Kristen Hahn | Review of Avernus Gate
I have the great privilege of being Charles Marriott's friend, bookseller, and early reader of the Avernus Gate series. We have had an ongoing conversation for over fifteen years, and in that time I have observed that when he picks up an idea, he turns it around; he tries to figure out how it works, and if it could work in a different way, what it takes to break it, and how it fits with other ideas. We have talked broadly on what motivates people — nature vs. nurture, hierarchy of needs, and the challenges of communication between the sexes. There is nothing in his writing that does not deserve exploration, and he approaches all topics with a quickness and playfulness I admire.
Charles takes deep dives into history, and has amassed a veritable PhD's worth of research. Specifically his interest focuses on nothing less than the History of Knowledge itself. Whether meditating on the lost manuscripts at the Library of Alexandria, or puzzling over the journey of Peter Pond in his quest to explore and map the Canadian northwest, Charles applies his curiosity and perspicacity to everything he reads, and he asks: "Why?" and, "What don't we know?" and, "What if?"
These questions play out in his fiction. He seeds the terrain of his novels with authentic historical mysteries, allowing them to root and slowly flourish over the fifteen volumes of the series. Then he populates this landscape with conspiracies, murder, action, sex, and the most extraordinary — almost mythic — characters; each with dizzying narrative arcs, epic back-stories, and larger-than-life personalities. The reader is propelled through the series as they would be through an extended work of high-grossing commercial fiction . . . fiction with a hell of a lot of substance!
As a bookseller I would shelve his books between Umberto Eco and Edward Rutherford. It's a series that I'd proudly and without hesitation put in the hands of someone who has been disappointed with Wilbur Smith and Dan Brown. In an age of increasingly short attention spans, Charles rewards the reader's patience with an unforgettable vision of the distant past and a compelling glimpse of a shadowy present. It's "sticky." You don't easily shake off his world or the people in it and I, for one, look forward to recommending it to my friends and customers sometime very soon.
The series is a tapestry of character development and conflict, interwoven with in-depth dialogue about the commercial, exploration and geopolitical dimensions of the development of western North America in the late 1700's and early 1800's.
It is also a romance featuring two principal characters, Malory and Kari. The romance unfolds in ways that are both subtle and fun, while teasers provide snippets of their intriguing backstories.
Don Strange | Review of Eternity's Sunrise
These novels are a great read. I cannot imagine fiction written at a higher intellectual level. All the principal characters can converse about history, philosophy, religion, literature, mathematics, Latin/Greek etc. with ease. The weaving of the multiple threads of analysis of the border history is brilliant. How often does one read a novel and learn so much? Not often.
