Official Review: Descending Gods by Richard Lloyd Spanier
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Official Review: Descending Gods by Richard Lloyd Spanier
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Descending Gods" by Richard Lloyd Spanier.]
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Descending Gods is separated into four stories, all revolving around Errol Stein. Errols experiences through out the book all revolve around Death or near death experiences.
The first story, Interloper, starts off in 1971 Chalfont, Pennsylvania with Errol Stein dying in the hospital, describing his soul waiting to be reborn. It then flashbacks to explain how Errol was on a tractor and thought to show off to his wife, instead Errol hits the sign post causing the sign itself to fall far enough to knock him off his tractor. The story then jumps back to the scene in the hospital where Errol surprisingly awakens and the his soul puts itself back to rest to await its next jump to another life.
Bloody Hell on the Steps of El Castillo, the second story of the book, implying its been several years later, where he, his wife and son, Wanda and Max, on a vacation in Akumal. Errol drinks an alcoholic beverage called a descending god then later sits on the beach to watch the stars. He hears Ah Mucen Cab, a deity of the Mayans, demand the blood of his son. Errols declines. The family then goes to Talum to check out the temples where Max falls down the steps breaking his arm and bleeding quite a bit. The kid lives and Errol was later told that the god that had talked to him wanted only a little blood and had caused to accident.
The third story, Javelina, switches to a first person point of view, stating that Errol and his family recently moved to Tucson and within three weeks of moving there, he first sees Javelina. Eight of them. He goes on to complain about them on how they destroy things and that a javelina is a boar looking creature that's more like a rodent with very aggressive behavior. Errol then goes on to tell the reader that on a storming night, his wife awakens him to check out the backyard. Errol discovers that a javelina had fallen into the pool and was on the verge of drowning. He sees the terror in the poor beasts eyes and dives in to save it, even going so far as to give it 'mouth to snout.' Hes saves its life and in return it knocks him out and tries to kill him. His friend Bud tells him when he awoke that he had to shoot it. Later on on a camping trip Bud is feeding Errol stew Bud asks Errol if he knows what it is. Errol replies that yeah he knows that's its Javelina stew and it tastes like heaven.
The fourth and final story, In the Days Before Rock and Roll, Errol talks to his wife about how he wants his memorial when he dies. He explains on hows he sixty-five and not getting out alive. He keeps complaining to his wife that on his short wave radio Smokestack Lightning keeps playing, only its being played by Elvis, Muddy Waters and several other Great musicians from the past. Basically Errol and Wanda go on to talk about his short wave the probabilities that He is hearing some radio station or ghosts from the past. It fast forwards to Errol standing on a beach alone, his wife had passed away and he is staring at a boat. The people aboard tells him to come aboard while the passengers are Musicians blasting Smokestack Lightning and his wife is sitting on a lawn chair beckoning him with a drink in her hand.
This book was hard to stay focused on reading due to its tendency to over describe on small details. The writer tended to explain small details so much that the plot was often lost for the majority of all four of the stories. Quite often I found myself having to reread the story to where the plot ran off and skipping the descriptive paragraphs. I rate this a 2 out of 4 stars. Though, I do not recommend reading this book.
***
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The first story, Interloper, starts off in 1971 Chalfont, Pennsylvania with Errol Stein dying in the hospital, describing his soul waiting to be reborn. It then flashbacks to explain how Errol was on a tractor and thought to show off to his wife, instead Errol hits the sign post causing the sign itself to fall far enough to knock him off his tractor. The story then jumps back to the scene in the hospital where Errol surprisingly awakens and the his soul puts itself back to rest to await its next jump to another life.
Bloody Hell on the Steps of El Castillo, the second story of the book, implying its been several years later, where he, his wife and son, Wanda and Max, on a vacation in Akumal. Errol drinks an alcoholic beverage called a descending god then later sits on the beach to watch the stars. He hears Ah Mucen Cab, a deity of the Mayans, demand the blood of his son. Errols declines. The family then goes to Talum to check out the temples where Max falls down the steps breaking his arm and bleeding quite a bit. The kid lives and Errol was later told that the god that had talked to him wanted only a little blood and had caused to accident.
The third story, Javelina, switches to a first person point of view, stating that Errol and his family recently moved to Tucson and within three weeks of moving there, he first sees Javelina. Eight of them. He goes on to complain about them on how they destroy things and that a javelina is a boar looking creature that's more like a rodent with very aggressive behavior. Errol then goes on to tell the reader that on a storming night, his wife awakens him to check out the backyard. Errol discovers that a javelina had fallen into the pool and was on the verge of drowning. He sees the terror in the poor beasts eyes and dives in to save it, even going so far as to give it 'mouth to snout.' Hes saves its life and in return it knocks him out and tries to kill him. His friend Bud tells him when he awoke that he had to shoot it. Later on on a camping trip Bud is feeding Errol stew Bud asks Errol if he knows what it is. Errol replies that yeah he knows that's its Javelina stew and it tastes like heaven.
The fourth and final story, In the Days Before Rock and Roll, Errol talks to his wife about how he wants his memorial when he dies. He explains on hows he sixty-five and not getting out alive. He keeps complaining to his wife that on his short wave radio Smokestack Lightning keeps playing, only its being played by Elvis, Muddy Waters and several other Great musicians from the past. Basically Errol and Wanda go on to talk about his short wave the probabilities that He is hearing some radio station or ghosts from the past. It fast forwards to Errol standing on a beach alone, his wife had passed away and he is staring at a boat. The people aboard tells him to come aboard while the passengers are Musicians blasting Smokestack Lightning and his wife is sitting on a lawn chair beckoning him with a drink in her hand.
This book was hard to stay focused on reading due to its tendency to over describe on small details. The writer tended to explain small details so much that the plot was often lost for the majority of all four of the stories. Quite often I found myself having to reread the story to where the plot ran off and skipping the descriptive paragraphs. I rate this a 2 out of 4 stars. Though, I do not recommend reading this book.
***
Buy "Descending Gods" on Amazon
Buy "Descending Gods" on Barnes and Noble
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Latest Review: "Gilded Feathers (book 1 in Gilded Feathers series)" by J. Woods
