Summary:
"Imagine an Age of Exploration full of alchemy, human dissection, sea monsters, betrayal, torture, religious controversy, and magic. In Europe, the magic is thin, but at the edge of the world, where the stars reach down close to the Earth, wonders abound. This drives the bravest explorers to the alluring Western Ocean. Christopher Sinclair is an alchemist who cares only about one thing: quintessence, a substance he believes will grant magical powers and immortality. And he has a ship."
My Thoughts:
All in all, I'm giving this book a 4.5/5, because at times it really did feel a little slow to me. However, the descriptions were amazing, and the mysterious and amazing island of Horizon is absolutely magical. The summary makes it sound as if the story focuses on alchemist Christopher Sinclair, but really, I found him to be a secondary character to the Parris family. Most of what happens seems to center on Dr. Parris and his daughter Catherine.
Considering the time period and such, I thought the characters felt very true to life, and I really did feel as if I was reading a historical novel, that just happened to have these creatures capable of turning invisible, walking through walls, healing themselves, and forming mind-links.
The slowness I mentioned earlier came from how a great deal of the book is the voyage across the ocean, which I guess makes it all the more realistic because for the characters, the journey would have been long and dull and tedious.
I absolutely adored Catherine Parris. She is a young woman who feels as if she is being pigeon-holed by her mother to dress up, go to dances, and attract a suitable, wealthy, and high-ranking man to marry...which is not exactly what she'd like. Sure, she wants to marry, but she also is intrigued by the work her father does as a physic, especially since he is doing the "appalling" act of dissecting corpses to discover how the human body truly works. Along the voyage she joins in on his studies and shows just how intelligent and clever she is, and I love how some certain characters begin to see just how amazing she is and come to respect her opinion just as well as a man's.
There is so much going on in this story: discovering the alchemical truths of Horizon, basically a coming-of-age story, struggles with religion, science, and morality, as well as life and death, and a definite struggle between the natives of Horizon and these English invaders. I very much enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to people who like historical novels, tales of alchemy, and it really does have a sort-of steampunk vibe to it as well.
Considering the time period and such, I thought the characters felt very true to life, and I really did feel as if I was reading a historical novel, that just happened to have these creatures capable of turning invisible, walking through walls, healing themselves, and forming mind-links.
The slowness I mentioned earlier came from how a great deal of the book is the voyage across the ocean, which I guess makes it all the more realistic because for the characters, the journey would have been long and dull and tedious.
I absolutely adored Catherine Parris. She is a young woman who feels as if she is being pigeon-holed by her mother to dress up, go to dances, and attract a suitable, wealthy, and high-ranking man to marry...which is not exactly what she'd like. Sure, she wants to marry, but she also is intrigued by the work her father does as a physic, especially since he is doing the "appalling" act of dissecting corpses to discover how the human body truly works. Along the voyage she joins in on his studies and shows just how intelligent and clever she is, and I love how some certain characters begin to see just how amazing she is and come to respect her opinion just as well as a man's.
There is so much going on in this story: discovering the alchemical truths of Horizon, basically a coming-of-age story, struggles with religion, science, and morality, as well as life and death, and a definite struggle between the natives of Horizon and these English invaders. I very much enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to people who like historical novels, tales of alchemy, and it really does have a sort-of steampunk vibe to it as well.
Quintessence at Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/quintessence-david-walton/1111298355?ean=9780765330901
Quintessence at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Quintessence-David-Walton/dp/0765330903/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363698966&sr=8-1&keywords=Quintessence
Other Readings:
Currently I am reading a couple manuscripts for friends, so there won't be any review on them or anything else...yet. When they become published novels, that's a wholly different story. I'm also working on finishing up Dr. Frankenstein's Daughters by Suzanne Weyn, and City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte.
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