A Myth to the Night

by Cora Choi 

(February 27^th 2014, published by Cora Choi)
 

Note: We received a copy of this book through Net Galley.

Book Description:

A Myth to the Night is the story of a nineteen-year-old ghost called Hugh Fogg who died in a Massacre in 1615 on the fictional island of Stauros. 

Hugh is a monk in the Stauros abbey and a scholar spending most of his short academic life trying to find the Slayer of the Shadow of Fear. The Slayer is meant to destroy the Shadow of Fear, a demon bent on mankind’s destruction, and restore balance to the world. 

But when Hugh and the rest of the Order of the Crane are brutally murdered by the Order of the Shrike, Hugh vows to remain a ghost until he finds the Slayer.

For over four hundred years it seems that the Slayer is no more than a myth, till Hugh meets Drev, a young college student, and strange things begin to happen. 

After all this time will Hugh finally be able to fulfill his destiny?

Pros:

The cover was the first thing that drew me to A Myth to the Night. It’s beautiful and well-drawn and is one of the better aspects of the book.

The premise is also interesting and there are some very creative ideas here. I especially liked the idea of personal fears being the hardest demons one has to overcome.

Cons:

There a several problems with A Myth to the Night, but some of the most hindering are definitely the bad description and world-building. The author has a tendency of describing minor things in great detail, yet leaving out important setting descriptions.  This left the reader unsure where the characters were and what they were exactly doing.

The writing wasn’t much help, either. Both awkward and stilted, it was often silly and unintentionally funny.

The plot, though not completely bad, was very underdeveloped with too much backstory stuffed into the beginning and a jumpy narrative that pulled you out of the story at pivotal moments. The cardboard characters and info-dumpy dialogue only made matters worse.

But my biggest problem with the book was the superficial and undermining way violence and death are dealt with. Most of the deaths that happen are throwaway and unimportant and the author spends no time showing the reader the consequences of these horrific events.

Also, there are some drug references and a lot of explicit language that was included for no real purpose and only made the book seem, frankly, lame and silly.

Verdict:

With an intriguing premise and some interesting ideas, A Myth to the Night should have been a promising book, but weak writing and poor execution never allow it to live up to its potential.

Rating: (3/10)


Leave your comments down below and subscribe or follow us by email for all our new reviews!