My thoughts
It's hard to believe this is a debut novel. While it had me totally confused throughout it was still good. The last few chapters really came through. I finally understood pretty much what was going on. I was lost during a lot of this book. It had footnotes that really confused me for a bit but am glad they were there now. I will read this one again so I can really enjoy it. I had a hard time with it this time. But it was still pretty good. The author did a good job with character development and descriptions of the areas.
The story starts out in 2013. Sebastian is writing a book. His story of a Revolution. A hunt for a monster. The story of The Red Winter. Sebastian is very old. Like hundreds of years old. He meets and falls in love with Antoine in 1766.
Sebastian has a dwelling in his head, Sarmodel. You will hear a lot from Sarmodel. His thoughts are very important. He and Sebastian only communicate through thoughts. No one else can hear them.
Sebastian meets Jacques, who is Antoine's son, in 1785. Jacques has tracked Sebastian down to beg for his help. There is a monster who is killing not only animals but humans. Jacques has read his father's letters from Sebastian and knows that he might can help.
Sebastian and Jacques set off to find this monster and along the way Sebastian tells Jacques the story of The Red Winter. Of him and Antoine. Of all that happened.
During this story it jumps back to 1437 and y0u meet a woman. Livie. Also the Archangel Michael. Michael you heat from in both 1437 and later. Later when the fight with the monster comes. When so many people are killed. They people revolt against the bishop and Antoine. They are tired of being hungry. Of being taken advantage of. Of being treated poorly. It's a big battle and a lot of loss.
The author did a great job of character development. The descriptions of the areas were great. While I was a bit aggravated with the footnotes at first they did grow on me as I learned a lot from them. I was listening to the audio and would get a bit lost at times...
Overall the ending was great. I think it may have been set up for a possible sequel. Maybe. We will see.
The two narrators did excellent. Rory Barnett and Imogen Church. If not for them I may not have been able to finish this one. I'm truly glad I did though. It's long. It has a few things going on. Not a lot of characters to keep up with so that was good. Three timelines. The ending was in 2013 also, so many I should say four timelines.
Thank you to TOR Publishing Group and Macmillan Audio for the ARCs.
4 stars.
About
A devastating love story. A bewitching twist on history. A blood-drenched hunt for purpose, power, and redemption.
In 1785, Professor Sebastian Grave receives the news he fears most: the terrible Beast of Gévaudan has returned, and the French countryside runs red in its wake.
Sebastian knows the Beast. A monster-slayer with centuries of experience, he joined the hunt for the creature twenty years ago and watched it slaughter its way through a long and bloody winter. Even with the help of his indwelling demon, Sarmodel – who takes payment in living hearts – it nearly cost him his life to bring the monster down.
Now, two decades later, Sebastian has been recalled to the hunt by Antoine Avenel d’Ocerne, an estranged lover who shares a dark history with the Beast and a terrible secret with Sebastian. Drawn by both the chance to finish the Beast for good and the promise of a reconciliation with Antoine, Sebastian cannot refuse.
But Gévaudan is not as he remembers it, and Sebastian’s unfinished business is everywhere he looks. Years of misery have driven the people to desperation, and France teeters on the edge of revolution. Sebastian’s arcane activities – not to mention his demonic counterpart – have also attracted the inquisitorial eye of the French clergy. And the Beast is poised to close his jaws around them all and plunge the continent into war.
Debut author Cameron Sullivan tears the heart out of history with this darkly entertaining retelling of the hunt for the Beast of Gévaudan. Lifting the veil on the hidden world behind our own, it reimagines the story of Europe, from Imperial Rome to Saint Jehanne d’Arc, the madness of Gilles de Rais and the first flickers of the French Revolution.
In 1785, Professor Sebastian Grave receives the news he fears most: the terrible Beast of Gévaudan has returned, and the French countryside runs red in its wake.
Sebastian knows the Beast. A monster-slayer with centuries of experience, he joined the hunt for the creature twenty years ago and watched it slaughter its way through a long and bloody winter. Even with the help of his indwelling demon, Sarmodel – who takes payment in living hearts – it nearly cost him his life to bring the monster down.
Now, two decades later, Sebastian has been recalled to the hunt by Antoine Avenel d’Ocerne, an estranged lover who shares a dark history with the Beast and a terrible secret with Sebastian. Drawn by both the chance to finish the Beast for good and the promise of a reconciliation with Antoine, Sebastian cannot refuse.
But Gévaudan is not as he remembers it, and Sebastian’s unfinished business is everywhere he looks. Years of misery have driven the people to desperation, and France teeters on the edge of revolution. Sebastian’s arcane activities – not to mention his demonic counterpart – have also attracted the inquisitorial eye of the French clergy. And the Beast is poised to close his jaws around them all and plunge the continent into war.
Debut author Cameron Sullivan tears the heart out of history with this darkly entertaining retelling of the hunt for the Beast of Gévaudan. Lifting the veil on the hidden world behind our own, it reimagines the story of Europe, from Imperial Rome to Saint Jehanne d’Arc, the madness of Gilles de Rais and the first flickers of the French Revolution.
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