The Ninth Circle / Alex Bell

The Ninth Circle

category: fantasy, author:

Alex Bell

original copyright 2008,
read in November 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

A man wakes up with no memory of who he is nor of how he lost his memory. A very bad start to any novel.

Sometimes it works, to have the reader follow the protagonist as he struggles to remember. Some very few times. For me, the amnesiac start is a turner-offer.

In Circle, the character is not particularly pleasant. He seems to be involved in some battle over the second coming... of Christ or the anti-Christ. Whoop-dee-doo. He may even be an angel, working with -- and against -- other angels. Other angels who still have their own memories. Boring, over-the-top, may work if you're seriously concerned over traditional good versus evil, and the second coming.
After a very slow fifty pages I start to read faster. Doesn't work... the book is still tedious. I jump ahead, almost 200 pages, to the final memory recovery.

Okay, the denouement is worth reading. Not worth reading the entire book to get there, but worth reading. An interesting idea.

Which then degenerates into a pointless battle with an inconclusive ending.

Really, when you are dealing with supernatural forces which can neither be killed nor defeated -- any story is bound to have an inconclusive ending.

There are, however, two aspects of the book that I do appreciate...

There is no such thing as absolute good, nor absolute evil. Though my impression -- from the bits of this book that I read -- is than Bell has taken that one step further: What appears to be "good" may be mostly "evil". And vice versa. Or, perhaps, what we see as "good" and "evil" is simply PR from creatures battling for their own selfish reasons.

And the second positive aspect?

I am left with the urge to visit Budapest, to see the sights and sculptures and magnificent memorials!
Though I may settle for a visit via Google Earth.

21apr18: 

I start reading again. Start... and give up.

Now that I've looked at my original review -- I agree. A main character who is easy to dislike. A lot of pointless worry as he fails to find his memory but manages to worry -- mostly about himself -- in a pointless and negative fashion.

Ho hum. This time I don't even bother to skip ahead; I'm not interested in how it ends. Nor even in how it develops, since I'm well short of a start let alone an ending.

On the bright side: Since the first review I *have* visited Budapest! And it is indeed a fascinating city! Well worth the visit.

Judging by the view out the windows of the main character's apartment -- he and I stayed in much the same part of Budapest.

Don't bother with this book. Do visit Budapest :-)

..o0o..

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