Review by odlanra -- We are Voulhire: The Flesh of the Mind
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odlanra
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- Latest Review: We are Voulhire: The Flesh of the Mind by Matthew Tysz
Review by odlanra -- We are Voulhire: The Flesh of the Mind
[Following is a volunteer review of "We are Voulhire: The Flesh of the Mind" by Matthew Tysz.]
We are Voulhire: The Flesh of the mind by Matthew Tysz is the sixth book of the Voulhire series. I had curiously and impulsively chosen one of the books of this series at the beginning because of the word “Voulhire”. I had previously described it as a place contradicting the accepted time of appearance of modern concepts and things, mixing the age of knights with the present. Indeed it is an amazing place. It has magic and had placed horrors inside itself while connected to a different universe usually imagined only in dreams. Its story discretely peeps and shows ambition, lust, childhood memories, and other segments of human psychology. It is also a place I could not understand why there are so many slanted men.
A deadly war was looming over Voulhire. The dark ships of the Emperor of Lullabies were floating in the sky, menacing the people but not attacking them. Dark creatures were trying to control the city through dialogue with subtle coercion. But the cities and the different areas were slowly resisting, groping for ways to fight the abominable creatures roaming their streets. Galen from the Land of the Princes has forced the expulsion of Meldorath from the physical universe but he now has to convince or force Meldorath to return and save Voulhire. Meldorath has established his world in the magic universe. He believes he has to kill King Javikun from this universe.
The story of Voulhire is a work of admirable imagination. More often than not and particularly during the tense and suspenseful part of the story, and unless something would catch my attention, I would race across the pages skimming the descriptions. I had been absorbed with the descriptions in this book not only because of the words used to picture the scene but also the scene itself. This is more pronounced in the pages describing the magic universe. Indeed it is magic, a dream. It seems that the story tries to convince its readers that a world can be constructed by your mind and accepted by your consciousness as a reality.
How would you feel if you are in a crypt, desecrating the remains of a dead one? One would have been spooked so much. How would you feel if the remains materialized into a distinguishable form and suddenly talked to you? I do not easily get spooked. In fact, I was not. But I really imagined the scene and I believe this is one of the scenes that could leave a temporary imprint of the story in one’s memory.
I almost miss these scenes and conversations. But a deeper look and if only one would pay attention, these could lead to a nostalgic feeling: “Home is where the mind is”;” I spent my whole life looking for the next thing to regret. Only recently have I realized, it was never worth it…I can enjoy my garden.” The second quote is from King Javikun's homecoming.
There are however conversations that are indirect in their meaning or perhaps not completely in their place such that I cannot immediately understand it, my opinion. I have to go back and read deeper.
Unlike the other books of the series, the major battles in this book are somewhat tame and lack action. It is definitely not a lack of depth in the story. Perhaps it is because one of the major battles is more of a battle of emotions, mind, and reasoning. And perhaps also because the other major battle tries to show the superiority of one against the other. I do not know if I am right. Still, I wish that the major battle involving an actual fight would have more additional details and would not have been so fast.
I would recommend the book only to mature readers who love magic and horror. I did not find any error. If it is possible, I was thinking of giving it a rating between 3 and 4. This is because of the scenes that were not as grand as I could have expected and were tame for me. But there are probable reasons for these both in story and presentation. I could see it clearly on taking a look back. It would be unfair if I gave it a 3. I am still giving it a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.
******
We are Voulhire: The Flesh of the Mind
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
We are Voulhire: The Flesh of the mind by Matthew Tysz is the sixth book of the Voulhire series. I had curiously and impulsively chosen one of the books of this series at the beginning because of the word “Voulhire”. I had previously described it as a place contradicting the accepted time of appearance of modern concepts and things, mixing the age of knights with the present. Indeed it is an amazing place. It has magic and had placed horrors inside itself while connected to a different universe usually imagined only in dreams. Its story discretely peeps and shows ambition, lust, childhood memories, and other segments of human psychology. It is also a place I could not understand why there are so many slanted men.
A deadly war was looming over Voulhire. The dark ships of the Emperor of Lullabies were floating in the sky, menacing the people but not attacking them. Dark creatures were trying to control the city through dialogue with subtle coercion. But the cities and the different areas were slowly resisting, groping for ways to fight the abominable creatures roaming their streets. Galen from the Land of the Princes has forced the expulsion of Meldorath from the physical universe but he now has to convince or force Meldorath to return and save Voulhire. Meldorath has established his world in the magic universe. He believes he has to kill King Javikun from this universe.
The story of Voulhire is a work of admirable imagination. More often than not and particularly during the tense and suspenseful part of the story, and unless something would catch my attention, I would race across the pages skimming the descriptions. I had been absorbed with the descriptions in this book not only because of the words used to picture the scene but also the scene itself. This is more pronounced in the pages describing the magic universe. Indeed it is magic, a dream. It seems that the story tries to convince its readers that a world can be constructed by your mind and accepted by your consciousness as a reality.
How would you feel if you are in a crypt, desecrating the remains of a dead one? One would have been spooked so much. How would you feel if the remains materialized into a distinguishable form and suddenly talked to you? I do not easily get spooked. In fact, I was not. But I really imagined the scene and I believe this is one of the scenes that could leave a temporary imprint of the story in one’s memory.
I almost miss these scenes and conversations. But a deeper look and if only one would pay attention, these could lead to a nostalgic feeling: “Home is where the mind is”;” I spent my whole life looking for the next thing to regret. Only recently have I realized, it was never worth it…I can enjoy my garden.” The second quote is from King Javikun's homecoming.
There are however conversations that are indirect in their meaning or perhaps not completely in their place such that I cannot immediately understand it, my opinion. I have to go back and read deeper.
Unlike the other books of the series, the major battles in this book are somewhat tame and lack action. It is definitely not a lack of depth in the story. Perhaps it is because one of the major battles is more of a battle of emotions, mind, and reasoning. And perhaps also because the other major battle tries to show the superiority of one against the other. I do not know if I am right. Still, I wish that the major battle involving an actual fight would have more additional details and would not have been so fast.
I would recommend the book only to mature readers who love magic and horror. I did not find any error. If it is possible, I was thinking of giving it a rating between 3 and 4. This is because of the scenes that were not as grand as I could have expected and were tame for me. But there are probable reasons for these both in story and presentation. I could see it clearly on taking a look back. It would be unfair if I gave it a 3. I am still giving it a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.
******
We are Voulhire: The Flesh of the Mind
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: We are Voulhire: The Flesh of the Mind by Matthew Tysz
