Release Date: 15/08/13
Publisher: Michael Joseph Ltd.
SYNOPSIS:
The Beating of his Wings by Paul Hoffman is the final instalment in his epic Cale and the Sanctuary of Redeemers series. Thomas Cale has been running from the truth. Since discovering that his brutal military training has been for one purpose - to destroy God's greatest mistake, mankind itself - Cale has been hunted by the very man who made him into the Angel of Death: Pope Redeemer Bosco. Cale is a paradox: arrogant and innocent, generous and pitiless. Feared and revered by those created him, he has already used his breathtaking talent for destruction to bring down the most powerful civilisation in the world. But Thomas Cale is weak. His soul is dying. As his body is wracked with convulsions he knows that the final judgment will not wait for a sick boy. As the day of reckoning draws close, Cale's sense of vengeance leads him back to the Sanctuary - and to confront the person he hates most in the world. Finally Cale must recognise that he is the incarnation of God's rage and decide if he will stand against the Sanctuary of the Redeemers and use his unique skill of laying waste to all things. The fate of mankind rests on Cale's decision
REVIEW:
To be honest I’m not the biggest fan of Paul Hoffman’s writing, although I have to admit that each book has been an improvement on the one before and this title is no exception. (Although this could be because I’ve gotten used to the writing style in question.) The writing has a crisp authoritive voice, a solid sense of prose which when added to a lead character that is pretty much unstoppable all round makes this an OK read. Back that up with a whole set of fantasy twists (some of which you see coming) alongside a supporting cast that does the job makes this an OK book for me and whilst not quite up there with a lot of the others is definitely demonstrating that Paul is improving all the time.
Release Date: 28/04/11
SYNOPSIS:
Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell
These are the Last Four Things
Now there are Five
Meet Thomas Cale
Returning to the Sanctuary of the Redeemers, Thomas Cale is told by the Lord Militant that the destruction of mankind is necessary; the only way to undo God’s greatest mistake.
Cale seemingly accepts his role in the ending of the world: fate has painted him as the Left Hand of God, the Angel of Death. Absolute power is within his grasp, the terrifying zeal and military might of the Redeemers a weapon for him to handle as simply as he once used a knife.
But perhaps not even the grim power that the Redeemers hold over Cale is enough – the boy who turns from love to poisonous hatred in a heartbeat, the boy who switches between kindness and sheer violence in the blink of an eye. The annihilation that the Redeemers seek may well be in Cale’s hands – but his soul is far stranger than they could ever know.
REVIEW:
OK, I have to admit first off that I wasn’t a fan of the original title in this series (The Left Hand of God), and with problems to do with characterisation, pace as well as prose I was hoping that number of them had been fixed with this title. Whilst I can’t say that a lot of my concerns have been fixed with this title I can say that the author is learning and is steadily getting there with some decent prose within alongside working on allowing the reader some breaks within to gather their thoughts for the next chapter.
It is an interesting world to explore and whilst the characters and their lack of appearing anything but stereotypical of the genre and rather two dimensional without any real hooks within them this title is still holding steady as the author is listening and learning from elements that were a little bit too contradictory in previous releases. All in whilst it won’t set the world alight it is steady fantasy, although with some seriously good new talent on the way (Elspeth Cooper) you may want to borrow this one or wait for the paperback before investing.
