OVERALL RATING: THREE STARS
The Church of the Hanged Redeemer bought Thomas Cale when he was just a boy. They treated him cruelly, punished him and moulded his young mind for the brutality of war. He was little more than a slave and they turned him into a weapon, into one of the greatest soldiers alive. Thomas is as lethal with his hands as he is with blades and crossbows. His mind plans tactics and strategies that even the most experienced generals cannot see. He has been trained to perfection and will lead the Hanged Redeemers in their jihad to purify the world.
Yet for all their planning and training, the Hanged Redeemers failed to understand that Thomas also has plans for the course of his life. Setting out with Vague Henry and Kleist, his most trusted friends, Thomas flees the Sanctuary and sets his eyes on a life of freedom, away from the Redeemers brutal religion. His adventures take him to Memphis, where he quickly finds himself in political crossfire. The Redeemers are eager to reclaim the 'incarnation of God's Wrath' and hunt him zealously. Thomas is literally caught between a cross and a hard place and turns to the only thing he truly knows to save him: his great prowess in violence.
Book 1: The Left Hand of God
Book 2: The Last Four Things
Book 3: The Beating Of His Wings
The Good
The Left Hand of God is a remarkable series and Paul Hoffman has really let his imagination run lose, developing a sinister religion (which is essentially a very dark form of Christianity), a complex host of characters and a world with its own society and problems.
The series is written in a strange, slightly quirky style and I haven't read another Dystopia quite like it. It's certainly unique, and is full of danger and battles that will keep you captivated throughout its three instalments. Hoffman address the problems with religion well and how it can be used to justify terrible acts of evil, epically wrapping up Thomas Cale's terrible story at the series end.
The Bad
I really enjoyed The Left Hand of God (series), but it did have a few problems that were never resolved and ruined my enjoyment of the books slightly. The main one of these was the fact that Hoffman doesn't include a map of this world and never bothers to establish its geography. The fact that he uses real place names, such as Memphis and Cyprus, only makes this worse and it's difficult to get a feel for the story's setting. For example, Hoffman may be talking about an army that's approaching one city from another, but it didn't mean much to me because the cities could be 50 miles apart or 500. This made it hard for Hoffman to build tension in places and I think it's a real shame because he could have rectified it so easily!
My Thoughts
Despite a few little things that make it hard to follow, The Left Hand of God series is an excellent read. It's a strange mix of fantasy and Dystopia, being dark and brutal in a way that few books are. Hoffman's world is developed and complex, and his characters are fun to read about. It's one of the most unique fantasies I've read in a long time and I highly recommend it for your reading list!
Showing posts with label The Beating Of His Wings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Beating Of His Wings. Show all posts
Monday, 20 October 2014
Friday, 8 August 2014
The Beating Of His Wings - Paul Hoffman
RATING: THREE STARS
The Hanged Redeemers are nearly ready to unleash their holy war against mankind. Their soldiers, the best and most highly trained in the known world, are moving and they have already left the Sanctuary in the dust behind. The only person who can hope to stand against them is Thomas Cale, a once proficient warrior who is ailed by a crippling disease. Yet Cale cares nothing for the world around and would gladly watch it burn if it meant others would leave him alone.
No-one will and Cale is pursued and manoeuvred mercilessly by those who think to use him. The Swis King means to have him lead his armies against the Redeemers. Kitty the Hare means to use Cale's talents in violence to make him richer than he has ever been before. Brusco, the Pope of the Hanged Redeemer Church, believes Cale to be the Left Hand of God and the incartion of His wrath. Cale is supposed to wipe man - God's greatest mistake - off the face of the world.
All Thomas Cale sees is chaos and the suffering of his broken soul.
The Good
The Beating of His Wings was a satisfying conclusion to an undoubtedly superb religious fantasy and Paul Hoffman ties up every loose end that has split during the trilogy. It's exciting and inventive, being filled with tactical battles, multi-layered characters and the justifications of faith.
Hoffman has also continued to write in his dry, quirky manner that I really liked in the previous instalments and the book has this odd childishness to it (despite it NOT being for children!). Beloved characters such as Vague Henry and IdrisPukke are back, wandering through Spanish Leeds and adding their wits to Cale's own.
The Bad
My main fault with The Beating of His Wings is with the strange geography of Hoffman's world (once again). No map has been included with the book and he never really makes references to places or the distances between them, simply flinging in real places so they mix together strangely. I assume this is a subtle attempt to remind his readers of the real world so we link to it and add depth to the book, but I found it a little disconcerting!
My Thoughts
Overall though, I think the book was pretty good and I enjoyed reading it. It certainly wasn't a page turner and I had been expecting more from it (although I suppose I was still stunned by the quality of The Martian by Andy Weir and had forgotten that not all books were like this), yet it ended the Left Hand of God trilogy well. I would recommend this book (and series) to anyone who is looking to read something a bit different, especially if you're after something dark and gripping.
The Hanged Redeemers are nearly ready to unleash their holy war against mankind. Their soldiers, the best and most highly trained in the known world, are moving and they have already left the Sanctuary in the dust behind. The only person who can hope to stand against them is Thomas Cale, a once proficient warrior who is ailed by a crippling disease. Yet Cale cares nothing for the world around and would gladly watch it burn if it meant others would leave him alone.
No-one will and Cale is pursued and manoeuvred mercilessly by those who think to use him. The Swis King means to have him lead his armies against the Redeemers. Kitty the Hare means to use Cale's talents in violence to make him richer than he has ever been before. Brusco, the Pope of the Hanged Redeemer Church, believes Cale to be the Left Hand of God and the incartion of His wrath. Cale is supposed to wipe man - God's greatest mistake - off the face of the world.
All Thomas Cale sees is chaos and the suffering of his broken soul.
The Good
The Beating of His Wings was a satisfying conclusion to an undoubtedly superb religious fantasy and Paul Hoffman ties up every loose end that has split during the trilogy. It's exciting and inventive, being filled with tactical battles, multi-layered characters and the justifications of faith.
Hoffman has also continued to write in his dry, quirky manner that I really liked in the previous instalments and the book has this odd childishness to it (despite it NOT being for children!). Beloved characters such as Vague Henry and IdrisPukke are back, wandering through Spanish Leeds and adding their wits to Cale's own.
The Bad
My main fault with The Beating of His Wings is with the strange geography of Hoffman's world (once again). No map has been included with the book and he never really makes references to places or the distances between them, simply flinging in real places so they mix together strangely. I assume this is a subtle attempt to remind his readers of the real world so we link to it and add depth to the book, but I found it a little disconcerting!
My Thoughts
Overall though, I think the book was pretty good and I enjoyed reading it. It certainly wasn't a page turner and I had been expecting more from it (although I suppose I was still stunned by the quality of The Martian by Andy Weir and had forgotten that not all books were like this), yet it ended the Left Hand of God trilogy well. I would recommend this book (and series) to anyone who is looking to read something a bit different, especially if you're after something dark and gripping.
Sunday, 10 March 2013
'The Beating Of His Wings' release date
It has recently been confirmed that The Beating of His Wings, the final instalment of Paul Hoffman's Left Hand of God trilogy, will be released on the 18th July 2013! Sadly, this is a bit later than the previous and more optimistic estimates of an April launch but I guess that doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things and followers of the series with know the fate of Thomas Cale and the ruthless Redeemers soon enough!
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