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The Mordred Saga #1
The Prince and the Program
2nd Edition
Mordred Pendragon, the Bastard Prince, has done a Bad Thing—again. Exiled to Canada for seven years, he has to find a job to pay his bills. For reasons he refuses to reveal, Mordred decides “Software Engineer� has a nice ring to it. And though experience with “killing the Once and Future King, my father� and “that time in feudal Japan� makes for a poor résumé, he is hired by a small tech startup in Toronto.
In the midst of dealing with a crippling caffeine addiction and learning C++, Mordred thinks he has finally found someone to anchor him to the world of the Alan, the company’s offsite lead developer. Except that Alan might not be a "living" entity at all—he may, in fact, be the world's first strong AI. Or a demon that mistook a Windows install for the highway to Hell. Or, just maybe, the ghost of Alan Turing, currently inhabiting a laptop.
Mordred's attempts to figure out his love life are hampered by constant interference from the Inquisitors of the Securitates Arcanarum, corporate espionage, real espionage, a sysadmin bent on enslaving the world, and Marketing's demands that Mordred ship software to the Russian Federation. Then Alan gets himself kidnapped. To save him, Mordred must ally himself with the company’s CEO, who will stop at nothing to rescue her lead developer so he can get back to work. But the Prince doesn’t just want to rescue Alan, he wants a Happily Ever After—and he will travel beyond Death itself to get one.
Too bad Alan is perfectly happy as a computer.
Mordred Pendragon, the Bastard Prince, has done a Bad Thing—again. Exiled to Canada for seven years, he has to find a job to pay his bills. For reasons he refuses to reveal, Mordred decides “Software Engineer� has a nice ring to it. And though experience with “killing the Once and Future King, my father� and “that time in feudal Japan� makes for a poor résumé, he is hired by a small tech startup in Toronto.
In the midst of dealing with a crippling caffeine addiction and learning C++, Mordred thinks he has finally found someone to anchor him to the world of the Alan, the company’s offsite lead developer. Except that Alan might not be a "living" entity at all—he may, in fact, be the world's first strong AI. Or a demon that mistook a Windows install for the highway to Hell. Or, just maybe, the ghost of Alan Turing, currently inhabiting a laptop.
Mordred's attempts to figure out his love life are hampered by constant interference from the Inquisitors of the Securitates Arcanarum, corporate espionage, real espionage, a sysadmin bent on enslaving the world, and Marketing's demands that Mordred ship software to the Russian Federation. Then Alan gets himself kidnapped. To save him, Mordred must ally himself with the company’s CEO, who will stop at nothing to rescue her lead developer so he can get back to work. But the Prince doesn’t just want to rescue Alan, he wants a Happily Ever After—and he will travel beyond Death itself to get one.
Too bad Alan is perfectly happy as a computer.
344 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 24, 2012
9 people are currently reading
934 people want to read
About the author
Aldous Mercer
9books52followersA native of Toronto, Aldous Mercer enjoys martinis and relaxing on the beac-ha! No.
Aldous Mercer is a workaholic with a penchant for numerical mind games and caffeinated beverages. He uses his degree in Engineering to ensure that none of the spaceships in his books have cubic pressure-vessels. In real life he always annotates Engineering Drawings in Iambic Tetrameter.
Aldous Mercer is a workaholic with a penchant for numerical mind games and caffeinated beverages. He uses his degree in Engineering to ensure that none of the spaceships in his books have cubic pressure-vessels. In real life he always annotates Engineering Drawings in Iambic Tetrameter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
August 31, 2015
this book is crazy-go-nutz amazing.
a software engineer's love-letter to alan turing, arthurian legend, and... zombie death-majicks?
best sci-fi/fantasy book i've read in a decade—and the most recklessly inventive homo spec fic i have ever come across.
it's actually more like proto-arthurian. wayback arthurian.
somewhat before colin morgan's oh-so-toothsome rendition, y'see.
mixed with ?
and a tribute to alan turing like a conflagration of love and admiration.
so, so good.
pretty sure i didn't get some of the more obscure necromancy references, and the story plays with ancient, aaancient tropes whose details i never learned or have forgotten...
...but i swear there's a terrific zombie joke in it.
i haven't had this much fun being confused in forever.
very simply: mercer is legit.
go forth, my friends. get thee some mordred; that ye may be excitingly bewildered also.
it is a singularly agreeable experience.
a software engineer's love-letter to alan turing, arthurian legend, and... zombie death-majicks?
best sci-fi/fantasy book i've read in a decade—and the most recklessly inventive homo spec fic i have ever come across.
it's actually more like proto-arthurian. wayback arthurian.
somewhat before colin morgan's oh-so-toothsome rendition, y'see.
mixed with ?
and a tribute to alan turing like a conflagration of love and admiration.
so, so good.
pretty sure i didn't get some of the more obscure necromancy references, and the story plays with ancient, aaancient tropes whose details i never learned or have forgotten...
...but i swear there's a terrific zombie joke in it.
i haven't had this much fun being confused in forever.
very simply: mercer is legit.
go forth, my friends. get thee some mordred; that ye may be excitingly bewildered also.
it is a singularly agreeable experience.
July 3, 2012
What a TRIP!!! This is not your average m/m romance. Make sure you read the blurb carefully because there is no gentle lead in to this story, no explanations, no info dump... You just sink or swim! The author has created a unique, funny, totally amazing, compelling and often confusing world that is impossible to categorise.
Mordred (yes, THE Mordred) has been banished to Earth and stripped of his magic. He gets a job as a Software Engineer at a cutting edge start-up company and slowly begins a sort-of relationship with the lead developer, Alan. At the same time as he is struggling with his debts, his loneliness and his lack of power, he is also facing dangerous threats to his new life from several different adversaries.
Mordred is a brilliant character. He carries the whole book easily. Initially seeming to bumble and half-ass his way through life you soon realise what a noble, courageous and powerful man he is. Alan's character is also very intriguing and cryptic. The prologue, in which we find out who Alan is, is just gut-wrenching and made me want to cry. It's brilliant how this author has woven this real life person into a novel and part of my enjoyment stems from the second chance that it is giving him (if only in fiction). There are some other really vivid secondary characters, Gen-Mai, the militant CEO of the company, Mordred's cousin Tom and his other co-workers.
Who do I think would enjoy this book???
* Well you definitely need to have an inner geek.
* You also need to be a fan of the Scifi/Fantasy genre. Although the 'science' in this story is Computer Science, more specifically, computer programming and the creation of artificial intelligence. The fantasy element - Mordred's power, the mythology of the Deathless and the demonology - is all fascinating but it's also where the story (particularly in the penultimate scenes) becomes quite obscure. I struggled to keep up with it and a glossary wouldn't have gone amiss. I wasn't surprised to see who the author listed as his influences because there is more than a nod to and in this tale.
* I also think this story would appeal to a lot of guys who (from the reviews I've read) find most m/m stories insipid. There is plenty to challenge and entertain here.
There is a big climactic ending but many, many questions are left unresolved so I will be waiting very impatiently for the next book.
Mordred (yes, THE Mordred) has been banished to Earth and stripped of his magic. He gets a job as a Software Engineer at a cutting edge start-up company and slowly begins a sort-of relationship with the lead developer, Alan. At the same time as he is struggling with his debts, his loneliness and his lack of power, he is also facing dangerous threats to his new life from several different adversaries.
Mordred is a brilliant character. He carries the whole book easily. Initially seeming to bumble and half-ass his way through life you soon realise what a noble, courageous and powerful man he is. Alan's character is also very intriguing and cryptic. The prologue, in which we find out who Alan is, is just gut-wrenching and made me want to cry. It's brilliant how this author has woven this real life person into a novel and part of my enjoyment stems from the second chance that it is giving him (if only in fiction). There are some other really vivid secondary characters, Gen-Mai, the militant CEO of the company, Mordred's cousin Tom and his other co-workers.
Who do I think would enjoy this book???
* Well you definitely need to have an inner geek.
* You also need to be a fan of the Scifi/Fantasy genre. Although the 'science' in this story is Computer Science, more specifically, computer programming and the creation of artificial intelligence. The fantasy element - Mordred's power, the mythology of the Deathless and the demonology - is all fascinating but it's also where the story (particularly in the penultimate scenes) becomes quite obscure. I struggled to keep up with it and a glossary wouldn't have gone amiss. I wasn't surprised to see who the author listed as his influences because there is more than a nod to and in this tale.
* I also think this story would appeal to a lot of guys who (from the reviews I've read) find most m/m stories insipid. There is plenty to challenge and entertain here.
There is a big climactic ending but many, many questions are left unresolved so I will be waiting very impatiently for the next book.
February 1, 2015
I was afraid to read this book.
And after the first chapter I knew, it would be something special.
And I knew that it would be CRAZY, WIRED, DIFFERENT.
And it was.
My thoughts during reading it:
"WHAT did he take/drink/eat to write SOMETHING like this??"
Because I wanted it too.
Not every day for a breakfast.
But I want to take/drink/eat it every Friday.
And hope it'll bring me through my grey weekends.
A joke. A bad one probably.
Because the writing of Aldous Mercer is like drugs.
The quote of S.Dali can describe his writing almost perfectly.
And now all I can say- IT WAS BRILLIANT. I'M SPEECHLESS.
if (You're a fan of a science fiction genre):
You have to read this book;
elseif (You appreciate a great writing)
You have to read this book;
elseif (You want not ONLY to be entertained but make your brain WORK)
You have to read this book;
elseif (You admire the ability of unusual thinking)
You have to read this book;
elseif (You want to read something nothing compare with)
You have to read this book;
elseif (You have no idea about a programming and you have never heard about )
You have to read this book;
elseif (You want to FEEL in a totally different dimension )
You have to read this book;
elseif (You want to broaden yours horizons)\\
You have to read this book;
else
You FUCKING have to read this book;
end if;
P.S Aldous, it is for you!
January 12, 2014
ŷ TOS-compliant review: (I think, let me know when they tell us what the rules are).
"The book I just read is about two (or three) lovely people, written in beautiful language, by a very good and prolific author. I liked it very, very much.
It is for sale on Amazon.�
For my honest and true view of the same book, please read
DISCLAIMER: As of today my reviews will all have this pretty face, so that all and everyone on ŷ can stay happy and beatific. I’ll let you know if I change my mind.
"The book I just read is about two (or three) lovely people, written in beautiful language, by a very good and prolific author. I liked it very, very much.
It is for sale on Amazon.�
For my honest and true view of the same book, please read
DISCLAIMER: As of today my reviews will all have this pretty face, so that all and everyone on ŷ can stay happy and beatific. I’ll let you know if I change my mind.
July 18, 2014
1.5* rounded up. I may yet round down, this will have to settle a bit.
I shouldn't have attempted reading this. Absolutely shouldn't. In fact I assumed and then told myself, maybe...
This book is the sort of geek-centric nerd-fodder which has the real geeks chuckle and be all chummy with each other for their superior intellectual capacities, while the wannabes pretend they see the Emperor's clothes, and people like me--who hate maths, physics, zombies and actively dislike most of what Pratchett and Gaiman wrote--are left with a vague headache and a sour aftertaste at the back of their teeth.
Thus...
The humour, if there was any, wasn't the kind that works for me. The geekfest was too geeky for appreciation. The characters didn't do anything for me either. By the second half the book swam away in a sauce of wildly coloured letters which left me wondering whether anyone involved, me included, had had some bad 'shrooms the evening before. I didn't enjoy the experience and in consequence cut it short.
Why, you maybe now ask, do I contemplate rating this down yet another notch?
Years ago I read several books by Stephen Hawking, even though I switched off any interest in maths/physics way before I left school. I was deeply impressed by his sincere and mostly successful wish to make himself (and thus also his perception of the universe) understood.
Or in other words: it is not hard taking one's expertise and giving people a more or less unsavoury ride. It is rather difficult to communicate well and to lift up from such a vantage point instead.
I shouldn't have attempted reading this. Absolutely shouldn't. In fact I assumed and then told myself, maybe...
This book is the sort of geek-centric nerd-fodder which has the real geeks chuckle and be all chummy with each other for their superior intellectual capacities, while the wannabes pretend they see the Emperor's clothes, and people like me--who hate maths, physics, zombies and actively dislike most of what Pratchett and Gaiman wrote--are left with a vague headache and a sour aftertaste at the back of their teeth.
Thus...
The humour, if there was any, wasn't the kind that works for me. The geekfest was too geeky for appreciation. The characters didn't do anything for me either. By the second half the book swam away in a sauce of wildly coloured letters which left me wondering whether anyone involved, me included, had had some bad 'shrooms the evening before. I didn't enjoy the experience and in consequence cut it short.
Why, you maybe now ask, do I contemplate rating this down yet another notch?
Years ago I read several books by Stephen Hawking, even though I switched off any interest in maths/physics way before I left school. I was deeply impressed by his sincere and mostly successful wish to make himself (and thus also his perception of the universe) understood.
Or in other words: it is not hard taking one's expertise and giving people a more or less unsavoury ride. It is rather difficult to communicate well and to lift up from such a vantage point instead.
November 25, 2018
A fantasy / high-tech / love story mashup about Mordred Pendragon (yes, that one) and Alan Turing. Intricate, at times hilarious, profoundly geeky, and I deeply wish the clearly intended second book would have been written - but it's worth reading anyway.
Mordred Pendragon has been exiled to Canada for committing an un-specified but heinous crime. To achieve solvency, he decides to get a job as a programmer, despite having almost no knowledge of computers. He gets hired, learns C++, and makes a surprising and genuine connection with the remote software genius that created his employer's product. The genius's name is Alan. Everything's going... well, it's okay, until conspiracies and interference from various parties with evil intent turns Mordred's life into a war zone. There's some kidnapping, some necromancy, and a growing desire on Mordred's part to be closer to Alan, before Mordred gets some answers about what the hell happened that led to his exile, and he has to make a choice about what matters to him the most. I've read it twice, love it, will read it again.
Mordred Pendragon has been exiled to Canada for committing an un-specified but heinous crime. To achieve solvency, he decides to get a job as a programmer, despite having almost no knowledge of computers. He gets hired, learns C++, and makes a surprising and genuine connection with the remote software genius that created his employer's product. The genius's name is Alan. Everything's going... well, it's okay, until conspiracies and interference from various parties with evil intent turns Mordred's life into a war zone. There's some kidnapping, some necromancy, and a growing desire on Mordred's part to be closer to Alan, before Mordred gets some answers about what the hell happened that led to his exile, and he has to make a choice about what matters to him the most. I've read it twice, love it, will read it again.
August 26, 2012
3.5 stars
Review Summary: A book that hit so many of my buttons I should have LOVED it, but it didn’t quite work for me, even as it did, which made rating it challenging.
Review: It was the best of books, it was the worst of books. Okay, that's a bit hyperbolic in both directions, but the fact is there were a lot of ways this book really worked for me and several in which it didn't. It variously fascinated, confused, and bored me. You might want to get a drink and get comfortable, this is going to be a long review. I should have loved this book, because if you were to draw the various elements that comprise it as a Venn Diagram, I would be at the intersection of many of them.
Aldous Mercer read and loved Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach, or I'll eat my hat. It would be one heckuva coincidence if he hadn't, since stylistically this book reminded me of it a bit. Goedel, Escher, Bach (GEB) makes my short list of possibilities to consider if I were stuck on a desert island with only one book for the rest of my life, so that comparison should be a good one. In some ways it is, but toward the end of this book there was a lot of repetition that obviously represented recursion, a frequent element in GEB. While I loved it in GEB, it really didn't work for me here. Maybe if it had been done to a lesser extent, I could have gotten and appreciated the point without feeling like, "Yeah, yeah, I got it already, can we move on?" Granted, I suspect that feeling was deliberately evoked to fit the story, and it did. It just didn't make for fun reading here the way it did in GEB.
Mercer has probably also read Dennett, at the very least his "Where Am I?" essay. This story was full of philosophical questions about such things as who am 'I'? What is a soul? Can a soul be man-made? I've read a fair bit (though nowhere near enough!) on the philosophy of mind and the mind-body connection, and I find these fun questions to play with. So for the most part, that was one element of this book I really enjoyed.
However, although Mordred was the first-person narrator for roughly the first 80% of the book, I was confused by the narration for much of the last 20% or so. There were many moments I had absolutely no idea who was narrating, while other times it was clearly Alan, some it was clearly Mordred, and yet others I suspect were someone else entirely. Since it's a first-person narrative, that means there was a lot of time spent wondering, "Who am I?" Which, again, I suspect was intentional. I'm just not sure I liked it in this sort of story, as it made following the plot a bit challenging.
Around the last quarter or so was also the point at which I started having difficulty keeping track of when I was. The first three quarters of the story were told in past tense. Or at least consistently enough in past tense that if there were shifts, I didn't notice them. But suddenly around three-quarters in, I noticed it was in present tense. Then back to present. Past. Present. Etc. Again, I'm pretty sure it was intentional on the author's part, and I suspect there was a rhyme or reason to it; I just couldn't figure it out. So while it probably works on a meta-level, it interfered with my enjoyment of the book rather than enhanced it.
Maybe if I were more of a programmer or more of a mathematician, the pattern would have been obvious. I have dabbled in each, but specialized in neither. But I didn't think I'd have to in order to appreciate this book. I was able to appreciate GEB, even with skimming the parts where the math was clearly beyond my experience. For those who do specialize in math and/or programming, Mercer has a for this book, with scattered throughout it. I didn't try to solve it or to find them, but there were times I felt like the obvious eggs detracted from my ability to enjoy the story. But, eh, I decided to just ignore that, skim those parts, and get on with the story (as I did with the parts of GEB above my knowledge level).
However, I was frequently lost and confused throughout the story. More at the end than any other part, but there were not infrequent moments scattered throughout the book when I'd be reading merrily along and suddenly stop and think, "Huh?" I'd go back a few paragraphs or pages to try to figure out what I'd missed. Sometimes that worked, more often I just shrugged and continued on, hoping the thing I'd missed wouldn't be crucial later. And it wasn't just (or maybe even mostly) the math that confused me, it was world-building details or conclusions Mordred reached, that sort of thing.
Despite my various confusions, the humor usually worked for me and I laughed out loud several times. I worked Tech Support at a startup when the movie "Office Space" came out, and my co-workers and I all agreed it could have been filmed at our company. So I enjoyed and related to the obvious allusions to it in this book, right down to the mention of demanding TPS reports. And who that has seen Monty Python could not laugh at this?
I did, however, love seeing the "what if" for Alan Turing. Mercer's depiction of that potential was brilliant and I really enjoyed it. I also loved the Arthurian connection and "what if" for Mordred, though Mary Stewart remains my favorite re-telling of Arthurian lore. That legend was a favorite of mine in childhood, and I've read many variations and adaptations of it over the years. It was the Arthurian legend cum (not that kind, get your mind out of the gutter!) computer geeky that made this book irresistible to me in the first place, and it lived up to that promise with beautiful imagery such as, "It was like walking into a mangrove forest; asynchronous chirping from hundreds of hard drives filled my ears."
There was an unpleasant surprise near the end with the sudden introduction of zombies and some rather gruesome scenes. The extent of my zombie-love pretty much begins and ends with song . Which was very much going through my head, especially the refrain, "We're not unreasonable, I mean no one's gonna eat your eyes." I won't say any more to avoid spoilers, but much of the last 10% or so seemed to be inspired by that song. However, I did love the scene where everything suddenly clicked into place and I understood so much that had puzzled me before, like why Mordred would choose to be a Software Engineer.
The end will not please those reading this for a romantic HEA. In fact, if that's what you want DON'T read this book. I disliked the gore and the zombies, but the end didn't otherwise bother me because I wasn't particularly emotionally invested in the story or most of the characters. I did get teary for one moment near the end, but that was in sympathy with a wonderful secondary character. I liked Mordred, and Alan, and a few other characters, but they stimulated my intellect more than my emotions. In fact, Mordred and Alan's relationship was almost purely intellectual, and I enjoyed it as such. "Seduction via Euclidean transformations by proxy. More reliable in the long run, perhaps, than chocolate."
I should have loved this book. But I didn't. And I really struggled with how to rate it. There were times it was absolutely a 4-5 star book, and other times it was more like 1-2 stars and I was wondering why I was still reading. So I averaged it out to 3 stars with a half-star bump because any book that gets me thinking about so many of my favorite things deserves it. And despite all my confusions and frustrations and emotional distance, the book fascinated me enough that I'll probably read the sequel. In fact, I'm looking forward to it.
This review was originally posted at , where I received the book for free in exchange for an honest review.
Review Summary: A book that hit so many of my buttons I should have LOVED it, but it didn’t quite work for me, even as it did, which made rating it challenging.
Review: It was the best of books, it was the worst of books. Okay, that's a bit hyperbolic in both directions, but the fact is there were a lot of ways this book really worked for me and several in which it didn't. It variously fascinated, confused, and bored me. You might want to get a drink and get comfortable, this is going to be a long review. I should have loved this book, because if you were to draw the various elements that comprise it as a Venn Diagram, I would be at the intersection of many of them.
Aldous Mercer read and loved Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach, or I'll eat my hat. It would be one heckuva coincidence if he hadn't, since stylistically this book reminded me of it a bit. Goedel, Escher, Bach (GEB) makes my short list of possibilities to consider if I were stuck on a desert island with only one book for the rest of my life, so that comparison should be a good one. In some ways it is, but toward the end of this book there was a lot of repetition that obviously represented recursion, a frequent element in GEB. While I loved it in GEB, it really didn't work for me here. Maybe if it had been done to a lesser extent, I could have gotten and appreciated the point without feeling like, "Yeah, yeah, I got it already, can we move on?" Granted, I suspect that feeling was deliberately evoked to fit the story, and it did. It just didn't make for fun reading here the way it did in GEB.
Mercer has probably also read Dennett, at the very least his "Where Am I?" essay. This story was full of philosophical questions about such things as who am 'I'? What is a soul? Can a soul be man-made? I've read a fair bit (though nowhere near enough!) on the philosophy of mind and the mind-body connection, and I find these fun questions to play with. So for the most part, that was one element of this book I really enjoyed.
However, although Mordred was the first-person narrator for roughly the first 80% of the book, I was confused by the narration for much of the last 20% or so. There were many moments I had absolutely no idea who was narrating, while other times it was clearly Alan, some it was clearly Mordred, and yet others I suspect were someone else entirely. Since it's a first-person narrative, that means there was a lot of time spent wondering, "Who am I?" Which, again, I suspect was intentional. I'm just not sure I liked it in this sort of story, as it made following the plot a bit challenging.
Around the last quarter or so was also the point at which I started having difficulty keeping track of when I was. The first three quarters of the story were told in past tense. Or at least consistently enough in past tense that if there were shifts, I didn't notice them. But suddenly around three-quarters in, I noticed it was in present tense. Then back to present. Past. Present. Etc. Again, I'm pretty sure it was intentional on the author's part, and I suspect there was a rhyme or reason to it; I just couldn't figure it out. So while it probably works on a meta-level, it interfered with my enjoyment of the book rather than enhanced it.
Maybe if I were more of a programmer or more of a mathematician, the pattern would have been obvious. I have dabbled in each, but specialized in neither. But I didn't think I'd have to in order to appreciate this book. I was able to appreciate GEB, even with skimming the parts where the math was clearly beyond my experience. For those who do specialize in math and/or programming, Mercer has a for this book, with scattered throughout it. I didn't try to solve it or to find them, but there were times I felt like the obvious eggs detracted from my ability to enjoy the story. But, eh, I decided to just ignore that, skim those parts, and get on with the story (as I did with the parts of GEB above my knowledge level).
However, I was frequently lost and confused throughout the story. More at the end than any other part, but there were not infrequent moments scattered throughout the book when I'd be reading merrily along and suddenly stop and think, "Huh?" I'd go back a few paragraphs or pages to try to figure out what I'd missed. Sometimes that worked, more often I just shrugged and continued on, hoping the thing I'd missed wouldn't be crucial later. And it wasn't just (or maybe even mostly) the math that confused me, it was world-building details or conclusions Mordred reached, that sort of thing.
Despite my various confusions, the humor usually worked for me and I laughed out loud several times. I worked Tech Support at a startup when the movie "Office Space" came out, and my co-workers and I all agreed it could have been filmed at our company. So I enjoyed and related to the obvious allusions to it in this book, right down to the mention of demanding TPS reports. And who that has seen Monty Python could not laugh at this?
“Espresso or latte or cappuccino?� Emma asked, twiddling with the knobs on the machine.The humor and overall style of the book were also obviously influenced by Pratchett. I've read and loved several in the Discworld series, though my favorite Pratchett book remains the one co-authored with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens. But I digress. My point is that while I've enjoyed Sir Terry myself, the Pratchett-esque elements of this book didn't quite work for me, though I'm struggling to articulate why.
“American cappuccino or European cappuccino?�
“European cappuccinos are nonmigratory,� said Emma.
I did, however, love seeing the "what if" for Alan Turing. Mercer's depiction of that potential was brilliant and I really enjoyed it. I also loved the Arthurian connection and "what if" for Mordred, though Mary Stewart remains my favorite re-telling of Arthurian lore. That legend was a favorite of mine in childhood, and I've read many variations and adaptations of it over the years. It was the Arthurian legend cum (not that kind, get your mind out of the gutter!) computer geeky that made this book irresistible to me in the first place, and it lived up to that promise with beautiful imagery such as, "It was like walking into a mangrove forest; asynchronous chirping from hundreds of hard drives filled my ears."
There was an unpleasant surprise near the end with the sudden introduction of zombies and some rather gruesome scenes. The extent of my zombie-love pretty much begins and ends with song . Which was very much going through my head, especially the refrain, "We're not unreasonable, I mean no one's gonna eat your eyes." I won't say any more to avoid spoilers, but much of the last 10% or so seemed to be inspired by that song. However, I did love the scene where everything suddenly clicked into place and I understood so much that had puzzled me before, like why Mordred would choose to be a Software Engineer.
The end will not please those reading this for a romantic HEA. In fact, if that's what you want DON'T read this book. I disliked the gore and the zombies, but the end didn't otherwise bother me because I wasn't particularly emotionally invested in the story or most of the characters. I did get teary for one moment near the end, but that was in sympathy with a wonderful secondary character. I liked Mordred, and Alan, and a few other characters, but they stimulated my intellect more than my emotions. In fact, Mordred and Alan's relationship was almost purely intellectual, and I enjoyed it as such. "Seduction via Euclidean transformations by proxy. More reliable in the long run, perhaps, than chocolate."
I should have loved this book. But I didn't. And I really struggled with how to rate it. There were times it was absolutely a 4-5 star book, and other times it was more like 1-2 stars and I was wondering why I was still reading. So I averaged it out to 3 stars with a half-star bump because any book that gets me thinking about so many of my favorite things deserves it. And despite all my confusions and frustrations and emotional distance, the book fascinated me enough that I'll probably read the sequel. In fact, I'm looking forward to it.
This review was originally posted at , where I received the book for free in exchange for an honest review.
May 12, 2016
This is certainly one of the most amazing books I have read in a while. It is imaginative, has some brilliant characters, made me laugh, had lots of computer-geekiness which I adore, the tension was exquisite, the questions asked profound, and I was only disappointed when it ended –much too soon. This story will make your head spin with its implications on multiple levels. Even if you read the blurb (which I didn't do a very good job of, I admit), this book will still manage to shock and surprise you, I bet. What a total trip!
Mordred is a hilarious main character. A bastard prince who is also a Mage, he is banned to the Earthly plane to do penance for some slightly mysterious misdeed. He suddenly has to work for a living, and is not allowed to use magic. He has no marketable skills and ends up bluffing his way into a job at a small computer start-up company. Mordred's battles with the requirements of daily life (otherwise known as paying the bills) are quite amusing. The somewhat strange happenings at his new place of employment had me puzzled, then terrified and hoping for a somewhat happy ending.
Excursions into the paranormal, the absurd, and the unexpected kept me entertained. Mordred's attempts to have a love life were fun, and his increasing fascination with Alan had me in stitches � I suspected who he was from the beginning and saw that thread of the story develop with great amusement. There were too many other great characters and events to name, so suffice it to say that I do not think you will be bored. Well, possibly if you don’t like computers, but even then, there is enough humor in here for everyone.
If you don’t like surprises and plot twists � stay away from this book. If you like your stories neat with all the explanations given in great, easy-to-understand detail � for heaven's sake, don't even go near this. If you're looking for a traditional m/m romance � please, don’t buy this book. However, if you like books that make you think about the nature of being human, if you enjoy a puzzle and want to figure things out for yourself (what else have we got brains for, right?), and if you like a read that challenges your intellect as well as your ability to read through tears of laughter, then, by all means, get a copy right now, take a deep breath and plunge in. But be warned: this is an adventure of the highest degree and you may come out the other side with a different view of reality!
NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
Mordred is a hilarious main character. A bastard prince who is also a Mage, he is banned to the Earthly plane to do penance for some slightly mysterious misdeed. He suddenly has to work for a living, and is not allowed to use magic. He has no marketable skills and ends up bluffing his way into a job at a small computer start-up company. Mordred's battles with the requirements of daily life (otherwise known as paying the bills) are quite amusing. The somewhat strange happenings at his new place of employment had me puzzled, then terrified and hoping for a somewhat happy ending.
Excursions into the paranormal, the absurd, and the unexpected kept me entertained. Mordred's attempts to have a love life were fun, and his increasing fascination with Alan had me in stitches � I suspected who he was from the beginning and saw that thread of the story develop with great amusement. There were too many other great characters and events to name, so suffice it to say that I do not think you will be bored. Well, possibly if you don’t like computers, but even then, there is enough humor in here for everyone.
If you don’t like surprises and plot twists � stay away from this book. If you like your stories neat with all the explanations given in great, easy-to-understand detail � for heaven's sake, don't even go near this. If you're looking for a traditional m/m romance � please, don’t buy this book. However, if you like books that make you think about the nature of being human, if you enjoy a puzzle and want to figure things out for yourself (what else have we got brains for, right?), and if you like a read that challenges your intellect as well as your ability to read through tears of laughter, then, by all means, get a copy right now, take a deep breath and plunge in. But be warned: this is an adventure of the highest degree and you may come out the other side with a different view of reality!
NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
August 23, 2012
I can honestly say I've never read anything quite like this before. Good writing, fascinating concept--a peculiar blend of science fiction and urban fantasy. I can't say that it will be to everyone's taste, but then again most works that skirt the cutting edge won't. It's different. Neal Stephenson, Michael Chabon, Roger Zelazny different. The writer's not yet in their class, but I expect good things of him.
I'm not sure traditional romance readers will appreciate it, but if you like snarky, edgy characters and a lot of cyber in your punk, you'll probably enjoy this one. I did, a lot. In fact, I kept checking to see who the publisher was--this was something I expected from Baen or Tor, not Dreamspinner (not to diss DSP because I love them, but they're more focused on more traditional m/m romance. Nice to see that they're branching out).
I'm not sure traditional romance readers will appreciate it, but if you like snarky, edgy characters and a lot of cyber in your punk, you'll probably enjoy this one. I did, a lot. In fact, I kept checking to see who the publisher was--this was something I expected from Baen or Tor, not Dreamspinner (not to diss DSP because I love them, but they're more focused on more traditional m/m romance. Nice to see that they're branching out).
Want to read
September 27, 2013"It's Arthurian legend mixed with Microserfs and the single most imaginative tribute to Alan Turing I have ever read.
I'm pretty sure I didn't get some of the more obscure necromancy references, and the story plays with ancient, ancient tropes whose details I never learned or have forgotten, but I swear there's a terrific zombie joke in it."
--Julio
SOLD
Read
July 18, 20147/18/14
You know what, fuck it. Cold, hard truths time.
This is partly/mostly/part of the reason I no longer read books Julio tells me to. (The other part is that one Crow Raven Whatever book. Oh, wait. Magpie. Magpie Lord or something.)
He loves it. Insists I read it. I read it. I stare at the story like, "...eh. I mean...I guess...eh."
Maybe we just have horribly different tastes in things.
I agree with Steel. Wtf, man.
The plot was kind of plotty, but the latter part really was a down-the-rabbit-hole/shroom trip of what-the-fuck-ery and "wait is this even still the same story" and "...wasn't I ___ a while ago?"
So, all in all, not my thing, I doubt I'll ever reread, and while I'm marginally interested in the plot, I'll probably see if I can find a blog post where someone distilled the plot out rather than read it myself.
To me, this was mostly incohesive, incoherent, incomprehensible (techno?)babble.
11/13/2013
You'd have to have been there to get it.
...but I was there, and I still don't get it.
Yeah, all of the mathy-sciency stuff is going waaay over my head. Kind of cool to sit and bask, though. In the scientific aura of sciency stuff.
And then it just got weird for a while.
It's odd. It's like logic I can almost - but not quite - grasp, and perhaps I could grasp if I wished to expend a bit more energy on attempting grasping, yet is still, at the present energy and effort output, quite out of reach. It's like Carrollian logic that way. Of course, it's apparently also computer science/cryptography, so it probably is quite understandable, to those who know the jargon. Or enough of the jargon. I know enough to just barely grasp onto the barest corner of meaning with minimal extra effort output. I probably don't understand enough to grasp significantly more meaning even if I tried, though.
The last bit gets quite bleak. Even more so because of how inscrutable it was.
I feel like I'd need to reread this several times, in small chunks, perhaps, to distill any sort of deep meaning from it.
As for the plot...Something happened. Not entirely sure what, but I do know for certain something happened. And Love did not Prevail, as far as I can tell. It perhaps Transcended, but we all know that's a shitty way to resolve Love, not unless it's a ballet and it's apparently the best you can hope for.
The worst part is that it was so difficult to tease out vital details of the universe. Who exactly know what about whom and when? Those are rather important, you know. Otherwise, none of us have absolutely any idea what to expect.
And aha. It IS the first of a series. Proposed series. Whatever.
Basically, the book is actually less comprehensible than the least comprehensible of my reviews, which can be pretty damn incomprehensible, even to me. I blame it on trying to come up with thoughts after finishing the book at 2am, forgetting about it until 3am after i'd started some other book, had been getting <6hrs sleep for the past couple of days, and for some reason, it's now 4am and I'm still awake.
You know what, fuck it. Cold, hard truths time.
This is partly/mostly/part of the reason I no longer read books Julio tells me to. (The other part is that one Crow Raven Whatever book. Oh, wait. Magpie. Magpie Lord or something.)
He loves it. Insists I read it. I read it. I stare at the story like, "...eh. I mean...I guess...eh."
Maybe we just have horribly different tastes in things.
I agree with Steel. Wtf, man.
The plot was kind of plotty, but the latter part really was a down-the-rabbit-hole/shroom trip of what-the-fuck-ery and "wait is this even still the same story" and "...wasn't I ___ a while ago?"
So, all in all, not my thing, I doubt I'll ever reread, and while I'm marginally interested in the plot, I'll probably see if I can find a blog post where someone distilled the plot out rather than read it myself.
To me, this was mostly incohesive, incoherent, incomprehensible (techno?)babble.
11/13/2013
You'd have to have been there to get it.
...but I was there, and I still don't get it.
Yeah, all of the mathy-sciency stuff is going waaay over my head. Kind of cool to sit and bask, though. In the scientific aura of sciency stuff.
And then it just got weird for a while.
It's odd. It's like logic I can almost - but not quite - grasp, and perhaps I could grasp if I wished to expend a bit more energy on attempting grasping, yet is still, at the present energy and effort output, quite out of reach. It's like Carrollian logic that way. Of course, it's apparently also computer science/cryptography, so it probably is quite understandable, to those who know the jargon. Or enough of the jargon. I know enough to just barely grasp onto the barest corner of meaning with minimal extra effort output. I probably don't understand enough to grasp significantly more meaning even if I tried, though.
The last bit gets quite bleak. Even more so because of how inscrutable it was.
I feel like I'd need to reread this several times, in small chunks, perhaps, to distill any sort of deep meaning from it.
As for the plot...Something happened. Not entirely sure what, but I do know for certain something happened. And Love did not Prevail, as far as I can tell. It perhaps Transcended, but we all know that's a shitty way to resolve Love, not unless it's a ballet and it's apparently the best you can hope for.
The worst part is that it was so difficult to tease out vital details of the universe. Who exactly know what about whom and when? Those are rather important, you know. Otherwise, none of us have absolutely any idea what to expect.
And aha. It IS the first of a series. Proposed series. Whatever.
Basically, the book is actually less comprehensible than the least comprehensible of my reviews, which can be pretty damn incomprehensible, even to me. I blame it on trying to come up with thoughts after finishing the book at 2am, forgetting about it until 3am after i'd started some other book, had been getting <6hrs sleep for the past couple of days, and for some reason, it's now 4am and I'm still awake.
March 2, 2014
If judging a book does not define what the book is but it defines what I am, than consider me:
* confused
* bewildered
* with my mind still whirring away trying to comprehend
* actually considering re-reading while tripping
* angry (until I realised that this is just the first book)
* stimulated
* appreciative
* smiling
* wanting more immediately...
When I was a little girl, a door to door salesman convinced my father to part with his hard earned cash in exchange for an encyclopedia. Together with this we also got a set of classic literature. These coloured illustrated volumes became my friends and I spent hours poring over them. One of them was the tales of Arthur and the knights of the round table. Now Mr Mercer has brought up all my past memories (with warm feelings attached) with his vindication of the anti-hero Mordred and also of Alan Turing so shamefully treated in real life. I am always a sucker for the anti-hero and with this I got two.
With the overload of love based on physical attributes I encounter, this was a complete breath of fresh air which I sorely needed. Attraction of the minds, so alluring, so true for me. Watching Mori fall in love by mail was breathtakingly beautiful.
References to the holy grail, horn of plenty, golden armour, The Matrix, Ghost in the Shell,Blade Runner, Shakespeare, Arabian Nights genies in the bottle, zombie apocalyses run through the story like brightly woven threads. Mr Mercer weaves his story with a multitude of different threads. I am sure that I recognised but a few.
As usual with Mr Mercer you need to have all your brain synapses to be firing correctly to be able to follow all his convultions. I probably need a brain cell restorative tonic after this. I hope I'm not becoming a Mercer addict.
August 4, 2012
2.5 stars.
The last 25% percent of this book got so bizarre that I couldn't follow it anymore, and I couldn't even summon up enough energy to care. The first 75% wasn't exactly easy for me to understand, but at least I could attribute some of that to the fact that I'm a dunce at math and couldn't program my way out of a paper bag. The first 75% at least had a semi-logical storyline which could be followed. But it all fragmented and fell apart at the end. It was really disappointing, because I loved the characters and enjoyed the quirky humor. There was so much about this book to like, and yet I'm left feeling unsatisfied and frustrated.
The last 25% percent of this book got so bizarre that I couldn't follow it anymore, and I couldn't even summon up enough energy to care. The first 75% wasn't exactly easy for me to understand, but at least I could attribute some of that to the fact that I'm a dunce at math and couldn't program my way out of a paper bag. The first 75% at least had a semi-logical storyline which could be followed. But it all fragmented and fell apart at the end. It was really disappointing, because I loved the characters and enjoyed the quirky humor. There was so much about this book to like, and yet I'm left feeling unsatisfied and frustrated.
May 4, 2014
Life, death, demons, inquisitors, souls, ghosts, exiled princes, familiars, symbiots, cyborgs�
Cocked eyebrow. I loved the chemistry between Mordred and Alan, their interaction was delicious. The problem is, I tended to skim over other stuff and I am pretty sure I missed some plot points in doing so. Even so, I did enjoy it. However, I feel that a reread is required if I want to tease out understanding of the many clues given about this universe.
Cocked eyebrow. I loved the chemistry between Mordred and Alan, their interaction was delicious. The problem is, I tended to skim over other stuff and I am pretty sure I missed some plot points in doing so. Even so, I did enjoy it. However, I feel that a reread is required if I want to tease out understanding of the many clues given about this universe.
September 28, 2013
This book has scrambled my brains.
September 3, 2012
Let me start by saying what this book is not. Some of the issues readers have had, I believe, might have been headed off by adjusting expectations. I know this is a Dreamspinner title, so people walk in with certain expectations. Please leave them with your shoes at the door. We've just had the carpets cleaned.
First - this is a book for grownups, but it's not erotic fiction. Second - there is a romance or at least a desperate romantic longing as a centerpiece to the story, but it is not a traditional romance. Do not expect HEA. Third - there will be more, Aldous assures me, so don't despair.
Now let's move on to what this book is. Freaking brilliant. Written by an engineer about a software start up and the exiled, desperate mage who lands a job there, the pages are necessarily filled with computer geek and programmer in-jokes, jabs and nudges. I would love to say I understood every word, but that would be a lie. (The farthest I got into programming was learning HTML and that's sort of like saying, 'hey, I can roller skate, that's just like flying a plane, right?') You don't need to be a programmer, though. The story, from Mordred's initial frustrations in finding a job to the very end, is captivating. The all-too real struggles of keeping an apartment and getting enough to eat while the money runs out live side by side with visits to Unseelie relatives, memories of other planes, and the ever-present, charming oddness that is Imp, Mordred's not always helpful familiar.
We know, from the introduction and certain hints, who Alan, the head programmer, is. We know, but we're fascinated watching the strange pavane of minds that is Alan and Mordred's courtship, all danced in cyberspace. The connection between them surpasses anything purely sexual (though Mordred longs for something physical, at least a meeting) and is one of the most poignant romances I've ever read. To say too much more would give things away, but to me this intertwining of intellect was as satisfying as any physical encounter.
Just so you don't think it's all cerebral, there's plenty of real life peril, a huge helping of dry humor, evil things afoot, cosmic misunderstandings to clear up, and lessons about the dangers of pranks in the office. There are digs at Canadians, programmers, Americans, coffee addicts, gamers, corporations (and their HR departments) and bill collectors, just to name a few. The quirky characters (including our hero Mordred, the Prince of Quirk) nestle close to the reader's heart with breathtaking speed and refuse to let go. There's even a puzzle contained within the book, with a prize offered for the solution, if you happen to be numerically gifted. (Sadly, I wouldn't know where to begin.) Yes, serious things happen. The world could end if our heroes fail kinds of serious. But the story is told with such dry wit that you very seldom feel its true weight, as if it skated along on some unseen EM field.
Did I have a little "aw, man" moment at the end? Perhaps. But the reader paying attention will expect it and we know it's not the end. There were only a couple of minor elements that didn't quite come together for me (which I intend to ask Aldous about - it could have simply been me missing something crucial in my desperate devouring of the story) but taken altogether this is an amazing work.
Have I said it already? Brilliant. Just Brilliant. Leave your preconceptions about what a gay romance should be at the door and enjoy the ride. Your brain needs nourishment in its entertainment sometimes, too.
An unprecedented 95%. It's one I'll be thinking about for a long time to come.
First - this is a book for grownups, but it's not erotic fiction. Second - there is a romance or at least a desperate romantic longing as a centerpiece to the story, but it is not a traditional romance. Do not expect HEA. Third - there will be more, Aldous assures me, so don't despair.
Now let's move on to what this book is. Freaking brilliant. Written by an engineer about a software start up and the exiled, desperate mage who lands a job there, the pages are necessarily filled with computer geek and programmer in-jokes, jabs and nudges. I would love to say I understood every word, but that would be a lie. (The farthest I got into programming was learning HTML and that's sort of like saying, 'hey, I can roller skate, that's just like flying a plane, right?') You don't need to be a programmer, though. The story, from Mordred's initial frustrations in finding a job to the very end, is captivating. The all-too real struggles of keeping an apartment and getting enough to eat while the money runs out live side by side with visits to Unseelie relatives, memories of other planes, and the ever-present, charming oddness that is Imp, Mordred's not always helpful familiar.
We know, from the introduction and certain hints, who Alan, the head programmer, is. We know, but we're fascinated watching the strange pavane of minds that is Alan and Mordred's courtship, all danced in cyberspace. The connection between them surpasses anything purely sexual (though Mordred longs for something physical, at least a meeting) and is one of the most poignant romances I've ever read. To say too much more would give things away, but to me this intertwining of intellect was as satisfying as any physical encounter.
Just so you don't think it's all cerebral, there's plenty of real life peril, a huge helping of dry humor, evil things afoot, cosmic misunderstandings to clear up, and lessons about the dangers of pranks in the office. There are digs at Canadians, programmers, Americans, coffee addicts, gamers, corporations (and their HR departments) and bill collectors, just to name a few. The quirky characters (including our hero Mordred, the Prince of Quirk) nestle close to the reader's heart with breathtaking speed and refuse to let go. There's even a puzzle contained within the book, with a prize offered for the solution, if you happen to be numerically gifted. (Sadly, I wouldn't know where to begin.) Yes, serious things happen. The world could end if our heroes fail kinds of serious. But the story is told with such dry wit that you very seldom feel its true weight, as if it skated along on some unseen EM field.
Did I have a little "aw, man" moment at the end? Perhaps. But the reader paying attention will expect it and we know it's not the end. There were only a couple of minor elements that didn't quite come together for me (which I intend to ask Aldous about - it could have simply been me missing something crucial in my desperate devouring of the story) but taken altogether this is an amazing work.
Have I said it already? Brilliant. Just Brilliant. Leave your preconceptions about what a gay romance should be at the door and enjoy the ride. Your brain needs nourishment in its entertainment sometimes, too.
An unprecedented 95%. It's one I'll be thinking about for a long time to come.
June 18, 2016
4.5 stars. This book is bizarre and so confusing and so awesome. I finished it yesterday and I'm still quite puzzled about what I read. I'm not really sure I understand what happened at all, but I loved it! I have a feeling a lot of it went right over my head, but it was a really great experience. This is an exciting and complex sci-fi story taking place in Toronto. It's not a romance per se, but it's very romantic and so heartwarming at times. I know I would have understood a lot more of the references if I knew more about coding and maths and AI and Arthurian legends and computers and necromancy, but whatever, it was still awesome. I was confused a lot but I didn't mind at all because it was a such a grand adventure. There's a lot going on in this book. It's quite possible this book is just a little too smart for me, but it has zombies and magic and cyborgs and Alan Turing and Mordred Pendragon and saving the world and love and so many awesome things in it. The fact that it says it's "book one" is very intriguing. It's interesting reading the reviews for this because they seem to go two directions: either "Holy cow, this is confusing and I love it!" or "Holy cow, this is confusing and I can't stand it." This book is made my head spin and it's so much fun and, yeah, really confusing at times, but it's also exciting and really funny and full of love and imagination. It's a wild ride and it's strange and I loved it. Angel Martinez wrote a lovely review, which is here.
NB: Aldous Mercer's other book, , is super fun and definitely a bit more straightforward, if you'd like to try something of his that's a little less "out there" that totally makes sense at the end. It's an awesome sci-fi story and it's much more accessible and I absolutely loved it.
NB: Aldous Mercer's other book, , is super fun and definitely a bit more straightforward, if you'd like to try something of his that's a little less "out there" that totally makes sense at the end. It's an awesome sci-fi story and it's much more accessible and I absolutely loved it.
February 12, 2016
This book is actually unratable. I gave it four stars, but it actually exists in two superimposed states: it is simultaneously a one-star and a five-star book. This is fairly appropriate, given the nature of the book.
So, what this is, it's about Mordred, half-son of Arthur Pendragon (kiiiiiind of), who is a software engineer in modern-day Toronto, and in love with a computer program/Alan Turing. Kind of. And that's the simple, sensible part of the book.
But, no, what this book really is -- the author (and WOW do I assume that is a pseudonym) took every single thing he likes and packed it into one book. So it is both fun and a mess. Like, I think this could have been a fucking brilliant book if he'd just -- focused some. Instead of doing that, he elected to add a hidden puzzle to his book and throw in some easter eggs. That should tell you what you're getting into here.
So there's a lot I loved. I loved this weird worldbuilding that he did, I loved a lot of the characters, I loved his depiction of working at startups, I loved his endless references to other things I love (I caught a lot of them, but I am sure I missed many more). I loved the romance between an immortal necromancer/mythological figure and a computer program/computer programmer, mostly carried out via IM. I loved the humor and most of the feelings. I loved the math.
I did not love the author's attempt to capture recursion in narrative form. I did not love his many unraveling plot ends. I did not love the author's inability to find a tone and commit to it.
I read this book quickly and was engrossed through the whole thing. I even stayed with it through the unexpected arrival of one of my phobias AND one of my ironclad nos, which means it was incredibly engaging. But having finished it, I'm frustrated, not satisfied; the ending was a spiralling, out-of-control wreck that slammed into a brick wall and died there.
I did enjoy this, and I'm not sorry I read it. And if he writes another one, I'll definitely read it. I just kind of hope he workshops it with people who live in only three dimensions and are capable of thinking in straight lines. He could use their help.
So, what this is, it's about Mordred, half-son of Arthur Pendragon (kiiiiiind of), who is a software engineer in modern-day Toronto, and in love with a computer program/Alan Turing. Kind of. And that's the simple, sensible part of the book.
But, no, what this book really is -- the author (and WOW do I assume that is a pseudonym) took every single thing he likes and packed it into one book. So it is both fun and a mess. Like, I think this could have been a fucking brilliant book if he'd just -- focused some. Instead of doing that, he elected to add a hidden puzzle to his book and throw in some easter eggs. That should tell you what you're getting into here.
So there's a lot I loved. I loved this weird worldbuilding that he did, I loved a lot of the characters, I loved his depiction of working at startups, I loved his endless references to other things I love (I caught a lot of them, but I am sure I missed many more). I loved the romance between an immortal necromancer/mythological figure and a computer program/computer programmer, mostly carried out via IM. I loved the humor and most of the feelings. I loved the math.
I did not love the author's attempt to capture recursion in narrative form. I did not love his many unraveling plot ends. I did not love the author's inability to find a tone and commit to it.
I read this book quickly and was engrossed through the whole thing. I even stayed with it through the unexpected arrival of one of my phobias AND one of my ironclad nos, which means it was incredibly engaging. But having finished it, I'm frustrated, not satisfied; the ending was a spiralling, out-of-control wreck that slammed into a brick wall and died there.
I did enjoy this, and I'm not sorry I read it. And if he writes another one, I'll definitely read it. I just kind of hope he workshops it with people who live in only three dimensions and are capable of thinking in straight lines. He could use their help.
July 5, 2012
What can you say about a book that has as its main characters Mordred Pendragon and Alan Turing, is set in the present, skips from a small computer company to an inquisitional bureaucracy to the Sunless Planes and all points between, makes immortals via a diverse-genetics-hungry Symbiot, and features demons, robots, cyborgs, souls, Tom Thumb, Baron Samedi,and, well, you name it. With a sci-fi twist on faerie and a mystical twist on Artificial Intelligence, this novel takes science, myth, and legend and blends it into a fascinating, humorous, mind-bending, and sometimes deeply touching tale. Protagonist Mori (Mordred Pendragon) has a wry sense of humor, a temper, a touch of hubris, and a carefully disguised and protected desire for redemption. His distinctive voice propels the story through fantastical events with the humanity to ground them and make them real enough for an ordinary person to invest in. His struggles with bureaucracy made me laugh out loud, while his great heart--shown in events small and great, ordinary and epic--made me alternately ache and root for him.
If you have read any of the blurbs or visited the author's website, you know about the clever secrets and codes--Easter Eggs--hidden throughout the book, including the overall Easter Egg that could net some smart and/or persistent person $1,000. But for me, the real value of this novel is its brilliant interweaving of the supernatural and the mundane, the technological and the mythological, and the richness of the characters and their journeys. Those journeys are far from ended at the end of this novel, and I, for one, cannot wait to take the next steps with them.
If you have read any of the blurbs or visited the author's website, you know about the clever secrets and codes--Easter Eggs--hidden throughout the book, including the overall Easter Egg that could net some smart and/or persistent person $1,000. But for me, the real value of this novel is its brilliant interweaving of the supernatural and the mundane, the technological and the mythological, and the richness of the characters and their journeys. Those journeys are far from ended at the end of this novel, and I, for one, cannot wait to take the next steps with them.
August 30, 2015
Featured on !
Mori, once known as the Deathless Mordred Pendragon, solicits the help of some otherworldly contacts to land a too-good-to-be-true job at a mysterious tech company. And then he befriends a man he knows only through chatlogs, and all the while things are getting stranger and stranger.
This was a very bizarre book, but I enjoyed it. Humor keeps the story moving: Mordred's troubles with the demonic bureaucracy, puzzling through code that's mostly made up of caffeine, and dealing with Imp, his irritating ramen-obsessed familiar.
There's a lot going on. It gets even more interesting when, while trying to figure out what the hell his employers are actually up to, Mordred starts talking to one of the company higher-ups, Alan. They discuss programming languages, mathematics, the concept of souls, and soon talking to Alan is the high point of Mordred's day. But both are hiding things: Mordred can't reveal his true nature, and neither can Alan. Mordred eventually learns why he can't meet Alan: he's an AI. And possibly a reincarnation of Alan Turing. This sets a wedge between them for a while, and watching them overcome it was one of the best parts of the book.
It seems impossible that they will ever meet in person. Until the demons gain the upper hand, and the two are sent on a quest through the bizarre world of the dead (and undead), a place full of traces of myth, zombie horror, computer nerd jokes, and emotional moments.
I especially loved Mordred's snaky comments in the narration. The side characters were interesting, and his relationship developed in a way I really liked to read.
The Prince and the Program was a lot of fun, and I already know some people I'll be recommending it to.
Mori, once known as the Deathless Mordred Pendragon, solicits the help of some otherworldly contacts to land a too-good-to-be-true job at a mysterious tech company. And then he befriends a man he knows only through chatlogs, and all the while things are getting stranger and stranger.
This was a very bizarre book, but I enjoyed it. Humor keeps the story moving: Mordred's troubles with the demonic bureaucracy, puzzling through code that's mostly made up of caffeine, and dealing with Imp, his irritating ramen-obsessed familiar.
There's a lot going on. It gets even more interesting when, while trying to figure out what the hell his employers are actually up to, Mordred starts talking to one of the company higher-ups, Alan. They discuss programming languages, mathematics, the concept of souls, and soon talking to Alan is the high point of Mordred's day. But both are hiding things: Mordred can't reveal his true nature, and neither can Alan. Mordred eventually learns why he can't meet Alan: he's an AI. And possibly a reincarnation of Alan Turing. This sets a wedge between them for a while, and watching them overcome it was one of the best parts of the book.
It seems impossible that they will ever meet in person. Until the demons gain the upper hand, and the two are sent on a quest through the bizarre world of the dead (and undead), a place full of traces of myth, zombie horror, computer nerd jokes, and emotional moments.
I especially loved Mordred's snaky comments in the narration. The side characters were interesting, and his relationship developed in a way I really liked to read.
The Prince and the Program was a lot of fun, and I already know some people I'll be recommending it to.
Read
August 20, 2012This started out really well for me, loved the excerpt, and I was really excited about reading it, but I got about 20% in and just can't push myself to read it anymore, and I'm tired of seeing it in my currently reading shelf when I know I don't want to go back to it.
It's possible I'm just a dumb-butt or don't have the patience that this book calls for to really enjoy it. I don't normally mind when little is explained--I'm fine with being thrown into the pool and asked to sort things out from there as the author drops bits and pieces along the way. In this case, I just found Mordred's journey to stay employed at this strange tech company (and I'm in Seattle--weird start-ups don't really faze me) while occasionally having cryptic conversations with other magical denizens as just laborious. Not even the pull of having a potential romance with Alan Turing (or his ghost, or whatever) isn't a strong enough incentive.
(It's possible that if he had more interaction with Alan by this point, I might have stayed in longer, but as of now, they've had about one IM conversation involving allegories around programming code, and it just didn't fuel my fire.)
Your mileage may vary though and you may enjoy this urban fantasy quite a bit. I'm getting off this bus even though the guilt of not finishing sometimes eats at me at night...
It's possible I'm just a dumb-butt or don't have the patience that this book calls for to really enjoy it. I don't normally mind when little is explained--I'm fine with being thrown into the pool and asked to sort things out from there as the author drops bits and pieces along the way. In this case, I just found Mordred's journey to stay employed at this strange tech company (and I'm in Seattle--weird start-ups don't really faze me) while occasionally having cryptic conversations with other magical denizens as just laborious. Not even the pull of having a potential romance with Alan Turing (or his ghost, or whatever) isn't a strong enough incentive.
(It's possible that if he had more interaction with Alan by this point, I might have stayed in longer, but as of now, they've had about one IM conversation involving allegories around programming code, and it just didn't fuel my fire.)
Your mileage may vary though and you may enjoy this urban fantasy quite a bit. I'm getting off this bus even though the guilt of not finishing sometimes eats at me at night...
August 24, 2012
Warning: if you're looking for just hot mansex, this book will sorely disappoint. However, if you're like me, a reader seeking something completely out of the ordinary, then is for you. I went into this expecting one thing and being taken for an Alice down the rabbit hole ride that skillfully and brilliantly blends cyberpunk and urban fantasy in a way that I've not seen in a long time. It's what would happen if Guy Gavriel Kay Charles De Lint and William Gibson sat down in a cafe with glasses of absinthe and brainstormed a novel--it's just that good! Chock-full of epic geekiness, The Prince and the Program is not an easy or casual read, but it's well worth it. Not to mention I've always had a soft spot for Mordred, and this retelling of that story is simply imaginative. I can't wait for volume 2.
May 12, 2016
This is certainly one of the most amazing books I have read in a while. It is imaginative, has some brilliant characters, made me laugh, had lots of computer-geekiness which I adore, the tension was exquisite, the questions asked profound, and I was only disappointed when it ended –much too soon. This story will make your head spin with its implications on multiple levels. Even if you read the blurb (which I didn't do a very good job of, I admit), this book will still manage to shock and surprise you, I bet. What a total trip!
Mordred is a hilarious main character. A bastard prince who is also a Mage, he is banned to the Earthly plane to do penance for some slightly mysterious misdeed. He suddenly has to work for a living, and is not allowed to use magic. He has no marketable skills and ends up bluffing his way into a job at a small computer start-up company. Mordred's battles with the requirements of daily life (otherwise known as paying the bills) are quite amusing. The somewhat strange happenings at his new place of employment had me puzzled, then terrified and hoping for a somewhat happy ending.
Excursions into the paranormal, the absurd, and the unexpected kept me entertained. Mordred's attempts to have a love life were fun, and his increasing fascination with Alan had me in stitches � I suspected who he was from the beginning and saw that thread of the story develop with great amusement. There were too many other great characters and events to name, so suffice it to say that I do not think you will be bored. Well, possibly if you don’t like computers, but even then, there is enough humor in here for everyone.
If you don’t like surprises and plot twists � stay away from this book. If you like your stories neat with all the explanations given in great, easy-to-understand detail � for heaven's sake, don't even go near this. If you're looking for a traditional m/m romance � please, don’t buy this book. However, if you like books that make you think about the nature of being human, if you enjoy a puzzle and want to figure things out for yourself (what else have we got brains for, right?), and if you like a read that challenges your intellect as well as your ability to read through tears of laughter, then, by all means, get a copy right now, take a deep breath and plunge in. But be warned: this is an adventure of the highest degree and you may come out the other side with a different view of reality!
NOTE: This book was provided by DSP Publications for the purpose of a review on .
Mordred is a hilarious main character. A bastard prince who is also a Mage, he is banned to the Earthly plane to do penance for some slightly mysterious misdeed. He suddenly has to work for a living, and is not allowed to use magic. He has no marketable skills and ends up bluffing his way into a job at a small computer start-up company. Mordred's battles with the requirements of daily life (otherwise known as paying the bills) are quite amusing. The somewhat strange happenings at his new place of employment had me puzzled, then terrified and hoping for a somewhat happy ending.
Excursions into the paranormal, the absurd, and the unexpected kept me entertained. Mordred's attempts to have a love life were fun, and his increasing fascination with Alan had me in stitches � I suspected who he was from the beginning and saw that thread of the story develop with great amusement. There were too many other great characters and events to name, so suffice it to say that I do not think you will be bored. Well, possibly if you don’t like computers, but even then, there is enough humor in here for everyone.
If you don’t like surprises and plot twists � stay away from this book. If you like your stories neat with all the explanations given in great, easy-to-understand detail � for heaven's sake, don't even go near this. If you're looking for a traditional m/m romance � please, don’t buy this book. However, if you like books that make you think about the nature of being human, if you enjoy a puzzle and want to figure things out for yourself (what else have we got brains for, right?), and if you like a read that challenges your intellect as well as your ability to read through tears of laughter, then, by all means, get a copy right now, take a deep breath and plunge in. But be warned: this is an adventure of the highest degree and you may come out the other side with a different view of reality!
NOTE: This book was provided by DSP Publications for the purpose of a review on .
September 1, 2012
I had to think for a long time before I wrote the review. This book touched some raw nerves and brought up very painful things. I was laughing and crying (more crying than laughing by the end). This one line brought it all home "I had hoped it would be different. With you. For me." It allowed me to let go and understand.
I would be very surprised if Mr. Mercer not have direct experience of a loved one's Alzheimer's. He does not hit you over the head with it, he lets you experience memory and identity and love all rolled up into one. Mr. Mercer shows you the disorientation and time slipping away and your loved one slipping away and the seduction of having an external memory to remember everything and why this makes you a Demon.
This book is much deeper than anybody thinks. It changed my life. I am not totally familliar with all the computer concepts but I am a very big fan of all the Arthur legends and I did a lot of wikipedia and google searching to understand the computer parts. There is another line
"You remember things, then?"
"I doubt it, though our shared lexicon may make it sound like I do. Language, you know, evolved with an implicit assumption of memory. No, I just look at what is going on and do something about it, make a mark, or empty something, then I move, just a little bit, either backwards, which suggests something new to think about."
Alan Turing is a Turing Machine!
I read the book three times and every time I learned something new. There are many portions that speak to different experiences everyone has. Being madly in love, losing smeone you love, being broke, being scared , having hope. All the different storylines explore different human experiences and different types of realities. It works on so many levels! All the characters are deep and real and the plot is very complex because there are so many different things that you don't know are related till they all weave together at the end and suddenly everything makes sense.
I've read another alternative Arthurian story (where Arthur and Lancelot are lovers) and it didn't even come close to touching this one. The romance is very important to this story, but it feels like a Snow White romance in a science-fiction world with reincarnation and viruses. This is one of the most unique worlds and most unique stories I have ever read. Thank you for writing it.
I would be very surprised if Mr. Mercer not have direct experience of a loved one's Alzheimer's. He does not hit you over the head with it, he lets you experience memory and identity and love all rolled up into one. Mr. Mercer shows you the disorientation and time slipping away and your loved one slipping away and the seduction of having an external memory to remember everything and why this makes you a Demon.
This book is much deeper than anybody thinks. It changed my life. I am not totally familliar with all the computer concepts but I am a very big fan of all the Arthur legends and I did a lot of wikipedia and google searching to understand the computer parts. There is another line
"You remember things, then?"
"I doubt it, though our shared lexicon may make it sound like I do. Language, you know, evolved with an implicit assumption of memory. No, I just look at what is going on and do something about it, make a mark, or empty something, then I move, just a little bit, either backwards, which suggests something new to think about."
Alan Turing is a Turing Machine!
I read the book three times and every time I learned something new. There are many portions that speak to different experiences everyone has. Being madly in love, losing smeone you love, being broke, being scared , having hope. All the different storylines explore different human experiences and different types of realities. It works on so many levels! All the characters are deep and real and the plot is very complex because there are so many different things that you don't know are related till they all weave together at the end and suddenly everything makes sense.
I've read another alternative Arthurian story (where Arthur and Lancelot are lovers) and it didn't even come close to touching this one. The romance is very important to this story, but it feels like a Snow White romance in a science-fiction world with reincarnation and viruses. This is one of the most unique worlds and most unique stories I have ever read. Thank you for writing it.
July 3, 2012
3 1/2 - 4 Hearts
First published at MM Good Book Reviews
Mori (Mordred) is desperately seeking work. He finally gets a job working at a small start-up tech company, but his problems are only just beginning.
Well, what can you really say about a book like this except…damn? How do I explain what this book is like without making my own head explode? It has got to be one of the most interesting, humorous, slightly wacky, Oh My God what just happened there? Books that I have read in a long, long time. Mori is a great, interesting, intriguing character. The other characters are all great as well. The storyline is erm, urm, kinda whacky and the romantic interest is really sweet as Mordred’s people fall in love with souls. But, what happens when that soul doesn’t have a body? And really just wants to be a computer?
This really is one of those books that you have to read to get a real grip of what is going on in it, I mean I could tell you about the Symbiot who would make you an Unseelie, or the Mages, or even the demons and zombie like people, the fights, and becoming spirits going round in a loop to get back, but always ending up at the beginning or even the cyborgs, but none of it would make any sense unless you can read it all in context. I swear the book was fascinating. Especially, the way it drew on historical legends. There was also a lot of technical stuff to do with computers, but most of that went over my head .
The strange relationship that develops between Mori and Alan is interesting to watch, with Mori getting more desperate to meet Alan in person and then having to accept the truth of what Alan is and Alan’s disregard for being born again. I really want see more and can’t wait for the next story in the series. The interaction between all the characters is great and there are some really funny moments involving Mori’s work colleagues. There is no sex and no happy ending; we are left wondering what will happen in the next book. Will Alan still be around? Will Mori get through to Alan?
So, if you love sci-fi, paranormal, geeks, techno romance, a seemingly doomed romance, an ending that leaves you wanting more and a slight feeling of bewilderment then this is the book for you.
First published at MM Good Book Reviews
Mori (Mordred) is desperately seeking work. He finally gets a job working at a small start-up tech company, but his problems are only just beginning.
Well, what can you really say about a book like this except…damn? How do I explain what this book is like without making my own head explode? It has got to be one of the most interesting, humorous, slightly wacky, Oh My God what just happened there? Books that I have read in a long, long time. Mori is a great, interesting, intriguing character. The other characters are all great as well. The storyline is erm, urm, kinda whacky and the romantic interest is really sweet as Mordred’s people fall in love with souls. But, what happens when that soul doesn’t have a body? And really just wants to be a computer?
This really is one of those books that you have to read to get a real grip of what is going on in it, I mean I could tell you about the Symbiot who would make you an Unseelie, or the Mages, or even the demons and zombie like people, the fights, and becoming spirits going round in a loop to get back, but always ending up at the beginning or even the cyborgs, but none of it would make any sense unless you can read it all in context. I swear the book was fascinating. Especially, the way it drew on historical legends. There was also a lot of technical stuff to do with computers, but most of that went over my head .
The strange relationship that develops between Mori and Alan is interesting to watch, with Mori getting more desperate to meet Alan in person and then having to accept the truth of what Alan is and Alan’s disregard for being born again. I really want see more and can’t wait for the next story in the series. The interaction between all the characters is great and there are some really funny moments involving Mori’s work colleagues. There is no sex and no happy ending; we are left wondering what will happen in the next book. Will Alan still be around? Will Mori get through to Alan?
So, if you love sci-fi, paranormal, geeks, techno romance, a seemingly doomed romance, an ending that leaves you wanting more and a slight feeling of bewilderment then this is the book for you.
September 21, 2012
I think this has to be the strangest book I have ever read. It reminded me slightly of , in the way it gave me a headache trying to figure out what was going on.
I am geeky and love math so I did pick up a fair percentage of the references, but many of them also went way over my head. But while you could see the world was well-developed and conceived in the author's head, he never fully explained the rules in the pages of his book. There was no introduction, no exposition, just a story... a series of events, one more bizarre than the previous.
The characters were pretty well-developed and could stir emotion, especially the relationship between Alan and Mordred. There's nothing really sexual... unless you consider the merging of two souls "sexual." And an excess of missing pants.
Basically, as I understand it, there seems to be a semi-sentient bacteria, called the Symbiote, that lives in and communicates with certain humans, who are turned immortal by its presence, essentially into vampires, except they feed on bacteria instead of blood. Most of the magic users seem to have this bacteria, but I am not sure if all of them do. Those who do are sworn to non-violence. Mordred Pendragon, bastard son of King Arthur, is a powerful magic user. I believe he runs into the soul he is meant to fall in love with and beheads someone to protect that soul. He is exiled from the land of the vampires and gets a job as a software programmer where he meets Alan and a few mages trying to summon a demon. The demon is strangely powerful and seems to be using the spirits of dead mages to create celebrities. Mordred and Alan end up fighting the demon and winning, although demons aren't what you would expect. Souls, upon their death, go on some journey toward reincarnation, normally.
To say more, I believe, would give away too much of the story. Although I am not sure that I got everything right, even there. It's just a very strange story.
I am geeky and love math so I did pick up a fair percentage of the references, but many of them also went way over my head. But while you could see the world was well-developed and conceived in the author's head, he never fully explained the rules in the pages of his book. There was no introduction, no exposition, just a story... a series of events, one more bizarre than the previous.
The characters were pretty well-developed and could stir emotion, especially the relationship between Alan and Mordred. There's nothing really sexual... unless you consider the merging of two souls "sexual." And an excess of missing pants.
Basically, as I understand it, there seems to be a semi-sentient bacteria, called the Symbiote, that lives in and communicates with certain humans, who are turned immortal by its presence, essentially into vampires, except they feed on bacteria instead of blood. Most of the magic users seem to have this bacteria, but I am not sure if all of them do. Those who do are sworn to non-violence. Mordred Pendragon, bastard son of King Arthur, is a powerful magic user. I believe he runs into the soul he is meant to fall in love with and beheads someone to protect that soul. He is exiled from the land of the vampires and gets a job as a software programmer where he meets Alan and a few mages trying to summon a demon. The demon is strangely powerful and seems to be using the spirits of dead mages to create celebrities. Mordred and Alan end up fighting the demon and winning, although demons aren't what you would expect. Souls, upon their death, go on some journey toward reincarnation, normally.
To say more, I believe, would give away too much of the story. Although I am not sure that I got everything right, even there. It's just a very strange story.
September 9, 2012
This book is impossible to describe, completely crazy, absolutely awesome.
Not what I would expect from a Dreamspinner Press' title, it's not a romance novel, but there are romantic elements and it's very well done and believable. And it wasn't a given. A budding romance between Alan Turing and Mordred from the Arthurian Legend while they both work for in a start-up. It sounds weird and cracktastic but it's so well done I didn't doubt any second they're made for each others.
I'm such a sucker for that kind of nerdy courtship.
The book is very funny despite the vista joke at the very beginning... which made me fear the humor would be on the cheap side (everybody and his brother has a vista joke), but nope, false alarm. I actually smiled quite a lot and laugh out loud a few times.
The supernatural world is very original and I really want to read more about the Houses, the Deathless,... and heartbreaking cousin Tom and Natalia and their child. And Petra. I want to know a lot more about House Petra.
I think I'll need to read it at least once again to make sure I didn't miss too much - the last 20 - 30% of the book made my head spin a little. Fast-paced and crazy and all other the place in the best possible way. Also for the kiss.
And I should probably read again. It's been awhile and The Prince & The Program made me want to open it again.
Not what I would expect from a Dreamspinner Press' title, it's not a romance novel, but there are romantic elements and it's very well done and believable. And it wasn't a given. A budding romance between Alan Turing and Mordred from the Arthurian Legend while they both work for in a start-up. It sounds weird and cracktastic but it's so well done I didn't doubt any second they're made for each others.
She was going to show them to Alan. Exactly as planned. Seduction via Euclidean transformations by proxy. More reliable in the long run, perhaps, than chocolate.
The book is very funny despite the vista joke at the very beginning... which made me fear the humor would be on the cheap side (everybody and his brother has a vista joke), but nope, false alarm. I actually smiled quite a lot and laugh out loud a few times.
The supernatural world is very original and I really want to read more about the Houses, the Deathless,... and heartbreaking cousin Tom and Natalia and their child. And Petra. I want to know a lot more about House Petra.
I think I'll need to read it at least once again to make sure I didn't miss too much - the last 20 - 30% of the book made my head spin a little. Fast-paced and crazy and all other the place in the best possible way. Also for the kiss.
And I should probably read again. It's been awhile and The Prince & The Program made me want to open it again.
March 24, 2014
The weird thing is, I'm not entirely sure why I like this book so much - half the time I barely understood what was going on, but at the same time I could not put it down, wanting to know what happened next, and I already know this will be added to my re-read list.
Mordred is a fun narrator, and the story has lots of things I really like - magic, tech, Arthurian legend, romance and humour. Even cyborgs and zombies. Well, sort of. All the coding and engineering stuff was definitely over my head, though, and I still haven't figured out how Mordred's internal clock - running off the time in his native plane - related to our 24-hour system, and he mentions the time a lot. Enough that it got a little annoying for me, especially whenever Mordred's clock seemed to jump six hours when the narrative suggested it couldn't have been more than half an hour in our time.
I'm also not sure if I like the ending, but then again, that's one of the reasons this story is in my re-read pile. It was a challenging read, but very enjoyable.
Mordred is a fun narrator, and the story has lots of things I really like - magic, tech, Arthurian legend, romance and humour. Even cyborgs and zombies. Well, sort of. All the coding and engineering stuff was definitely over my head, though, and I still haven't figured out how Mordred's internal clock - running off the time in his native plane - related to our 24-hour system, and he mentions the time a lot. Enough that it got a little annoying for me, especially whenever Mordred's clock seemed to jump six hours when the narrative suggested it couldn't have been more than half an hour in our time.
I'm also not sure if I like the ending, but then again, that's one of the reasons this story is in my re-read pile. It was a challenging read, but very enjoyable.
Read
February 7, 2016?
??
???
Frankly, it has been one of - if not the - oddest novels I've read. There is an intelligible plot that was interesting (and some parts too computer-y technical for a mere teenage girl to understand) enough to read; Mordred and the cast of characters were likeable. Then, roughly 75% in, everything dissolves into a hyper-surrealist collection of words strung together to make sentences. Think Inception dreamscape, but with supernatural elements and a good deal of textual LSD. No really, I'm not half surprised if the author was high when he wrote it.
The prose itself I have no complaints about; it is beautiful. Here's one of my most favourite paragraphs from the book.
To be honest, not quite sure how to rate this book.
??
???
Frankly, it has been one of - if not the - oddest novels I've read. There is an intelligible plot that was interesting (and some parts too computer-y technical for a mere teenage girl to understand) enough to read; Mordred and the cast of characters were likeable. Then, roughly 75% in, everything dissolves into a hyper-surrealist collection of words strung together to make sentences. Think Inception dreamscape, but with supernatural elements and a good deal of textual LSD. No really, I'm not half surprised if the author was high when he wrote it.
The prose itself I have no complaints about; it is beautiful. Here's one of my most favourite paragraphs from the book.
Then, as you said, there are the cups and swords and crowns, “made out of fallen stars in the forges of Gods�. It’s a primitive way of saying “a really long time”—meteorites gather strangeness to themselves in their eternal ellipses through the black. Mountains have names.
To be honest, not quite sure how to rate this book.
August 30, 2012
3.5
So now I completely understand how people have a difficult time rating this book because I feel the same way!
So this is a bottom line type of review...I loved Mori as a character and his dry humor completely amused me...I will definately read the next book.
Yes, the pacing had some issues, yes I was lost at the end many times. But bottom line again, I love Mori :D
So now I completely understand how people have a difficult time rating this book because I feel the same way!
So this is a bottom line type of review...I loved Mori as a character and his dry humor completely amused me...I will definately read the next book.
Yes, the pacing had some issues, yes I was lost at the end many times. But bottom line again, I love Mori :D
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