Official Review: Black Oak by Titus Murphy
Posted: 27 Oct 2020, 08:11
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Black Oak" by Titus Murphy.]
Black Oak by Titus Murphy is the first chapter of the Loveless Chronicles fantasy series. In 1782 there's a huge battle between wolf-like creatures called Jackals, three sect of witches, and Hunters. Jackals are defeated, but at a huge cost. In 1815, a leader Jackal is killed by a group of witches. Some Jackals set a trap for the witches, but they're defeated again. In our present, Mark seems like a common trucker whose biggest problem is finding the courage to ask Sharon to go out with him while his friend Ron is dealing with a brother who just got out of jail. Black Oak looks like a really ordinary town, but some of its inhabitants have secrets, and the past starts coming back.
The novel starts like a classic type of fantasy story, with witches using magic and supernatural creatures. In the first parts set in the past, that's all in the open, but that changes when the narration leaps ahead to our present. The author offers a very normal portrait of present-day people, who deal with very normal lives and problems. However, sometimes the atmosphere becomes eerie with people seeing weird things. Some of them see a couple of strange teenagers dressed in very out fashioned clothes. For a good part of the novel, that's all in the background leading to a slow discovery of secrets connected to magical creatures in a scenario that belongs to the urban fantasy subgenre.
The story is character-oriented, which means that the author focused on what happens to the characters, what they think, and what they feel. That's true in particular for the protagonists of the part set in our present, which is by far the longest of the novel. In that part, the drama comes mostly from very real problems as Mark has a backstory of him and his mother being the victims of his father's abusive behavior while Ron has to deal with a brother who got out of jail and came back to town.
Weirdness lies in the background, sometimes literally in the shadows, until the second half of the novel, when the first secrets get revealed. At that point, mundane and supernatural starts intertwining in the characters' lives. I have to say that sometimes the plot is even too mundane, particularly concerning Mark dating Sharon, but romance is not my thing. If you're into romance, you'll appreciate this part of those characters' development.
This novel has no real ending, but I was aware of that since the beginning as it's clearly stated that it's chapter 1 of the Loveless Chronicles. Titus Murphy used it to introduce the important characters, which is the part of the novel I liked the most because we get a depiction of their lives and their background, occasionally some of their secrets. The big story is just at its beginning, so I can only judge its potential.
There are a few errors in the book, but the editing is generally good, so they didn't detract from my enjoyment. There's a wide use of profanities, but I recommend it to adults mostly because of some content. There are only some violent parts, but they can be really brutal, with rape and murder.
In my opinion, Black Oak is a novel in which mundane and supernatural elements are well mixed. The protagonists' development makes you care about at least some of them, and you want to discover their secrets and the plot developments. For these reasons, I rate it 4 out of 4 stars. If you're ready to start a fantasy series full of magical creatures in an urban environment and don't mind some brutal bits, I recommend it.
******
Black Oak
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Black Oak by Titus Murphy is the first chapter of the Loveless Chronicles fantasy series. In 1782 there's a huge battle between wolf-like creatures called Jackals, three sect of witches, and Hunters. Jackals are defeated, but at a huge cost. In 1815, a leader Jackal is killed by a group of witches. Some Jackals set a trap for the witches, but they're defeated again. In our present, Mark seems like a common trucker whose biggest problem is finding the courage to ask Sharon to go out with him while his friend Ron is dealing with a brother who just got out of jail. Black Oak looks like a really ordinary town, but some of its inhabitants have secrets, and the past starts coming back.
The novel starts like a classic type of fantasy story, with witches using magic and supernatural creatures. In the first parts set in the past, that's all in the open, but that changes when the narration leaps ahead to our present. The author offers a very normal portrait of present-day people, who deal with very normal lives and problems. However, sometimes the atmosphere becomes eerie with people seeing weird things. Some of them see a couple of strange teenagers dressed in very out fashioned clothes. For a good part of the novel, that's all in the background leading to a slow discovery of secrets connected to magical creatures in a scenario that belongs to the urban fantasy subgenre.
The story is character-oriented, which means that the author focused on what happens to the characters, what they think, and what they feel. That's true in particular for the protagonists of the part set in our present, which is by far the longest of the novel. In that part, the drama comes mostly from very real problems as Mark has a backstory of him and his mother being the victims of his father's abusive behavior while Ron has to deal with a brother who got out of jail and came back to town.
Weirdness lies in the background, sometimes literally in the shadows, until the second half of the novel, when the first secrets get revealed. At that point, mundane and supernatural starts intertwining in the characters' lives. I have to say that sometimes the plot is even too mundane, particularly concerning Mark dating Sharon, but romance is not my thing. If you're into romance, you'll appreciate this part of those characters' development.
This novel has no real ending, but I was aware of that since the beginning as it's clearly stated that it's chapter 1 of the Loveless Chronicles. Titus Murphy used it to introduce the important characters, which is the part of the novel I liked the most because we get a depiction of their lives and their background, occasionally some of their secrets. The big story is just at its beginning, so I can only judge its potential.
There are a few errors in the book, but the editing is generally good, so they didn't detract from my enjoyment. There's a wide use of profanities, but I recommend it to adults mostly because of some content. There are only some violent parts, but they can be really brutal, with rape and murder.
In my opinion, Black Oak is a novel in which mundane and supernatural elements are well mixed. The protagonists' development makes you care about at least some of them, and you want to discover their secrets and the plot developments. For these reasons, I rate it 4 out of 4 stars. If you're ready to start a fantasy series full of magical creatures in an urban environment and don't mind some brutal bits, I recommend it.
******
Black Oak
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
A good mixture of mundane and supernatural, character-driven plot, urban environment and magical creatures would be highly appreciated 
Thank you very much for this great review!