This was wonderfully dark and twisted, and more nuanced than I was expecting. Ashford somehow managed to draw me in with what should have been a fairly mundane opening. The characters had a lot of depth, and although they're tied together through the band, they're each so different, with their own wants, needs, and at times dark, desires. The story is very character driven, and even those that seem like relatively minor players are an important part of the whole in one way or another. The mix of heavy metal and darker things might feel a little on the nose given some views on that genre of music, but none of it felt cliché. Honestly, the whole story read like a fresh new take, even though it has some echoes of other stories running through it. (Faustian bargains, anyone?) If you like your horror to be more on the creepy side, you're going to love this. ( )

I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

The book was a roller coaster ride much like it was for the characters. I found myself counting the pages as the narrative hopped from one person to the next (probably eight total perspectives). Sometimes you only hear from a person once and it didn't always serve a purpose. The characters are also very stereotypically written, for the most part, and that makes it tough to read when you don't particularly align with those cultures. However, as another reviewer comments, this is done intentionally and I think well (bend why it's hard to read lol).

Half way through, as the narrative hopping slows and the climax builds, I found myself digging in more and the pages flew by much faster. I do think the different perspectives helped me enjoy the end of the novel more if I'm honest.

If you love metal or rock music and can identify with that type of dialog, enjoy many perspectives, and love horror then this is for you. I think it's extremely well written for niche fans but it wasn't exactly my style. I'll look out for other books from this author. ( )

I don't usually read horror but I didn't mind this. I liked the metal band background and discussion about addiction. ( )

After lead singer Stephen Oaks ODs on stage during a concert, metal band Polyphemus is in limbo: their record label is demanding an album to complete their contract but the band does not think Oaks, now out of rehab, is trustworthy enough to return, so they look to a new vocalist to help them out. Oaks, however, is desperate to return to “his” band and he will do anything - including seeking the aid of otherworldly beings - to bring the band back…. I received this book as part of Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program. Generally I’m not a big horror fan, but I particularly wanted to read this one because the premise resembles The Armageddon Rag, the second novel by George R.R. Martin published over 40 years ago, and I was curious to see a new take on the premise. Polyphemus updates the theme well, bringing in much more graphic sex and violence, and centering on a musical genre that’s well-suited to the story line. The structure of the book has each character telling part of the story; it’s interesting to me that all the characters are referenced by their first names or nicknames as each narrative is introduced except for Oaks, who is always referred to as Oaks, which maybe suggests a choice by the author to deliberately distance the reader from that character. Anyway, I liked the book alot, once I realized that however adult the characters are meant to be (in their 30s, I’d guess), they’re really stuck in mid-adolescence as so many man-boys are; that awareness made their casual misogyny, massive drug use and semi-hostile homoerotic attitudes toward each other all tolerable as opposed to being infuriating. If you don’t like explicit gore, don’t read this; otherwise, recommended! ( )

Polyphemus is one of those novels that had a lot of things going for it in terms of horror elements: rock music, deals with the devil, drug issues, relationship problems, a cool playlist, and so on. And while I really enjoyed the way the author intertwined the rock elements with the story, I did think it took way too long for the plot to get going. To be honest, it felt a lot more like a novel about musicians who were having difficulties with their careers, family, and life, with them drinking, doing drugs, and jamming rather than a horror novel.

First of all, the main characters were your stereotypical portrayals of musicians and it made me think the author did this deliberately. Except for Spiros, most of them cared little for others and concentrated solely on their music and the contract that was causing them huge problems. I disliked Nathan the most for the way he treated a woman who was looking for help, and while he was trying to make amends towards the end, it was little too late. When I did reflect on the men's attitudes and their behaviours and the way they were written though, it did seem as though the author was satirizing a lot of elements to showcase stereotypes and their annoying exploits made a lot more sense in that light. I love satire, but I'm not sure a lot of people get it when it's used in novels, but the author definitely exaggerates a lot of actions in this story to highlight problematic choices and behaviours.

The author does spend way too much time developing the personal lives of the individual characters which slows down the narrative. I do wish he had invested as much into the female characters however, as they were wither nagging or making stupid decisions. And I couldn't, for the life of me, understand where the relationship between Oaks and India developed from whatever to an actual relationship. The use of the trope of sympathetic woman begging for her love to be saved only to make stupid decisions on his behalf drives me crazy.

The plot itself took a long time to get going because the author spent too long developing the relationships between the characters. The story had a lot of potential, and there were some great nuggets throughout. When the chaos struck though, it struck well, and I really enjoyed those parts of the book. And I'm still not sure what I think of the ending; I liked it, but I think I wanted more.

Verdict
Polyphemus is one of those books you can still enjoy even if you are not a heavy metal enthusiast. I am more of a classic rock girlie, but I still listened to the music list provided (and enjoyed it). I do think the author was trying to satirize the rock world and exaggerate the elements and stereotypes within, but it didn't quite work the way it was intended due to a plot that took too long to get moving and characters that were not relatable. Overall, the overall concept was cool, and although it missed its mark with me, I would recommend it to others, especially to those who like a slower burn and not as much blood-letting. ( )