“Blood Moon” is the first novel by A.W. Gryphon, whose previous works include the scripts for two indie films and episodes of Sabrina the Animated Series. The story revolves around Amelia Pivens Kreutzer, a young woman with jet black hair and piercing green eyes who also happens to be a natural witch and “The One” [sic] prophesied to reunite the broken factions of witches in the world, usher in a new age, and so on. Amelia has a tragic past: she saw her mother murdered in front of her when she was seven, saw her husband (one of the youngest Classical pianists in Europe — do NOT follow that thought process out to its logical conclusion) also murdered in front of her, saw her father die of an evil spell (i.e. murdered) in front of her. (You may have noticed a pattern. It includes descriptions of how each one’s last thoughts and words are all about comforting poor Amelia, and how they breathe their last.)
Amelia’s rare insights into the works of Francisco Goya have catapulted her to a high-ranking job at London’s National Gallery. While we are told some of these “insights,” they mainly exist so the audience can think the protagonist is smart. Also, despite having been raised early on in Cunningham-based Wicca and also having been able to control immense power and forces at a tender age, Amelia heartbrokenly denied her heritage until she conveniently remembers everything a few days before her Very Special Birthday. Assisted by her
creepy old guy friend Jeremy (”the spitting image of Sir Anthony Hopkins”) she strikes against her mysterious foes, who all dress in black suits and all drive black towncars in defiance of any sensible rules of reconnaissance. Also, she writes tender letters to her dead husband as the funeral director and his wife look on and muse about what the “poor girl” is going to do. (The heroine gets called “young girl” in almost every description, despite being nearly thirty. I can’t tell if it’s a subtle use of common language to evoke a recoil at the incorrect and patronizing attitudes of unbelievers, or just bad writing.)
A sample from the Prologue, transcribed exactly as written:
Maeve was in labor. She was two months pre-mature, but the baby was coming quickly. In a matter of minutes a little girl was born. The woman assisting in the birth wrapped the child in a cloth and placed her in the proud High Priest arms, just in time for Maeve to scream again. The woman rushed back over to her. She placed her hand on Maeve’s belly and looked to The Coven, then to Domhall. There was a second child coming. A twin. She had no sooner announced it, when the child pushed through. In an unworldly and quick moment, the High Priestess gave birth to a son. Domhall and The Coven were overcome with emotion. They could not help, but know, that this was a sign not only from the God and the Goddess, but from The All.
Setting aside the ballistic approach to punctuation and capitalization, the adolescent fantasy version of Wicca and its history, and the protagonist who zooms to the top of the Mary Sue chart within the first few pages, this is still not a good book. The prose is leaden and repetitive, while the dialogue is lifted straight out of a B-movie mystery. The villains are one-dimensional, which at least means they fit in nicely with the heroes. The plot twists are by-the-numbers when they make any sense at all. The names of the characters aren’t even spelled consistently through the book.
And then there’s the pronunciation guide.
“Blood Moon” is at its core about one flavor of Celtic-derived witchcraft, and as such, the pronunciation on some names is difficult for American readers. A reader seeing the name “Budahach” for the first time might benefit from a parenthetical explaining that it is pronounced “BOO-ach” (or the reader might not benefit, as there’s no accompanying explanation of whether it’s a hard or soft “ch”). However, when the author feels required to provide a pronunciation guide for “coven” (”CUH-ven,” not to be confused with “in-DUH-vidual”), the question rapidly becomes: “Just how dumb is the target audience for this novel?”
As someone who has been out of the broom closet for over twenty years, I weep in my heart for any readers who make this their first exposure to Wicca. Popular culture already has “The Craft” and the condescending portrayals of neopagans in the Buffy-verse to give grief to followers of modern Earth-based religions. If “Blood Moon” has one good thing about it, it is that the author is clearly very earnest in her support of Wiccans and witches. Unfortunately, the book’s low quality will drive actual pagans away with cries of: “Get off our side! You’re making us look dumb!” (I suspect this must be how most Christians feel when someone mentions the “Left Behind” books.)
The single most frightening thing about this novel is that it is intended to be the first in a series. My advice is to reread the first Harry Potter book. Whatever your opinion about the later HP books, you’ll enjoy Sorcerer’s Stone / Philosopher’s Stone far more than this travesty, and at least no one (probably) will walk away thinking they’ve just learned the Secret True History of Witchcraft.
Edit: For the sake of clarity, and lest someone think the mentions of more popular works of fantasy puts this book on the level of those same works, let me state the following outright:
- If you are a fan of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, do not read this book.
- If you are a fan of the Harry Potter series, do not read this book.
- If you are a fan of “The Craft,” do not read this book.
- If you have Views about people who intentionally spell “magic” with a “k,” do not read this book.
- If you have Views about Wicca being presented as having been around as a named religion for more than five hundred years (yes, even in fiction), do not read this book.
Or do. It’s a free country. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.
James A. Rock & Company
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and you can play armchair quarterback, deciding which picture or performer deserved the gold.