William L.J. Galaini

The Publisher Says: While the First World War rages on Earth's surface, Hephaestion discovers the ideal opportunity to rescue his general, king, and soulmate Alexander the Great from the lowest ring of Hell. The problem? No one’s ever dared such a feat before, and only a madman would try.

As Hephaestion descends into the pit of eternal torment, he discovers unlikely accomplices willing to assist his impossible plan…but complications and subterfuge leave Hephaestion and his allies scrambling for footholds in a world governed by demons, devils, and opportunists. Soon the fires of Hades are the least of his worries as he must outrun, outgun, and outmaneuver beasts and monsters hell-bent on his destruction.

With a cast of unexpected characters from civilizations long buried and historical figures you only thought you knew, Hephaestion must answer the true question of his quest: What does it mean to be known, to be remembered...and perhaps, to be human?

Loyalty, commitment, and love ignore the bounds of death and time in an adventure that explores culture, history, and obsession through the lens of a man who defies reason.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Spooktober starts with a crashing, steam-billowing bittersweet battle-heavy CRASH. Hell, where Alexander of Macedon, genocidal psychopathic horndog, has been spending his afterlife, is gonna have to give him up...Hephaestion, Alexander's earthly lover, best friend, confidant, and now rescuer, has had entirely enough of hanging around in Purgatory waiting for Alexander's sins to be expiated and for him to join up with the patient, still-loving man whose death precipitated Alexander's own.

But you, O Reader, already know...be careful what you wish for, lest the answer be "Yes."

Hephaestion's decision, now that the whole planet's gone mental and tossed itself a mechanized slaughter in the form of the Great War (as WWI was known then...really, it's obvious that our name for it is a retronym if one gives it even a minute's actual thought), is worthy of some demented I Love Lucy-in-Hell weirdness...dead bodies as disguises, inevitable exposure, meeting a new, improved Scooby-group. But it takes us quite a while to get to this point...we're in Hell, not Purgatory, but nowhere near finding Alexander.

The action is, while magisterially slow, quite well-thought-out, and Hephaestion's motives for his quest elicit a lot of push-back from many sources both helping and hindering him. (All the Jesuits in History ending up in Hell was one of my happiest reading-life moments. I love, love, love the little easter-egg moments Author Galaini chucks into this stew!) One character in particular, Yitz the Jew, was perilously close to a stereotype. I got the impression, fortunately, that the author was actually aiming for archetype and, being in Purgatory, then Hell, wasn't saying this is how Jews are but this is how Jews are seen as part of the horribleness of Hell.

The truly delightful conception of the Afterlife as a place where there are all periods of History and all levels of technology intermingling, to be like Doctor Who's episode where Winston Churchill is Caesar and Morris Minors fly through the air under giant balloons was designed: Wrongness, but playfully presented, is still wrongness and still evokes unease. As the struggle to reach his belovèd Alexander continues, Hephaestion remains obsessed with achieving his millennia-held goal of reuniting with him. All around him are people warning, hinting, offering other views. Blinders on, Hephaestion pursues his goal.

And achieves it.

This is not The Song of Achilles. There is no beautiful ending for anyone in Hell. And, as Hephaestion finally achieves his reunion, the full and terrible truth of the answer to a prayer being "Yes" is, at last, borne in upon him.

That is why I gave the story four stars in spite of its too-slow-for-me pace, in spite of its occasionally unpleasant characterizations, in spite of its flaws whatever they might be to you or me. The love one bears for the heart's own darling is not always the feeling the heart's own darling deserves.

A bitter dreg to drink. A truly powerfully importantly real, urgent Truth. Falling in love is not always, or even all that often, the happy end.… (más)

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

The crew of the Janus has a unique and interesting mission. The technology on this space station allows them to travel through time. Well, sort of. What it actually allows them to do is travel to any point on the timeline that runs parallel to their own--the Beta Line. They can explore the past and the future, assured that if their non-interference protocols don't always protect them from having some sort of impact on the time period where they stop, it won't create any sort of time conundrum for their own universe.

As they traverse and study the Beta Line, however, the notice some anomalies or fissures in the line that warrant further investigation. But what is causing these disturbances and can they stop them if they find out? Should they stop them? Are they perhaps a necessary part of the timeline? And is it possible something similar could happen to their own timeline if they don't figure out the cause in time? The answers to the questions will only lead to more questions in time... and the largest one of all--can knowing your future allow you to take steps to avoid it, or is it inevitable, no matter how hard you try?

This is an honestly rather unique and somewhat refreshing story. I'm not always a fan of hard sci-fi (it's a bit of a hit or miss for me), but I did enjoy reading this one quite a bit. The ways in which the characters discuss the technology and the mechanics of their time travel seems natural--there's nothing contrived here. The action, adventure, and twists in the story aren't entirely predictable but they also aren't too farfetched, either. And although I did wish I could have felt a stronger connection to the characters, I still felt emotionally invested enough to be truly impacted by the final chapter and the way this all wraps up in the end.

Highly recommended for hard sci-fi fans; definite recommendation for anyone who enjoys sci-fi, has a thirst for adventure, or is interested in the politics of time travel.… (más)

I’m not much on science fiction, but the premise of this book had me interested, and I am definitely glad I gave this book a chance.

It’s crazy wonderful in the ideas it presents because I found a lot of the time I was listening, I was pondering things about the ideas of the multiverse and parallel universe. In this audiobook, we are introduced to a group of scientists who have perfected traveling to other universes, ones that they call “beta lines” to see if and how it affects their own line, known as the “alpha” line, or so Mary believes. When she finds out the truth about the mission, that it’s all a design to steal weapons from the future, she is upset.

From there, things start to go downhill until she is the only one left alive on her mission. Alone in space, she comes to a startling realization and embraces it with open arms.

In a lot of ways, I love that the plot followed the scheme of the hero’s journey, but my favorite part about it was when it strayed. For instance, it is typical for the hero of the story to deny any darkness within them, but after her experience, Mary embraced it with open arms, becoming the future that she was shocked to find out was hers.

Very cool listen.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
… (más)