Who’s Gary Whitta? Why, he’s a screenwriter (The Book of Eli, After Earth, Star Wars: Rogue One), video game writer, and comic book writer turned novelist, which is my favorite kind of author (see Peter David and Neil Gaiman). What does this mean? It means don’t expect a boring book.

And this isn’t one. Right from the start, we are summoning demons in medieval times, hooking you right away like any decent book ought to do. We’ve got good noble warrior characters, bad evil zealots and sorcerers, and a clear objective. It’s basically the story of the Punisher if the mafia were demons and if King Arthur was Captain America (if that makes any sense).

It’s a simple story, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good story. The biggest problem, like most novels, is that there’s a sludgy middle where there’s lots of thinking and description. Then it speeds up at the end. This is the first time I’ve noticed the pacing of a novel and it’s upsetting. But it’s still a good book. I recommend giving it a try. ( )

Abomination is a mashup of History and Fantasy. In a way, it starts out as an alternative history or at least a Fantasy explanation of certain events. However, it didn't take long before it veered away from the history of 9th century England into pure Fantasy Fiction. It was full of anachronisms, and many of the characters had highly modern attitudes that were flat out ridiculous in the historical setting. However, most of the story itself, especially the plot, was enjoyable and made me think of the "Diablo" video games I love to play.

If you've never played any of the "Diablo" games, then just know that they're dark, gritty, and graphic, and they involve demonic possession and all the horrors that come along with it. That is Abomination in a nutshell, and it's not for anyone who doesn't enjoy horror or is easily bothered by graphic violence.

A little over halfway through the book, the story took an unexpected turn that I can't explain without giving away an important detail not mentioned in the synopsis. However, after that, it quickly became extremely predictable, and each turn of events grew more and more implausible and convenient. I became antsy and impatient for the ending, so as much as I enjoyed over half of the book, I would have rather been playing "Diablo" during the last third or so. If you enjoy playing "Diablo" or reading Dark Fantasy, maybe give this book a chance. Perhaps you'll feel differently than I did about the second half. ( )

This book was too simplistic and predictable to enjoy, but it wasn't absolutely terrible. ( )

** I received a copy of this book for free through a Goodreads giveaway. **

While I may have seem many of the twists in this book coming, it didn't matter. The journey through the story, to the twists, was enough to keep me reading even if I was pretty sure how things were going to end. I needed to know how the story and the characters were going to get to the end! The world and character development was extraordinary and I was truly sad to find myself at the end of the book and the end of the journey. Magic and horror and love and devotion abound in this book. A wonderful read. ( )

Hmmm... I am not quite sure what it is about this story... but I think I quite enjoyed it. Maybe it's because I'm playing Dragon Age and Indra just acts like fem-Hawke would it my head? Or maybe the first 10% of the story it's just shades of Diablo (the game)? Or maybe it just reminds me of Ladyhawke (haha just not the way you think)? Tropes much?

Well whatever it is/was, it was done well enough that I enjoyed reading it and getting to the (rather tidy and convenient but somehow that didn't really make me twitch) end.

Maybe I just found myself enamoured with Wulfric's martyrlike complex.

Maybe. ( )