My first forays into the tomes of independent scribes have been met with mixed results. That's not to say that my willingness to explore the genre is not there, but I'm far more reluctant than I had been before to pick up what independent's has to offer. In terms of R. Scott Whitley's contribution to the genre, The Gathering, I came to this novel by way of Cathy Beasley. During the funding process for her film project, The Scapegoat, on Kickstarter, Mr. Whitley claimed he would donate, as long as he could get five people to read his book, and give an honest review. Being one to not back down from challenges, especially when they involved free books, I took to the task, setting aside expectations, to help out a friend and an author.
Whitley, a North Carolina native, published his first novel, The Gathering back in December. As I dove into this novel, at first, admittedly, I wasn't totally impressed. It began with a stunning prologue; a piece of dialogue between a pregnant woman, Maddie, and her baby's daddy, Charlie. It's mysterious nature; throwing out terms like "The Society of Six," and the mysterious salt shaker that moved on it's own; creating the reader's first view into this world is compelling and aloof, really just enough to bring the reader in.
Segue into the first chapter and we're transported "several years later" where foster child Brenna Morgan has a rough go of things. The subsequent first few chapters kind of hinder the novel a little, making for a slow go. However, we all may remember a novel called The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; let's just say that the first 80 or so pages were lackluster, but developed into a sprawling novel. In this novel's genesis, especially in those first few chapters, Whitley paints a picture of foster life that is altogether genuine and frightening. We also get a glimpse into what is known as Aeternus; powers granted to select bloodlines, giving the possessor the ability to stop time for a few moments, as well as a lot of other cool stuff that I don't want to spoil for you.
From there, Whitley does a fantastic job, establishing a mythology that dates back thousands of years through different dimensions and reincarnation. Another great strength of Whitley here is how this world unfolds before the reader; the ability to experience a world as a character does is what makes genres like fantasy all the more intriguing, if executed right. Whitley executes here, like a boss, setting up for an incredible reveal that mislead you from the prologue!
This is an incredible debut from an author, who according to his blurb, has novels "that are too crazy to share with the world." While we know the second installment of The Aeternus Schemata, titled The Winnowing will drop this summer, I hope we get to see some of these other "crazy" novels in the future, because most of all, The Gathering is the beginning of another literary great.
Book Rating:
Stray Observations (AKA Spoilers)
I like how Aeternus, at least for Brenna's strength, is almost like those Matrix moves that everyone in cinema copies, except that Whitley does a hell of a lot more with it.
If you don't feel sad for Brenna at the end of this thing, you're not human; In a way, if cloning does happen some day, Scott captured what a human clone could very well feel like, especially not having a parent, especially if that one person who contributed to your DNA denies your parentage.
The epilogue sets you up for how big and expanding the concept can and invariably will become, and is a great complement to the intriguing prologue.
There were a few times in this book where I wanted to slap Brenna in the face and say "just listen!"
The name, Ellen Mathison is said way too much in this book, perhaps in future volumes that could be toned down a little.
Marc being The Mark was stunning as all hell, it came out of nowhere and that prologue and first chapter had you mislead the whole time, so brilliant!
Whitley writes adolescence really well here, thought at times the characters seem a little a head of their time, such as Brenna & Carlin's driving towards the end of the book.
