The Erstwhile

March 15, 2017
Set in a startling and strange 1924, Catling's wildly imaginative second novel in a trilogy sets the stage for a showdown of epic proportions. The Vorrh, an ancient, sentient forest in the heart of Africa, rumored to be the home of Eden, is steeling itself for a great threat. In London and rural England, degenerate remnants of the angels once tasked to protect Eden are reanimating and showing mysterious powers, drawing the interest of the emergent Nazis in Germany. In Essenwald, the European colony that came to great wealth harvesting timber from the Vorrh, leaders are frantic to locate their zombie-like workforce, the Limboia, who disappeared into the Vorrh without a trace; and a child, seemingly born of the forest, exhibits startling behaviors. The large cast of characters and intricate story lines slow the pace of the story, but the action sequences and drama are filled with descriptive and vivid violence. Catling combines fantasy, history, mythology, and the supernatural to create a menacing and dreamlike novel that is disturbing, immersive, and, ultimately, entertaining.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)