Re-review: Approaching the Dark Age - Resonance - Matthew Chivers

After the comments on my last review of this book, I agreed to read an updated version and write another review. Thankfully, it was much improved. I managed to finish it this time and, to my surprise, enjoyed parts of it too. I'll start with the positive before moving on to some of the books more dodgy areas.

The characters are now a lot more likable. I found myself enjoying the banter between Maledream and his friend Neveah, both of which have become more rounded individuals and not so two dimensional. Angelite as well was a much better character, yes, she is weepy, a bit of a sap and at times pathetic, but she also has her strong points. her foil, Boris, balances her out and both women work well together. If Angelite was on her own, she'd drive you bonkers but together, all is well.

The world building seemed a lot more complete as well. I enjoyed learning about the Dark Age lands and Meridia as well. The role of the Creators and how the Anunaki fit into the equation as well. These parts of the book are well thought out and clearly a lot of research has gone into it. The post apocalyptic world is dark and yet still has hope for the future.

The first half of the book, I will admit, was a struggle to read, I wasn't really hooked until about half way through, when I read the Council of the Anunaki. The chapter really got me interested as it introduced a large element of risk for the characters. Stick it out until then and you'll really be rewarded for your efforts.

Now for some not so positive elements. I'm afraid to say that there are still a lot of grammatical and technical errors in the novel. Mostly these are incorrect words, like too instead of to. These could easily be solved by having another person proofread the book, which is what friends/family are for right?

Some of the metaphors, while inventive, didn't make much sense, for example, "Thousands of candles within the Council Hall began blowing themselves out and relighting themselves like a beautiful opera..." Not sure how the candles relate to opera and this is just one example of many. There are also contradicting adjectives throughout the book and after a while, this gets annoying. There is also the use of many cliche terms, such as "tail between his legs" which are just lazy, there are far better phrases to use than this tired old term.

OK, so to sum up, I enjoyed the read this time and managed to finish the book, it still has its issues but it is well worth a read. I admire Chivers for admitting to his novel being flawed and going a long way to fixing some of the problems.