Publisher: Balkon Media
Released: 7th of February 2023
Internationally published bestselling author Jon Smith makes his adult debut with The Fifth Horseman, a modern light-hearted fantasy that rides roughshod over established mythology and the rules of life… and death.
The Fifth Horseman is a darkly comic tale of two thirty-somethings caught between our world and the afterlife, who must embrace their role as reapers to prevent the End Times. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy meets Father Ted, perfect for fans of Ben Aaronovitch, Terry Pratchett, and Neil Gaiman.
Death is just a day job you can’t quit…
Emma and Mark had a bad day. The worst part of it was dying. But, according to Death, the Rider on the Pale Horse and first horseman of the apocalypse, things aren’t that simple. Turns out the sand in their hourglass is stuck in place. Somewhere between life and death, they’re put to work as Death’s assistants, reaping the souls of the living until it’s time for their final clock out…
To compound matters, despite their omnipotence, the four horsemen are facing an existential threat – one they’re ill-equipped and ill-prepared to combat. They’re suddenly getting old, weak, and succumbing to illness. What has brought on this uncharacteristic frailty? Does Charon, the ferryman of the River Styx, have more up his sleeve than just the coins proffered by the dead to secure passage to the afterlife? And why do you never see baby pigeons?
Emma and Mark must reap like their afterlives depend on it, to help prevent the End Times – even if it means scuppering the one opportunity they have at being granted a second chance at life.
Filled with humour, romantic tension, and suspense, Jon Smith utilises a witty, lightly sarcastic ensemble of flawed but loveable characters. It will appeal to mainstream fantasy readers and hopeless romantics, as well as those who enjoy a good story, a good laugh, a few tears, and a happy ending.
TW: Child Death, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Violence, Death, Injury,/ injury detail, Suicide and Suicide attempt
What I Have to Say
I don't think I can put into words how much I hated this book. First it went straight into someone trying to commit suicide with no warning. I wasn't ready for that kind of content. Then it was just boring. It was meant to be funny, but I didn't really think it was to be honest. But most of the book was just one death after the next, just one reap after the other. There were different conditions and at some points he tried to get philosophical but it just felt really repetitive.
Then there was the misogyny. I'm not even gonna go into the fact that he had War as a woman because that's apparently all that men fight about. But the main character Emma was treated terribly. The entire "romance" in this book was Emma being pursued by Mark who just can't take no for an answer. And of course because this is written by a man, we all know how it ends. Also at every tricky death, she wavered and Mark stepped in and made the hard choice because apparently men are better at this sort of thing.
The ending came out of nowhere. I thought I could see how it was going to go but then something completely different which wasn't really foreshadowed happened instead.
To say this book wasn't for me is putting it really really lightly. Do not read without checking the trigger warnings.
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