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rikiohgasmask's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.25
aristocraticraven's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
flexdza's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
pearseanderson's review against another edition
3.0
I only made it a third of the way through this. I only read it on my Kindle when I was eating out, so I lost a lot between sessions of food, but I never felt super determined to read it any other time. So I stopped. But it was a cool time, and a great opening. Felt historical and intelligent.
thomaswjoyce's review against another edition
5.0
Mills has delivered a piece of taut and suspenseful historical fiction that will please fans of literary and genre fiction alike.
Daniel Mills has built something of a reputation as an author of historical fiction. Indeed, he has openly expressed a love for history from a young age, and is especially known for writing fiction with a New England setting. Just look at some of his previous releases: Revenants (Chomu Press, 2011), his collection The Lord Came at Twilight (Dark Renaissance Books, 2014) and the novella The Account of David Stonehouse, Exile (Dim Shores, 2016). He has also had great success in having his short fiction published in some well-respected magazines (including Black Static, Strange Aeons and Supernatural Tales) and anthologies (Autumn Cthulu, The Madness of Doctor Caligari and Aickman’s Heirs, among others). His latest release, Moriah (ChiZine Publications, 2017), takes place in a similar setting to his other historical fiction.
The story opens with the narrator, Silas Flood, a former soldier and chaplain in the American Civil War and now a contributing writer for a New York newspaper, The Sunday Echo. He is travelling by train to the town of Moriah, Vermont to investigate rumours of the Lynch brothers, Thaddeus and Ambrose, who claim to possess paranormal abilities. Mills has used the real life case of the Eddy brothers of Chittenden, Vermont as a basis for his story. The history of the Eddy’s is intriguing, but in Moriah, Mills has created a more interesting tale with much more depth. Flood may be sceptical of the paranormal, but he is haunted by his own ghosts throughout the book. He is troubled by memories of bloodshed and death during the war, the loss of so many young men and his difficulty reconciling this with a benevolent god. But he also struggles with the memory of his late wife, Katherine, who pleaded with him to stay with her rather than fight, and was torn between the duties of a husband and father (Katherine was expecting their first child when he left) and the duty he felt to defend the ideals of the Union. These elements help us to better understand Silas as a person, making him that much more relatable.
To read the full review, please visit This Is Horror.
Daniel Mills has built something of a reputation as an author of historical fiction. Indeed, he has openly expressed a love for history from a young age, and is especially known for writing fiction with a New England setting. Just look at some of his previous releases: Revenants (Chomu Press, 2011), his collection The Lord Came at Twilight (Dark Renaissance Books, 2014) and the novella The Account of David Stonehouse, Exile (Dim Shores, 2016). He has also had great success in having his short fiction published in some well-respected magazines (including Black Static, Strange Aeons and Supernatural Tales) and anthologies (Autumn Cthulu, The Madness of Doctor Caligari and Aickman’s Heirs, among others). His latest release, Moriah (ChiZine Publications, 2017), takes place in a similar setting to his other historical fiction.
The story opens with the narrator, Silas Flood, a former soldier and chaplain in the American Civil War and now a contributing writer for a New York newspaper, The Sunday Echo. He is travelling by train to the town of Moriah, Vermont to investigate rumours of the Lynch brothers, Thaddeus and Ambrose, who claim to possess paranormal abilities. Mills has used the real life case of the Eddy brothers of Chittenden, Vermont as a basis for his story. The history of the Eddy’s is intriguing, but in Moriah, Mills has created a more interesting tale with much more depth. Flood may be sceptical of the paranormal, but he is haunted by his own ghosts throughout the book. He is troubled by memories of bloodshed and death during the war, the loss of so many young men and his difficulty reconciling this with a benevolent god. But he also struggles with the memory of his late wife, Katherine, who pleaded with him to stay with her rather than fight, and was torn between the duties of a husband and father (Katherine was expecting their first child when he left) and the duty he felt to defend the ideals of the Union. These elements help us to better understand Silas as a person, making him that much more relatable.
To read the full review, please visit This Is Horror.
myxomycetes's review
5.0
Sad Civil War veteran turned journalist seeks to heal his soul and uncover the truth concerning a family of Vermont spiritualists. Succeeds on one account, but fails on the other.
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