Review | Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Source: personal purchase. This is a review of my personal reading experience.

Camp Damascus is a horror novel by Chuck Tingle.

A searing and earnest horror debut about the demons the queer community faces in America, the price of keeping secrets, and finding the courage to burn it all down.

They’ll scare you straight to hell.

Welcome to Neverton, Montana: home to a God-fearing community with a heart of gold.

Nestled high up in the mountains is Camp Damascus, the self-proclaimed “most effective” gay conversion camp in the country. Here, a life free from sin awaits. But the secret behind that success is anything but holy.

I was not planning to get a review out this week because life is peak hectic, but I have got to get my thoughts out about Camp Damascus.

Camp Damascus was not at all what I was expecting. Based on the synopsis and the cover and what I thought I knew about Chuck Tingle's work, I expected something entirely different. I expected the pain I felt in James Newman's Odd Man Out but amplified in this book about a gay conversion camp. I expected it to be violent and gory and it wasn't any of these things.

Camp Damascus subverted a lot of things for me, and I absolutely loved it. I loved the main character. I loved the representation. I loved the way religion was handled. There was humor and it was scary and the pacing was perfect.

I hope we are gifted with more Chuck Tingle horror in the future because I will be first in line to read it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/5 stars

 

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Book Review | The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.

Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.

One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will.

After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.

No spoilers below for the the Mistborn series - just love.

The Alloy of Law is the fourth book in Sanderson's Mistborn series, but it's the first book of Mistborn era 2. In other words - the original Mistborn trilogy is era 1 and era 2 takes place 300 years after the original trilogy.

The final book in Mistborn era 2 comes out in November. I took long breaks between the first three Mistborn books (read them 2018-2020) so I wasn't sure I would be able to (or want to) catch up to book #7 by November. It turns out The Alloy of Law is so shallow compared to the original trilogy! I don't mean this in a bad way. The original trilogy was so deeply layered with worldbuilding and character development and magic - and The Allow of Law is just a fun read set in the same universe.

I had no idea how a western was going to work in the Mistborn world. Now I feel like an idiot. It's obvious now how fun gunslinging would be with Sanderson's magic system. The Alloy of Law reads like a steampunk superhero book without a lot of surprises, but I enjoyed it. I definitely want to read Shadows of Self in September and The Bands of Mourning in October to get ready for the era 2 finale. Nothing beats a Sanderson ending!

If you've never read Sanderson and you've made it this far - hey - the Mistborn series is a great place to start. Book 1 is The Final Empire - usually just referred to as "Mistborn". It's a very accessible trilogy and will absolutely build your trust in Sanderson's ability to tell - and finish! - a story. I've heard Warbreaker is another great place to start with Sanderson as it's an accessible standalone.

So what is Mistborn all about? The original idea was "What if the Dark Lord won? What would that world look like?" The first era is one of my favorite series of all time. A lot of people say they like era 2 even more. I'm still sceptical, but I'm excited to finally be reading it now! It's great to be back in this world.

4/5 stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐★

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Book Review | The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

The Eye of the World is the first book in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, and Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

I spent the last month reading this huge novel of epic fantasy. Even though the Wheel of Time series has been on my wishlist for the last almost 20 years, I don't know much about Robert Jordan or the background of this series. I plan to read the Tor.com series of articles (I've read the first few) and listen to the White Tower Pod podcast to gain more insight, but I decided to wait until after writing up my review.

My initial impression with The Eye of the World was it was extremely derivative of The Lord of the Rings. The first or second Tor article said Jordan did this on purpose to evoke the feeling of The Lord of the Rings. For me, it was beyond evoking a feeling. It was pretty much a rip off a LOTR, but I tried not to worry about it too much. The Wheel of Time series is HUGE. It can only be carried by LOTR so far. The amount of material taken from LOTR, however, did distract me heavily. I didn't start connecting with The Eye of the World until I was at least halfway through the book. (And it's 700 pages.)

I'm looking forward to becoming fully invested in the story. There were some great moments in The Eye of the World, but I don't think I'm there yet. I've already ordered book two, though, and I plan to continue with that one this month. I have a lot of hope for the series, and I'm happy to not only finally be reading it but happy to be reading it before the TV series is released, too. It was time!

I'm not recommending the series to anyone yet, but I'm anxious to see where the series goes. I'm also anxious to find out more about Robert Jordan and why he relied so heavily on existing fantasy tropes. If you have any spoiler free resources for The Wheel of Time series, please feel free to share!

⭐⭐⭐★★

January 19 | Currently Reading

I'm posting my update late this week; it was a really hectic weekend.

Books Read Last Week(s)

I've been in such a reading slump! The only book I finished since my last update was Truthwitch by Susan Dennard.

I'm glad I didn't know how hyped this book was going into it; my expectations would have been too high. I read Truthwitch based on the book description, and it was probably the promised friendship of the witches that appealed to me the most.

There were a lot of "witches" in this book. Truthwitch, Bloodwitch, Threadwitch, Wordwitch, Earthwitch, Soilwitch, Firewitch, Airwitch, Voicewitch, Tidewitch, Windwitch, Voidwitch, Poisonwitch, Cursewitch, Glamourwitch... There were so many of them I was kind of "so what" about all of them.

Truthwitch was a fun book, though. There was a lot of action, and I was never bored. I will probably pick up the sequel, but I don't think I'll be suggesting the series to anyone else just yet.

6/10: Good Read

Books Currently Reading

I started reading Best of Apex Magazine edited by Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner.

The first story in the anthology (Jackalope Wives by Ursula Vernon) was AMAZING, but I started bouncing off the other stories so I'm stepping back a bit to give each story the proper attention.

I'm also reading the first Hap and Leonard book Savage Season by Joe R. Lansdale.

Savage Season is helping to bring me out of my reading slump.

What about you? What are you reading this week? Be sure to let me know in the comments or leave me a link!

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This post is being shared as part of Book Date's It's Monday! What Are You Reading?