Customer Reviews

Fall of Light

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

2.5 stars

This book was highly frustrating to me. I was SO excited about it because I really enjoy Hoffman's books overall and when I saw it featured a character from A Fistful of Sky - my favorite novel of hers - I was all the more anxious to read it.

But I found it was a severe letdown. Opal let things get so far out of hand. She never asked for help and just kept going along with the events even when it looked like people might be in danger. When she finally does ask for help, she turns it down as soon as it's offered. There's some unrealistic and irritating "reason" given about how if she asks for help once, she'll never stand on her own two feet. Fine! But then stand dammit! Stop just letting events happen in, on and around you!

The book also just up and ends. Suddenly, abruptly and with no warning. Nothing is resolved and you don't even understand what it was that happened thus far. None of it is explained. It's like Hoffman had this idea for a book but instead of writing the whole story, she drew out the boring and annoying bits to the right number of pages to call it a novel and then just decided not to finish it. Seriously, it's as if the publisher left off the back 150 pages or so from the print run.

I just don't get it. I wanted to love this book and I couldn't wait to read it. Now I'm left wondering what the point all was and why Hoffman was so mean to readers by giving them an utterly incomplete story. If we're expected to go out and buy some follow-up sequel in a year just to get the rest of the ending we deserved in this novel, well, count me out.

Just a shame any way you look at it.

Fall of Light is related to an earlier story, Fistful of Sky, but can be read as a standalone as the are not strictly a sequel.

Before I begin my review, which is not very favorable, I want to assure you that Hoffman is a better author then this recent offering. She has some powerful stories, and generally is an author you can count on, however, Fall of Light is a bump on this road of success.

Opal LaZelle has put her talents to use in the niche of making Hollywood makeup magical - though literally in her case as she comes from a powerful family rich in magical talent that is hidden from Outsiders (the non-talented).

However, perhaps her talent has now drawn the attention of an unpleasant, resident spirit as her movie makeup work on horror actor Corvus Weather has become just a bit too good. Corvus isn't just acting out the Dark God on the movie set but seems to BE the Dark God!

Opal's unwitting catalyst of the possession of Corvus by a nature spirit that we do not know has good or bad intentions is the thrust of this book. Overall, it remains light on plot as well as character development, which is rather unusual when compared with Hoffman's published work. I would consider it a beach read...

Opal, and the LaZelle family was introduced in an earlier book, Fistful of Sky. Sky dealt with Opals' sister - Gypsum, in a coming of magical age-transition story where Gyp learns to love and accept herself. Opal was a minor characer, Gyp's older sister, yet the feeling I had of Opal's character from Sky was certainly not that of the uncertain, mouse character we have in Fall of Light.

It's almost as if Opal did a 180 turn in her personality - and it makes me wonder if Fall of Light wasn't written before Sky or at least developed in plotting before Sky was complete? Perhaps, this book was developed quickly to cash in on the success of Sky?

My feeling of Opal in Sky was that of a self-assured, bossy older sister who had flown the nest as soon as possible so she could live her own life without being under (literally) the control of her mother. Yet, in Fall of Light, we get a timid, uncertain girl-woman who doesn't know how to conceal her magical talent from Outsiders and seems afraid of her sexual feelings for Corvus.

While Opal consults everyone on the movie set as to what she should do, someone she respects and possibly may love is being Possessed! 85 percent of the book is Opal wringing her hands and moaning over what she should do, instead of doing anything - something - to save Corvus.

Possession is a favorite theme of Hoffmans - it comes up in the character of Kim in Spirits that Walk in Shadow; Gypsum in Fistful of Sky; with several characters (Matt and Edmund as well as Nate) in the series of Red Heart of Memories and Past the Size of Dreaming; and even in her earliest work with The Thread that Binds the Bones.

Each time I suspected Hoffman found a certain fascination with possession, but also a belief that perhaps being possessed wasn't all that bad...? There seems to be some Stockholm Syndrome that happens to these characters, very evident with Kim in Spirits, but also with Corvus in Fall of Light.

While Opal dithers on what to do, the Dark God decides to use it's influence to cause an orgy on the set - which oh so nicely isn't seen by the underage actors (really? what a morally nice entity!). Yet this somewhat explicit sex scene begs the question to me -- isn't this, for some that participated under the Dark God's influence - rape by yet another name? Consent is not consent if you are under the influence but this moral dilemma is nicely tucked away because after all, they all liked it, right?... right?!

Flint, the brother, is under used - just a plot device so Opal can awaken some sort of personal protection against being possessed (but it's okay for everyone else...). Tobias shows up at the end just to be told he isn't needed.

If this had been my first Hoffman book to read, I would not buy any more of her works, however, I know this author can produce better then this. If you were expecting fluff, you might find this a better read then I did.

Expecting high quality prose to carry a book with a weak ending, I faced disappointment. This time Hoffman forgot a coherent plot. The 'coming of age' style does not work for 'Fall of Light' because Opal Lazalle is already an adult, independent, and has resolved the issues of her childhood. Hoffman puts Opal through a midlife-crisis emotionally, but she's only in her twenties and this really didn't work for me. The 'you never have any fun' self-reflective shadow-self whine within, after Opal finds herself an active love interest in Corvus, struck me as false, indecisive -- offering excuses instead of events. On a personal level of her main character, Hoffman failed.

On a larger level of events, we've got this strange possession force on a movie set, which is taking power and mad liberties with the actors and even from Opal herself. What does she do? She calls her brother and Flint sends a shield over the phone. She asks for her Uncle, but then vacillates and ultimately we don't see much of Tobias. In essence, Opal does nothing but watch an unfolding *bad* situation! Then the book ends.

I found the best part of the book was a short three page flashback involving a Lazalle clan party with Gyp (from "A Fistful of Sky"). No mention of Gyp's end-book boyfriend or Altria, but it does show Gyp mingling.

Since I didn't like the weakly plotted and abruptly ended main story, the best I can give is two stars. Hoffman's prose is not high quality, perhaps because she never has a shown resolution of events, thereby stealing the impact from her writing.

I love Nina's books. She is the kind of writer you collect and watch stretch and grow. I own pretty much everything she has in print. So I was pleased to see that she published a new story about the LaZelle family. But this is not my favorite. It does not hold a candle to Fist Full of Sky. That might reflect the fact that Opal is not my favorite LaZelle. The story seemed to miss the family interaction. It meandered about as if it did not know where it wanted to go, bringing in grandfather and then dropping him again. I had the feeling there was a better book in mind that never materialized. The horror and sexual aspects felt like an experiment that didn't work. As a true fan, I look forward to Nina's next book.

There is potential for an interesting story here from a different viewpoint. The book takes place on a movie set where makeup artist Opal is transforming the giant actor Corvus into a Dark God for a cheesy Sy-Fy type monster film. Things heat up and get dicey when supernatural forces start to take control of Corvus while in makeup. Will this strange presence completely possess Corvus, and what is its motives? Unfortunately none of this really seems to matter as the book goes nowhere, and just peters out towards the end, stopping abruptly as if someone called "CUT!" from behind the scenes.

Issues with the book include...

None of the characters are particularly likeable. Opal seems to have a multiple personality disorder, and her actions are completely unpredictable. You would think the "movie people" would be more concerned with an actor that cuts someone and bleeds them on an altar, and forces an orgy to take place. They know he is being taken over, and even Opal, who has the power to stop it now and then, just allows it to take place. She claims to love Corvus but all she accomplishes is alot of hand wringing, and dismissing the only person that could help her.

Most of the book is spent either eating and discussing what Corvus' possessor will do next, or Opal putting leaves on his face. This does not make for an interesting novel.

Two younger girls get mixed up in this, as they are playing parts in the movie, but like everything else in the book, seem to have no real purpose either.

There's a subplot about one of the girls on set having a stalker. The way this is resolved is quite pathetic, since everyone is just fine with the real Dark God driving Corvus around like a flesh vehicle and doing mind control tricks on the stalker. After these people witness first hand what the Dark God can do, they don't seem alarmed or act any more cautious around him. He literally wipes the guy's mind and puts suggestions in them, and they are OK with this.

In fact, the entire novel doesn't feel very real because the characters are so blase about everything that is happening. As long as what's being filmed is going to make a decent flick, it is fine and dandy. There are times when the characters even weigh the options of skipping out on the film or else run the risk of being possessed, sacrificed and worse, and choose the cheesy movie every time. I guess that's how it is in real Hollywood as well.

Fall of Light, is boring, contrived, divorced from the real world, abruptly ended, and a complete waste of your time.

As several other reviewers also did, I loved "A Fistful of Sky," and it left me wanting to know more about the LaZelle family. When I saw that this book was about Opal, I was pleased because I thought her character was a good choice for further development. Unfortunately, I found the Opal in "Fall of Light" to bear little resemblance to the feisty and independent older sister previously depicted. I just reread "A Fistful of Sky" and still would like to hear about the LaZelles, but not if the results are as disappointing as "Fall of Light."

This incoherent, repetitive book is remarkable only in that it should have never been published in this form. While it has the glimmerings of a book, its plot never resolves. While the author can paint a few poetic scenes, this book simply is a waste of valuable reading time.

Lives up to Hoffman's usual excellence. I've been curious about Opal since she was introduce in "A Fistful of Sky." This book answers some Lazelle family dynamics questions and gives us a look into the world of make-up artists. Looking forward to the next book.

She is magically gifted as are her siblings and her mother, but Opal LaZelle is the only one to leave the family nest to begin a career that uses her talent. She becomes a make-up artist, but she uses magic to create illusions of changing an actor's face or if the situation calls for it actually changes the feature for real. She is now in Lopez, Oregon working on the film Forest of the Night, but has only one person to work on, converting actor Corvus Weather into the Dark God

The area where much of the movie is being filmed contains an opening in the woods in in which an ancient stone alter sits. When Opal walks on the ground near it she feels energy as if something is trying to wake up from a long sleep. However what frightens the make up artist is Corvus; whenever she changes him into his costume, his personality changes too as if he is possessed. He finally insists she call him by another name Phrixos and that he needs her help to fully awaken what lies in the woods. She wants to refuse as she worries about the day of because she does not know what the sleeping god really wants from humans.

The latest Nina Kiriki Hoffman paranormal thriller (see FISTFUL OF SKIES, PAST THE SIZE OF DREAMING and A RED HEART OF MEMORIES) is sure to bring much acclaim to the author. FALL OF LIGHT is a fascinating urban fantasy with powerful horror elements threading throughout the exciting story line. Opal is a great heroine as she knows she is out of her league yet cannot walk away from the catastrophe she finds herself in the middle of as the immediate danger to the crew is stratospheric. This is another winner from a super writer.

Harriet Klausner

Opal is a makeup artist working on location in Oregon, who uses her talent to turn Corvus into the Dark God, enabling him to vanish into the role. But when Corvus' acting turns too real, Opal suspects possession and a power from beyond the norm in this riveting blend of romance and fantasy, perfect for any science fiction or fantasy library.