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Felix Castor #5
The Naming of the Beasts
They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, but if you ask Castor he'll tell you there's quite a bit of arrogance and reckless stupidity lining the streets as well.
And he should know. There's only so many times you can play both sides against the middle and get away with it. Now, the inevitable moment of crisis has arrived and it's left Castor with blood on his hands. Well, not his hands, you understand; it's always someone else who pays the bill: friends, acquaintances, bystanders.
So Castor drowns his guilt in cheap whisky, while an innocent woman lies dead and her daughter comatose, his few remaining friends fear for their lives and there's a demon loose on the streets. But not just any demon - this one rides shotgun on his best friend's soul
And it can't be expelled without killing him.
Looks like Felix Castor's got some tough choices to make, because expel the demon he must or all Hell will break loose. Literally ...
And he should know. There's only so many times you can play both sides against the middle and get away with it. Now, the inevitable moment of crisis has arrived and it's left Castor with blood on his hands. Well, not his hands, you understand; it's always someone else who pays the bill: friends, acquaintances, bystanders.
So Castor drowns his guilt in cheap whisky, while an innocent woman lies dead and her daughter comatose, his few remaining friends fear for their lives and there's a demon loose on the streets. But not just any demon - this one rides shotgun on his best friend's soul
And it can't be expelled without killing him.
Looks like Felix Castor's got some tough choices to make, because expel the demon he must or all Hell will break loose. Literally ...
463 pages, Paperback
First published September 3, 2009
116 people are currently reading
2125 people want to read
About the author
Mike Carey
1,258 books2,952 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Mike Carey was born in Liverpool in 1959. He worked as a teacher for fifteen years, before starting to write comics. When he started to receive regular commissions from DC Comics, he gave up the day job.
Since then, he has worked for both DC and Marvel Comics, writing storylines for some of the world's most iconic characters, including X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER. His original screenplay FROST FLOWERS is currently being filmed. Mike has also adapted Neil Gaiman's acclaimed NEVERWHERE into comics.
Somehow, Mike finds time amongst all of this to live with his wife and children in North London. You can read his blog at www.mikecarey.net.
Mike Carey was born in Liverpool in 1959. He worked as a teacher for fifteen years, before starting to write comics. When he started to receive regular commissions from DC Comics, he gave up the day job.
Since then, he has worked for both DC and Marvel Comics, writing storylines for some of the world's most iconic characters, including X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER. His original screenplay FROST FLOWERS is currently being filmed. Mike has also adapted Neil Gaiman's acclaimed NEVERWHERE into comics.
Somehow, Mike finds time amongst all of this to live with his wife and children in North London. You can read his blog at www.mikecarey.net.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 302 reviews
February 10, 2017
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, THIS volume is the strongest of the series.
In comparison with all the rest, writing gets progressively stronger, the plots less disjointed, the characters more sharp and the overarching story more defined.
And no, there's no real need to read them in the suggested order. In fact, I doubt anyone would really complain, knowing all the facts, if some random bloke like me said, "Skip the rest, just read the last one. You'll be kosher." Because you will be fine. All the story elements are there, and while the initial reach and problem entwining all these novels together is resolved in this one, we're not missing a thing from the other novels. Yay!
It really is the most solid of them all. Unfortunately, you can also tell. And then the series ends.
I can honestly say I love what happens in the novel, and while I'm not too huge on paramilitary operations, the action sequences were pretty damn good, the descriptions and rulesets to the magic and the beasties were much more well-defined than the previous novels, and Fix has finally been fixed. (The opening sequence notwithstanding.) :) But that was on purpose, so I'm not holding his drunk-ass accountable.
The most positive and interesting thing I can say about the series and Fix in particular is that he never gets too big for his britches. No unexplained power increases, no deux ex machinas. It revolves around solid mysteries that happen to have a lot of connections to the supernatural beasties now overwhelming the Earth for some reason. The normal bloke makes good, and the last novel doubly so, but I say this from a style viewpoint.
Of course, now that the series is ended, (as of this writing,) I'm sad to see it go and a bit angry that I won't get the chance to revisit it now that it HAS gotten good. If I were mean, I'd probably knock off a star for that, but I feel generous. I want to let the novel stand on its own.
In comparison with all the rest, writing gets progressively stronger, the plots less disjointed, the characters more sharp and the overarching story more defined.
And no, there's no real need to read them in the suggested order. In fact, I doubt anyone would really complain, knowing all the facts, if some random bloke like me said, "Skip the rest, just read the last one. You'll be kosher." Because you will be fine. All the story elements are there, and while the initial reach and problem entwining all these novels together is resolved in this one, we're not missing a thing from the other novels. Yay!
It really is the most solid of them all. Unfortunately, you can also tell. And then the series ends.
I can honestly say I love what happens in the novel, and while I'm not too huge on paramilitary operations, the action sequences were pretty damn good, the descriptions and rulesets to the magic and the beasties were much more well-defined than the previous novels, and Fix has finally been fixed. (The opening sequence notwithstanding.) :) But that was on purpose, so I'm not holding his drunk-ass accountable.
The most positive and interesting thing I can say about the series and Fix in particular is that he never gets too big for his britches. No unexplained power increases, no deux ex machinas. It revolves around solid mysteries that happen to have a lot of connections to the supernatural beasties now overwhelming the Earth for some reason. The normal bloke makes good, and the last novel doubly so, but I say this from a style viewpoint.
Of course, now that the series is ended, (as of this writing,) I'm sad to see it go and a bit angry that I won't get the chance to revisit it now that it HAS gotten good. If I were mean, I'd probably knock off a star for that, but I feel generous. I want to let the novel stand on its own.
August 13, 2012
A series that ends more with a fizzle than a bang.
A linked series gives the author the opportunity to play with theme development over time, to awaken the characters (and reader) to larger issues and complexities. Carey's fourth book Thicker Than Water did just that by taking the issue of ghost identity and the ethics of exorcism from the third book, and raising the moral stakes with demon identity and exorcism. By linking the issue back to Felix's family, the issue hit home for both Felix and the reader. Unfortunately, The Naming of the Beasts fails to live up to the promise of issues raised the fourth book and instead goes back to Felix's beginning to untangle the mess he made attempting to exorcise Asmodeus the demon from his friend Rafi. Had I not found book four in the series to be such a fabulous read that transcended the normal UF, I might not have been so disappointed.
The story opens with Felix at a crime scene, but quickly reverts to a memory (more or less) of the drunken bender that commenced with the end of book four. We learn Felix woke up sober, decided to stay sober, and then had a heart to heart with Pen. The crime scene, of course, has Rafi/As' fingerprints all over it. Soon Felix finds himself stalked by As. When he learns that the holy order Anathemata has received permission for As to be taken 'dead or alive,' he decides to join forces withDelores Umbridge Jenna-Jane and her team of exorcists (not a bad name for a band). A lead sends him to Rafi's brother, about to be executed. Upon return, the team has him work on a haunting.
What did I like? Series completion. The ending. The resolution to the Rafi-As possession. Nicky the zombie and his decision to branch out into sales. Rosie the sex-pot ghost. The predictable but well-done rescue and escape from Jenna-Jane's house of horrors. The occasional image or turn of phrase that elevated the mundane into something special. An instance of interest: "I was already so sure it was him that I felt no surprise, just a faint sense of increased pressure weighing down on me, as though my invisible bathysphere had descended another hundred feet or so into the shit soup that now surrounded us."
Since the scope of the challenge was known (find As and exorcise him/it), the story had to content itself with a couple of small mysteries, both of which proved problematic. First were problems in ability: several times Fix failed to investigate clues (why hello, mysterious writing) and then failed discuss them with more than one person--it was so obviously going to be part of the final 'reveal' that I found myself annoyed. Second was the fact that the old Rafi seems like a huge egotist and generally so-so specimen of humanity. Even his brother on death row thinks he's an ass. Why exactly is Fix working so hard to save him? We get the guilt line and that's it. Third, Fix is given unexpected aid near the end when Jenna's head henchman has a crisis of conscience, which is about as trope-ridden an excuse as one can find for the miraculous last-minute help. Then there are hints that "something deep is afoot" and "the world is changing" that seem to go beyond the issue of a demon running amok but failed to turn into anything interesting.
In retrospect, Fix's increased drinking bothered me even more. Not only that he did it, but that he was able to get himself "dry" by willpower and going cold-turkey. As someone who has cared for detoxing people, I can safely say withdrawing from alcohol can be a medical emergency and can take days (as in 2 to 3) to start to get to the worst of it. It's the kind of detail that says, "meh. I don't need to research. I just need to knock this book off."
I was also bothered by the failure of Carey to follow-up on the promising philosophical discussions raised in the fourth book. Although Fix has a couple of almost-conversations about it with another necromancer, Trudi, he doesn't actually spell it out or argue with details--when they exorcise ghosts, in one sense they are killing a spirit. A conversation with some zombies starts to touch on the issue as well. I think by now I know where Fix stands, so it's strange that he wouldn't start talking the new gospel with others in his profession.
There's some weird domestic violence stuff as well that is supposed to show personality change in Juliet, but mostly just seems like a crutch and serves to make the reader uncomfortable. Carey does better when he emphasizes how she is losing her humanity through lack of empathy and a temptation to swallow Fix whole.
All in all, I'd have to say it just wasn't as tightly woven as the fourth, Thicker Than Water.
Review for Thicker: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/0...
A linked series gives the author the opportunity to play with theme development over time, to awaken the characters (and reader) to larger issues and complexities. Carey's fourth book Thicker Than Water did just that by taking the issue of ghost identity and the ethics of exorcism from the third book, and raising the moral stakes with demon identity and exorcism. By linking the issue back to Felix's family, the issue hit home for both Felix and the reader. Unfortunately, The Naming of the Beasts fails to live up to the promise of issues raised the fourth book and instead goes back to Felix's beginning to untangle the mess he made attempting to exorcise Asmodeus the demon from his friend Rafi. Had I not found book four in the series to be such a fabulous read that transcended the normal UF, I might not have been so disappointed.
The story opens with Felix at a crime scene, but quickly reverts to a memory (more or less) of the drunken bender that commenced with the end of book four. We learn Felix woke up sober, decided to stay sober, and then had a heart to heart with Pen. The crime scene, of course, has Rafi/As' fingerprints all over it. Soon Felix finds himself stalked by As. When he learns that the holy order Anathemata has received permission for As to be taken 'dead or alive,' he decides to join forces with
What did I like? Series completion. The ending. The resolution to the Rafi-As possession. Nicky the zombie and his decision to branch out into sales. Rosie the sex-pot ghost. The predictable but well-done rescue and escape from Jenna-Jane's house of horrors. The occasional image or turn of phrase that elevated the mundane into something special. An instance of interest: "I was already so sure it was him that I felt no surprise, just a faint sense of increased pressure weighing down on me, as though my invisible bathysphere had descended another hundred feet or so into the shit soup that now surrounded us."
Since the scope of the challenge was known (find As and exorcise him/it), the story had to content itself with a couple of small mysteries, both of which proved problematic. First were problems in ability: several times Fix failed to investigate clues (why hello, mysterious writing) and then failed discuss them with more than one person--it was so obviously going to be part of the final 'reveal' that I found myself annoyed. Second was the fact that the old Rafi seems like a huge egotist and generally so-so specimen of humanity. Even his brother on death row thinks he's an ass. Why exactly is Fix working so hard to save him? We get the guilt line and that's it. Third, Fix is given unexpected aid near the end when Jenna's head henchman has a crisis of conscience, which is about as trope-ridden an excuse as one can find for the miraculous last-minute help. Then there are hints that "something deep is afoot" and "the world is changing" that seem to go beyond the issue of a demon running amok but failed to turn into anything interesting.
In retrospect, Fix's increased drinking bothered me even more. Not only that he did it, but that he was able to get himself "dry" by willpower and going cold-turkey. As someone who has cared for detoxing people, I can safely say withdrawing from alcohol can be a medical emergency and can take days (as in 2 to 3) to start to get to the worst of it. It's the kind of detail that says, "meh. I don't need to research. I just need to knock this book off."
I was also bothered by the failure of Carey to follow-up on the promising philosophical discussions raised in the fourth book. Although Fix has a couple of almost-conversations about it with another necromancer, Trudi, he doesn't actually spell it out or argue with details--when they exorcise ghosts, in one sense they are killing a spirit. A conversation with some zombies starts to touch on the issue as well. I think by now I know where Fix stands, so it's strange that he wouldn't start talking the new gospel with others in his profession.
There's some weird domestic violence stuff as well that is supposed to show personality change in Juliet, but mostly just seems like a crutch and serves to make the reader uncomfortable. Carey does better when he emphasizes how she is losing her humanity through lack of empathy and a temptation to swallow Fix whole.
All in all, I'd have to say it just wasn't as tightly woven as the fourth, Thicker Than Water.
Review for Thicker: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/0...
January 22, 2016
In the Felix Castor books, the gritty, jaded irony of the best of noir/hardboiled meets the precarious uncertainty of a fantastically imaginative apocalyptic world. Carey's prose is vivid, compelling, and compulsively readable, and Fix Castor manages to be sympathetic despite his many flaws. The Castor books portray a self-destructive protagonist submerged by his guilt, isolation, and loneliness, struggling to stay afloat in an uneasy sea of moral grays. Carey has a gift for interweaving human conflict and supernatural elements into a seamless whole. In every book, up to this point, the root of the conflict has been man's inhumanity to man. Each book has started with an apparently trivial case which leads Castor deeper and deeper into a poisonous web of conspiracy amongst privileged and powerful. All of the conflicts, in the end, come down to human sins and human actions. In Fix's world, humans are the root of all evil.
Until now.
Throughout the series, Fix has been tormented by guilt over his involvement in the fate of Rafi, his old college friend. Several years before, Castor, desperate to rescue Rafi from a botched demon summoning, accidentally bound his friend's soul to the demon Asmodeus. Since that time, Rafi has been half-mad, locked away to prevent the demon who possesses him from wreaking havoc upon the world. In The Naming of Beasts, Asmodeus puts his own plans into action and the plot that has been simmering for the last four books finally explodes into the forefront. For me, this meant that the driving force of the series--the tragedy of human inhumanity--was strangely absent from The Naming of Beasts. Most of the conflict comes from the machinations of the demon Asmodeus, and while Jenna-Jane Mullbridge, the other main antagonist/schemer, is technically human, she is essentially a straightforward symbol of the Evils of Science. While the plot is action-filled and fast-paced, it doesn't really have the corkscrew-twisty whodunit element that I found so compelling in the earlier books.
It also has so many plotholes that I could use it for straining pasta.
While I've always sympathized with Fix's guilt-driven mission to disentangle Asmo and Rafi while keeping Rafi alive, for me, it's always been about Fix, as I consider Rafi a waste of space, an arrogant, weak-willed, selfish sociopath, a user of others, and one who deserves to reap precisely what he has sowed. Much of my feelings are carried over to Pen, Rafi's whining girlfriend and Fix's unrequited love interest. Pen is always ready to blame everyone else for Rafi's actions, to place the consequences of Rafi's choices on everyone else's shoulders, to sacrifice anyone else for her precious lover's comfort. The demon-haunted Rafi is, in short, the perfect abuser and Pen the ideal enabler, both always willing to heap guilt and inconvenience and danger on everyone else to get what they want.
I think it comes down to a universal moral quandry of endless fascination to philosophers: is personal the same is important? My viewpoint: find the most culpable person and let 'em have it. One reason why I'm endlessly captivated by hardboiled/noir is that this perspective almost unerringly places me (at least in principle) on the antagonists' side. In Castor's case, I was incredulous at Castor's unquestioning decision to thwart those planning to kill Rafi/Asmodeus. He is willing to sacrifice any principle, to encounter any danger, to risk all--including countless other lives put at risk by a demon on the loose-- to save his friend. I just kept wondering why he bothered.
Science fiction and fantasy provide wonderful opportunities to twist reality just enough to put readers into a situation where their prejudices and preconceptions no longer apply and they can re-confront the basis for their beliefs. I think that's what Carey was trying to do with Juliet: we all know abusive men are terrible, but what if the abuser is a woman? What if the abuser isn't even human? What if she's the prototypical demon lover? What then? For me, however, it's still a black-and-white issue of domestic abuse, so Juliet's foray into sofa-throwing put a real dent in my sympathy for her as a character. While I was disgusted by Juliet the abuser, her attempts to define and quantify love and relationships were illuminating. Carey does his best to paint her as a sympathetic character bewildered by her own loss of control, yet resigned to the darkness in her nature:
There were still plenty of aspects of the story that I loved. Much of the plot centres around the importance of names, and I always find that idea fascinating. Castor continues to struggle with the changes in his world and his own role in it. Rosie, the elderly but still bawdy ghost, makes another enjoyable appearance, and at several points, Castor descends into Cockney rhyming slang, which warmed the cockles of my little Amurrrican heart. Despite my general distaste for woo-woo-evils-of-science-style plots, I was captivated by the vivid, gut-wrenching descriptions of Jenna-Jane's laboratory, where the dead men truly and terrifyingly "lose their bones." The climax, too, is positively pulse-racing; towards the end, I found myself hyperventilating (in traditional Castor style, come to think of it), with my hand convulsively clutching my jaw. Carey also manages to insert a few truly brilliant quotes into the story; for example:
~3.5
Originally posted on BookLikes, which may have additional quotes and comments (yep, it is possible for this review to be longer) that I didn't copy over.
Until now.
Throughout the series, Fix has been tormented by guilt over his involvement in the fate of Rafi, his old college friend. Several years before, Castor, desperate to rescue Rafi from a botched demon summoning, accidentally bound his friend's soul to the demon Asmodeus. Since that time, Rafi has been half-mad, locked away to prevent the demon who possesses him from wreaking havoc upon the world. In The Naming of Beasts, Asmodeus puts his own plans into action and the plot that has been simmering for the last four books finally explodes into the forefront. For me, this meant that the driving force of the series--the tragedy of human inhumanity--was strangely absent from The Naming of Beasts. Most of the conflict comes from the machinations of the demon Asmodeus, and while Jenna-Jane Mullbridge, the other main antagonist/schemer, is technically human, she is essentially a straightforward symbol of the Evils of Science. While the plot is action-filled and fast-paced, it doesn't really have the corkscrew-twisty whodunit element that I found so compelling in the earlier books.
It also has so many plotholes that I could use it for straining pasta.
While I've always sympathized with Fix's guilt-driven mission to disentangle Asmo and Rafi while keeping Rafi alive, for me, it's always been about Fix, as I consider Rafi a waste of space, an arrogant, weak-willed, selfish sociopath, a user of others, and one who deserves to reap precisely what he has sowed. Much of my feelings are carried over to Pen, Rafi's whining girlfriend and Fix's unrequited love interest. Pen is always ready to blame everyone else for Rafi's actions, to place the consequences of Rafi's choices on everyone else's shoulders, to sacrifice anyone else for her precious lover's comfort. The demon-haunted Rafi is, in short, the perfect abuser and Pen the ideal enabler, both always willing to heap guilt and inconvenience and danger on everyone else to get what they want.
I think it comes down to a universal moral quandry of endless fascination to philosophers: is personal the same is important? My viewpoint: find the most culpable person and let 'em have it. One reason why I'm endlessly captivated by hardboiled/noir is that this perspective almost unerringly places me (at least in principle) on the antagonists' side. In Castor's case, I was incredulous at Castor's unquestioning decision to thwart those planning to kill Rafi/Asmodeus. He is willing to sacrifice any principle, to encounter any danger, to risk all--including countless other lives put at risk by a demon on the loose-- to save his friend. I just kept wondering why he bothered.
Science fiction and fantasy provide wonderful opportunities to twist reality just enough to put readers into a situation where their prejudices and preconceptions no longer apply and they can re-confront the basis for their beliefs. I think that's what Carey was trying to do with Juliet: we all know abusive men are terrible, but what if the abuser is a woman? What if the abuser isn't even human? What if she's the prototypical demon lover? What then? For me, however, it's still a black-and-white issue of domestic abuse, so Juliet's foray into sofa-throwing put a real dent in my sympathy for her as a character. While I was disgusted by Juliet the abuser, her attempts to define and quantify love and relationships were illuminating. Carey does his best to paint her as a sympathetic character bewildered by her own loss of control, yet resigned to the darkness in her nature:
"There are limits to how far you can change yourself. I've come to the end of an arc, Castor, and I'm swinging back."
There were still plenty of aspects of the story that I loved. Much of the plot centres around the importance of names, and I always find that idea fascinating. Castor continues to struggle with the changes in his world and his own role in it. Rosie, the elderly but still bawdy ghost, makes another enjoyable appearance, and at several points, Castor descends into Cockney rhyming slang, which warmed the cockles of my little Amurrrican heart. Despite my general distaste for woo-woo-evils-of-science-style plots, I was captivated by the vivid, gut-wrenching descriptions of Jenna-Jane's laboratory, where the dead men truly and terrifyingly "lose their bones." The climax, too, is positively pulse-racing; towards the end, I found myself hyperventilating (in traditional Castor style, come to think of it), with my hand convulsively clutching my jaw. Carey also manages to insert a few truly brilliant quotes into the story; for example:
"People only want as much history as they can easily carry around."This might be the way the world ends, and I may have been sneaking Eliot quotes into every Castor review I've written, but I'm going to resist temptation, no matter how depressingly apt one particular quote may be. To me, it felt as though the book had drifted away from the soul of the series: the strident cry against man's inhumanity to man, the acute, unblinking stare into human atrocity, the depiction of human folly and weakness--all have all been replaced by the simple, straightforward, distant evil of a coldblooded demon. There were plenty of bright moments and characteristic Carey wit, but I'm still sad that this beautiful chiaroscuro ends with such a feeble whimper. While I'm not thrilled with this ending to the tale, I have loved every other minute of Castor's powerful, imaginative, gripping series. If you're in the mood for gorgeously gritty noir, please give the series a try--the first book is The Devil You Know.
~3.5
Originally posted on BookLikes, which may have additional quotes and comments (yep, it is possible for this review to be longer) that I didn't copy over.
January 15, 2020
Well, this is over and I must say this didn't take off for me. It had a lot of promise but in the end it didn't deliver. This final book left us with too many questions and loose ends.
October 3, 2011
This is the last of the Felix Castor series and I enjoyed the ride!
Three weeks after the absolute fiasco of the last book, Fix slowly comes out of the drunken stupor that has kept him from having to face the tragic mistakes he made and the horror of Asmodeus' escape. At an absolute loss as to what to do next, Fix decides to join forces with his nemesis, Jenna-Jane Mullbridge, who has more resources at her disposal and less interference from the powers that be. He shows up at J-J's office, MOU headquarters, to find another familiar face, Trudie Pax, who has left the employ of Father Gwillam, Fix's other arch-nemesis. Fix isn't too happy to see her, especially after the double-cross that she was a party to in the disaster at the Salisbury Estate.
Things take off with the gruesome murder of a woman who turns out to be Rafi's former girlfriend. This is the beginning of a blood-trail that will eventually lead to Rafi/Asmodeus. As usual though, things aren't what they seem and there are several stones that get turned, with all sorts of creepy crawlies exposed. Juliet, Fix's succubus friend, starts to lose her tenuous grasp on "humanity" and attacks her lover. Fix starts finding strange summoning stones around places that he frequents, and a strange haunting in a downtown health club has taken the lives and the sanity of several exorcists. And nobody can get a fix on Asmodeus' location...
Lots of fun and a good resolution to all arcs from previous books. Much recommended!
Three weeks after the absolute fiasco of the last book, Fix slowly comes out of the drunken stupor that has kept him from having to face the tragic mistakes he made and the horror of Asmodeus' escape. At an absolute loss as to what to do next, Fix decides to join forces with his nemesis, Jenna-Jane Mullbridge, who has more resources at her disposal and less interference from the powers that be. He shows up at J-J's office, MOU headquarters, to find another familiar face, Trudie Pax, who has left the employ of Father Gwillam, Fix's other arch-nemesis. Fix isn't too happy to see her, especially after the double-cross that she was a party to in the disaster at the Salisbury Estate.
Things take off with the gruesome murder of a woman who turns out to be Rafi's former girlfriend. This is the beginning of a blood-trail that will eventually lead to Rafi/Asmodeus. As usual though, things aren't what they seem and there are several stones that get turned, with all sorts of creepy crawlies exposed. Juliet, Fix's succubus friend, starts to lose her tenuous grasp on "humanity" and attacks her lover. Fix starts finding strange summoning stones around places that he frequents, and a strange haunting in a downtown health club has taken the lives and the sanity of several exorcists. And nobody can get a fix on Asmodeus' location...
Lots of fun and a good resolution to all arcs from previous books. Much recommended!
September 28, 2011
Now that I'm up-to-speed on this series, when I look at the publication date of this latest novel (2009) and don't see definite plans for another novel in the works, my feelings can probably be best expressed in lolcat: MIKE CAREY, WHY U NO RITE MOAR FELIX??
But in all seriousness, I really feel like this series stands out from the other cookie-cutter urban fantasy novels, mostly because of Felix. In the scale of urban fantasy heroes and antiheroes, he falls somewhere right in between the blazing righteousness of Harry Dresden and the sometimes gleeful bloodlust of Cal Leandros. He manages to save the day, but not without a few screw-ups and morally-gray decisions along the way. And he knows who (and what) he is.
I also find the world quite intriguing, and I like that Carey chose to focus on ghosts and demons rather than throwing other sorts of supernatural creatures into the mix. He has an interesting take on werewolves and zombies, and it almost seems a shame to stop the creative engine here right when the world seemed poised on the cusp of a great change.
And yet, if Carey never wrote another Felix novel, I'm pretty satisfied with the way things ended now. One of the major arcs of the story has come to a conclusion, and while I felt some things didn't get resolved, there are easily quite a few threads Carey could pick up again if he does continue with the series.
But in all seriousness, I really feel like this series stands out from the other cookie-cutter urban fantasy novels, mostly because of Felix. In the scale of urban fantasy heroes and antiheroes, he falls somewhere right in between the blazing righteousness of Harry Dresden and the sometimes gleeful bloodlust of Cal Leandros. He manages to save the day, but not without a few screw-ups and morally-gray decisions along the way. And he knows who (and what) he is.
I also find the world quite intriguing, and I like that Carey chose to focus on ghosts and demons rather than throwing other sorts of supernatural creatures into the mix. He has an interesting take on werewolves and zombies, and it almost seems a shame to stop the creative engine here right when the world seemed poised on the cusp of a great change.
And yet, if Carey never wrote another Felix novel, I'm pretty satisfied with the way things ended now. One of the major arcs of the story has come to a conclusion, and while I felt some things didn't get resolved, there are easily quite a few threads Carey could pick up again if he does continue with the series.
December 14, 2016
This was certainly the strongest book in the series. I sat for a few minutes afterward wondering why I felt that way - was it a by-product of being invested in the series, and we left with (nearly) all the loose threads tied up in a pretty bow? No, it was more than that. I think Carey really found Fix's voice here, and it had an elegance to it that you wouldn't expect from a detective fiction featuring nefarious characters in various states of undead and demonry.
While I can't speak from any personal life experience (thankfully), I was struck by the description of alcoholism in the first pages of the story. It was perverse but beautiful? Certainly unexpected.
And I found myself bookmarking sections to revisit later - descriptions and settings I found especially evoking. I feel so weird calling this book beautiful, given the violence and demons and zombies and whatnot, but that's how I feel. Actually, I feel a lot of things that I can't quite articulate. Yet.
I'm going to spend a few days percolating, and then I'll be back!
While I can't speak from any personal life experience (thankfully), I was struck by the description of alcoholism in the first pages of the story. It was perverse but beautiful? Certainly unexpected.
And I found myself bookmarking sections to revisit later - descriptions and settings I found especially evoking. I feel so weird calling this book beautiful, given the violence and demons and zombies and whatnot, but that's how I feel. Actually, I feel a lot of things that I can't quite articulate. Yet.
I'm going to spend a few days percolating, and then I'll be back!
August 20, 2014
there were so any things I loved about this series, I had to stop and consider whether I was being objective. Was it a perfect book? No. Should it have been? NOOOOOO
Things I felt were well done? Character growth! Instead of the eternally sarcastic teen in a mans body Fix starts out as, he has become well, a man! He still gets used by Asmodeus, but he had to be a lot more subtle about it.
Juliet, too has learned along the way, and works with what she has. I think the mystery of what happens to her in this book was very imaginative and new.
I did feel td was a little too nicely tied together, like there should have been a little fallout being some of these characters, but I was easily appeased of that.
December 28, 2011
I know, I'm constantly giving this entire series a 5/5, but it's earned it. Even if you get information that's repeated for those who are picking up the series in the middle and can annoy those who have been reading from the beginning, the rest of the book(s) makes up for it.
In this installment, you see everything around Fix is pretty much falling to shit, and it's partially down to his own personal flaws. Instead of making a character totally oblivious to obvious clues because they're only supposedly intelligent, you have a character who missing obvious shit because of character flaws that make sense.
In this installment, you see everything around Fix is pretty much falling to shit, and it's partially down to his own personal flaws. Instead of making a character totally oblivious to obvious clues because they're only supposedly intelligent, you have a character who missing obvious shit because of character flaws that make sense.
January 20, 2017
I remember this being a little disappointing as a final book (?) in a series ... things wrapped up a bit jumpily, almost like Carey was done with the world he'd created and Just Wanted It OVER. Pity as the first books in the series were quite well done.
May 13, 2011
Finally, the last of the currently published Felix Castor novels but the next to last in the expected 6 book run (at the least).
Everything has seemingly been coming to this point. This dives right into the aftermath of the newest complication that ended the 4th book, and has everyone (except, strangely, Coldwood) coming back into the mix---Trixie, Gwillam, Asmodeus/Rafi, Pen, Nicky, and Jenna-Jane for good measure. Even relatives of a character killed in the first book show up, all to good effect.
I really liked this book but it wasn't as streamlined as the previous one. I love that we got more time with the shady Jenna-Jane, and got to see the inner workings of the MOU (and a great sequence with Rosie Crucis) but once again there were a few things that worked like speed bumps and potholes in the roadwork of the plot.
Why why why does Fix ask only one person about the marked stones? It's a problem that's come up a few times in the novels that the most obvious person he SHOULD ask about something is the one person he doesn't even THINK about asking. For all the analyzing and thinking we get from him, these omissions are really puzzling and serve only as maddening plot delayers that are really artificial.
The final showdown is exciting but the aftermath is completely rushed. I know the 'denouement' shouldn't linger too much after the resolution but this was really too quick. I know there's another book coming but for everything that happens here it's over in too much of a flash.
Also, the delaying of certain information until the end, so that there are flashback passages within the showdown, to a conversation that takes place in the previous chapter, is really annoying. I figure most people would have figured out what the "mystery" was by that time, but having it explained just a few pages earlier wouldn't really spoil anything. It seems to imply the audience is either not smart or patient enough, that if we learn everything too quickly we'll just put the book down and stop reading. We won't. Honest.
But, again, aside from the problems, it is a great conclusion to events up to this point. I can't wait for the next book, which will apparently explain the bigger picture of why the ghosts have been rising and what project the demons are working on.
Everything has seemingly been coming to this point. This dives right into the aftermath of the newest complication that ended the 4th book, and has everyone (except, strangely, Coldwood) coming back into the mix---Trixie, Gwillam, Asmodeus/Rafi, Pen, Nicky, and Jenna-Jane for good measure. Even relatives of a character killed in the first book show up, all to good effect.
I really liked this book but it wasn't as streamlined as the previous one. I love that we got more time with the shady Jenna-Jane, and got to see the inner workings of the MOU (and a great sequence with Rosie Crucis) but once again there were a few things that worked like speed bumps and potholes in the roadwork of the plot.
Why why why does Fix ask only one person about the marked stones? It's a problem that's come up a few times in the novels that the most obvious person he SHOULD ask about something is the one person he doesn't even THINK about asking. For all the analyzing and thinking we get from him, these omissions are really puzzling and serve only as maddening plot delayers that are really artificial.
The final showdown is exciting but the aftermath is completely rushed. I know the 'denouement' shouldn't linger too much after the resolution but this was really too quick. I know there's another book coming but for everything that happens here it's over in too much of a flash.
Also, the delaying of certain information until the end, so that there are flashback passages within the showdown, to a conversation that takes place in the previous chapter, is really annoying. I figure most people would have figured out what the "mystery" was by that time, but having it explained just a few pages earlier wouldn't really spoil anything. It seems to imply the audience is either not smart or patient enough, that if we learn everything too quickly we'll just put the book down and stop reading. We won't. Honest.
But, again, aside from the problems, it is a great conclusion to events up to this point. I can't wait for the next book, which will apparently explain the bigger picture of why the ghosts have been rising and what project the demons are working on.
October 21, 2015
Gah, I love the Felix Castor books so much. It's just one of *those* books/series that gets under my skin and stays with me. It's seriously gritty urban fantasy, set in a London drawn with stunning detail. Setting plot aside for a moment, I'm always impressed when I get back to these books at the prose, which alternates between quite intelligent vocabulary, witty one-liners, innuendo and swears. It's just so much fun to read--I probably could read Felix Castor grocery shopping and enjoy his cynical grumblings. These books really linger with me, so I feel like I'm half living in the Castor world for days after I finish reading.
I hadn't read the previous book in years, but it all came back to me in a few pages. The characters are so memorable that I had no trouble remembering them: best friend Rafi possessed by the demon Asmodeus, Juliet the succubus, Nicky the long-lived zombie, Professor J-J, Pen the tough love landlord, and of course the very flawed and very aware of his flaws Felix Castor, exorcist who feels more at home with the dead and undead than the living.
The plot is intricate with machinations and mysteries (why is Juliet acting extra demonic? what is Asmodeus up to? how long can Felix work with J-J? and what's the deal with the haunted swimming pool?), and it was a delight watching the plots thicken and watching Felix and company struggle to untangle them. Sometimes violently, and always with Felix running on far too little sleep. This book feels like a series finale, since there's an unusual level of resolution and even happiness at the end of the book, but I dearly hope there are more of these!
I find these books incredibly addictive. Highly recommended for fans of urban fantasy and gritty supernatural. It's sorta like the Dresden Files on all the right drugs.
I hadn't read the previous book in years, but it all came back to me in a few pages. The characters are so memorable that I had no trouble remembering them: best friend Rafi possessed by the demon Asmodeus, Juliet the succubus, Nicky the long-lived zombie, Professor J-J, Pen the tough love landlord, and of course the very flawed and very aware of his flaws Felix Castor, exorcist who feels more at home with the dead and undead than the living.
The plot is intricate with machinations and mysteries (why is Juliet acting extra demonic? what is Asmodeus up to? how long can Felix work with J-J? and what's the deal with the haunted swimming pool?), and it was a delight watching the plots thicken and watching Felix and company struggle to untangle them. Sometimes violently, and always with Felix running on far too little sleep. This book feels like a series finale, since there's an unusual level of resolution and even happiness at the end of the book, but I dearly hope there are more of these!
I find these books incredibly addictive. Highly recommended for fans of urban fantasy and gritty supernatural. It's sorta like the Dresden Files on all the right drugs.
May 16, 2012
After four books, the final showdown with Asmodeus is finally here. But can Felix Castor destroy the demon without killing his possessed friend? This is the best book in the Felix Castor series so far. The writing is witty as always. In fact, for the rest of this review, I just want to quote some of the more memorable lines:
"I ducked out of seeing The Passion of the Christ because someone spoiled the ending for me."
"Dead leaves from seasons past didn't so much crunch as sigh under our feet, crumbling instantly into dust like vampires caught out at dawn."
"Living versus dead? Sooner or later, we all defect to the other side."
"The sun was coming up behind him, giving him a halo he'd done nothing to deserve."
"There's a lot to be said for fainting dead away at the awkward moment when the action is over and done with and the cleaning up has to start. Other people can bear your wounded body from the field and take care of all the messy stuff, while you cavort with pastel-coloured bunny rabbits in a magic garden where marshmallows and bottles of single malt whisky hang like fruit among the trees."
"I ducked out of seeing The Passion of the Christ because someone spoiled the ending for me."
"Dead leaves from seasons past didn't so much crunch as sigh under our feet, crumbling instantly into dust like vampires caught out at dawn."
"Living versus dead? Sooner or later, we all defect to the other side."
"The sun was coming up behind him, giving him a halo he'd done nothing to deserve."
"There's a lot to be said for fainting dead away at the awkward moment when the action is over and done with and the cleaning up has to start. Other people can bear your wounded body from the field and take care of all the messy stuff, while you cavort with pastel-coloured bunny rabbits in a magic garden where marshmallows and bottles of single malt whisky hang like fruit among the trees."
October 3, 2009
This (#5) is a disappointing book in the series and to get an idea why you should read the review of #4 'Thicker than Water' - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28...
It is a good basic read - a supernatural thriller (though with very little 'real' horror). It has all the favourite characters, a consistent universe, a generally coherent story line and the usual grounding in a Central London that Londoners would recognise. But it is still a bit of a potboiler, albeit one with some good set pieces (like the fear monster living just off the Strand and a visit to Macedonia).
What happened? In #4, Carey was on the cusp of something better - there was a dash of JG Ballard in there, character development had gone beyond the formulaic and he introduced some interesting new ideas on the origin of demons and on ambiguities in the universal balance of good and evil that boded well for a cracking sequel. None of these creative ideas are followed through in #5 - the demons are mcguffins to move the plot along. Asmodeus is a thug and little more.
The tale, a natural continuation of previous novels, is like the comfort food of American supernatural TV series. This may not be a bad thing if you just want to be entertained: Carey is, after all, primarily a graphic novel 'auteur'. But a sudden inadequately explained change of allegiance of a leading enemy to move the plot along is the sort of thing that the mindless drift of TV can permit but which irritates in a text. It looks and reads as lazy and bored.
Either Carey's publisher dragged him back to safe harbour to please the fans and/or the booksellers (or to increase the chances of TV take-up) or Carey himself has got bored and taken his best ideas elsewhere - or he has abandoned them altogether.
This is not a reason not to read the book. It is still superior to the vast acreage of books by women for women in which the reader can fantasise a) bonking, b) being or c) killing a vampire that crowd out more imaginative literature. Horror has reached a recessionary nadir when Jane Austen's heroes meet zombies, vampires and creatures from the Lovecraftian deeps.
Carey's determined maintenance of the adventure genre in this context is admirable and welcome but it is scarcely 'horror' any more. As with Christopher Fowler's once-admirable Bryant & May series, the market drives 'masculine' writing away from the horror shelves and inexorably towards the thriller section of the larger crime shelves. #4 was an imaginative novel of supernatural horror with urban crime overtones. #5 is a pedestrian thriller with supernatural overtones.
Still, all the old characters are here - both heroes and villains. The wit is diminished but Carey can still make you chuckle out loud. Londoners can mentally trace movements in real streets and Carey writes well of location - a journey down the abandoned Kingsway tram tunnel is a minor tour de force. The disappointment is merely relative from someone who had hoped for better - so buy it, read it, enjoy it, move on.
It is a good basic read - a supernatural thriller (though with very little 'real' horror). It has all the favourite characters, a consistent universe, a generally coherent story line and the usual grounding in a Central London that Londoners would recognise. But it is still a bit of a potboiler, albeit one with some good set pieces (like the fear monster living just off the Strand and a visit to Macedonia).
What happened? In #4, Carey was on the cusp of something better - there was a dash of JG Ballard in there, character development had gone beyond the formulaic and he introduced some interesting new ideas on the origin of demons and on ambiguities in the universal balance of good and evil that boded well for a cracking sequel. None of these creative ideas are followed through in #5 - the demons are mcguffins to move the plot along. Asmodeus is a thug and little more.
The tale, a natural continuation of previous novels, is like the comfort food of American supernatural TV series. This may not be a bad thing if you just want to be entertained: Carey is, after all, primarily a graphic novel 'auteur'. But a sudden inadequately explained change of allegiance of a leading enemy to move the plot along is the sort of thing that the mindless drift of TV can permit but which irritates in a text. It looks and reads as lazy and bored.
Either Carey's publisher dragged him back to safe harbour to please the fans and/or the booksellers (or to increase the chances of TV take-up) or Carey himself has got bored and taken his best ideas elsewhere - or he has abandoned them altogether.
This is not a reason not to read the book. It is still superior to the vast acreage of books by women for women in which the reader can fantasise a) bonking, b) being or c) killing a vampire that crowd out more imaginative literature. Horror has reached a recessionary nadir when Jane Austen's heroes meet zombies, vampires and creatures from the Lovecraftian deeps.
Carey's determined maintenance of the adventure genre in this context is admirable and welcome but it is scarcely 'horror' any more. As with Christopher Fowler's once-admirable Bryant & May series, the market drives 'masculine' writing away from the horror shelves and inexorably towards the thriller section of the larger crime shelves. #4 was an imaginative novel of supernatural horror with urban crime overtones. #5 is a pedestrian thriller with supernatural overtones.
Still, all the old characters are here - both heroes and villains. The wit is diminished but Carey can still make you chuckle out loud. Londoners can mentally trace movements in real streets and Carey writes well of location - a journey down the abandoned Kingsway tram tunnel is a minor tour de force. The disappointment is merely relative from someone who had hoped for better - so buy it, read it, enjoy it, move on.
July 17, 2012
If you are a fan of paranormal urban fantasy or just paranormal fiction is general, you owe it to yourself to read the Felix Castor series by author Mike Carey.
The fifth book in the series, The Naming of the Beasts beautifully concludes the majot story arcs of the previous novels with all of the Castor regulars and some new faces battling it out with the daemon Asmodeus (and each other as well).
Picking up a few days after the end of Book 4, where the daemon Asmodeus in the body of Rafi Ditko escapes from the house of the Ice Maker and leaves a trail of bodies behind, Felix "Fix" Castor has to get over his guilt, pick up the pieces after Asmodeus' escape and figure out what the daemon plans to do.
He will have to make uneasy alliances, take help from enemies old and new and be a step ahead of Asmodeus if he is to save his best friend for his death is certain should he fall into the hands of Castor's archnemesis Prof Jenna-Jane Mulbridge and Father Gwillam.
Carey has managed to nicely conclude the major story lines to make this book feel like a good ending to the series but he still leaves a few tantalising questions behind to make the readers want a sixth book (coming out late 2012).
One doesn't need to read from the very first book to understand the Castor world, but reading books 3,4 and 5 in sequence is highly advisable.
Give this one a go guys, you will not be disappointed.
September 21, 2014
I believe this is the final Felix Castor book, unless the author decides to begin a new story arc in the future. Felix ends up roughly where the series began, trying to fix what he broke three years ago. Many of the faces will be familiar from the previous books, as everything swirls down to a final confrontation.
February 11, 2022
After Felix (#4), I have to say my hopes for this one were pretty high. The build up has been going since book one, and it was written plain in the sky what was going to be the final showdown. "The pulse never slackens" quote from Publishers weekly is widely exaggerated. Honestly, I found the hero was turning around in useless quests and although there was a nice twist at the end, I found the writing feels running out of steam. Loved the 5 books collection but was left disappointed with the ending.
January 4, 2019
'Witty, deadpan and shudderingly noir… You’ve heard the rumour that Londoners are never more than a few feet from a rat - Carey will persuade the same is true of the undead.’
- Daily Express
***
I couldn't have said it better than that review in the inside cover. What started for me as a luke warm series has developed into a favorite. Highly recommended. Really picks up the pace by book three and this one was non-stop action.
- Daily Express
***
I couldn't have said it better than that review in the inside cover. What started for me as a luke warm series has developed into a favorite. Highly recommended. Really picks up the pace by book three and this one was non-stop action.
November 11, 2019
I think by this point in the Felix Castor books you kind of know what you're getting. It's good. As a grand finale for the series it mostly works, tying together the major plot lines and themes. I hope Carey writes more of these at some point, but if he doesn't this works as a pretty good ending to the series.
May 20, 2025
Whilst I have enjoyed the test of the series, I put off reading this one as I knew it was the end. The problem with that was trying to remember some of the callbacks to earlier stories. However, the main characters and plot were easy to re-immerse into the main plot and characters for one last time. There is certainly a sense of finality to it too as long-standing plot lines are resolved and loose ends tied up. I do hope that Carey will consider returning to the World of Felix Castor again one day though.
April 16, 2023
A fitting and satisfactory end to the series 4.5 stars
In this last volume Carey focus solely on wrapping the Rafi/Asmodeus storyline which has been the overarching background story for all the previous novels.
As with the last 2 novels there's a clear progression in the quality of the writing and the pacing of the story, with the risk of sounding like a broken record this is the best novel min the series.
The story is brilliantly paced and the conclusion fantastic, although a little to the happy-ending side, but at least Carey avoid the Deux-de-machina temptation and stick with the rules laid out in the early novels.
In this last volume Carey focus solely on wrapping the Rafi/Asmodeus storyline which has been the overarching background story for all the previous novels.
As with the last 2 novels there's a clear progression in the quality of the writing and the pacing of the story, with the risk of sounding like a broken record this is the best novel min the series.
The story is brilliantly paced and the conclusion fantastic, although a little to the happy-ending side, but at least Carey avoid the Deux-de-machina temptation and stick with the rules laid out in the early novels.
August 16, 2013
Brainycat's 5 "B"s:
blood: 3
boobs: 1
bombs: 3
bondage: 1
blasphemy: 4
Bechdel Test: FAIL
Deggan's Rule: FAIL
Gay Bechdel Test: FAIL
It's been about a week since I finished this book, and I've read a couple of other books in the meantime. I think the reason I've hesitated to write this review is because that would actually mean the series is over for me, not unlike a funeral ritual cements the end of a life. Felix Castor maintained a consistent arc throughout the books and it's concluded where it needs to end. As much as I adore Felix and enjoy reading about him, I'm glad Mr. Carey isn't trying to milk the character long after there isn't anywhere new or interesting to take him (Dresden Files and Wild Cards come to mind as bad examples of such).
The final installment of the Felix Castor series was beautiful, though for reasons different than I liked the earlier books. The whodunnit was basically a no-show in this book; the elements of mystery were clearly just there to frame the inevitable Final Boss Fight and as such there were numerous holes and a handful of inconsistencies, and the plot as a whole was predictable. We don't meet a lot of new characters, but the cast of allies and enemies that Felix has accumulated in the last four books are all there in all their gloriousness.
This book wraps up all the arcs. The supporting cast - at least the characters that have survived Felix's aquaintence so far - all come to places different than where they started. It's almost an HEA for Felix's friends. Even his zombie buddy finds the means and motivation to come out of his self imposed isolation and find ways to interact with the living world. The people on Felix's shitlist each get theirs too. With one exception that leaves room open for a second series... he wrote, in a hopeful tone.
Felix also leaves us a changed man. In book one, we were introduced to a burned out, borderline alcoholic, lonely, temperamental middle aged man racked by guilt who only knew how to relate to people by driving them away and trying to get by on his past glories. By the end of the book, Felix has atoned (suffered) for his transgressions, learned to trust, built a new life that allows him to support himself, and is even beginning to open himself up for romantic entanglements.
And this is why this is one of my most favorite stories ever. I see an illustration of a character, who's flaws and fears and mistakes remind me so much of my own, find the means to come to peace with his guilt and anger and transcend the past to create a new future for him and his friends based on hope, caring and mutual appreciation. What more can you ask for from a book? I started this series enthralled by the sarcastic smartass with one good skill surrounded by interesting characters and finished it deeply invested in this guy and those close to him.
blood: 3
boobs: 1
bombs: 3
bondage: 1
blasphemy: 4
Bechdel Test: FAIL
Deggan's Rule: FAIL
Gay Bechdel Test: FAIL
It's been about a week since I finished this book, and I've read a couple of other books in the meantime. I think the reason I've hesitated to write this review is because that would actually mean the series is over for me, not unlike a funeral ritual cements the end of a life. Felix Castor maintained a consistent arc throughout the books and it's concluded where it needs to end. As much as I adore Felix and enjoy reading about him, I'm glad Mr. Carey isn't trying to milk the character long after there isn't anywhere new or interesting to take him (Dresden Files and Wild Cards come to mind as bad examples of such).
The final installment of the Felix Castor series was beautiful, though for reasons different than I liked the earlier books. The whodunnit was basically a no-show in this book; the elements of mystery were clearly just there to frame the inevitable Final Boss Fight and as such there were numerous holes and a handful of inconsistencies, and the plot as a whole was predictable. We don't meet a lot of new characters, but the cast of allies and enemies that Felix has accumulated in the last four books are all there in all their gloriousness.
This book wraps up all the arcs. The supporting cast - at least the characters that have survived Felix's aquaintence so far - all come to places different than where they started. It's almost an HEA for Felix's friends. Even his zombie buddy finds the means and motivation to come out of his self imposed isolation and find ways to interact with the living world. The people on Felix's shitlist each get theirs too. With one exception that leaves room open for a second series... he wrote, in a hopeful tone.
Felix also leaves us a changed man. In book one, we were introduced to a burned out, borderline alcoholic, lonely, temperamental middle aged man racked by guilt who only knew how to relate to people by driving them away and trying to get by on his past glories. By the end of the book, Felix has atoned (suffered) for his transgressions, learned to trust, built a new life that allows him to support himself, and is even beginning to open himself up for romantic entanglements.
And this is why this is one of my most favorite stories ever. I see an illustration of a character, who's flaws and fears and mistakes remind me so much of my own, find the means to come to peace with his guilt and anger and transcend the past to create a new future for him and his friends based on hope, caring and mutual appreciation. What more can you ask for from a book? I started this series enthralled by the sarcastic smartass with one good skill surrounded by interesting characters and finished it deeply invested in this guy and those close to him.
Please note: I don't review to provide synopses, I review to share a purely visceral reaction to books and perhaps answer some of the questions I ask when I'm contemplating investing time and money into a book.
June 21, 2016
A thrilling ride and a very good book on its own, but as a finale for the series it unfortunately was a bit disappointing.
I loved the Felix Castor books. Mike Carey's witty writing and interesting characterisation made it a wonderful experience to read through all the five books. And while this one was probably the most exciting one of them all, it disappointed me with a stereotypically evil scientist archetype (that for me was just beyond the pale) and with some major unanswered questions that I expected to be addressed after the fourth book's revelation about the nature of (some?) demons and this book's teaser about that one note that suddenly appeared in the world that Castor is trying to play but can't quite manage to.
If you want to know more I will go into more details in the next paragraph, just be careful, we are getting into SPOILER TERRITORY.
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!
So, overall a well written and exciting book, but sadly only a mediocre end chapter for the series.
I loved the Felix Castor books. Mike Carey's witty writing and interesting characterisation made it a wonderful experience to read through all the five books. And while this one was probably the most exciting one of them all, it disappointed me with a stereotypically evil scientist archetype (that for me was just beyond the pale) and with some major unanswered questions that I expected to be addressed after the fourth book's revelation about the nature of (some?) demons and this book's teaser about that one note that suddenly appeared in the world that Castor is trying to play but can't quite manage to.
If you want to know more I will go into more details in the next paragraph, just be careful, we are getting into SPOILER TERRITORY.
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!
So, overall a well written and exciting book, but sadly only a mediocre end chapter for the series.
January 13, 2012
You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2012/01/...
The aftermath of the disastrous events of Thicker Than Water still has Felix Castor reeling. They’ve left his former best friend (possessed by a rather nasty demon) free, and Felix an emotional mess, drowning himself in alcohol and sorrow. After a pretty nasty binge, Felix shakes off his sorrow in an attempt to get a handle on a mess that deep down, he blames himself for; finding Rafi Ditko and freeing him from the demon Asmodeus once and for all. The demon definitely has his own agenda, and after visiting the crime scene of his first victim, Felix knows he must track him down, at all costs. Unfortunately, he’s not the only one working the case. His old nemesis, Dr. Jenna-Jane Mulbridge, is also on his trail, not to mention the Anathemata, who was the cause of the massive mess that set Rafi free. To add to the considerable stress of finding Rafi, Juliet, Fix’s sometimes partner and incidentally, also a succubus demon, is acting very, very strangely, to the detriment of her wife, Sue. It’s getting worse all the time and Fix is at a total loss as to how he can help, but he’s determined to do what he can. Eventually, he’ll have to seek the help of Jenna-Jane and her crew, which now includes Trudie Pax, a former Anathemata member, and also the nephew of a man that was killed during an exorcism gone wrong, and he blames Fix for his death. You can imagine that things are a bit strained, but Fix will need everything at his disposal to find Rafi and get rid of Asmodeus for good, before he kills everyone Fix loves, and then heads after Fix himself.
The Naming of the Beasts is the 5th book in the Felix Castor series, and it’s just as good as the previous four. No one writes like Mike Carey. He has created an alternate London full of ghosts, zombies (not of the brain eating kind), loup-garous, demons, and other supernaturals that lovers of urban fantasy and noir will want to visit again and again. Fix is tough and smart, but certainly not superhuman, and it’s his rumpled charm that will get you every time (at least it does me). We get to wrap up a huge storyline in this one, with explosive results, but I have no doubt that Mike Carey has plenty more in store for Fix and his friends. There are endless possibilities with this series, and I hope Mr. Carey keeps Fix’s world alive for some time to come. If you like Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, or Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant novels, you’ll want to dive into this one head first. Superb writing, fascinating characters, and a haunted London steeped in history make these books a must! Very highly recommended.
The aftermath of the disastrous events of Thicker Than Water still has Felix Castor reeling. They’ve left his former best friend (possessed by a rather nasty demon) free, and Felix an emotional mess, drowning himself in alcohol and sorrow. After a pretty nasty binge, Felix shakes off his sorrow in an attempt to get a handle on a mess that deep down, he blames himself for; finding Rafi Ditko and freeing him from the demon Asmodeus once and for all. The demon definitely has his own agenda, and after visiting the crime scene of his first victim, Felix knows he must track him down, at all costs. Unfortunately, he’s not the only one working the case. His old nemesis, Dr. Jenna-Jane Mulbridge, is also on his trail, not to mention the Anathemata, who was the cause of the massive mess that set Rafi free. To add to the considerable stress of finding Rafi, Juliet, Fix’s sometimes partner and incidentally, also a succubus demon, is acting very, very strangely, to the detriment of her wife, Sue. It’s getting worse all the time and Fix is at a total loss as to how he can help, but he’s determined to do what he can. Eventually, he’ll have to seek the help of Jenna-Jane and her crew, which now includes Trudie Pax, a former Anathemata member, and also the nephew of a man that was killed during an exorcism gone wrong, and he blames Fix for his death. You can imagine that things are a bit strained, but Fix will need everything at his disposal to find Rafi and get rid of Asmodeus for good, before he kills everyone Fix loves, and then heads after Fix himself.
The Naming of the Beasts is the 5th book in the Felix Castor series, and it’s just as good as the previous four. No one writes like Mike Carey. He has created an alternate London full of ghosts, zombies (not of the brain eating kind), loup-garous, demons, and other supernaturals that lovers of urban fantasy and noir will want to visit again and again. Fix is tough and smart, but certainly not superhuman, and it’s his rumpled charm that will get you every time (at least it does me). We get to wrap up a huge storyline in this one, with explosive results, but I have no doubt that Mike Carey has plenty more in store for Fix and his friends. There are endless possibilities with this series, and I hope Mr. Carey keeps Fix’s world alive for some time to come. If you like Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, or Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant novels, you’ll want to dive into this one head first. Superb writing, fascinating characters, and a haunted London steeped in history make these books a must! Very highly recommended.
April 9, 2011
I don't remember speaking very good things about this series when I first started it. In fact, I remember being very nasty about its Hellblazer overtones to Toz (who was the learned individual who put me on Castor's scent in the first place) around 20 pages into the first book. However, it seems that I have grown to like what Carey has done for Hellblazer (who is he kidding with that Castor business? This is Constantine to the core) despite what misgivings I may have on his writing style and the fact that every book in the series must recount, at great (and, really, unnecessary) length, on the events of the previous novels.
And I'm not going to lie when I say that I love love love the fact that Carey's not afraid to throw all sorts of shitstorms on this Castor bloke and he doesn't manage to get laid every other chapter. He pays attention to, you know, that rare and unusual concept most authors have trouble grasping (being so engrossed in the titillating mental visions of their characters having sex every which where) -- that of plot. Because the plot--no, really, dig your way out from the mass paperback literature of the whole thing and you'll find it--is really, really something else. Carey makes the whole 'coming back from the dead' thing plausible and almost scientific in its workings. Even though the antagonists are 90% shallow facade and you'd never shake the protagonists by hand, the (for lack of a better word) lore and the background detail given makes this series a truly enjoyable experience.
I'll just go and finish off the second book so I can make a notch in my belt for this series.
And I'm not going to lie when I say that I love love love the fact that Carey's not afraid to throw all sorts of shitstorms on this Castor bloke and he doesn't manage to get laid every other chapter. He pays attention to, you know, that rare and unusual concept most authors have trouble grasping (being so engrossed in the titillating mental visions of their characters having sex every which where) -- that of plot. Because the plot--no, really, dig your way out from the mass paperback literature of the whole thing and you'll find it--is really, really something else. Carey makes the whole 'coming back from the dead' thing plausible and almost scientific in its workings. Even though the antagonists are 90% shallow facade and you'd never shake the protagonists by hand, the (for lack of a better word) lore and the background detail given makes this series a truly enjoyable experience.
I'll just go and finish off the second book so I can make a notch in my belt for this series.
September 4, 2011
Another awesome book in the Felix Castor series. The only thing I didn't enjoy about the ending was Castor and Pax getting lovey-dovey. Yeah, they went through a lot together, but he was saying how he couldn't look at her and think about how much he hated the Anathemata. I guess maybe he gained respect for her because despite having a broken arm she came back to help. And she went with him into Asmodeus' lair. I dunno. It would have been better had they met for a pint, rather than her slipping her hand into his and resting her head on his shoulder.
Oh! And what was with all the weird stuff happening? The change in the air in the city, the zombies being afraid of "things" coming to get them and I remember reading something about a white wormy thing. Was all that because Asmodeus was working to get himself free of Rafi? Hm.
Oh! And what was with all the weird stuff happening? The change in the air in the city, the zombies being afraid of "things" coming to get them and I remember reading something about a white wormy thing. Was all that because Asmodeus was working to get himself free of Rafi? Hm.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2016
I had put off reading this book as there aren't anymore in the series and not knowing if anything was resolved, I decided to wait. Having said that, This book was added this in 2010 and six years later, there's still no more Felix. So as part of my resolution to clear older books off my tbr list, I went ahead and read it and I'm so glad I did.
This book was less dark and foreboding than the previous books, but not by much. Felix is his usual dour self interspersed with moments of inappropriate humour which is one of the reasons I love this series. The story does resolve satisfactorily and a little messily, despite it not being the 'official' end of the series, it does the job.
This book was less dark and foreboding than the previous books, but not by much. Felix is his usual dour self interspersed with moments of inappropriate humour which is one of the reasons I love this series. The story does resolve satisfactorily and a little messily, despite it not being the 'official' end of the series, it does the job.
January 9, 2015
All the big powers Castor has been tangling with, including demons, demon-hunters and demonic demon-studying scientists, come together in this thrilling, but sometimes overly breathless novel. Carey's habit of hiding key elements of Castor's hand to make the resolution(s) more exciting palls a bit; a lot of the time I just wasn't sure why Castor was running about and doing the things he was doing. Still, a suitable exciting playing-out of the most high-stakes volume in the series. Since there's no word on when the next installment is due, that last scene works well as a (hopefully temporary) farewell to Castor.
March 6, 2022
An underwhelming ending to what was a serviceable occult detective series. After being built up as the big bad for the entirety of the series what gets Azazel are shotgun beads of glass?
While I appreciate the symbolism there is just no set-up mechanically to explain how that could possibly work and feels completely undeserved. Just read the 4 first books and end up with a nice world, good characters and some nice mysteries and fights YET to come.
While I appreciate the symbolism there is just no set-up mechanically to explain how that could possibly work and feels completely undeserved. Just read the 4 first books and end up with a nice world, good characters and some nice mysteries and fights YET to come.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2016
I read slowly to make the last book last as long as possible. *sigh* It came to an end too soon anyway.
I loved this entire series, the last book left some questions hanging for me. But I suspect they were meant to be. :) All in all, a great read.
This will become a set I read every few years. Thank you Mr. Carey.
I loved this entire series, the last book left some questions hanging for me. But I suspect they were meant to be. :) All in all, a great read.
This will become a set I read every few years. Thank you Mr. Carey.
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