Audiobook the Third: The Trilogy is Done and the Ending was No Fun!

I'm being really horrible at blogging and posting about my finished audio-books. Sorry! My Book Club posts are not suffering though, so that's a bonus.

My husband and I finished the third book in the Eisenhorn trilogy Hereticus sometime in the Spring - I want to say May. In my previous post for Malleus I noted that I had many predictions and assumptions about what would happen in the third and final book and let me tell you: I was wrong! And, more wrong! Nothing prepared me for what happened in Hereticus.

Hereticus takes place about 40-ish years after Malleus and although it does not involve the death of a bad ass female character right at the beginning, I was horrifically unprepared for the amount of death involved with the third book. Like... I can't even begin to count, or list, or summarize my thoughts on the amount of destruction that rains down upon Eisenhorn and his retinue. And of course my husband wasn't much help because he didn't quite remember what happened in the book either, even though he had read it before. I was speechless at so many points.

The third novel takes place in kind of two parts. The first part involves some revenge for Madea's father that ends horribly for everyone. There is a battle with a heretic and a giant Warlord-Pattern Titan called Cruor Vult. If you don't know what a Warhammer 40K titan is, Google that shit because it puts things into context, let me tell ya! The disastrous outcome of the ill-fated revenge attempt carried out by Eisenhorn sours the rest of the events in Hereticus because things DO NOT GET BETTER. I do not want to write more because SPOILERS, but I... was just so mad by the end of the book because I always hope Eisenhorn comes out on top, but there was just SO much stacked against him in Hereticus. He ends up going against his Puritan ways when it comes to the resources he uses despite him still fighting the good fight against Chaos and the real heretics.

So many people Eisenhorn called friends or colleagues turn against him in this book due to another tragic event immediately following the Titan-battle-disaster and he goes into hiding for a while to try and sort some stuff out before continuing on his quest to find answers and who was responsible. His protégé Gideon Ravenor makes an appearance to help as well. We haven't seen him since the atrocity on Thracian Primaris in Malleus. (This guest-spot sets the stage for his own set of novels which we have now started on audio book too!) Something also happens to Alizebeth Bequin but I can't say anything because that is some major SPOILERS.

It is very hard for me to write about this book because of all the disaster that happens in it. Like I said, I was speechless for parts of it. Dan Abnett, you're a great writer but also so so mean to one of your most defining characters. *shakes fist*

Now I need to talk about the ending. Just when the story is hitting the triumphant conclusion and I'm thinking, "Yeah! Eisenhorn is going to come out on top again!" the book sort of just ends. Like what is that?! There is a brief epilogue of about 2 minutes (on audio book, not sure how many pages) that gives a brief summary of what happened to everyone and it is so UNSATISFYING! There was no real wrap up and the question of where Eisenhorn went after that last battle at the end of the Pontius Glaw Affair or whether he was alive or dead was so frustrating. The ending was no fun!

Guess it is on the Ravenor trilogy now because I will get no closure about Eisenhorn. Thank goodness there is some character overlap between the two set of stories otherwise I might have been super pissed off.

Book Club 2.0 - - - The Sundial by Shirley Jackson

This post is coming in a little later than I planned because I've been super busy with birthdays, my wedding anniversary and home renovations. But wait no longer! The post for The Sundial is here! Shirley Jackson is also the author of The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. 

The book follows a wealthy family and their 'friends' as they navigate a world in which they know is ending after one of the company has a vision warning of an apocalypse. Each character deals with the knowledge in a different way and the book highlights these ups and downs and in some cases ridiculous events all with a Gothic horror overlay.

First off, I thought this book was very weird and is not a book I would pick to read myself normally, but I did like it. It was character driven rather than plot driven which was a big change from many of the other books we've read for book club this year. Elissa, it was her pick, said it made her really want to see it as a screenplay or a play because the flow and writing of the story would translate really well, and I agree!

The overall rating for the book from the club was a 7 out of 10, with Elissa giving it the highest rating of the group with an 8. We all agreed that the first part of the book was the funniest, with the party at the end being a close second if mostly because of Essex's rumour-mongering of the guests. 

There was a part of the book that stuck out to each reader which was really interesting to discuss. For me it was the scene with Aunt Fanny in the maze and the scene with Julia in the car with man. Carmen agreed with the Julia in the car scene, while Jane and Elissa noted the scene with the Captain and the cheque and the furniture in the attic scene. None of this is spoilers because its all out of context!

We also discussed major themes in the book, the first being that the majority of the main characters were women. This was of particular note because The Sundial was written in 1958 during the start of the women rights movement of the 60s, and in it the men are specifically designated for breeding in the overall story of the novel. Other themes included 'live in the now', the material world vs. family and seeing all the vices that people have an how they're affected by them.

The ending has a twist that I didn't see coming and it was fun to discuss that with the club. My initial prediction was Richard, but after re-reading the ending I agree more with Elissa's assessment of it being Fancy. If you're curious what this is about then you need to read the book. One thing I can say about the ending is that I was disappointed that it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. Jackson leaves the reader wondering and speculating at what could come next. 

I would recommend this book to fans of Gothic horror who are looking for a little laughter with their intrigue and uneasiness. Jackson definitely checks all the horror genre boxes: fog, ominous feeling, tension, a haunted house with a dose of intriguing characters on top.

UP NEXT: July's book pick is mine and I totally chose The Last Unicorn. I LOVE the animated movie adaptation of this novel and I'm looking forward to reading it again because it has been so long since I have that I can't even remember what is different between them or if it is a a wholly faithful adaptation!