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readwithanna's review
I've just lost all interest int he book. There were some atmospheric and eerie passages but all the rest? Dull, to say the least.
charlottestubbs's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
ppmon's review against another edition
3.0
Writing was eloquent all throughout, but the ending was a little unsatisfactory for my own person taste. I wish the ending was perhaps expanded a little bit more, but once again, that's just me.
williemeikle's review against another edition
5.0
THE MATRIX is my personal favorite of Aycliffe's supernatural works. There's a couple of reasons for this; the main one is the setting.
Edinburgh is in my heart. I spent a while working there, and over my lifetime I've spent many happy hours wandering the strets of the Old and New Towns, and sampling beers in the many great bars to be found.
The same streets, and bars, populate this book. But there's something else here too, ghosts from the great city's past, always just at the corner of your eye, always reminding you that there are some dark passageways that are best left alone.
Aycliffe takes his hero, a man from the Wesern Islands, and sends him down one such Edinburgh passageway, one that proves to be a warren full of pale things, ancient sorceries, and some of the creepiest revenants you'll find anywhere in fiction.
The protagonist's journey through the labyrinthine streets, and his mental deterioration as he does so, is expertly handled, and the sense of deep history, claustrophobic and gathering in layers around you, perfectly catches the spirit of Edinburgh.
I read it here in Newfoundland on a warm spring day, but I felt the cold wind coming off the Firth of Forth as strongly as if I was still there.
If you want an Edinburgh ghost story, Aycliffe has the perfect one for you right here.
Highly recommended.
Edinburgh is in my heart. I spent a while working there, and over my lifetime I've spent many happy hours wandering the strets of the Old and New Towns, and sampling beers in the many great bars to be found.
The same streets, and bars, populate this book. But there's something else here too, ghosts from the great city's past, always just at the corner of your eye, always reminding you that there are some dark passageways that are best left alone.
Aycliffe takes his hero, a man from the Wesern Islands, and sends him down one such Edinburgh passageway, one that proves to be a warren full of pale things, ancient sorceries, and some of the creepiest revenants you'll find anywhere in fiction.
The protagonist's journey through the labyrinthine streets, and his mental deterioration as he does so, is expertly handled, and the sense of deep history, claustrophobic and gathering in layers around you, perfectly catches the spirit of Edinburgh.
I read it here in Newfoundland on a warm spring day, but I felt the cold wind coming off the Firth of Forth as strongly as if I was still there.
If you want an Edinburgh ghost story, Aycliffe has the perfect one for you right here.
Highly recommended.
lnatal's review
3.0
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
Evil Awaits
Jonathan Aycliffe - The Matrix
Episode 1 of 10
"I understood nothing then. I was still a child ..."
A postgraduate student's research into the occult brings him under the malign influence of an ancient book of spells - the Matrix Aeternitatis.
Episode 2 of 10
Trying to rid himself of an ancient book, Andrew MacLeod becomes drawn to a sinister group
Episode 3 of 10
Andrew MacLeod is taken to Africa, where he is horrified to hear a voice from his past.
Episode 4 of 10
Now back in Scotland, MacLeod becomes increasingly dependent on Mylne's support.
Episode 5 of 10
MacLeod witnesses a mysterious ceremony in a former church and meets with a friend's widow
Set in contemporary Edinburgh. Jonathan Aycliffe's chilling novel abridged in ten parts by Rosemary Goring.
Read by Robert Paterson
Producer: David Jackson Young
First broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland in 1997.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nlwzy
Evil Awaits
Jonathan Aycliffe - The Matrix
Episode 1 of 10
"I understood nothing then. I was still a child ..."
A postgraduate student's research into the occult brings him under the malign influence of an ancient book of spells - the Matrix Aeternitatis.
Episode 2 of 10
Trying to rid himself of an ancient book, Andrew MacLeod becomes drawn to a sinister group
Episode 3 of 10
Andrew MacLeod is taken to Africa, where he is horrified to hear a voice from his past.
Episode 4 of 10
Now back in Scotland, MacLeod becomes increasingly dependent on Mylne's support.
Episode 5 of 10
MacLeod witnesses a mysterious ceremony in a former church and meets with a friend's widow
Set in contemporary Edinburgh. Jonathan Aycliffe's chilling novel abridged in ten parts by Rosemary Goring.
Read by Robert Paterson
Producer: David Jackson Young
First broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland in 1997.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nlwzy
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