Mortal Coils by Eric Nylund Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Mortal Coils
Book Review: Great read! I have a feeling I'll enjoy this book again & again...
Summary: 5 Stars
I lucked into reading a pre-release copy of Mortal Coils, not knowing anything about it. Given Eric Nylund's range of other work, I figured it would be good, and I was not disappointed!
From the introduction of the Post twins' odd life, to the events which expose their true identity, to the twists and thrills of their trials and adventures of meeting and trying to survive their families, I was hooked. Nylund delivers great characters, an intriguing, layered and well-paced story, and a richly realized world that I am looking forward to revisiting, both when I get to re-read this book and -fingers crossed- its sequels!
Book Review: I'm Not Usually a Fantasy Fan
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't read many books that are based on mythology and magic, but this one is special.
Mr. Nylund has yet again captivated my attention and imagination through his exceptional story-telling ability. When I first saw this book I thought that I would rather spend my money on a video game, but after reading the first ten pages I realized that this book was something much better than I first thought. I especially enjoyed the footnotes which were very detailed and interesting. They gave me a better understanding of the story.
I can't wait for the next instalment in the series. I hope that it also includes footnotes.
Book Review: Mr. Nylund Creates a Wonderful New Tale of Immortal Gods and Demons in the Modern World
Summary: 5 Stars
Two ordinary teenagers, a brother and a sister, whom the reader discovers are anything but ordinary, find themselves in the center of a battle for the future of our world--as two warring clans of powerful immortals each claim them as their own. Eric Nylund, well known to readers as the author of several Halo-based novels, strikes out in a new direction by creating two original young characters who are compelling, powerful, and extraordinary--and, surprisingly, typical teenagers facing the universal problems of growing up. At once both funny and thrilling, Mr. Nylund will delight readers of all ages with his new modern-fantasy adventure with cyberpunk overtones. Mortal Coils is a combination of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, Edith Hamilton's Mythology, Milton's Paradise Lost, and Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel (with Mr. Nylund's fascinating use of illuminating footnotes). I approached this novel not knowing what I would find, and found that I couldn't put it down. I couldn't have enjoyed it more. One hopes this is the just the beginning of a wonderful new series of novels based upon Mortal Coils' cavalcade of interesting and engaging heroes, villains, situations, and difficult choices.Book Review: Not sluggish--well paced
Summary: 5 Stars
Many have said this book is sluggish, especially at the beginning. So what? The details of the slow paced sections are intriguing. The huge list written in legalize the children must follow, the odd business with Mike's hand, and even the almost nonstop chatter of teenagerism Eliot and Fiona bombard us with all build suspense in an original way. At page 500 I'm early on in this self-proclaimed million word epic, and so far so good. If Eric Nylund keeps writing, I'll keep buying for myself and for the shelves of my store.Book Review: Nylund returns to original fantasy fiction inspired by Zelazny
Summary: 5 Stars
Fiona and Eliot Post are two orphans on the cusp of their fifteenth birthday. Living with their grandmother in a strangely strict regimen of rules, their lives are relatively dull and uninteresting. The myriad non fiction books (fictional books are forbidden!) provide much of the entertainment and life for these homeschooled twins, whose only outside outlet is their work in a nearby pizza parlor.
Their fifteenth birthday, however, coincides with the discovery of them by outside powers, and the discovery by them that their parents are scions of competing supernaturally powered families. Now at the center of a custody fight between gods and demons, set on trials by the gods and tempted by the demons, Fiona and Eliot soon realize just how protected and safe their previous, constricted existence really was.
Wow.
The novel reminded me of<a href="http://www.skyseastone.net/jvstin/unjvst/007759.html"> L Jagi Lamplighter's Prospero's Lost</a>. It's clear that both novels have read, and been influenced by Roger Zelazny. The tone and the worlds created, though, are somewhat different and I think a good analogy is to think of another pair of writers, C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien. With her explictly Christian framework to the mythology of her supernatural modern day universe, Lamplighter's Prospero's Lost is the C.S. Lewis in this formulation. Nylund's novel, on the other hand, does not have that explicit framework. In fact, the novel seems to suggest that the appearances of supernatural beings throughout history have all been members of the various families depicted and hinted at in this book. In this way, its a more, for lack of a better work, pagan formulation than Lamplighter's.
Turning aside from the comparison, the novel itself is replete with all sorts of delights. The twins are well drawn and have a complicated sibling relationship which I found believable and a delight. I particularly liked the vocabulary/reference game that the two play. Only having had years of non fiction volumes to read for recreation, the twins are perfectly comfortable in making obscure references. For example, early in the novel, Fiona refers to Eliot being sick by asking if he has<em> Nagleria fowleri</em>(a type of amoeba contracted in water).
Another delight in the novel is the footnotes. While he doesn't pepper the text with the frequency of, say, Jack Vance, the novel's text and narrative is replete and enriched by the occasional footnote which makes observations from what seems to be the future of the events depicted. This further enriches and complicates the world and its narrative in a way that helps suggest that the world "continues" beyond the borders of its pages. The Playground of the Imagination, as Larry Niven calls it.
The characters themselves, beyond the Twins, on both sides of their relations, are a host that are complicated, complex and completely well drawn. Not all of the Gods could be considered good by even the most charitable reading of the text, and not all of the Infernals can be considered completely and irredeemably evil.
The novel is clearly and explicitly the first in a series, and I do hope that the novel sells well enough that Mr. Nylund has the opportunity to write and publish more of the books. I definitely will be looking forward to reading the subsequent volumes. As I implied before, people like me, who love Zelazny are going to cotton to this novel very well. (Hey, it has a character named *Fiona* who winds up having supernatural abilities. How can you say no to that?!). Nylund, thankfully, has had his time in the wilderness of media-tie-in novels not go to waste. The writing is engaging, inventive and enthralling.
Highly Recommended.