Blog Archives
River Talk
River Talk is a sprawling and dreamlike journey through myth, memory, and human frailty. It drifts between fables, folklore, and deeply personal reckonings with place and time. At its heart is Marchon Baptiste, a man both haunted and blessed by a heightened sense of connection to the world around him. His story, interwoven with echoes of gods distracted by their own games, high-stakes gamblers rising from the dead, and tribes living outside the reach of modernity, circles endlessly around the question of what it means to belong, or not belong, within the noise of humanity.
I enjoyed how the writing feels unpinned. Sentences sprawl and snap. They carry the same restless energy as the rivers and forests that pulse through the story. Sometimes I felt lost, like I was dropped into someone’s fever dream without a guide, and other times I felt stunned at how vividly the world cracked open. The language is raw, but that’s what gave it its weight for me. I loved how the prose could be coarse one moment, then suddenly dissolve into passages that felt more like prayers than storytelling.
The book kept circling back to this deep divide between human-made noise and natural rhythm. I felt admiration because it made me think about how little we listen, how much we dismiss in our rush to build walls of words and explanations. I can’t shake certain images: Marchon in the swamp hearing the river sing, the gods playing careless games with human lives, the silent communication of tribes who never needed words. These moments felt alive in a way I rarely get from fiction.
I’d recommend River Talk to readers who like stories that don’t walk straight lines. If you enjoy Faulkner’s twisting voices or the mythic strangeness of Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, you might find something here to savor. It isn’t a book for quick reading. It’s for anyone who’s willing to wrestle with the unsettling question of what it means to really be connected.
Pages: 222 | ASIN : B0FJR45LQK
Boy of Heaven
Boy of Heaven, by Morris Hoffman, tells the story of an orphan boy in 17th-century Milan who discovers a fading mural, Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, hidden in what has become the stables of a Dominican priory. As the boy labors among horses, he has named after constellations; he alone sees the painting’s slow return to clarity. What unfolds is a lyrical meditation on suffering, faith, grief, and vision. Hoffman’s novel blends historical fiction with a mystical edge, threading deep emotion through a richly imagined world.
Reading this book pulled something quiet but insistent from me. Hoffman’s writing is unusual, almost liturgical in rhythm. It doesn’t always make for an easy read, but it makes for a rewarding one. There were passages I reread just to feel them again. The boy’s interior world is raw and lonely, but never melodramatic. There’s very little action in the conventional sense. Instead, the story unfolds through daily labor, small kindnesses, and sacred echoes. And yet, I found myself emotionally swept up in the boy’s grief for a horse, his awe at a fresco, his quiet yearning to be seen.
I feel the book drifts at times. There were sections where the pace slowed, where there were long descriptions of the priory or repeated imagery. Everything is so reverent. Still, what the book lacks in momentum, it makes up for in heart. The blend of the sacred and the mundane, the way the horses become mythic, the mystery of the fresco, that’s where it shines. It doesn’t explain itself, and that made it feel more honest and more relatable.
Boy of Heaven isn’t just about art or faith or even memory. It’s about seeing what others miss and holding on to what shouldn’t be forgotten. It’s a quiet book, but it left a loud feeling. I’d recommend it to anyone who loves poetic writing, historical fiction with a spiritual bend, or stories where nothing much happens on the outside but everything changes on the inside. This is not a book to speed through. It’s one to sit with, one to cherish in silence.
Pages: 90 | ASIN : B0F7C4BSRP
The Undulating Shadows
In The Undulating Shadows by DC Eastman, readers are thrust into a world filled with enigma and longing as they follow the lives of three orphans—Justin, Raven, and Albert—united and then divided by fate but ever tethered by the haunting presence of a deadly specter.
From the outset, the tragic circumstances that land Justin and Raven in the orphanage offer a compelling foundation for the narrative. When they encounter Albert, who has spent his entire life within the institution’s walls, friendship blossoms. Eastman deftly captures the innocence of their childhood bond, as well as the complexities of growing up, as Albert and Raven’s adoption drives an inexorable wedge between the trio.
What really sets this novel apart is the slow unraveling of the mystery surrounding the specter. Eastman masterfully withholds key details, inviting readers to join the characters on their journey to discovery. This journey is one filled with twists and turns, and the realization that Albert is not who they believed him to be adds an unexpected layer to the story.
Eastman’s character development is particularly praiseworthy, particularly during the characters’ youth. His ability to make readers connect with these characters is skillful, playing on universal experiences and empathetic understanding.
The transition from childhood to adulthood, I feel, is somewhat abrupt, a jump that, while understandable, could have been smoothed for better narrative flow. Raven’s ‘other sense’ is an intriguing element that I would have liked to have seen explored more before becoming a key tool in solving the mystery. Still, this does not detract significantly from the overall enjoyment of the novel. Eastman’s vivid imagination and skillful storytelling make The Undulating Shadows an entertaining read that is sure to satisfy fans of thrillers and mysteries.
The science fiction elements add another layer of intrigue, and although the beginning may seem slow, the patient reader is rewarded with a rich and interconnected story that unfolds beautifully. For those interested in a thrilling tale filled with mystery, suspense, and profound human connection, The Undulating Shadows is a compelling recommendation. I look forward to diving into more of Eastman’s work in the future.
Pages: 376 | ISBN : 0639763707
LITERARY TITAN 