Review by Cynthia Ray -- The Turn by Matthew Tysz

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Cynthia Ray
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Review by Cynthia Ray -- The Turn by Matthew Tysz

Post by Cynthia Ray »

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Turn" by Matthew Tysz.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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Two years after an event (after which the book is named after) that not just leaves more than 80% of the world’s population dead, but also leaves the sun tainted and the people that survived it with less humanity in them happened, Scholar, a skilled mercenary trained as a sniper by SIMO continues his clueless mission of trying to find his place in the new world. He migrates from town to town in the USA looking for work and to find a way to dominate the world. Whilst the serious-faced mercenary journeys through lands unknown, the narcissistic but practical Ashley decides to leave his comfortable space in the world to create a name for himself in the new world. He does this with the sole aim of not only surviving the harsh reality of the new world but also of living life to the best of his ability. This event causes these two’s paths to cross and would mark the beginning of a friendship that aims to not only survive but also defy all odds. Together, they must make sense of the new world, figure out what caused the end of the world, and most important of all, survive the darkness that dominates the pre-turn years.

Whilst these two go about their business, Marcus, a teacher-turned-slave trader popularly known as Cattleprod has the grand plan of colonizing the rest of the world and building an empire in which he will be the ruler of all for the greater good. Whilst many do not like the idea of a man who in the old world would have been despised and spat at for his despicable actions and choice of business, many are more than willing to follow him for with him they see a chance to survive this strange but new world.

The Turn by Matthew Tysz is the first of five books in the series of the same name. It is not your usual horror story filled with details of scary deaths and extraordinary supernatural happenings. And it most definitely is not the type where everybody dies. As far as horror stories go, it doesn’t fit into that box, but the one thing that is true about that is that the horror that turned the world evil and plunged many of the survivors into lives that would have never been dreamt of two years before the day on the first page of the book most definitely happen.

One very important thing I must point out about the book is the fact that as far as plot development and character development goes, I can say that that happened at a tortoise’s pace. What I mean is that if you are one of those who wish to find out the cause of a particular event and would like to skip to the consequence of actions taken during that event in a matter of minutes, this book is not for you. That said, although the development moves at a slow pace, this does not take away from the fact that the book is interesting and entertaining. I understand that the suspense and lack of certain key information had me (and may have you) feeling helpless and confused, but that does not mean that the book was not properly written and that the author didn’t achieve his goal of making us wonder and ask ourselves, “Indeed what else? What are we supposed to make of the information or lack of it now?” And call me weird, but I loved it.

Now unto what I liked best about the book, I would say that my favorite thing about the book is how so not not-cliché this book is. In many other horror or post-apocalyptic world stories out there, I have noticed that most often than not, all protagonists are made to work together to figure out how to make the world better. Even the survivors come together to try to return the world to its former glory and try to make the world they now live in a better place, but not The Turn. I noticed that all the major characters have their selfish motives for doing whatever they do. Even Ashley and Scholar who I expect to be best of friends seem to not trust each other but are rather using each other to get what they truly desire at the moment. So it is nothing like your normal post-apocalyptic novel, and I love it.

My least liked thing about the book is the part where after Ashley left Stephanie (the girl he took along with him when he left his little haven called Cachetown) back in the hotel room in Sojourn, he continued life and left with Scholar as if nothing happened, like no one was waiting for him. Now I must clarify that I am not judging Matthew Tysz’s ability to write good stories (for I have read a number of his books and he is a gem), Ashley leaving without sparing a thought to the girl he left all alone makes me wonder if the author totally forgot about that character too. I couldn’t understand why this would be so as the Ashley that I have come to know was kind and considerate, even though he was a narcissistic and self-centered person. This did not give me closure and I did not like that at all.

My rating for this book is three out of four stars. Now, this book is the kind that would usually get a full rating, but it will not get that from me for two reasons. The first reason for the star deduction is the dislike outlined in the previous paragraph. The second reason is the fact that what truly happened during the event that that led to so much loss of life and civilization was never truly explained in great detail in the book. This turned out to be a bummer for me as I was greatly expectant. On the other hand, the book got not less than the three stars it merited because of the stellar editing done, near lack of typographical errors, and the uniqueness of the story told.

Because I enjoyed reading this book so much, I will not hesitate to grab its sequel titled The King of May. I cannot wait to find out where the dynamic duo – Ashley and Scholar – and the slaver with the dream to dominate others called Cattleprod will find themselves in time. In conclusion, if you a fan of dark mythological and dark fantasy novels, and if you do not mind a few profanities, then I suggest you get a copy of this first book in the series for yourself.

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The Turn
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Ashley-Osuna
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Post by Ashley-Osuna »

The plot of this story sounds very intriguing to me. I liked what you mentioned about the book being original in the sense that the characters are not completely heroic, since that is what we are used to reading about in other post apocalyptic books. Thank you so much for the recommendation!
Cynthia Ray
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Post by Cynthia Ray »

Ashley-Osuna wrote: 21 Feb 2021, 22:53 The plot of this story sounds very intriguing to me. I liked what you mentioned about the book being original in the sense that the characters are not completely heroic, since that is what we are used to reading about in other post apocalyptic books. Thank you so much for the recommendation!
You're welcome :tiphat:
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