Customer Reviews

Heaven's Bones: A Novel of the Mists (Ravenloft: the Covenant)

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

 

 

There is a very elegant and complex story in Heaven's Bones. The setting spans two continents and three distinct settings and is populated by complex and interesting characters. The story is a blend of Horror, Noir, Fantasy all combined with a slightly steampunk vibe. It has a certain Ravenloft feel to it, but not to the extend that is easily recognizable. There is no real tie to the 'classic' Ravenloft lands or characters.

If you are willing to invest the time there is a good story to be found. That said I found the book terrible slow to start and easy to put down. So it took me longer than normal to make my way through it. Once I did finish it it is a very captivating story, but one I initially had to 'force' myself into. I wish it was a bit easier to jump in to. But what you get if you do is a rather complicated but thought provoking horror story.

With tender devotion and love, Dr. Robards makes angels from the bodies of murdered women -- a gift to his dead wife and son. Heaven's Bones is a horror novel set mostly in Victorian Era London about a doctor who goes insane when his wife dies during childbirth. He begins to abduct women, whom he realizes are really fallen angels, and attempts to give them back their wings and hopefully return them to heaven. It gets very twisted and twisty from there, complete with Jack the Ripper allusions, recording angels, intelligent (and tentacled) mists, and a psychic detective.

The characters, which there are a lot of, are interesting. A few of them I smiled whenever I realized we were coming back to them. Others, I winced when I read, because I knew horrible things were going to happen to people. And there are some sick puppies in this book, the greatest of which is not the afforementioned Dr. Robards.

Maybe more than anything else, though, I was struck for the first time how terrifying and hard it must've been to have been a woman in this time period, how scary it must have been back then to have a child, much less the practice of delivering children. Not to mention how trying it must have been to have been a woman in a professional career (other than prostitut

Ms. Henderson sends the reader quickly and anxiously into the realms of yesteryear in two different countries ~ equally harsh, yet captivating periods in time. With twists and turns, the evil darkness weaves its tale through the light of hope. Her flavorful descriptions put the reader there! The "femine" is examined much like the women ~ turned angels ~ who with horror find themselves abruptly under the sharp, sculpting knife of Dr. Sebastian Robarts!

A dark fantasy novel mostly set in Victorian Britain. Apparently Heaven's Bones is a tie-in to a wider universe, but it reads very well as a standalone to someone who has no idea about other works in the universe. There is an intriguing amount of weirdness: mists that seem to be sentient and allow movement between places; a mad grieving doctor's creation of disfigured "angels" from near-dead women; the man from another world/dimension who wants to use those angels; ghosts. The book's major weakness was not giving enough time to the development of Robarts' madness. One moment he's grieving, the next he's staring meaningfully at a book, and then he's carving up pregnant prostitutes. The development of the angels wasn't given enough time either; I wanted to know more about his experiments, his failures, how he progressed. We only get glimpses of all this, yet it's the central element of the book. Still, there was plenty in here to give me an enjoyable read.

This book, decorated with a simple dark cover featuring what can only be described as a clockwork angel (piqued your interest yet?), gets two reviews because it's nearly two books in one.

As a fiction book Heaven's Bones is a historical steampunk fantasy with prose that betrays its author's poetic prowess. It paints a beautiful picture, with a precision that brings both the fantasy aspects and the historical aspects to life. In some books the world building is explicitly detailed, in this one while the setting is rich and full, it's the characters which are explicitly detailed. In fact, so much character building is done that it leads to the book's only flaw, that being a front-heavy feel with a slow progression of the over arching plot. The Angels, from the cover and the blurb, which likely sell the book to readers, don't even materialize until over a hundred pages in and all the character's relationships and associations aren't fully revealed until after the 200 page mark.

It's easy to fall for the pretty prose, but become frustrated with the scattered feel of it.

But this isn't just a fiction book. Heaven's Bones is actually a Ravenloft title. The aspects of the popular role play setting are integrated with just as much care and skill as the Victorian era, steampunk, and Civil War era time lines. There is no blatant connection (in fact I found myself second guessing whether it was meant to be a tie in at all) which, as a reader who is first being introduced to Ravenloft, allows for more eagerness to try the book, and an easier immersion into some of the concepts. The only familiar feature I spotted was The Mists, so delicately written that they became a character all their own, which of course is the main tip off that the reader (or the player, in the case of the game) might be venturing into Ravenloft.

This also shifts the previous complaint, making seemingly ineffective storytelling become catering to readers who love characters and concepts over solid things, like plots. Seeing as readers of RPG fiction love to read about the character but like open ended possibilities (need I mention the Drizzt Do'Urden saga?) this makes Heaven's Bones' seemingly slow opening pace just as deliberate of a plot element as everything else previously mentioned.

All in all, Heaven's Bones is beautifully written, does indeed have steampunk Victorian era Angels, as well as psychics, cursed twins and someone suspiciously similar to Jack the Ripper. It has major crossover appeal but not only will it have gamer readers feeling clever for recognizing the "in-joke" Ravenloft elements, it will have non-gamer readers much more willing to take the plunge since the book doesn't make them feel like they're missing twenty years of back titles needed to understand what's going on in this book.

And did I mention the prose was pretty?

First off I do want to say it was a very interesting and good read. A peak into what women might have went thru 100+ years ago was interesting. Plus there was a nice thread between the characters being woven.

The downside for me was it wasn't the Ravenloft that I love. It was more Masque of the Red Death than Ravenloft. When I saw that there was Ravenloft books being released again, I was quite happy. I just would have preferred more tales of Strahd, Vlad Darkov or Anton Misroi if they were going to label it Ravenloft.

drew

This was a very clever book and I enjoyed it to a fault. Multiple plot lines are deftly arranged with true flair. The characters are solid and consistently believable, even the ones you only follow in the hopes that they will come to a bad end. Artemis and Trueblood in particular are great characters. At times, I was just in awe of some of the ideas and twists on ideas I found on the newest page. Classic Ravenloft concepts appear and appear gracefully. It warms my dark heart to see it.

On the dark side, the plot is so intricate that at times it can be very unwieldy. The flow of the novel can be confusing at times and border on annoying at others. Yet, when the reader gets to the end they will find everything has been tightly woven and errant strands begin to make a twisted sort of sense.

Also, the worst aspect of the original Ravenloft series lifts it head. The Ravenloft novels, and this one is no exception, hold too closely to the morbid endings of the Gothic novels and horror movies that inspired them. The ending of Heaven's Bones is a little unsatisfying because at the very end, you find that closure has been taken from you. Anyone familiar with the classic series will recognize the feeling of disappointment when finishing the novel to find that, even though the story has concluded, there is no comfortable feeling of resolution. Even fairly cheerful endings have a lingering, unsatisfying twinge.

So , do I recommend reading this book? You better believe it. You will be pleasantly surprised by the twisted images that you find. Do I think you should get your hopes up as the final chapters approach? Don't you dare!

Unconventional Ravenloft novel.
The mists reach London from the demiplane of dread.
Day to day activities in England are affected by the influences of the mists.
Some people from these two worlds begin to interact one another.
A darkling from Harkon begins to 'work' together to Dr Robarts in London; a man driven mad by the loss of his wife and his child.

Never read a Ravenloft novel such as this, and I enjoyed it very much.

"Heaven's Bones" is, without a doubt, the best book I've read all year.

The story is rich in period detail, well-developed characters, and complex plot twists and turns. Multiple storylines are woven together to bring characters from two continents together at the whim of ancient mists, whose only purpose is evil.

And, yet there are those so determined to do good that they are able to challenge the supernatural and banish that evil.

There is so much beauty and so much tragedy, skillfully blended into this novel. The writing is fluid and captivating. Once you start reading, I dare you to put it down.

I knew from the moment I met the doctor that I would become hopelessly lost in the beauty of this book. But, the high point for me was the gathering of the angels and their ultimate demise at the end.

I highly recommend "Heaven's Bones" to anyone looking for a substantial and enjoyable read.