We’re definitely not home anymore and I doubt Dorothy would last a minute in Nocturnia. Welcome to a world that would make Oz seem utopian and where munchkins would likely find themselves on a menu in this imaginative, fascinating story, the first in a trilogy.
The last time Borderlands Press and Gauntlet Press combined their talents to produce a single book, readers were treated to SHADOW SHOW and garner a Bram Stoker Award. So when the two decided to publish another, fans wondered how the presses could top that title. This time, a young adult title emerges from the effort, penned by two of the writing world’s biggest names. F. Paul Wilson and Thomas F. Monteleone are no strangers to awards, blockbuster books, or each other. Where many collaborations fall short due to varying factors, these two created a fantastic, delightfully horrific world which seems effortless. It could be due to the fact that they’ve been buddies for decades or that they both know how to tell a story, lean and mean, giving the reader nothing but the tale they want. Merging styles is difficult – here, however, the writing is seamless and feels like a single author penned the entire novel. Not once does the reader feel as if he or she is holding a book; instead, the covers disappear as the reader falls effortlessly into the grand world Wilson and Monteleone has created.
The story itself? DEFINITELY NOT KANSAS owes something to THE WIZARD OF OZ, of course, but that inspiration is merely jumping off point. Nocturnia is a much darker, more frightening place and when the tornado drop off Emma and Ryan into the strange world, all bets are off and similarities end. On a quest to find Telly, their missing older brother, they find themselves pulled through a vortex where reality ceases to exist. Humans are considered slaves and cattle, bred for labor – and food – by a land inhabited by vampires, werewolves, zombies, and more. This could be considered kitchen sink mentality, cashing on popular tropes, and likely would be just that in lesser hands. Yet here, the setting is character and the creatures reside in well-constructed world where they are anything but cliché. This world operates parallel to Emma and Ryan’s, separate and deadly, as readers discover the origins of these creatures on Earth and even the flowers can kill.
The nation of monsters is a nation of states which exist uneasily with each other and something much darker frightens them all.
Emma and Ryan propel this tale as they take the reader along a journey of survival and discovery. Both are strong lead characters and the cast of monstrous villains are anything but cookie-cutter caricatures. Surprises await around every corner and one can only imagine where the next book will travel.
An interesting afterword is included on how the series was created by both authors will only further intrigue. Monteleone and Wilson obviously love living in NOCTURNIA and it shows on the pages. It’s doubtful that readers will be able to resist, either, on this frightening, but fun ride.
NOCTURNIA takes the reader by the throat, and heart, and never relents. Anyone who loves a good story and who still embraces the youth within him or herself will tumble head over heels into the vortex for this new series.
- THE BEST OF ROD SERLING’S TWILIGHT ZONE - April 11, 2015
- BLIND RAGE - April 11, 2015
- Black Static #44-45 - April 11, 2015
- The Halloween Children - February 12, 2015
- Darkness Ad Infinitum - November 24, 2014
- Fear City - October 5, 2014
- The Boneyard - July 24, 2014
- Double Feature: A Novel - July 24, 2014
- Never Alone - July 24, 2014
- Blind Vengence - July 24, 2014
