indispensable resource of the psychological issues raised by a wolf in human's clothing. That being said, for those looking for a hack and slash horror book, keep looking. For someone looking for a good character study with adventure thrown in, this is what you want. My only complaint is that the middle of the book tended to drag a little, but I still very much wanted to finish the Duke's story. Overall a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Not Your Typical Were-Book
Review: Murchestion: The Wolf's Tale is more than a good werewolf book, its a good book in general. It tells the tale of a Duke in Victorian England who is infected with Lycanthropy, the werewolf virus. Through third person narration and personal journals, Holland leads the reader through the Duke's new life with surprising frankness. Murcheston is different from a lot of werewolf fiction out there. Holland keeps things very simple: take a man, make him a werewolf, and explore his condition together. The plot doesn't get over powered with the supernatural, rather, the main character tries base his condition firmly in science. This might turn off some readers, but I rather liked the serious take on the subject. This is not a swash buckling adventure, but rather a serious story that deals as much with the adventures the Duke has stalking through the woods as it does with the psychological and sociological aspects of releasing you're inner beast. As one doing research for his own stab at werewolf fiction I found it an indispensable resource of the psychological issues raised by a wolf in human's clothing. That being said, for those looking for a hack and slash horror book, keep looking. For someone looking for a good character study with adventure thrown in, this is what you want. My only complaint is that the middle of the book tended to drag a little, but I still very much wanted to finish the Duke's story. Overall a great read.
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Werewolf Novel, done with class
Review: Recently I embarked on a search for the ultimate werewolf novel. There are quite a few really bad ones (some of which have garnered good reviews, such as "Canyons"-don't believe the reviews!), some pretty decent ones ("Wilderness", "Saint Peter's Wolf" and "Thor" come to mind), and a few truly excellent ones ("Moon Dance" for example). "Murcheston:The Wolf's Tale" stands head and shoulders above them all. Holland has succeeded in crafting a novel that stands comfortably alongside Frankenstein and Dracula as a horror classic. Literate, thoughtful and also exciting, Murcheston is a triumph of class and style over the run-of-the-mill slice and dice shockers that I have had to wade through. Where others have relied on excessive gore and/or sex to carry the ball Holland builds a strong story around a brilliantly developed central character and a riveting narrative. Sure, there is plenty of bloodshed but the gore is in service of the story, not the entire reason for the story. Holland has higher goals in mind here, as Stoker and Shelly did and that is what sets this one apart. So if you are searching for the ultimate werewolf novel take my word for it. This one is THE STANDARD which others will aspire to.
Rating:
Summary: Philosophical Horror
Review: Some of the other customer-reviewers here have made some valid points about some of the reasons why Murcheston may not be the classic werewolf book to rest aside Dracula and Frankenstein, but they have also missed one of the singular pleasures in the book: Murcheston is a compelling philosophical debate between ideas of individual strength and social obligation. Our aristocrat-turned-lycanthrope was always something of iconoclast, but with the transition to his new state he becomes an articulate advocate of man-as-animal, of might-makes-right, of survival-of-the-strongest. Much of the book is told in the form of Lord Darnley's journal; and so we have his voice deriding the threadbare traditions of religion and also the hollow values and norms of society. Quite deftly, however, Holland makes the arguments of Darnley's opponents come alive through Darnley's own voice, and provides a very absorbing and persuasive debate. Holland took the study in a psychological direction, imagining the impact on the individual of the philosophy lived to the fullest, under the influence of this great power and uncontrollable disease of lycanthropy. As such, Lord Darnley convincingly became less human in the course of his own journals, and throughout the larger work. The psychological study was interesting, but to my mind less interesting than a fuller exploration of the philosophical distinction might have been. Perhaps appropriate for the time(*) Darnley's arguments for the rule of strength, and the natural, animal nature of the human state were primarily explorations of Darwin's idea of natural selection in combination with a Nazi/Nietsche übermensch mentality, and while I was happy to see the counterarguments presented in a surprising and original manner, I was a little disappointed to see Darnley's case undercut by his own madness. There is a real debate here, and it does little good to present something widely thought of as evil and then expose the obvious flaws. A more interesting approach might be to take the more contemporary if-it-feels-right-it-is-right rejection of traditional morality, equate feeling right with animal instinct, and then contrast this very contemporary mentality that is *not* thought of as evil with some of the same arguments for the higher nature of being human that Holland has made. This would be a more meaningful debate for our age, and one that does not have a clear outcome. In short, Holland tells a good story. His characters are fascinating studies in psychology; there is a pleasantly surprising philosophical debate carried on within the text; and it is a worthwhile book to pick up on a dark and stormy night. Holland is onto something when he correlates the lycanthrope with the debate between the spiritual and animal sides of humanity, but in this book he does not explore that debate in a manner terribly relevant to our time. Given his affinity for Victoriana, that was probably not his intention. -- * He doesn't state it, but given that Victoria was queen, transportation to Australia was common, railroads were also common, this would pretty much have to be the late 1830s or early 1840s, a decade or two before Darwin's Origin of the Species.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh Puhleeeze
Review: This book is the worst. The main character is so vapid and boring it's not even funny. This is a novel that is clearly 378 pages too long. The characters are poorly developed; the subplots are dull and this transformation the Duke takes on is hardly original. The Duke is a self absorbed child. At one point the Duke was run over by a carriage....I was hoping the book would over and down with but then I realized that I had over 300 pages yet to read. Dont' waste your money or time.
Rating:
Summary: Oh Puhleeeze
Review: This book is the worst. The main character is so vapid and boring it's not even funny. This is a novel that is clearly 378 pages too long. The characters are poorly developed; the subplots are dull and this transformation the Duke takes on is hardly original. The Duke is a self absorbed child. At one point the Duke was run over by a carriage....I was hoping the book would over and down with but then I realized that I had over 300 pages yet to read. Dont' waste your money or time.
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