Official Review: Tales From Kartli

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ritah
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Official Review: Tales From Kartli

Post by ritah »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Tales From Kartli" by Revaz-Giorgi Arveladze.]
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2 out of 4 stars
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Tales from Kartli is a mythical horror novel written by an aspiring, creative author and filmmaker from Georgia. The book entails different stories revolving around old folk tales and ancient myths of the country of Georgia.

The narrative’s nine enchanting stories are bound to leave readers encompassed with feelings of shock, humor, and all-around fear. My top three include 12th of August, a tale set in a world where mercenaries have been known to cause havoc by hunting down individuals requested by anyone who paid them. Another is A Martyr of the Serpent, which is an intriguing folktale about a merchant who amassed foreign antiques that bring forth both misfortune and pleasure. Unfortunately, those susceptible to the whims of the relic would quickly find themselves in a downward trajectory of evil and gloom. And finally, Chiakokonoba - an old tale depicting a ritual that was practiced by people to ward off evil spirits from children. The story follows Eldar and his two grandchildren as they go through terrifying moments battling demons that appear as nightmares but could be more real than imagined. The narrative vividly shows their fear and courage because, as it has been said, “The only time a man can be brave is when he is afraid.” The author brilliantly depicts this through this narrative.

The short stories written in this book accomplish what the author, Revaz-Giorgi Arveladze, set out to do, which was to immerse readers into Georgian mythology and tales in a hauntingly captivating manner. The elements of suspense were a great addition, as it helped build tension and fear of the impending dangers and horrors that awaited the characters.

The narrative also featured some amazing characters that were quite believable and interesting to follow. Some stories, however, were too short and left me in a sort of limbo when I had to move on to the next story, even though the previous one felt somewhat incomplete. A good example of this would be The Cycle; it had so little to work with and felt so limited unlike some of the other stories.

In the end, it seemed the book lacked overall flow because it was so difficult to align the tales from start to finish. This is because the author would sometimes include flashbacks of a particular story from a previous tale, but, at the same time, the tales didn’t seem to correlate. As a result, it was difficult to determine whether the tales were meant to be connected or random because others seemed connected while others did not.

I rate this book a 2 out of 4 stars. This is because the lack of flow throughout the narrative made me second-guess myself as to whether there should be a flow. Additionally, there were a number of grammatical errors throughout the book, such as the frequent misuse of tenses and verbs, which slowed down the pace. Finally, a whole paragraph was also repeated twice in one of the narratives. The book would appeal to readers from all genres, especially those who don’t mind a little poetry here and there. It would especially be suited for thriller fans with a special liking to the mythological realms.

******
Tales From Kartli
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Dominik_G
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Post by Dominik_G »

I like the idea behind Tales From Kartli and I hope another round of thorough editing will help it achieve the quality I'm sure it set out to reach. Thank you for your detailed review!
jerick_12
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Post by jerick_12 »

I love mythology and thriller. Since I am not that familiar with Georgian mythology the book would probably help me with their culture.
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NetMassimo
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Post by NetMassimo »

This seems a book for readers who like stories like a jigsaw puzzle, with the fragments creating a bigger picture. Of course, you have to like the genre, and this book seems intriguing to me under that point of view. Thank you for your honest review!
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Wy_Bertram
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Post by Wy_Bertram »

This sounds quite interesting. Krampus is my only experience with mythical horror and it'd be exciting to delve further into the genre. Thank you for review.
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Joseph_ngaruiya
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Post by Joseph_ngaruiya »

I'd love to read this one. Thank you for your review.
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Post by Priyanka2304 »

I really enjoyed learning about the concept of this book. But I think the book couldn't stand up to the expectations of the readers. Thanks for your honest review.
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baha Ibrahim
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Post by baha Ibrahim »

adventurous horror in it's pure form. Simply amazing read , I disliked the grammatical errors and repetitive sentence
Thak you for your reviews
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Letora
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Post by Letora »

I haven't read much Georgian mythology. It's a shame that the structure of the stories wasn't well established. And if I had seen the double paragraph, I most likely would have stopped and put the book down.
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scaryeyes_25
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Post by scaryeyes_25 »

This book might be a good dip into Georgian Mythology. I sometimes prefer short but engaging stories rather than long ones especially if the author is not familiar to me yet. I might try this out but I hope the grammatical errors won't be that troublesome.
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Post by Valkyrie9 »

Short stories about folk tales and myths sounds like captivating read. What a pity the author couldn't decide if the stories were stand-alones or if they should be connected. Perhaps another round of editing would benefit this book. Thanks for the thorough review.
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