Hell's Horizon

I’m so, SO glad that I was able to get my hands on the ARC for this. I really loved the first book in this series, “City of the Dead”, and it’s refreshing to see Shan’s style take a grittier turn than what we’ve seen with the “Cirque du Freak” and “Demonata” series, respectively.

Folks, this is YA fantasy noir at its best. And while the protagonist in this book wasn’t quite as charming as the one in the first (hence, only four out of five stars), but still really good. We’re back in the world with the Cardinal and working for him, having breakfast at Shankar’s, and living at Party Central. It feels SO good to be back in this mystery world filled with Incan gods, assassins, and the mob.

I love how Shan isn’t show more afraid to explore the darker side of humanity in these books in a stream-of-consciousness style with his characters – we really get into Al Jeery’s head and heart and how he feels about everything (from his cop buddy to his job with the Cardinal). This has definitely developed and evolved leaps and bounds compared to the first book’s protagonist. I really felt as if I were Al Jeery myself, walking in his shoes, killing his victims. It was really quite awesome.

I think it’s fair to say that “The City” series is heaps more fine-tuned in terms of voice and POV than Shan’s other books, and this really makes “Hell’s Horizon” fly by – to the point where by the end of the book, all you want to do is to keep living in that city, assassins and mafia or not. I kind of felt a jonesing for the third book (and apparently, the final book?) in the series immediately after finishing this one. And you know you’ve written something good when that happens.

So, if you don’t really like Shan’s other work, try this one. It’s totally different than anything else he’s written, and better than anything else he’s written so far. I think you’ll like what you’ll find in the mysterious City, and you’ll want to move there to stay.

(crossposted to goodreads, shelfari, and witchoftheatregoing.wordpress.com) show less

‘Crime with a difference’ would perhaps be an appropriate genre classification for D.B. Shan’s second adult novel, Hell’s Horizon. What begins as a fairly standard (albeit noirish) whodunnit soon evolves into a strange beast of a book, suspended somewhere between crime, horror and fantasy. Like its predecessor, Procession of the Dead, it drops only subtle hints at first of its own supernatural undercurrents, preferring to focus on sketching the bleak and bloodstained setting on which the action thrives. When the magic does hit, it can seem a little incongruous, but it certainly transforms this witches’ brew into something intriguingly unique. The prequel is a must-read before attempting this latest instalment; anybody show more unfamiliar with the mechanics of Ayuamarcans will probably be left scratching their head and wanting their money back.

Shan’s writing is as brutal as it is atmospheric. He offers little relief from the violence of his story, focusing as usual on the decay of his protagonist. The scene with the Fursts – a particularly memorable moment – is delivered so swiftly that it takes several pages to fully sink in, at which point the reader cannot help but feel slightly sick. Bleak though it may be, it is an undeniably skilful blow. I certainly found myself glancing behind my chair a few times while reading at night; I’ll give Shan credit for that.

Nevertheless, like its predecessor, this book does suffer somewhat from being difficult to endure. Nobody will guess all of Shan’s plot twists, and that may be partly because his plot is wildly unpredictable – but it will also be partly because his readers are too benumbed to make any reasonable attempts. This instalment falls a step short of Procession in the engrossing, page-turning department, and the slower-paced moments leave plenty of time for noticing that the prose is not the best in the world. To make matters worse, Shan has arguably overstepped the mark when it comes to his most intriguing characters – The Cardinal and Paucar Wami – neatly shattering the reverent atmospheres that previously made them such powerful narrative lures.

At the very least, Hell’s Horizon is an exceptionally plotted whodunnit. The twists and turns are breathtakingly complex. But how to become desensitised to the violence without becoming desensitised to the whole lot? That’s a question for a hardier reader than myself. show less

A fun properly dark supernatural thriller reommended for any crime/horror/dark fantasy fan.

Al is just a guard for the man who owns The City, The Cardinal, but then the boss starts to take an interest in his stagnant career and hauls him off to investigate a murder of a young woman. Soon he is up to his neck in a conspiracy involving the cities Incan forefathers, the Cardinal himself and most terrifying of all Paucar Waimi, the mythical assassin.

It’s the second in the city of dead trilogy and it takes place at the same time of the first book, procession of the Dead. This does mean it contains major spoilers for the 1st so I recommend reading the books in order! I also say this because whilst this book was good it’s not a patch on the show more first. Whilst the plot is a lot of fun and never boring it does start to become a bit predictable. The characters are well done, all suitably noirish (plus we get to revisit the wonderfully scary Waimi) and whilst I wasn't too keen on the end (stretching verisimilitude to breaking point) the resolution is wonderfully apt & dark.

So all in all go and read the amazing Procession of the Dead. If you enjoy that than you'll also enjoy this, I will be looking out for the third one myself. show less

“Hell’s Horizons” follows Procession of the Dead in DB Shan’s The City trilogy and is infinately the more enjoyable book and superior story – a good portent for the final volume.

Book two deals with a different set of characters and works well as a stand alone: less surreal and existential than the first, we follow Al Jeery, favourite of the all powerful city crime boss known as the Cardinal, as he investigates a murder by the near mythical assassin Paucar Wami.

The Cardinal controls this great unnammed and unidentified city and Paucar wami is his lethal weapon, an enigmatic, shadowy and invincible killer. Al Jeery, a relative innocent, is irrevocably changed after interacting with these two entities.

A grand set of book for a show more wet weekend; if I can get through five titles in two days its no wonder the wintery Western Cape, with its less than perfect weather, is the reading captial of the country! show less

i think this book was really good! The plot thickened at the end and it was impossible to put down. although the charcters were hard to keep up with i kept forgetting who everyone was but this was a thrilling sequel.