BOOK REVIEW | OUBLIÉ | Susana Imaginȧrio

BOOK REVIEW

OUBLIÉ 

Susana Imaginȧrio

 

cover by Susana Imaginȧrio

Ok, let’s get this started! When I knew that Susana Imaginȧrio would be releasing a new book this year, I was ecstatic. I absolutely adore the Timelessness series and it was one of the first books that I reviewed when I started blogging, holding that special place in my heart where all my favourite series lie. I just loved the intermingling of mythology, science fiction, fantasy, drama and oodles of snarkiness from the main characters. Especially the Goddess Psyche! I know I am due for another re- read of the series, but in the meantime, I have got this standalone set in the Timelessness universe.

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Stranded on a sentient moon with nothing but their enhanced intuition and the help of a bygone deity, the survivors of a post-human race set out to investigate the sudden disappearance of their enemies. What they find might plunge the universe into oblivion.

Galaxies away, after a narrow escape from Niflheim, the god of the dead and the goddess of writing forge an alliance with a Nephilim to uncover the fate of the all-but-forgotten goddess of memory when they receive a distress call from the god of reckoning.

Oublié takes us on a weird journey of self-discovery and deception, where memory and truth are at odds with each other and the fate of both gods and mortals hangs in the thin balance between trust and faith. 

 

 

 

 

REVIEW

 

Susana Imaginȧrio returns to the Timelessness universe with this standalone novel, Oubliẽ. Originally devised as a sequel to the first book in the Timelessness series Wyrd Gods. However, when that book turned into the four books and a novella that spans the series, this story was not included. Streamlining and revising the book lead to Oubliẽ becoming a standalone in an already established series.

The story takes place on a sentient moon called Sombra, in which a group of amnesiac Narrum and Prometheans (the descendants of humankind) are surviving, led by the Promethean Eloin, who is ultimately overseen by the God Thoth.

However, not only was Sombra inhabited by the two disparate races of the Narrum and the Prometheans, there is also the sentient next stage of evolution, The Nephilim on the moon, who had also crashed on the moon, but for some reason they seem to have disappeared. In light of this, Lyam, the brother of the leader of the Prometheans, Eloin sets off on an exploratory expedition to find out where they have gone, and if they haven’t gone, what the hell actually happened to the indestructible androids.

Gathering a small party together, Lyam travels to the surface of the moon to investigate the mystery, only to find that there is a bigger mystery, and it involves the Gods! And nothing good happens when the gods are involved.

As a standalone novel, Oubliẽ is a much more contained and linear story than the books of the original Timelessness and is an excellent addition to one of my already established favourite series.

As usual, the gods are the main characters in the book with the Goddess of Writing Seshat taking centre stage in this story, and filling the boots of the almighty fractiousness herself, Psyche, quite admirably.

As the book progresses through the story it becomes quite metaphysical as it explores the meaning of memory and self and how the two interlock, especially when we centre on the human characters and their missing memories.

There are many shout backs to the Timelessness series with a number of characters making a welcome return, such as Anubis, the Egyptian God of the Dead, and Namrive, the damaged Nephilim who tackled the Suzerain at the end of the last series.

Whilst Oubliẽ is a standalone in an already established series, new readers to the books could quite easily use this as a springboard to go back retrospectively as it does not give away particular plot spoilers and even though the book does make reference to what has happened previously, it is just enough to whet the appetite to explore past events.