Wormwood [Hardcover]

G. P. Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2004

An epic adventure from a master storyteller.

Panic fills the streets of London on a night in 1756 when the earth suddenly lurches forward and starts spinning out of control. Within moments, eleven days and nights flash through the sky, finally leaving the city in total darkness. Is the end of the world at hand?

Agetta Lamian fears so. She's the young housemaid of Dr. Sabian Blake, a scientist who has recently acquired the Nemorensis, the legendary book said to unlock the secrets of the universe. And what he sees through his telescope confirms what he has read: This disaster is only a sign of things to come. Agetta overhears Dr. Blake's prophecy that a star called Wormwood is headed toward London, where it will fall from the sky and strike a fatal blow.

Dr. Blake believes the comet will either end the world as he knows it or hearken a new age of scientific and spiritual enlightenment. Soon even Agetta seems to have been seduced by the book, and whom she ultimately delivers it to will determine much more than just her fate.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up–In this unremittingly dark fantasy set in 18th-century London, Dr. Sabian Blake, a scientist/Cabalist, receives a strange gift–a book of arcane knowledge that foretells the approach of a cataclysmic comet. As Wormwood draws near, bedlam breaks out and humanity's sinister side comes forward–all conveyed in exquisitely detailed scenes of violence and mayhem. When Dr. Blake's 14-year-old servant, Agetta, steals the book, she is pursued by demons, angels, and gargoyles come to life. Warring factions of an occult group seem to be vying with each other for possession of the volume, but in truth, it's all a plot to sacrifice Agetta so that the fallen angel Lillith can live on in her body. The horrors that evil begets are made palpable, but goodness has little purpose in this book. When the angel Rafael says, "It is not for power that the universe was created, but for love," it leaves less of an impression than the eye-popping murders he carries out by spraying his victims with his explosive blood. Indeed, the author seemed to be more concerned with special effects than with plot or character development. Agetta is nothing more than a pawn, the adults around her are unrelentingly self-interested, and the characters who do discover how their lust for power has made them blind persist in their blindness anyhow. Teens with a taste for the gruesome will be attracted to this supernatural thriller, but they'll find little sustenance here.–Carolyn Lehman, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. In his follow-up to Shadowmancer [BKL Ap 15 04], Taylor again brings the epic struggle between good and evil earthward, but the only character who reappears is the archangel Raphael (known as Abram among humans). Wormwood, a comet, zooms toward seventeenth-century London; the collision will catalyze the fallen angel Hezrin's transition to a permanent mortal body. She selects 14-year-old housemaid Agetta as her host and sets a complicated trap for the girl that draws another disgraced angel and Agetta's employer, a follower of kabbalistic mysticism, into the fray. Abram/Raphael intervenes, and readers of many faiths will appreciate the spectacular ringside view of hand-to-hand combat between immortals. They'll also welcome the more substantial role the archangel plays; his gonzo charisma adds texture to the more ponderous worldview sketched in the first book (at one point he dispatches a demon by sticking an exploding crystal someplace unmentionable). Even so, the rather convoluted plot, the fact that adults propel most of the action, and the plodding theological dialogues will likely remain barriers to all but the most motivated readers. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Putnam (September 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399242570
• ISBN-13: 978-0399242571
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,047,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A motorcyclist and former rock band roadie turned Anglican minister, Graham Peter (G. P.) Taylor has been hailed as "hotter than Potter" and "the new C. S. Lewis" in the United Kingdom. His first novel, "Shadowmancer," reached #1 on the "New York Times" Best Sellers List in 2004 and has been translated into 48 languages. His other novels include "Wormwood" (another "New York Times" best seller which was nominated for a Quill Book Award), "The Shadowmancer Returns: The Curse of Salamander Street," "Tersias the Oracle," and "Mariah Mundi." Taylor currently resides in North Yorkshire with his wife and three children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars ghastly tripe for Goths, January 16, 2005

By 

Booklover "booklover" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wormwood (Hardcover)

G.P. Taylor, an Anglican vicar who sold his motorcycle to self-publish his first book, "Shadowmancer," sounds like an interesting character. Unfortunately, he's not much of a writer. His characters change motivations more frequently than they change their clothes, and plot development doesn't seem to be a priority. Add to that overripe prose and a tendency to bring up interesting questions and then drop them without really addressing them, and you end up with poorly-written drivel. There are better ways to waste your time.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Religious Fantasy But...., April 16, 2005

By 

Edmund Lau Kok Ming (Malaysia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wormwood (Hardcover)

"Wormwood" is the second novel from Graham Taylor (G.P. Taylor), following the success of his first novel, "Shadowmancer". If you've read "Shadowmancer", you'd probably look at this book as a "sequel of sorts". It's not strictly a sequel - the continuing bits are the "angelic" parts and the bits about Yezhina's brother.

As most of you already know by now, Taylor is actually a vicar of the Church of England and his books are very much patterned after the "religious fantasy" of authors like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. By "religious fantasy", I think we should understand it as having a story primarily while reflecting the author's personal beliefs (unlike the more polemical or preachy "Left Behind" series). Taylor too stressed this in many interviews by outrightly denying that he's "writing a Christian book". For people like me, I'd consider that fortunate (for Taylor as well as his readers). Why do I say that? Well, to begin with, his theology is atrocious and terribly unorthodox in many ways. His characterization of angels are totally unbiblical and his good vs. evil themes are too Dualistic to be Christian (Dualistic struggles of good vs. evil - with good ultimately triumphing - makes good reading but lousy theology).

As for his story, I actually found it interesting enough to finish the book in two days. Some of the bits are truly scary and his depiction of magic and the quest for forbidden knowledge (a warning to esoteric-seekers and Kabbalists, perhaps?) are all very well presented. For the more widely read, you'll probably be able to trace his many influences to 17th-18th century occult movement in London (people like the Rosicrucians, Isaac Newton, Giordano Bruno and John Dee) as well as extra-Biblical literature like the Book of Enoch. The "Wormwood" comet in the story is, of course, a reference to the Book of Revelation.

My biggest gripe with his writing (apart from the atrocious theology) is his handling of characters. The characters do not appear "real" enough - they usually come off as uneven and sometime "manic", like mentioned by another reviewer here. Dr. Blake's supposed "conversion" after meeting Abram Rickards appeared very "forced". Agetta started as a strong character and ended up weepy and manic (Taylor attributes this to the evil influence of the Nemorensis). Apart from that, all of the characters are portrayed as selfish and manipulative (even the supposed good guys and good angels). In short, none of the characters are really "likable" at all! Finally, the "evil plot" of the fallen angel Hezrin is at best, very sketchy because we only get bits and pieces of it towards the end of the book - almost like Taylor was running out of pages already and he had to wrap up the book as fast as possible.

Good for a weekend's read but nothing very captivating. Some of the parts are quite scary and may not be suitable for younger children.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but not great literary work, April 10, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Wormwood (Hardcover)

Good science-fiction books are novels that intensify your imagination and provoke your thinking. Wormwood by G. P. Taylor is classified as science-fiction genre. It is a book about a comet hurtling towards the Earth, an evil book corrupting people's minds, and a London scientist and his guardian angel trying to save the world from total destruction of London from the evil.

Sabian Blake receives a strange package from an anonymous person and finds a book called Nemorensis. One of its written predictions says that a comet Wormwood will strike London and the world will suffer from its bitterness. The Royal Society decides to keep this secret; the nobles want to get rid of all the thieves, beggars, and "worthless" people and rebuild the city with a fresh start.

An evil fallen angel named Yerzinia is Lady Flamberg, the wife of the leader of the Royal Society. She plans to control the Royal Society and change London into a new city of corruption and fear. Blake and his guardian angel, Abram Rickards, attempt to stop Yerzinia and retrieve Nemorensis, which was stolen by Yerzinia.

I gave Wormwood a four-star rating because I wasn't entirely satisfied with Taylor's his novel-writing skills. The first half of the book was quite disjointed and boring; however, the second half became fast moving and very engrossing. I was on the verge of throwing the book away, but my patience led me to the second half.

Also, there are several loose conclusions in Wormwood; for example, the comet crashing into the moon seemed to be important and end the conflict of the novel, but there wasn't enough writing suspense built up to give me that relief after reading an exciting book.

Like The Da Vinci Code, Wormwood is certainly a very interesting book. However, G. P. Taylor needs to work on his novel-writing skills -- scene setting/ambience, plot structuring, and character development -- in order to spark his potential as a writer. If he's publishing another book, I am looking forward to it.