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The BookViral Review:
Urban Fantasy release ROAN: The Tales of Conor Archer veers into uncharted territory for the author of Gods In Ruins and Beneath The Bishop’s Bones which fans of the genre will certainly applaud.
There are lots of okay books in the genre, but for the majority, they are stories lacking in coherent plots which you can read in pieces but they’re little more than fleeting puzzles that never get solved. But Barr gives us much more than this with plot threads that weave together to deliver a wholly immersive read.
Taking us way beyond a simplistic battle between supernatural forces of good and evil Barr tells the story of Conor Archer with darkly brooding seriousness to give us a story that follows Conor as he rediscovers his family’s mythical past and ultimately comes to unleash the power within him.
One can easily guess how ROAN: The Tales of Conor Archer could have been simplified and jollied up in the hands of another author – how it could have been just another trope-laden read with predictably trite characters – but Barr doesn’t go there.
Urban Fantasy lends itself to saying something essential about myths and the cultures in which they originated and young adult readers need this because their imaginations can take in larger truths and bigger ideas. But it takes a read like ROAN to remind us just how rarely this happens with Barr delivering a beautifully penned and thoughtful narrative that delves into the conflict of being endowed with arcane powers that subvert our humanity.
You won’t find an instance of padding or an eye-glazing moment of dull self-indulgence from Barr just a timeless story of magic rooted in unique characters and neither will you find trite clichés or mistake sentimentalism for emotional depth.
Conor is superbly drawn as the conflicted protagonist but Roan is full of standout characters like Jace, Beth, The Morrigan, Madoc and Troubles, to name but a few, who together create a genuine sense of wonderment that few Urban Fantasy novels attain.
Finally, any reviewer not mentioning the fantastic illustrations by Howard David Johnson would be doing ROAN a great injustice. Found throughout the book at poignant turns of events Johnson’s realistic illustrations perfectly compliment Barr’s words and add a further level of mystique which is altogether haunting.
An exceptional read and a fine introduction to Barr’s series ROAN is a must-read for fans of Fantasy Fiction and is an unreservedly recommended Golden Quill read.
One of those rare novels that catch you up in something bigger than yourself, namely, an archetypal desire to enjoy a powerful escapist read, Gods In The Ruins proves a powerful start to E. R. Barr’s Vatican Archives series. A viscerally effective supernatural thriller that is by turns atmospheric, eerie, evocative and above all ensures readers are always curious about what comes next!
Barr’s narrative is sophisticated. Treating his story’s religious overtones with the utmost sincerity whilst exploiting the best-loved tropes of the Occult Horror and Thriller genres to deliver a novel that is by turns dark, mysterious, and chilling.
Should writers write what they know about or has this age-old sage piece of advice become something of a cliché.
A child’s imagination is a wonderful thing. The suspension of disbelief comes easy to them. As we get older we think in terms of our willingness to suspend our critical faculties and believe something surreal whilst sacrificing realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment.
An enduring memory of my teenage self sneaking into my mother’s bedroom in search of Mills and Boon still brings a slight blush to my cheeks.
Whilst the evolution of self-publishing has proved a genuine boon for readers the bar for publishing has been notably lowered and in no genre more obviously than Literary Fiction.
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