Tuesday, June 25, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy/Horror Book Review: The Invasion by Peadar O'Guilin




The Invasion is the sequel to Peadar O'Guilin's Fae Horror Story, "The Call."  As I mentioned in my review of The Call, I am not normally a horror fan, but The Call was absolutely chilling and compelling, so there was no doubt I was going to read the sequel.  And with The Invasion being nominated for the Lodestar Award (essentially the Hugo for Best Young Adult Novel), I was definitely getting to this book sooner rather than later.

The Invasion is alas, not nearly up to the level of The Call, though it's still a very solid novel.  The plotline is a natural extension of what happened at the end of The Call, and the characters remain strong, and the book definitely takes some surprising but satisfying twists and turns along the way.  But the psychological and existential dread of the first book isn't quite there in The Invasion, and despite still being a rather short book (if longer than the first book), there does feel at times like the story is dragging a bit.  Overall, it's still a solid read, but it just doesn't hit the incredible levels set by the original novel.

Note:  For those tempted to start this series with "The Invasion" because of its nomination for the Lodestar Award, don't - this story blatantly spoils The Call and at the same time really requires prior knowledge for the characters and plot to work.
------------------------------------------------Plot Summary---------------------------------------------------
Having survived her Call, Nessa simply wishes to live a life together in peace with Anto.  But alas, the reunion is not to be: for when Nessa's bus ride is interrupted by police, the police arrest Nessa as a traitor to the Nation, sure that the only way she could have survived was to have made a bargain with the Sidhe.  And after the traitors were revealed in the attack at Boyle Survival College, the nation is on a witch hunt for traitors and is firmly devoting to interrogating them for all they know....and then casting them back into the Grey Land for eternity.

Anto's merely left waiting for Nessa when he himself is grabbed from his life and sent to work for the government military in facing down what seems to be a growing invasion force, as the Sidhe and their monsters seem to somehow be appearing more and more often in Ireland itself.  But when he hears of Nessa's imprisonment and the fact that she is to be sent to the Grey Land, he refuses to go along and decides to search for her....but as he learns more and more about the situation on Ireland, how can he help but feel as if the government was right, and that Nessa really was a traitor?

Torn apart once again, Nessa and Anto will both have to fight for their lives.....for despite the distrust shown of them by others, the fate of the Nation may lie in their hands.  But even if they survive, will they ever truly be able to be together ever again?
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The Invasion, unlike The Call, is for the most part split between two stories: Nessa's and Anto's.  Whereas the first book focused mainly on Nessa, with occasional side points of view to showcase what was happening in the horror-filled setting, this book alternates every few chapters between Nessa and Anto's points of view, with occasional other characters popping up for setting purposes (Aoife is the main example of this).  The result is perhaps a less intense and disturbing horror setting, although that comes with a pair of more streamlined narratives.

Nessa remains the same type of character she was in the first book, with her remaining mentally strong and refusing to give up, or to pretend to be something she's not at all costs.  Her new fight to first be believed and then to survive the Grey Land is compelling, although I'll admit I couldn't quite figure out why she never tries in this book to explain what happened with Conner in the first book here - which results in substantial problematic plot developments for her (although whether she'd have been believed is another question, it's weird she doesn't even try).  Still, she's a fabulous protagonist, who you can't help but hope will survive.

Anto didn't really get point of view chapters in the first book, but here he's elevated from love interest to full-on main character, and it works quite well as you see him struggle with his deformity from his Call and his need to try and rescue Nessa....and the toll it takes on him when he begins to have doubts about her.  Still, his one moment of weakness in this book didn't really work for me - it doesn't help that it involves another character who's kind of annoying at best and whose development didn't really work for me.  Speaking of those side characters, aside from that one person, the others work really well still, particularly the teachers and few remaining students from the first book - particularly Aoife, who is still trying to come to terms with her love's death.   That one side character though....ugh.

Anyhow the result is a plot where you'll see some aspect of one plot point fairly early on, although how that plot point developed did surprise me to my satisfaction, but one which is effective at telling a story that concludes the main conflict of this series quite admirably.  Still, the book takes a while for certain characters to get places the reader will know they're getting, and perhaps drags a little bit as a result - I wonder if the extra page length of this short novel compared to the last one was necessary, really.

I don't mean to sound way too down on The Invasion - it's a fine and satisfying conclusion to this duology, but it's just got a hell of a predecessor to live up to, and it can't come close to doing so.  If you were hoping for a book as intense and horror-filled as The Call, you'll be disappointed here.  But if you were hoping for more time with Nessa and the characters, and to see how everything concludes, I think you'll be satisfied though.
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