Review: Paternus by Dyrk Ashton

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Paternus is like watching an Indiana Jones film, (think the Last Crusade, not that Crystal Skull shit), combined with an early/mid-series Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode. The lore is relentlessly intriguing, and the protagonists easily rope you into exciting adventures of mammoth scale.

New Paternus cover
Sexy & ominous!

Info dumps are fun!

The book does have its info-dump moments, and I mention that only because that may not interest some readers, but I loved them. If someone just wants a book that’s one big hack and slash action scene, full of mind-numbing jokes and trivial characters, this isn’t your book. Like I alluded to above, think of the scenes where Indy would be discussing and researching the lore of the Holy Grail, or in the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings when Gandalf or someone would be pouring over maps and discussing the history of the Elves, Erebor, dragons, etc. That, like Ashton’s mythology, is engaging, interesting, and relevant.

The relationships are a fricking hoot. The sexual tension, but also, respect, between Fi and Zeke, made for fun scenes wherever they interacted, which was a fair amount. The dynamic between Fi and Edgar, reminded me a lot of the relationship between Buffy and Giles.

The overall flow of the book is immensely satisfying. It follows closely to the golden ratio, and has a general flow of inform -> build mystery -> inform -> build mystery -> inform -> build mystery -> actionactionactionactionactionactionactionaction, and then wraps up with a nice big bow and a cliffhanger that sets you up for the next book, sucka!

– Jeramy

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