Wormwood

by G. P. Taylor

Hardcover, 2004

Status

Available

Call number

TAYLOR

Genres

Publication

Charisma Media (2004), 272 pages

Description

In 1756, as a deadly comet hurtles toward London, Dr. Sabian Blake and his fourteen-year-old housemaid, Agetta, struggle against dark forces that seek an ancient, powerful book in Blake's possession that would enable them to carry out an evil plan in which Agetta unknowingly plays a pivotal role.

User reviews

LibraryThing member luvdancr

this book kind of dragged on for me, but it was interesting to some extent...It helps to know the symbolism of such things such as where wormwood comes from.

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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend

An interesting fantasy set in London of 1756 and a near earth collision with a comet. Featuring magic and several groups of people with a variety of motives.

A better read for me than Shadowmancer.

LibraryThing member P_S_Patrick

I had this book on my shelf for quite a while before reading it. Once it was started though, I remember being firmly stuck in it until it was finished. While it is aimed at a young adults, the story is darker, the plot better, and the writing finer than in the other books popular with this

audience, that I have read. I found the locales and characters, and events all quite immersing and more believable and convincing that those in Harry Potter or His Dark Materials. The atmosphere of the time is created with such flair that you get great mental images of the scenes as you go through the book. If I were to pick something that would improve the book, I would say that it should be twice as long, so that all the characters could be developed. But this would perhaps have made it more laborious to read for some, and taken away the pace from the great storyline. While I have been through thousands of pages since I read this book, I am actually really looking forward to getting into the sequel, Tersias, which I have on my shelf at the moment.

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LibraryThing member aadyer

Great fun in an unusual setting of mid eighteen century London. Great plotting, some weak characters but the moral ambiguity is a welcome change. Good twists and turns and fun throughout. Flabby in some sections, some editing would be helpful but overall recommended

LibraryThing member Chris.Graham

I found this story to be hard going.

LibraryThing member andreablythe

I've had Wormwood sitting on my bookshelf for years. I'm not entirely sure when or why I originally grabbed it, except that it implied magic. There was magic, as well as comets and demons and angels. The book had some potential. The writing wasn't bad and there were some interesting idea, but it

ultimately fell flat for me.

The details to the world building seemed a little off. It didn't quite seem like 1756 London. Parts of it felt too modern, like some of the dialog. Other parts made it feel like and alternate version of London, rather than historical.

I also couldn't get a handle on the characters, on why they did what they did. Their motivations weren't clear and I didn't really like any of them. Agetta was the only one I could almost sympathize with, but even with her, I was confused to the point of not knowing how old she really was. Sometimes I though she was around 18, other times she seemed around 12. And her personality seemed to flip flop quite a bit, so her growth seems convenient to the story rather than natural.

Ultimately, not for me.

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