| Title | : | Martyr |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1939392780 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781939392787 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 |
| Publication | : | First published October 14, 2014 |
Those who remain struggle to survive the monsters roaming the streets, fighting back with steel and magic—the very weapons that birthed the Howls in the first place.
Tenn is one such Hunter, a boy with the ability to harness the elements through ancient runes. For years, the Hunters have used this magic to keep the monsters at bay, but it's never been enough to truly win the war. Humans are losing.
When Tenn falls prey to an incubus named Tomás and his terrifying Kin, Tenn learns there's more to this than a fight for survival. He's a pawn in a bigger game, one with devastating consequences. If he doesn't play his part, it could cost him his life, his lover and his world.
Martyr Reviews
-
I've heard good things about A.R. Kahler's Immortal Circus series. (After all, what isn't to like about books set in circuses where strange things happen?) But I have so much to read that it's hard to go back and catch up on a series. So when I saw that he had a new book out in a different series, I decided to give it a try.
MARTYR is set in a post-apocalyptic war. Some people have magic powers granted through the use of spheres. Some of these people worship a dark goddess and managed to unleash a plague of various types of zombies on humanity. Tenn is a Hunter, one of the people with magic left to fight the monsters. The Hunters aren't widely liked, since they're viewed as somewhat responsible. (And, oh yes, it's the magic people who can turn into monsters or create more.)
Still, Tenn and the other Hunters do their best. But when Tenn's magic acts up on a routine patrol, he finds himself being pursued by Tomás, an incubus, and other members of the Kin (that is, the people who unleashed the monsters). Between the pursuit and his suddenly out of control powers, Tenn is in way over his head. The only people he has to rely on are his boyfriend and the twins (two other Hunters), but they might not be powerful enough to survive Tenn's new enemies.
I found MARTYR very thrilling. It's a chase story, which keeps up the momentum. I thought that Tenn's emotional state was well conveyed. He's in a time of turmoil and grief, and his powers force him to dwell on his most unpleasant memories. I did find the worldbuilding a bit confusing at times, since it was very similar to our world except for the spheres. Where the spheres always a thing? When were they discovered? What is going on outside of the US? How far do the monsters spread?
MARTYR is a fun dark YA story, with potential to become something better as the sequels deepen the world. I liked the main characters quite a bit, so I'm eager to see their future adventures. There's also plenty of answers to be found about why Tenn is so important. -
Since reading Harry Potter, I have stayed far away from fantasy stories revolving around the use of magic. I'm glad I broke this self-imposed ban with MARTYR.
Alex created a vivid world that took me beyond my imagination. My favorite part was the love between Tenn and Jarrett. So tender was the love, it broke my heart. -
Review:
Protagonist: Tenn is a mage fighting the good fight against evil undead beings named Howls and those who brought these unholy monsters into being. Tenn is an interesting character because he lives in a world where magic is real and an accepted fact by most if not all the population, however like most fantasy series, he's drawn deeper into the world of magic and there is a prophecy about him that adds a lot a weight to his shoulders. Unlike most characters, Tenn pushes away his prophetic duty and never really warms up to the idea that he could potentially save the world. He has experienced many turmoils over his lifetime, many of which he blames himself for, even when those around him try and explain that either it was unavoidable, or that the incident was beyond his control. He's a very scarred character and I surprising found that I really liked him, he was refreshing and while a bit down in the dumps, he really brought a great deal of realness to this fantasy tale.
Romance: From the beginning of this book Tenn already has a boyfriend, one that he's been seeing for a while and is already in love with. This kind of bummed me out because while I liked Jerret as a character, I could never really get into their romance. This was because even though the book has a lot of flashbacks, we never really see the relationship grow and form, and so it felt sort of like insta-love even though it was probably the farthest thing from it. Then there's Tomás, the incubus that has his sights set on Tenn. Tomás is a very interesting character because even though I knew he wasn't a good guy, I found myself wanting him to be in more scenes because there was an amazing chemistry between he and Tenn, and a lot of who he is, is shrouded in mystery. While I wouldn't exactly say that this story has a love triangle, I would say that Tenn's love life is complicated.
World-Building: This book is a bit of a hybrid of genres. It has the feel of a post-apocalyptic in terms of this great event almost wiping out humanity, with the essence of a fantasy novel, such as characters being able to control magic and fight these demonic monsters. I really loved the feel of this book. It was unlike almost anything I've read before and full of rich detail and amazing plot. There were times when I could feel myself in these scenes and easily picture the action and battles raging throughout. This is easily one of the coolest, and at times most terrifying, worlds I've ever read about.
Predictability: While there was quite a bit of this book that I did easily see coming, just from the superb foreshadowing and the implications in the title and summary, there was a lot that I had thought would happen in this book that never did, either because it's something that will happen in later installments or just won't happen at all. I will say that after reading this book I was dying to know if my predictions for the future of this series would come true and was bummed once I remembered that this book isn't even officially published yet and so there's no info whatsoever as to the second installment, at least none that Goodreads could tell me.
Ending: The end was spectacular, there was a lot of emotion and plot rolled into the final confrontation and at the very end there was a cliffhanger that tore at my soul because it had me asking all sort of questions. Like I said above, once I finished to book I practically ached for the next installment, which rarely happens, I can't wait to see where this series goes from this point on though.
Rating:
This book was spectacular. it was full of so many amazing things, and while I am still a bit sore about the fact that Jarret and Tenn's romance was already established going into this book, I will say that this book sort of makes up for that fact by the end... -
http://koeur.wordpress.com/2014/10/23...
Publisher: Spencer Hill
Publishing Date: October 2014
ISBN: 9781939392220
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 2.5/5
Publisher Description: Three years have passed since magic destroyed the world.
Those who remain struggle to survive the monsters roaming the streets, fighting back with steel and magic—the very weapons that birthed the Howls in the first place.
Tenn is one such Hunter, a boy with the ability to harness the elements through ancient runes. For years, the Hunters have used this magic to keep the monsters at bay, but it’s never been enough to truly win the war. Humans are losing. When Tenn falls prey to an incubus named Tomás and his terrifying Kin, Tenn learns there’s more to this than a fight for survival. He’s a pawn in a bigger game, one with devastating consequences. If he doesn’t play his part, it could cost him his life, his lover and his world.
Review: Tenn is Speshul. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is about Tenn. How Tenn is feeling, what Tenn is doing etc. Additionally, in order to answer the “who and what” is impossible unless you’re everyone else but Tenn. In Tenn’s quest to find, er…search for…himself, he and his little band of kids fight all kinds of evil thingies while conveniently finding refuge in parallel worlds and a forest full of douches witches.
Usually in fantasy quest type novels there is a specific thing (amulet, stones etc.) or a specific place (The Hobbit adventures etc.) that the characters seek to find. This makes the quest tangible (goal oriented) while building the characters in transit. It also creates a menagerie of possibilities that tend to be more linear. In Martyr, events occur in random fashion. There is no linear progression (point A to B to C to A) that involves the reader. When there are random situational events in terms of scene progression, it is hard to build empathy for the characters as they tend to languish in their own emotions. The reason for this is that dialogue is used in place of movement to develop the characters. So Tenn becomes myopic and self-absorbed with reams of inner dialogue while external characters are used to bolster that development with faith/sympathy. Ultimately, Tenn develops into a whiney character that is in constant dis-belief about his entire situation. He also clearly exhibits this stunted sense of self awareness. Every scene drags as there is never any sense of “becoming”, only more negative introspection.
I thought that this was a great story line and good writing. It just got mired in dialogue in order to develop the characters and lacked progression in terms of movement. I can understand why one reviewer gave this a DNF. At times it was hard to wade through. Even when the scene started clipping along and you found new interest…boom, the character would all of a sudden lose consciousness or find himself struggling with dreams or containing his water power or crying for his lost love or self-recriminations and guilt or………..Anyway, this might still be a great series (if it goes in that direction) and the characters evolve with the story line. -
Dark, decadently rich book that has you literally wanting more of this world with each passing page. Tenn, our hero has a lot of challenges ahead of him because of what he can do. He has some difficult choices to make and does make them even if they don’t always seem obvious.
One of the most interesting is that when we start the book, there is ton of action and that Tenn along with some other hunters have hunted an animal and need to take it home before these creatures called Howls take their kill and things of course go bad. Everything is really bad as people are struggling to survive. Tenn’s lover Jarrett is the leader of the Hunters. The Hunters are trying to control and keep the Howls at bay and other nasty things of course, but that isn’t going to happen. It’s a very scary thing.
I really thought that while I was reading that it was going to be much darker and it was totally worth it. The relationships were so well written. Tenn and Jarrett’s relationship seemed to be one that was very caring and loving. These two young men are in a hard world and find something that is rare even in this world. Plus there are creatures who threaten this relationship in a lot of different ways. Yet something happens that really disrupts their lives and one of them has to make a painful, agonizing decision that you didn’t see coming. You are screaming “NO, NO”, this didn’t happen. I really was impressed.
The detail with which A.R. Kahler describes things, you find yourself totally immersed in the world and the struggles that Tenn goes through. Also his use of magic and what he can do with the sphere of Water is impressive as he learns to use it, harness it, and wield it in ways that he never even thought possible. The use of the villainous characters was really well done. Leanna, Matthias, and Tomas were so interesting. I really liked the roles that each of them played in Tenn’s development and how he fought each of them was different. Tomas was the most interesting because of being an incubus. Plus Tomas was very manipulative.
This book was really good and the way that it ended was so different than I expected. I totally am looking forward to the next book in this series. -
Martyr by A.R. Kahler
Series: The Hunted (Book 1)
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press (October 28, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1939392780
ISBN-13: 978-1939392787
My Review~~
I received this book in exchange for a honest unbiased review.
The cover just intrigues me. The city in the background and this magical blue stuff in the front just draws your attention to the book. This is a very interesting book. It is a paranormal dystopian type of fantasy that is full of a magical world with Hunters, Howls, Incubus and more! There is a side note of warning that the main character is gay for those out their that have issues with that. With that being said, this book by this upcoming author is amazing and I couldn't put it down. The main character's sexuality doesn't infringe on this great adventure at all. Wonderful story full of action, adventure, suspense, twists, and turns. This is an adventure that you will have a hard time putting down. Tenn is an interesting character in himself, because he has alot going on. He doesn't want to be in the prophecy and he has emotional baggage that he blames himself on. I'm really wondering how this romance is going to work out with boyfriend and with Tomas eyeing him. I can't wait to read more!
Hopefully we don't have to wait in agony much longer.
Amazon Book Description~
Three years have passed since magic destroyed the world.
Those who remain struggle to survive the monsters roaming the streets, fighting back with steel and magic--the very weapons that birthed the Howls in the first place. Tenn is one such Hunter, a boy with the ability to harness the elements through ancient runes. For years, the Hunters have used this magic to keep the monsters at bay, but it's never been enough to truly win the war. Humans are losing.
When Tenn falls prey to an incubus named Tomás and his terrifying Kin, Tenn learns there's more to this than a fight for survival. He's a pawn in a bigger game, one with devastating consequences. If he doesn't play his part, it could cost him his life, his lover and his world. -
Over the past year or two I've developed a deep enjoyment for stories of elemental magic and of post-apocalyptic worlds, and this is a wonderful marriage of the two. I also appreciate when an author drops the reader into the middle of the universe without immediately explaining the history or the rules. Alex Kahler does this with skill, carefully and slowly unfolding the back story and details about the world, leaving room for layers of mystery to be revealed (and, of course, maddeningly yet fittingly, not all of it in this book).
On a related note, it's also refreshing, as I've said elsewhere, to read a story where the main character happens to be gay, but his sexuality is not the plot. So often literature falls into the trap of gay main characters being synonymous with the coming-out story, and while it's still necessary to tell those stories, it's even more necessary to remember that it is not the only story. Remarkable, terrible, frightening, miraculous things happen to all manner of people, and as our society accepts this truth, so should the art that imitates it. (And especially art in the form of fantasy literature, which seems to fall even further behind in this regard. Fantasy, you can do better. Follow this lead.)
I and my horribly chewed up fingernails, which have been laid to waste because of this book, look forward to the sequel. ;)
(Disclaimery thing: I did receive an ARC after preordering, hence the early review.) -
Review
As dismal as this world is, I love the way Kahler portrayed it. It's definitely not a place I would want to live in.
I really enjoyed how Kahler mixed two different genres. We have magic that only certain people, knows as the Hunters, can wield. The magic is based on elements, and I love reading books that have this aspect. The characters are also dealing with a post-apocalyptic world. This isn't an idea I've seen in books, and it intrigued me. Both of these aspects go hand in hand. There is also an emphasis on light and dark magic, and how it affects those that use it.
I admire Tenn. He doesn't seem like someone who is very strong, but he doesn't know what he's capable of. He also does the right thing. He doesn't let people just take care of themselves if he can help. I just wish he could let the guilt go. The monsters in this book are horrific. It's hard to see past the fact that these creatures were human once. I also enjoyed many of the secondary characters. Each one has a role they play in Tenn's life.
I can't wait to see what is next for Tenn, and if he's prepared to deal with what is to come.
Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway -
Received from: Spencer Hill Press
Received Via: NetGalley.com
THE REVIEW
Why this book?
It showed up on netgalley and intrigued me then I saw the book tour and thought why not?
What I thought
OMG this book was so good!!The use of magic was very interesting and I just loved the characters. There was so much action,suspense and a thrilling adventure that every page had me at the edge of my seat!!! I didn't want to put this book down and even when I had to I couldn't stop thinking about it.The wait for the next book is going to kill me!!
Overall it was an awesome read, that I highly recommend -
This book started off slow but it was in no time that I was absorbed into a post-apocalyptic world of magic, bravery, friendship, and romance. I admired Tenn for his bravery in the face of everything he faced and his ascent into a position of power and authority. He never expected to become who he became and found a strength inside that he never thought he had. It's sad though that that power was a result of tragedy. This book was better than I expected. I detected elements of Charmed, Harry Potter, any teen angst drama, and the Walking Dead. That last one may be strange but Martyr had the same feeling of bleak hopelessness that still carried a bit of hope if that makes sense.
-
I really enjoyed this book. And I can't wait to discover more about Tenn and the kin and the spheres. Just like Alex's other series, The Immortal Circus, there is love and heartache and then a small glimmer of hope. I like how there is a bit of darkness and gore in the story. And that the author takes us on a quest of mystery and magic. I can't wait until the next book comes out, whenever that may be.
-
I so, so, so wanted to love this one.
I read about 100 pages and ended up DNF'ing it. I really liked the premise of the story, it was so original and the romance was awesome!
However, I'm just not a massive fan of 'magic' or 'witch' books. I just can never seem to get into them and unfortunately this one was the same for me :( -
Blog Tour Sign Ups Now Open for MARTYR!
http://www.memyshelfandi.com/2014/08/...
SIgn Ups Close on 8/30/14 -
(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)
Three years have passed since magic destroyed the world.
Those who remain struggle to survive the monsters roaming the streets, fighting back with steel and magic—the very weapons that birthed the Howls in the first place.
Tenn is one such Hunter, a boy with the ability to harness the elements through ancient runes. For years, the Hunters have used this magic to keep the monsters at bay, but it's never been enough to truly win the war. Humans are losing.
When Tenn falls prey to an incubus named Tomás and his terrifying Kin, Tenn learns there's more to this than a fight for survival. He's a pawn in a bigger game, one with devastating consequences. If he doesn't play his part, it could cost him his life, his lover and his world.
Well, that was a battle. I came close to DNF a few times...but let's look at the positives first.
In general, I thought the idea/plotline was very cool. I could see what the author was aiming for and felt like a part of the story from the beginning. Secondly, I think the writing was very good - I had no real issues with grammar, punctuation and all those other things that irk me at times. That was refreshing.
However, there didn't actually seem to be a "goal" as such. It felt like a lot of random events led to other random events, all the while the MC, Tenn, spoiled a perfectly good scene with a bunch of internal dialogue...which pushed us off into another direction. I never felt a real flow to the narrative - and that's what almost made me quit a few times. If it was something new and cool the author was trying, then kudos for that - I just don't know if it worked completely.
Paul
ARH -
Very interesting book, and as always, a unique and intriguing magic system draws me in. I still have questions. What were the orbs for in the first place? They mentioned their "true power" or something like that, but I'm not sure I got it. Why didn't the Inquisitors do anything at certain points when they should have come out charging? I guess these things could be explained in future novels, and I hope they are. This is an interesting world, and I'd like to find out more. Especially why Tenn's Water orb seems to have a mind of its own when other peoples' don't. Also, strangely enough, the story lead to Colorado...again. I keep finding these books that have at least part of the story in Colorado, especially climactic portions of the tale. It's bizarre, and it makes me wonder what is so alluring about my home state?
-
E
