Review of End of Days

Blurb:
"Sometimes to fight for the Light, you have to do it in the dark." - Victor Standish

St. Marrok's. The most eerie high school in which you'll ever die. Some call it the high school for the damned. The damned merely laugh.

Located in the lovely, Katrina devastated French Quarter, it stands as it has always stood since the sky chariot of the Queen of the Tuatha de Danann was shot down over Roswell, New Mexico in June, 1947.

St. Marrok's is a school run by the Sidhe for all the preternatural children in America. A few mortal teenagers are invited for the amusement and education in the frailties of humans for the Sidhe.

Now, the celestial configurations are almost in alignment. The Nameless Ones are almost through the frayed barrier between their dimension and ours. The plan set into motion in 1947 by the Tuatha de Danann is finished.

Plots and counter-plots by the Sidhe, revenants, and Olympians/Asgardian factions are all coming to a head. The End of Days is at hand.

And only Alice Wentworth, a Victorian ghoul, with a rag-tag group of misfit students and human teachers stand a chance at stopping it. All it will take is their lives and all they hold dear.

My review:
Alice Wentworth isn't just another ghoul, or girl for that matter. She recently lost the one person who means most to her, the love of her life, and all she wants to do is find a noble death. Yet her new friends aren't willing to let her give up so easily, and neither is her dead love. Alice and her newly acquired sisters, Becca and Trish, are sent into St. Marrok's, a dangerous high school for preternatural beings. They have to watch what they do, where they step, even what they say. Surely it will be easy enough for these teens to gather some information while trying to make new friends and fight for their lives. It's only the End of Days, after all.

This is a huge book. Not just in size, but in immensity of plot and depth. Roland Yeomans draws you into this world with incredible little details. He doesn't bog you down with them, but he paints a vivid picture of post-Katrina New Orleans. Things like the remains of a bird smashed into a building by the force of the winds and how the waters lap at the streets. It's the perfect setting for this dark urban fantasy and all the monsters it brings.

The story is narrated by Alice Wentworth, or as I shall now call her, The Wentworth. She's a fascinating character, especially with how understated she is. She's a unique ghoul still grieving for the loss of her love, Victor Standish. Yet for love of him, she stays to help out those that he cared for, and through this, she grows as a character to become something much more. All the characters in End of Days are big characters. Legends with personalities and egos to match. It's a large cast, and sometimes that could get a bit confusing, but if you're fighting to keep your world from being destroyed by the Nameless Ones, you want to have all the most powerful beings fighting with you.

End of Days has a wonderful mix of myths. Native American lore and Celtic legends. The Sidhe and the Thunderbird. I like the friction between them and wondered how they'd ever get past it to defeat the Nameless Ones. (You'll have to read it yourself to find out!) There was a lot of edge-of-your-seat action, and there were also sweet moments. There were a few scenes I didn't feel were necessary to the plot, but they didn't drastically take away from the story's momentum. The Wentworth's narration keeps the reader focused and moving forward.

When you open/click on this book, prepare for a wild ride. As you know, it's the End of Days!

Please stop by and visit Roland Yeomans on his blog. He offers up great writing advice and has a lot of fun.

End of Days is available on Amazon.

P.S. I want blessed clothes that change according to the situation! I'd never have to force myself to go shopping again.