Book
Whisperer, a website for indie authors, asked me to review this book.
They contacted me on behalf of the author, Peter V. Wright. My time for blogging is more limited these days. I started A Tempest of Death on November 12 and finished it November 30.
There were medieval and 20th century viewpoint characters in this novel. I was grateful that the chapter headings with dates allowed me to keep track of when I was chronologically.
On the other hand, there was too much unnecessary history to wade through. I might have finished this book sooner if there hadn't been so much historical information to record in my journal that I thought might be relevant for this review.
A Tempest of Death did occasionally educate me. I have often seen "Albigensian", but I never knew what it meant. I decided to research it when I came across it in my notes. I was surprised to learn from Wikipedia that Albigensians are the inhabitants of the prefecture of Albi in Southern France, and that the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born in Albi. So the Albigensian Crusade described in this book took place in Albi.
Author Peter Wright's realism was admirable. I can tell you that I was indeed immersed in the narrative, but sometimes felt overwhelmed. This book is horrifying because it contains massive amounts of religious violence and genocide. I have known about such real monstrous events. So I have never needed to read about fictional monsters in order to experience horror. Real history is definitely horrifying enough. I don't enjoy reading about those horrors, nor do I need reminders that they happened. I have known holocaust survivors with numbers tattooed on their arms. Readers who were born more recently and may have lived in protected environments, could experience genuine shock that humans do such things to members of their own species. If you are such a reader, you have been warned by this review that A Tempest of Death contains this type of content.
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