1.5

Book source ~ ARC. My review is voluntary and honest.

Three very different guys with supernatural/unusual powers are brought together by some dude to get some weird book. The guy may be a god of some sort? Or maybe just some mythological entity? I have no idea. This story left me scratching my head. A lot. I have no idea what’s going on or why these three were chosen. Well, I can guess why the one was chosen because he’s obviously connected to the book. But other than that I couldn’t say. The book is weird and disjointed and not in a good way. It’s hard to follow and makes even less sense. One of the guys is completely unlikeable. The other two are just ok. The writing is mediocre. I will note that my copy is a few years old, so I have no idea if it’s been revised or not. In any case, I’m not interested in continuing with this series. ( )

The Book of the Forsaken (The Game, #1) by Yannis Karatsioris

Cassidy, Daniel and Igor are three people thrown together in unusual circumstances. Pretty much social outcasts they find themselves on a quest , a search for a book known as The Book of the Forsaken. Soon these three men are traveling across Europe on an adventure of their lifetime.

A well written unique story. I really liked the three main characters, Cassidy, Daniel & Igor. They all had their own likable qualities, we learn a bit about each character right from the start.

I also liked the way the chapters started with quotes from The Emerald Tablet. It made the story so much more interesting. The vivid details and dialog pulls the reader right into the story, and won't let you go until the very last page.

I highly recommend The Book of the Forsaken to those who love fantasy/adventure. I really enjoyed this story and would like to read more books by Yannis Karatsioris. ( )

3 men, 3 exceptional men. One can remote view and control fire. One can teleport. One can do all kinds of dark and dangerous things – and uses them to horrify and even kill. All 3 of them lead very different lives – but all 3 of them are brought to Moscow, 2 of them to kill and 1 of them to steal

Yet it becomes clear that all of their tasks are linked – and there is a grand conspiracy they don’t even see and the book they have stolen is in high demand. Told through the eyes of a sarcastic being that is playing a game all of his own, we see them cross Europe, travel through time, discover vampires and monsters, magic and shapeshifters and who knows what else –all for the sake of the Book which could change the world.

This book has a style I think you will either love or hate. It is told from the point of view from a seemingly all knowing narrator, with immense powers who has no wish to share what he knows – and only nudges things along. He is sarcastic, occasionally given to tangents and funny foot notes and a lot of wry commentary. Some of it is immensely amusing and massively funny. Some of it… isn’t. I think it was generally more funny than not and, on the whole, I liked it, but I can also see how it can be annoying to others. The actual protagonists are manipulated puppets to begin with who slowly start to express themselves onto events, going from following instruction to setting their own path and deciding to make the story their own – rather than a story someone else is telling ion which they are used. Maybe… because they’re still being poked and prodded by outside manipulators, even when they seem to be setting their own path, it’s clear they’re being influenced and as the book progresses we begin to see how wide that influence is.

In a way this is how the unusual storytelling method works – because we get to see the wider world beyond their understanding and the way their strings are being pulled – while at the same time not having an omniscient narrator infodumping everything.

The characters themselves are… odd, rather unique. Robert is a crude, drunken ex-convict who is generally unpleasant but has just enough charm to prevent him from being completely unlikeable. Daniel is collected, refined, well read – but cowardly and timid, prone to crashes of self-confidence. And Igor is sinister, dark, deep but inclined to be amused by situations. Despite them all being rather non-endearing, I like them. They have personality, they have substance. Despite that, they’re not pleasant people – 1 of them is a thief and 2 of them are murderers and none of that has been addressed, called out or challenged, yet who would in the circumstances? It’s a testament to their character that these unrepentant murderers are still pretty relatable, even if it does make me question the realism of the story – especially with Robert killing on a stranger’s instruction.

I liked the story – these 3 people brought together in Moscow for seemingly different, nefarious purposes which ended them all thrown together and hip deep in all kinds of problems and completely lacking any kind of answers – just knowing they’ve hit something big. And just when I thought it was getting convoluted that these 3 didn’t just walk away having no personal stake – a personal stake was introduced, something to keep them hooked in.


Read More ( )

The following review may contain spoilers and is based on the PDF edition of The Game from a librarything.com giveaway.

When I first started reading The Game, I absolutely loved it. The prologue and the character dossiers and the concept of an omniscient (or is he?) narrator doubling as a character were so clever! As I read further, however, I found my interest rapidly deteriorating. As much as I laud the author for his originality and intermittent cleverness, many of his otherwise exceptional ideas fall prey to mediocre writing, weak characters, and a confusing plot.
I got a good laugh out of several of the narrator's sly footnotes (a la The Bartimaeus Trilogy) and inserts, and I liked that the main characters got along without becoming "instafriends" or hating each other's guts for no reason. (SPOILER) I was also pleasantly surprised by the time travel element near the end. (/SPOILER)
However, I wasn't particularly fond of any of the characters by themselves, and the plot quickly cascaded from relatively interesting to ridiculous. (SPOILER) Especially the part at the end with Scott the suicidal Japanese kid, which was way too random. (/SPOILER)

Overall, I would recommend this book for anyone who isn't too picky about their fantasy or who is interested in reading a book with an original narrative device.

Here are a few quotations I found thoroughly amusing:

"Here I am.
Why?
To tell you a story.
Why?
Because I have to.
Why?
Because everyone follows their own special set of rules. Even me."
-Narrator (Prologue)

"[I]f I keep writing everything exactly as it was said, there will be obvious communication problems. And I don't like obvious communication problems. Unlike the obscure ones, which I'm very much into."
-Narrator (footnote)

"When the deal is fulfilled. You know… The blow is dealt. The throat is cut. The dinner is served. The rabbit is caught. The water is cleaned..."
-Narrator (footnote)

3.5 stars.

I really enjoyed the narrator of the story and I thought they way he told the story was unique however I found the footnotes distracting. I thought the asides could have been incorporated in the dialogue more rather than being specifically pointed out to the reader. I like to read the sarcasm myself rather than have it shown.

I have the same criticism of the characters. When we first meet the puppets they are first introduced quite literally. I thought the character intros and POVs were more appropriate for a graphic novel. Typically in a novel such as this, I would expect the characters to be introduced to the reader in a more settle way with room for development and growth as the story unfolded, but when they were introduced they came across as character sketches instead.

I appreciated that Karatsioris kept things short, but a story with this much potential needed a little more length for me. I liked the concept of the story and thought it had something fresh and new to offer but felt the characters and plot needed a little more work.

Overall it was a decent read and with a little refinement and polishing this book could really shine.

See my full review here ( )