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A unique horror based on Islamic myth and folktales

Revisado: 02-23-25

Pilgrim revolves around a German crusader who is returning home after 7 years fighting in the Holy Land. Before he returns, he is tasked with returning a relic, supposedly the severed hand of saint. What unfolds next is a horror through Islamic myths and folktales.

Usually, western horror is told from the perspective of European or American myths, werewolves, vampires, ghosts and the like but having a horror steeped in the myths of Islam and the Middle-East is refreshing and unique. You have encounters with djinn, ifrit, and other manner of middle eastern horrors. It also has a Lovecraftian and cosmic horror feel to it.

I also loved the historical aspect and setting of taking place during the crusades.

The writing is fantastic, some criticize it for being wordy but i enjoyed it. Its technically masterful, the characters feel alive and are interesting, whether that's the tormented and grieving protagonist, Dietmar or the crass and often funny mercenary Geoff.

The descriptions of the settings are also imaginative and well done, along with the various monsters and horrors that are encountered.

My one critique is if you aren't familiar with some of the history or islamic folklore you might have a bit if a hard time understanding everything. That being said, even though I knew much of it I had fun going down rabbit holes reading about monsters I had never heard of like the Ifrit.

if you like horror, Lovecraft but want something a little more original this is a great choice. It's a bit long but it flew by for me and was an easy listen.

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Entertaining. Worth the read but overly sympathetic

Revisado: 01-29-25

This is one of, if not the most praised contemporary works on Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire.

It's good but you need to be aware it is quite revisionist and, in my opinion, overly sympathetic. It attempts to paint the Mongol Empire in a better light than I think is warranted and tries to shift blame to Europeans being scared by the Black Death and blaming them which resulted in their bad label.

So important to keep in mind the Mongols killed millions of people. While all ancient empires were brutal, the Mongols are known for going above and beyond. There are numerous occasions were every living thing from women to infants were slaughtered when they conquered a city. They would burn cities to the ground so they could return to pasture. They would pile mounds of corpses and bones to the size of small hills. Genghis Khan personally raped hundreds of women.

To me glossing over this is kind of like a historian 500 years in the future glossing over the Holocaust in a book about Nazi scientific advancements or something.

Again, I like the book, but if you are new to this subject I think it's misleading and you should check out other, more critical works as well for a balanced opinion.

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not a fan

Revisado: 07-03-24

I usually like Jeremy Robinson but don't like this one. The story is not interesting to me and the endless pop culture references are tiresome.

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Exceptional story and narration

Revisado: 05-07-24

I'm a big fan of Hyperion and decided to try some of Dan Simmons' horror/supernatural writing and wasn't disappointed.

Similar to how Cormac McCarthy fictionalized the story of the real life Glanton Gang, Simmons fictionalized the real HMS Terror, almost as if Stephen King wrote Moby Dick. Idk if it was intentional but there was a chapter where different boats are described in detail and it reminded me of the famous Moby Dick chapter where Melville discribes different whales in detail

The history in this is really cool, the survival tale of the crew from the natural... and supernatural is gripping and the way it weaved together is satisfying.

The one con is pacing. the beginning is super slow and I almost stopped listening. The ending a bit too fast. If you find it boring at first keep going, I promise it picks up and you don't want to miss this one

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Not the best Scalzi

Revisado: 02-17-24

My first Scalzi was Starter Villain and I loved it. This one was a let down. I found it pretty boring and the characters uninteresting.

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One of my new favorite authors

Revisado: 02-17-24

This was my first Blake Crouch novel, I've since read 4 more after he became on of my favorites. His use of time in narratives is mind blowing and he crafts great stories full of twists that keep you guessing. A Christopher Nolan adaptation of this or Recursion would be amazing.

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Blake Crouch is a madlad

Revisado: 02-17-24

Another outstanding thriller/ mystery from Crouch. Christopher Nolan needs to adapt this or Dark Matter

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The strongest of the three

Revisado: 02-17-24

I love the mystery and twists in this. It keeps you guessing until the end, hanging on to every sentence longing to know wtf is happening. You are really pulled into the protagonists shoes and feel his confusion and anxiety.

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Great ending to the trilogy

Revisado: 02-17-24

The Last Town is an excellent ending to the Wayward Pines trilogy. While I think it's the weakest of the the three it's still very good.

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Baffling narrative choices and exposition

Revisado: 12-05-23

Disclosure: I'm reviewing the first half, I haven't finished and not sure I will

Redemption of Time starts strong, the beginning describing how Yun Tianming was found and his time with the Trisolarans is pretty good until "The Spirit" shows up.

At this point much of the book becomes good vs evil through a Christian lens. A very strange choice considering a central theme of the trilogy is the opposite; other civilizations aren't evil, they are mostly just acting purely rationally. It was always interesting Singer's job as a cleanser was basically the lowest job on the ship, essentially a janitor, showing how little malice there actually was.

My second gripe is the amount of exposition which is caused by the authors baffling choices to create connections between people and events that were never connected. There are a few examples but the weirdest was about Ai AA and her past. The connections the author tries to make are so impossible that he spends significant amounts of time creating macguffins and explaining how his impossible connections between Yun Tianming and Ai AA is actually possible. It's completely unnecessary and adds nothing to the narrative.

A few other minor things: the love story is pretty bad. Despite loving Chung Xin for literally centuries he starts a relationship with Ai AA, probably the most annoying character, basically immediately. It's really soppy and not believable.

The author also describes Trisolarans in a way I absolutely do not accept.

The author self describes it as fan fiction and says it out choice to take it as canon or not, I'm going to choose not.

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