Category: Reviews

Reviewed by Jamie Marriage

Life between the ice ages is a desperate battle for survival. While a tribe may feast in summer, it may also starve through the vicious winter months. For shaman in training, Loon, starvation is only one of the hardships.

Taken on as an apprentice shaman when his father (originally chosen to be the next in line) dies, Loon is brought up by Thorn, the clan’s resident shaman and storyteller, and the crone-like medicine woman, Heather. And while both care for the boy they each have very different expectations as to whose footsteps he should follow.

Beginning during his First Shaman’s Wander (a coming of age for a young shaman), Loon is forced into the cold winter naked and alone, fighting harder to survive the freezing snow, aggressive animals and worse, than ever before. Much to Thorn’s aggravation and Heather’s amusement, Loon’s near-death experiences leave him with a fire in his heart to fight against the Shaman way of life.

It’s not until, however, the yearly festival of the Eight-Eight that Loon truly defies his upbringing by taking a wife from another tribe. Life is far from easy after their blissful union though. Loon is in a constant state of struggle between the wishes of his tribe, his own desires, and the brutal outsiders who believe Loon’s wife to be their property.

Shaman is told from the curious perspective of the Third Wind; a spiritual force that comes only to those in great need, to push them through the pain. Its tone is direct and emotionless, but far from detracting from the story this deadpan voice emphasises the brutality of the world and in turn makes the happy moments that much more prominent. In suffering there is always hope.

The  writing style is direct and harsh. There are no spare words; the settings are described just enough to fill your mind with images but not enough to overcomplicate, and language is short and tribal. This is a very utilitarian novel; like the animals hunted by the tribe, nothing goes to waste.

Shaman is a story about the passing down of knowledge, the wisdom of the tribe, and how culture changes from one generation to the next. As the experiences of each character shapes them, so in turn do the stories of the tribe change and flow. There are lessons to be learned from this novel. Seasons change, people change, stories change. And stories are often the most important thing of all.

reviewed by Joelene Pynnonen 

If the person you loved tried to kill herself, would you want to know why? When Atsumi’s (Haruka Ayase) suicide attempt leaves her comatose, her lover, Koichi (Takeru Sato), is eager to reach out to her. There is a medical procedure that can help him. With new technology, Koichi can communicate with Atsumi through ‘sensing’, a process that will allow him to enter her mind and speak to her directly.

 He is unprepared for what he finds, however. In her mind, Atsumi is obsessed with her work as a horror-themed Manga artist and the world outside of their apartment building is smothered in fog. Worse than that, the things from Atsumi’s drawings are making terrifying appearances in her mind. And, when Koichi finishes his ‘sensing’ experience, some of the apparitions continue to haunt him.

If he and Atsumi have any hope of waking her, they will have to delve into the fog of her subconscious and confront the horrors that lurk there.

Real is a conglomeration of many genres, but at its heart it is a story about two people who love each other against monumental difficulties and who will do whatever it takes to protect one another. Despite this, the romance is not over-done. Koichi and Atsumi have been together long enough that their relationship doesn’t have the giddy excitement of new love. Their bond is more sedate, but all the stronger for it as they can rely on one another.

With the two lead characters carrying most of the story, the film’s atmosphere almost becomes a third entity. At times the scenes in Atsumi’s mind are beautiful, the screen rippling as Koichi’s consciousness merges to hers. The illustrations that Atsumi is so desperate to finish are gorgeous as well, also serving to carry the story along and unlock secrets that have long been repressed. In other instances, though, Atsumi’s mind is a horrific place to be, with brutally slain bodies appearing. The bodies too, carry the story; particularly the apparition of a little boy who refuses to go away.

While Real explores a fascinating premise, it moves quite slowly. At first it seems that Atsumi’s depression over work is the problem, but the truth is psychologically deeper than that, and it takes time to reach the real issue. The film would have been stronger if it had stream-lined some of the plot-points.

Ultimately though, Real is an enchanting look at the strength of the bond between people who love each other. Haruka Ayase and Takeru Sato do a suburb job of portraying two people who are trying to reach a new understanding of each other since the old one has failed.

reviewed by Krista McKeeth

by Paul Collins

 When evil intent is just the beginning…

Matt Brannigan is a lawyer living on the edge. His daughter, Briony is psychic and trouble shadows his family wherever they go.

Cult guru Brother Desmond knows that the power within Briony is the remaining key he needs to enter the next dimension. Once he controls this, he will have access to all that is presently denied him.

When Briony is indoctrinated into the Zarathustrans, Matt and psychic Clarissa Pike enter the cult’s headquarters under the cover of night to rescue her.

So begins Armageddon…

Published September 15th 2013 by Damnation Books (first published September 1st 2013)

After moving into an old house with plans of fixing it up, Briony feels something supernatural living there. Her father Matt, after very stressful week, decides to go out for some drinks with a friend and leaves his family alone for the first night in the new house. When he gets home, he finds Briony in a ball of the floor, and his wife dead in the bedroom.

Briony finds sanctuary from the death of her mother with cult leader, Brother Desmond. She feels welcome among the Zarathustrans – until she figures out there is something more going on behind the walls. Meanwhile Matt, who’s at a loss without his daughter, turns to her godmother Clarissa for help. As a journalist interested in the Brother Desmond and the Zarathustrans, Clarissa becomes the key to helping Matt save his daughter.

Matt and Clarissa’s characters really move the story along. As the narrative progresses, the research and details about other cult’s around the world and the working of demons in our world was intense and informative in a very entertaining way. The pacing was excellent and kept my interest from beginning to end.

All of the characters involved in the story are very smart and intuitive. For example, Matt decides not to take the police’s advice but leaves Briony where she is, because (he believes) more often than not, children always return. Matt was my favorite character because we learn as he learns. He’s never had to deal with the supernatural before, beyond his wife and his daughter, yet with the Zarathurstrans he pushes head first into the unknown.

The story focus is on demons, Satan in particular. If you are a fan of horror stories that involve possession and cults, this one is for you. I really enjoyed learning about different popular cults from across time. The research that went into this story was abundant while not being preachy, and made it a creepy and intense experience. It’s definitely a book I will read again.