Oliver Plaschka

Parisian life in the 1920s is certainly glamorous. Especially in the more bohemian neighbourhoods, where all sorts of "exotic" characters can be found.

Ravi, the magician, and his beautiful assistant Blanche are a prime example of such exotic people. In theory, they're just run of mill charlatans with their fair share of tricks to make things seem real. But one day, something goes horribly wrong during the show, and Ravi is forced to use real magic to ensure his and Blanche's survival.

Lucky show more them for being the real deal, right? Apparently things are not so simple, as real magicians are supervised by the so-called "Societe Silencieuse". And they have some very strict rules when it comes to performing real magic in public: DON'T.

In order to save themselves, Blanche casts a spell that puts her to sleep, and encloses the world in a loop, forcing people to relive the day of the ominous magic show over and over. The only ones aware of this predicament are the magicians, everyone else just goes about their daily lives, all while things turn creepier and creepier.

Every self-respecting reader is familiar with the age-old saying of "Never judge a book by its cover". Yours truly however, still got unreasonably excited inspite of the fair number of bad reviews. In other words, the only reason I picked this book up, was its cover. I didn't even read the summary.

Not a bad premise, but the execution made for a rather boring end result. There were entirely too many descriptive passages of Montparnasse. For me such things are hit or miss. I either get this mad urge to localize everything on the map (e.g. Memory ), or I tune the whole thing out.

Judging by the 2/5 stars I gave it, you can probably guess which category this book fell into. Still, I was determined to skim through the long descriptive passages, and get to the action. I was eager to find out what happens to Ravi and Blanche, and the mysterious people tailing them.

But when after 140 pages, I was still stuck half-way through the second repetition, I just gave up. As a matter of fact, I had initially put the book on hold, spent an entire month reading other books, and was STILL unwilling to take this one up again.

Eventually, I just decided that this book is not for me. Getting through a third of it, and agreeing that it's far from mediocre should count for something, right? I prefer stories with a bit more alert action, and less leisurely sitting around and talking. show less

Antonia, Alexander, Bastian und diverse andere Menschen aus verschiedenen Zeiten geraten an der kalifornischen Ostküste in einen magischen Sturm, der sie in die „Welt unter dem Sturm“ versetzt. Dort herrscht Ross, Antonias Mann, der 12 Jahre zuvor gemeinsam mit Tochter Mira verschwunden ist. Er hat den Plan, mit all denen abzurechnen, die ihn aus seiner Sicht damals betrogen haben.
Auf den ersten etwa hundert Seiten fiel es mir schwer, richtig in die Geschichte hineinzufinden. Plaschka show more springt von einer Person zu anderen, erzählt jeweils aus deren Sicht – für mich zu diesem Zeitpunkt zu schnell, zu wenig auserzählt. Zu viel passiert auf zu wenigen Seiten, die einzelnen Szenen enden abrupt und wirken unfertig.
Dann konnte ich in den Roman eintauchen, und er gefiel mir deutlich besser. Schwer zu sagen, ob ich mich an den Stil gewöhnt hatte oder ob der Autor selbst besser in sein Werk hineingefunden hatte.
Insgesamt ein sehr abwechslungsreiches Buch voller farbenfroher Ideen. Manchmal etwas unklar, aber eine ungewöhnliche, schöne Geschichte, die Spaß macht. Leider ist die Anzahl der Charaktere zu groß, als dass man den einzelnen Personen als Leser wirklich nahekommen könnte. So bleibt alles etwas oberflächlich.
Ein Roman, der mir Spaß gemacht hat, aber nicht in Erinnerung bleiben wird. show less