FINALLY!!! a book that delivers. I am so tired of books with
beautiful covers and great titles that just don’t quite reach my expectations.
This one. This one was it.
Before we get into the nitty gritty of this review, I just have
to say on a personal note, I seriously need to start reading more novellas. It
really is the perfect length for a booklover with a busy life. When life’s got
me running around I’d normally pick up an anthology, but this gave me new hope
for the world of novellas. Thank you for that Mr. Harffy.
Onto what you came here for:
“Kin of Cain: A Short Bernicia Tale” is a historical fiction and
the retelling of a very, veeeery old story. I’m not going to tell you which one,
because that’s part of the fun.
We start this tale in the great hall, partying it up with all
the kings horses and all the kings men (well…minus the horses). The celebration
is interrupted by screams from outside. After a slight hesitation, everyone
arms themselves, and then someone opens the door, and so a terrifying beast is
introduced.
The creature is known by many names: Nightwalker, Kin of Cain,
nihtgenga (I rather like this last one, though I have a hard time pronouncing
it). It’s known by so many names, because no one knows what it actually is. All that is known is that its flesh cannot be
penetrated by spear, and it has killed time and again, ripping livestock,
women, and boys to shreds. And from the sounds of it, it only strikes at night.
With this night’s interruption, the king decides “NO MORE”, and he sends his 5
“best” warriors to hunt down the beast and kill it. And so the real story
begins.
This, in my opinion, is the perfect beginnings for an epic
bedtime story. This is also the point where most authors would have lost it.
Things would go astray, start to get boring, and I would cry myself to sleep
over all the potential lost. NOT THE CASE WITH “KIN OF CAIN”. Things just don’t
let up (I know this statement is cliché, but it’s really true in the case of
this story). There was never a point I found myself daydreaming about other
books, because I was too dang enthralled with this one. Yes, it’s that good.
Now, with a book like this we all know there is more to it than just the
storyline. The writing style is a biggun’ for me. Mr. Harffy shines in this
aspect. The writing fits perfectly with the timeline and story, but it’s never
over-the-top so that you can’t understand what’s going on. It’s subtle,
beautiful, and descriptive, never getting in the way of the story itself.
On the same point as the writing, one negative aspect here and
the only thing that drops this book from 5 to 4 stars, is that there were a few
of the action scenes that were slowed by wordiness. These few sections gave me
a little pause to try to figure out what was really going on. I think these
sections could have been strengthened by being more cut and dry. Other than
those few sections the writing style was spot on.
For those of you interested in characterizations (many times what
makes a good story great), this story does a fantastic job of bringing the
characters to life. We do get to know some characters better than others, but
for such a short piece I was very well pleased in this aspect of the storytelling.
I wanted to know more about some of the characters backgrounds, and I wish
there were a book to give me that. This isn’t a negative comment in the slightest;
I think it’s good to want more of the juicy bits.
As far as plot and story arcs go, there were times I thought I
could see the writing on the wall, thinking things were going to get
predictable, and then it took a turn in an all together great direction
surprising me to my glee. This is what you want in a book like this. To be
almost lulled into a sense of knowing what’s going to happen next, only to be
thrust into shock and awe (Ok, maybe I’m being a bit overdramatic, but I was for
sure surprised a time or two).
Stepping right over into genre, I love that I found this book in
the historical fiction section. If you know a bit of history about the time
this book is meant to be based in, you can tell that the author did his
research. As I said earlier, this story is very readable to the people of today,
but it also has subtleties revealing a world long behind us. This book is a
reminder that it really was a different world back then. People looked at
things differently than we do now, turning everything into a magical if
frightening place.
Who do I suggest this story to? If you’re a fantasy, horror, or historical
fiction lover then you’ll LOVE this novella, and you’ll get a kick out of the
end as I did. Even if you don’t know the history behind the story, you’ll find
that the author has got you covered with a brief history he has written. So
hey, you might even just learn something while you’re at it.
Gah, who knew you could get such an epic story in such a small book? I’ll for
sure be reading other books by this author.
Final rating? 4 out of 5 stars.
**I was given a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest
review**
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