“Planet
Purgatory” by Benedict Martin
Purgatory” by Benedict Martin
“Planet
Purgatory” by Benedict Martin is filled with colorful characters that leap off
the page even when you wish they wouldn’t. Chief protagonist David Eno is a
character I alternately hated and loved. Sometimes I found him so frustrating I
wanted to scream at him. At other times I wanted to put my arms around him. In
a story rife with aliens, zombies, witches, demons, and things I’d never heard
of, Martin manages to give his characters defined personalities. Making these
characters even more interesting are the drawings scattered throughout the book
giving them even more substance. David and his dog Rosie are revenants, they’d
died and been revived by the SYS. SYS has also provided David with a powerful
weapon, a gun. It’s an interesting accoutrement for a farmer. David is a very
special kind of farmer; willing to go farther out into the fields to grow his
crops. His most important crop is the sugar beet. It is from this plant that he
makes “chikka”, an alcoholic type drink that he himself is addicted to along
with his constant smoking of cigarettes. There is a family secret that neither
David nor his parents want to acknowledge but it causes tension within the
family. Stranger still, David has decided they are living in Purgatory. Events
take place that cause David to set out on a long and potentially dangerous
journey to seek help for Harkness. It’s on the journey he undertakes with
faithful Rosie at his side that we meet an assortment of enthralling characters,
some helpful and some deadly. This is a brilliant story that kept me up reading
until the very end. Moments of horror are countered with moments of tenderness,
skillfully weaving a story that I highly recommend.
Purgatory” by Benedict Martin is filled with colorful characters that leap off
the page even when you wish they wouldn’t. Chief protagonist David Eno is a
character I alternately hated and loved. Sometimes I found him so frustrating I
wanted to scream at him. At other times I wanted to put my arms around him. In
a story rife with aliens, zombies, witches, demons, and things I’d never heard
of, Martin manages to give his characters defined personalities. Making these
characters even more interesting are the drawings scattered throughout the book
giving them even more substance. David and his dog Rosie are revenants, they’d
died and been revived by the SYS. SYS has also provided David with a powerful
weapon, a gun. It’s an interesting accoutrement for a farmer. David is a very
special kind of farmer; willing to go farther out into the fields to grow his
crops. His most important crop is the sugar beet. It is from this plant that he
makes “chikka”, an alcoholic type drink that he himself is addicted to along
with his constant smoking of cigarettes. There is a family secret that neither
David nor his parents want to acknowledge but it causes tension within the
family. Stranger still, David has decided they are living in Purgatory. Events
take place that cause David to set out on a long and potentially dangerous
journey to seek help for Harkness. It’s on the journey he undertakes with
faithful Rosie at his side that we meet an assortment of enthralling characters,
some helpful and some deadly. This is a brilliant story that kept me up reading
until the very end. Moments of horror are countered with moments of tenderness,
skillfully weaving a story that I highly recommend.
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