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The Ghosts Of Heaven (2000)

by Marcus Sedgwick(Favorite Author)

3.87 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1626721254 (ISBN13: 9781626721258)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

review 1: I loved the Fourth Quarter and would have enjoyed it as an entire book, but none of the other three Quarters had quite the same impact on me. The First Quarter was just kind of miserable and depressing. The Second Quarter never really dug in to the townspeople's motivations very deeply--mob mentality is all well enough, but why exactly were they willing to follow a preacher who had only arrived a couple of days before? The Third Quarter felt like it was trying to cram too much story and too many characters into too few pages. The Fourth Quarter, which I liked the most, also suffered from its short length, though its focus on a single character allowed more space for that character to develop. It just felt, overall, that any one of these four parts (except maybe the first) ... morecould and should have been a novel in itself in order to more thoroughly explore character and motivation. (Archetypes, which most of these characters were and never rose above, are not that interesting to read about.) Unfortunately, the unifying theme of spirals wasn't enough to elevate the whole above the sum of its parts.
review 2: A remarkable quartet of interconnecting stories using the device of the spiral as a symbol of duality and eternity, a symbol of life and death and infinite possibilities. The stories cover the immense yet infinitesimal story of the human race from early cave-dwellers to intergalactic travelers, connected by a series of events along the twisting course of history. Like Sedgwick’s Printz-winning collection of interwoven lunar tales, Midwinterblood, the author’s many talents as storyteller, historian, poet, and philosopher shine throughout. It could be argued that this isn’t a YA book per se but appeals to a broad range of readers, and the content is not unsuitable for teens age 12 and older, although the complexity of the narrative may be a hurdle to younger readers. I was completely drawn in by the tension and terror and can’t wait to read more of the author’s forthcoming titles. less

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