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jl_shioshita's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
rhuntern's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A very solid story with interesting characters and set up. I think maybe there could have been some room given to expand upon certain scenes, but otherwise found it a very satisfying read.
nigellicus's review against another edition
5.0
With shades of the George RR Martin book that flopped and whose name escapes me now, except that the band were called The Nazgul, this sharp little foray into small down prog-rock metal dreamers on the road to stardom running into the ancient mythology of The King In Yellow as they and their music are hijacked by a mysterious woman with nasty things in mind. Lots of fun, mixing grungy record-making and creepy horror.
Armageddon Rag!
Armageddon Rag!
beastreader's review against another edition
4.0
Mr. Keisling writes this book as if it was not just 65 pages long. I really enjoyed the aspect of this story with Aidan giving an interview. It made the story more intimate. This journey that Mr. Keisling and Aidan took me on was memorizing and horrific at the same time. It was like I was under a spell just like the Yellow Kings were. This story slowly creeps into your brain and under your skin but I could not stop reading. Everything that the Yellow Kings endured was scary but not as scary as their performance gig. Not to be outdone, this story ended on a high note. This is a rockin' read.
dantastic's review against another edition
5.0
Metal band the Yellow Kings are on their first tour when they meet Camilla Bierce, the woman who will be their downfall...
I was tangentially aware of The King in Yellow for years after playing [b:Call of Cthulhu: Horror Roleplaying|33489|Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying (Call of Cthulhu RPG)|Sandy Petersen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386924524s/33489.jpg|40002943] and my interest was further piqued by True Detective. When I read the synopsis for this, I was all in.
Told by the lone survivor of the band thirty years in the future, The Final Reconciliation is the tale of the disintegration of a band as they record an album, both personally and mentally as the walls of reality thin and fray. I knew they were fucked when Camilla called Los Angeles Carcosa but the depth of the penetration was still pretty surprising.
As the dreams and visions of red-robed faceless things in an alien golden city become more and more intense, things go so far off track the rails are no longer visible.
The writing feels more like noir than horror, not a bad thing in my book. There's just enough foreshadowing in the narration to make you dread the ending that's barreling toward you. I had an idea about what Camilla's goal was fairly quickly but the ending was still a punch in the sternum.
I've read other mythos stories involving musicians, [b:Bleeding Shadows|17915745|Bleeding Shadows|Joe R. Lansdale|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1374466703s/17915745.jpg|25108413] and [b:Crawlin' Chaos Blues|9866698|Crawlin' Chaos Blues|Edward M. Erdelac|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1291911947s/9866698.jpg|14758211] springing to mind, but The Final Reconciliation is the best so far. Five out of five Yellow Signs.
I was tangentially aware of The King in Yellow for years after playing [b:Call of Cthulhu: Horror Roleplaying|33489|Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying (Call of Cthulhu RPG)|Sandy Petersen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386924524s/33489.jpg|40002943] and my interest was further piqued by True Detective. When I read the synopsis for this, I was all in.
Told by the lone survivor of the band thirty years in the future, The Final Reconciliation is the tale of the disintegration of a band as they record an album, both personally and mentally as the walls of reality thin and fray. I knew they were fucked when Camilla called Los Angeles Carcosa but the depth of the penetration was still pretty surprising.
As the dreams and visions of red-robed faceless things in an alien golden city become more and more intense, things go so far off track the rails are no longer visible.
The writing feels more like noir than horror, not a bad thing in my book. There's just enough foreshadowing in the narration to make you dread the ending that's barreling toward you. I had an idea about what Camilla's goal was fairly quickly but the ending was still a punch in the sternum.
I've read other mythos stories involving musicians, [b:Bleeding Shadows|17915745|Bleeding Shadows|Joe R. Lansdale|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1374466703s/17915745.jpg|25108413] and [b:Crawlin' Chaos Blues|9866698|Crawlin' Chaos Blues|Edward M. Erdelac|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1291911947s/9866698.jpg|14758211] springing to mind, but The Final Reconciliation is the best so far. Five out of five Yellow Signs.
norcani's review against another edition
1.0
love the concept of metal + horror but "ooooh spooky sexy demon lady will fuck your friends and split your band" doesn't do anything for me. Also, at some point the spooky sexy demon lady accuses someone falsely of assaulting her. Better not think about all this too hard. Some nice imagery though.
e: after writing this review I decided to lower my rating to 1 star.
e: after writing this review I decided to lower my rating to 1 star.
paulataua's review against another edition
3.0
Aging guitarist Aidan Cross is interviewed about his Metal band, ‘The Yellow Kings’, whose meteoric rise to stardom some thirty years earlier, being somehow brought about by the enigmatic and controlling Camilla, was cut short by a disastrous show that left the other band members dead and him in a mental institution. All was not, and maybe still isn’t, what it seems. Short and entertaining read that doesn’t disappoint.
bookishactor's review against another edition
4.0
The Final Reconciliation by Todd Keisling is a fun novella combining the cosmic horror of Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow mythos with the story of a metal band. The book is reminiscent of both Elizabeth Hand’s Wylding Hall (2015) and Grady Hendrix’s We Sold Our Souls (2018). This book is an entertaining read. The plot is not that hard anticipate, but I nevertheless had a blast listening to the audiobook version. The combination of the narrator (Joe Hempel) and Keisling’s prose made this a hard story to put down. I read this book as a @howl_society book club selection, and we began the week reading some of Chambers’ short stories from The Kong in Yellow collection. I would highly recommend familiarity with Chambers before reading The Final Reconciliation (just as I would recommend familiarity with Lovecraft before reading The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle) in order to enjoy the story with the background and context necessary to understand some of the references and allusions Keisling has made to Chambers. I think having that background elevated the experience from vague cosmic horror to a highly specific story expanding upon earlier work. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that there is only ONE significant female character in the book. Additionally, the book very casually uses a term now frequently understood as a slur against the Romani people. The author has said he was not aware of this word’s pejorative meaning when writing the book. All that said, I still had fun listening to this one and plan to read more Todd Keisling in the future. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
vondav's review against another edition
5.0
this tells the story of an up and coming rock band The Yellow Kings. Johnny, Aidan, Hank and Bobby, all friends with a love of music. Embarking on a small tour, they quickly built up a dedicated fan base. After one gig they met Camilla, and from that first meeting, she took the band to a horrific high.
The story was written from Aidan’s POV as he gave an interview to a reporter 30 year after the tragic event. Reading this story, you could see how loyal Aidan was to his friends. Whilst he did not like the direction that Johnny was taking the band, he still stuck with them. Throughout the story there were hints to what Camilla is, but it was not until Aidan started having his dreams and the band started to record their album, that things start to get macabre. The secret gig was savage and a gory and when Aidan thought he had closure the reporter told him something that would make him lose his mind.
Whilst this story was gory in parts, the descriptive writing, made you live Aidan’s story. Carcosa even though a horrific place also had a beauty to it. The smaller details like the Chapter list, listed as song titles on an Album, and the reference to heavy metal made this a must read for horror and metal lovers. A great novella.
The story was written from Aidan’s POV as he gave an interview to a reporter 30 year after the tragic event. Reading this story, you could see how loyal Aidan was to his friends. Whilst he did not like the direction that Johnny was taking the band, he still stuck with them. Throughout the story there were hints to what Camilla is, but it was not until Aidan started having his dreams and the band started to record their album, that things start to get macabre. The secret gig was savage and a gory and when Aidan thought he had closure the reporter told him something that would make him lose his mind.
Whilst this story was gory in parts, the descriptive writing, made you live Aidan’s story. Carcosa even though a horrific place also had a beauty to it. The smaller details like the Chapter list, listed as song titles on an Album, and the reference to heavy metal made this a must read for horror and metal lovers. A great novella.
madarauchiha's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
✨🌠 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 🌠✨
I think I'd like this book if they toned down the misogny by at LEAST 99.999999 times a milllion percent.
Ok yeah I get it. It's a shitty misogynstic old fart of a rocker man who was originally from Nowheresville, population 50 people and their cow herding dogs. Does that mean it should've been misogyny free? No, I get the intentionally unlikeable protagonist. But it's so single faceted and suffers for it. I'd rather that it was an unending curse, passed on from person to person. The Camilla was not the first 'Camilla'. Camilla is a title, not a person, just like the Yellow King is a title used by multiple people in the book.
Also jesus fucking christ, can we stop with the shitty anti Rromani g slurs already? Fifteen fucking times. Chop your fucking hands off already, we don't need that shit in 2022.
Uhh let's see. The plot was. Thrilling! Interesting! Kinda flat at times. That might be due to being a retelling of someone's memories than anything else.
I really hated the ending. No, not the plot twist of the MCbeing in a psych ward. The plot twist of oh we're finally releasing the album! And then the Camilla character shows up again? For some reason? Like hey wait, why is she here if the album is guaranteed to be released? Like wouldn't the album spreading throughout the world ensure she can complete the ritual? What does she need the reporter guy for? Idk, I'm not thinking too hard on it.
minor drug overdose, alcohol, alcoholism, whorephobia, child death, car accidents,
medium mental illness, suicide attempt, self harm, psychiatric institutions,
major mental illness, murder, alcohol, self harm, toxic relationships, blood, misogyny, gore, torture, body horror, self harm, sexual assault context issome sort of magical hypnotism into making the other person comply with sexual cintact despite earlier rejections , infidelity, sexual content, drug use lsd, racial slurs, anti Rromani g slur 15 times, scars, drug use smoking tobacco,
I think I'd like this book if they toned down the misogny by at LEAST 99.999999 times a milllion percent.
Ok yeah I get it. It's a shitty misogynstic old fart of a rocker man who was originally from Nowheresville, population 50 people and their cow herding dogs. Does that mean it should've been misogyny free? No, I get the intentionally unlikeable protagonist. But it's so single faceted and suffers for it. I'd rather that it was an unending curse, passed on from person to person. The Camilla was not the first 'Camilla'. Camilla is a title, not a person, just like the Yellow King is a title used by multiple people in the book.
Also jesus fucking christ, can we stop with the shitty anti Rromani g slurs already? Fifteen fucking times. Chop your fucking hands off already, we don't need that shit in 2022.
Uhh let's see. The plot was. Thrilling! Interesting! Kinda flat at times. That might be due to being a retelling of someone's memories than anything else.
I really hated the ending. No, not the plot twist of the MC
minor drug overdose, alcohol, alcoholism, whorephobia, child death, car accidents,
medium mental illness, suicide attempt, self harm, psychiatric institutions,
major mental illness, murder, alcohol, self harm, toxic relationships, blood, misogyny, gore, torture, body horror, self harm, sexual assault context is
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Misogyny, Sexism, Gore, Sexual assault, Racism, Murder, Alcohol, Torture, Body horror, Sexual content, Infidelity, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Car accident