When I first read a description of Barlough's Western Light's series many years ago I YEARNED to read them: a community, stuck in the beloved Victorian era, clinging to the edge of a hostile continent after a largely undetermined cataclysm called the Sundering destroyed the rest of the world.
Europe, Asia, Africa, South America - all gone: all that remains is a strip of fairly sparsely inhabited land in North America, New England perhaps? Catholicism, Romance Languages, racial diversity, even rational scientific enquiry, all gone with the continents drowned by the asteroid storm or whatever stopped history so abruptly at some unspecified time in the early 19th century.
Most of the action takes place in a comfortable Dickension millieu, with coachmen and inns and snow and dozens of faitful retainers with cheery red cheeks serving substantial meals and spoiling the cat. Stone walls, mullioned windows, cornices, chimneys, turrets and steeply gabled roofs dominate town while in the wild and dangerous countryside, rural gentry enjoy stately homes, hunts, hunt balls and roaring fires. It's all delightfully true to the upper middle class Victorian ideal.
The height of progress is the fact that travel by mammoth is being phased out, despite the ever-present danger of attacks by sabre toothed tigers as soon as the cities are behind one, and a mammoth team is being repossessed by a cruel miser and money lender who is in many ways the unwitting dupe of the real villain, an Etruscan immortal with evil designs.
Slow-moving and with a host of characters which include a learned scholar, his niece and her governess, and his secretary; the doctor - something of an amiable buffoon, a corrupt and obese lawyer, his mute clerk, and pair of unmarried sisters, various landladies and their staff, not forgetting the rich young gentleman from the counrty who enjoys a huge mansion and a large staff, plus a couple of mysterious strangers, several enforcers [one with a soft heart] and the team of Mammmoth men. And the university professor and his admirable wife, the professor's excellent cook and his loyal man servant - plus various pets most notably the miser's dog [which becomes possessed by an evil entity] and a couple of beloved cats...
Enough. The point is there are three or more pages of Dramatis Personae at the start of the book - thank Heavens, because in the course of 500 off pages I had course to refer to the list frequently - and the plot consists of diverse threads in true Victorian style, all coming together [sort of] at the end.
It should have been grand, a wonderful, cosy, comfortable read: the concept is entrancing, a beguiling as a roast chicken dinner on a cold day. The execution not so much. I hesitate to say it but I was bored. I ordered the first three volumes of the series through ABE books, a somewhat costly exercise when paying with rands: however, were it not for the fact they are bought, paid for and beside my bed, I doubt I would bother to continue with the series. As it is, all I can do is pray that they improve or, to be fair, 'grow' on me. ( )

An excellent read! I picked this book up because it had mammoths pulling a carriage on the cover and I was not disappointed.
The style of this book is what sells it to me and it reads as if Charles Dickens wrote it. The style was so authentic that I even forgave the supernatural plot elements. The ending seemed too tidy and abrupt, but the charm in this story was much more the journey than the view. ( )

I'm trying to pinpoint why I can't give this book 5 stars. I think it's a liteness that I usuallly despise in books. That's got to be it. It needs more horror. It needs more Cthulhu!

But thats focusing on the negative and there are many great things about this book. The most notable would be the characters. There's a large cast and Barlough masterfully distinguishes each with unique physical attributes, dress, mannerisms and speech patterns (and personalities of course). The victorian period speech and attitudes are always a joy and the inclusion of mastadons and sabertooth tigers was interesting. The overall plot was good, but as I've mentioned could have used a bit more doom.

Overall I'm very satisfied at having read this and look forward to picking up more of Mr. Barlough's books set in the same world (I was surprised to find that there were at least 4 others). ( )

http://www.wsfa.org/journal/j01/5/index.htm#br ( )

First, I would classify this book as science fiction more than anything else. Although it does indeed deal with the supernatural, it is set after a time called the Sundering, when a giant comet or asteroid or something put an end to the normal geography of the earth and killed off most of its inhabitants except for the little corner of the world wherein the story occurs. Second, if you want a fast-food, give it to me now story, DO NOT pick up this book. The first part, in which the characters are introduced & the first series of weird events take place, is very slow, and after having finished, I can totally see why. But if you are NOT a patient reader, and if you don't like the sort of Victorian feel in a tale, this book is NOT for you. Third, I totally LOVED this book!

brief plot summary, no spoilers:

In the vicinity of Salthead, life goes on, complete with the normal characters you might find in any sort of Victorian/Dickensian-type story...the crusty miser who sits around thinking of ways to make people miserable; the venerable professor, who is raising his niece to be a finely-educated young woman with the help of her governess; the publicans at the inns where the townfolk gather for ale & socializing, yada yada yada. It is a place where mastodons are used for travel, and one might see the occasional megathere or saber-tooth cat. However, what is not normal is the appearance of a sailor, drowned long ago after he set sail to forget the love of his life or the little boy with the red hair whose face melts, or the appearance of said sailor's ship out of nowhere moored at the town's docks. Titus Tiggs, the above-mentioned professor, hears about these weird things and after a while, finds that there is someone who might hold the key to the mysterious happenings. So off he and a party of friends go to talk with this friend, where they learn just what's going on. Now they must take action, because things could most easily go from bad to worse. Set in three parts, the first part covers the intro to the characters, the place, and the supernatural events plaguing the townspeople; part two is the discovery of what is causing these things, and part three of course is the denouement.

This is just a nutshell overview and doesn't begin to cover the breadth of this amazing story. My advice to readers who are interested in the book: BE PATIENT!!! Everything in the beginning (which may be a little slow for many readers) has a reason for being there. If you are just patient, you will definitely be rewarded with a wonderful tale. Now it's on to the second book! ( )