Book Review: The Madness of Pursuit
By Elizabeth Suggs
The Madness of Pursuit by Carmelo Rafala is a sci-fi/fantasy novella centered around a notorious badass pirate woman named Dema Ägan.
Dema's story is told from multiple perspectives, and I like this because it shows her character and the characters surrounding her, as complex, three-dimensional beings. There's love and betrayal; there's death and deceit—all packed together in a short, well-paced novella.
What I loved most of all, though, was Rafala's writing. I'm a sucker for sing-songy, almost poetic writing styles, and this story is chock-full of the stuff. There's so much imagery in a single sentence. I could read some of Rafala's lines a thousand times and not be bored.
But I didn't like the timelines of the story. We went backward, and I didn't think it was necessary. Why not start right at the beginning and go in chronological order?
Here are my two favorite quotes:
They crash against the rocks, disintegrate in a veil of white foam, run back out, and tumble in again.
That face returns to me out of the night—her face—to prick on my face and freeze my heart.
Read this if you want something quick and piratey!
Elizabeth Suggs is the owner and founder of Editing Mee and co-owner of Collective Tales Publishing. When she’s not writing or editing, she loves to dive deep into books (the weirder, the better!), and she loves to take random long walks to unplanned destinations. Check out her recently released book Collective Darkness with eleven other authors. Buy your copy here: www.CollectiveDarkness.com