Review: Inkarna by Nerine Dorman
Author:
Title:
Release: June 15th 2012
Series: Novel
Reviewer: Suz
Source: Dark Continents Publishing
Purchase: B&N | Dark Continents Publisher |Ashton Kennedy wasn’t a nice guy. He cheated on his girlfriend, knocked up a powerful drug lord’s sister, and abused vast quantities of illegal narcotic substances. Whoever ran him over with a big shiny SUV was doing the world a favour. His very male, tattooed body is the last place Elizabeth Rae Perry–a member of an ancient Egyptian cult–expected to reincarnate in, instead of the three-year-old girl she’d been promised.
Not only must she now come to terms with her new existence in the body of a disagreeable man, and clean up the mess he made of his life, she also has to unravel the mystery of why House Adamastor’s chapter house is standing empty and find a way to protect a dangerous secret she had no idea she was supposed to keep. As if fate couldn’t deal her another blow, she has also attracted the attention of a malicious and potentially dangerous ghost. And to top it all off, she must deal with the consequences of finding love in a most unexpected place.
This one is kind of hard to label. There aren’t any of the current tropes of the urban fantasy genre in here, that’s for sure. There are no werewolves or vampires or demons or angels. Steeped in ancient Egyptian lore that is brought to a contemporary South African urban setting, the story was original and engaging, providing just enough “realism” to leave me thinking “can you imagine if that really happened?” Seriously, imagine dying as one gender expecting to eventually be reincarnated as an infant of the same gender only to wake up as an adult of the opposite gender. In fact an adult jackass with lots of enemies, no resources, and no friends – and all that’s on top of your own situation being completely hosed, too.
Perhaps what was most interesting about the story was the lore itself. Nerine Dorman creates a very believable and seamless melding of the living world with the ancient Egyptian afterworld (one that’s nearly pronounceable to the average Western reader), making it very easy to believe that the notion of “as above, so below” applies in more ways than one.
The characters were all pretty broken, even the heroes. So I found myself both rooting for and disappointed in them in equal measure. Just about the time I thought I’d developed a nice comfortable box to put one of the characters in Dorman would prove they are human and mix it all up again in a frustratingly human way. Ash is a bit of an anti-hero, but we’re never sure if we’re rooting for the Ash who is the previous resident of the body who was the jackass who happened to be a rock and roll god wanna-be, or the new resident of the body who is a bit of a supernatural bad ass but perhaps a bit more narcissistic than she’s willing to own up to while she fools herself with her delusions of altruistic grandeur. Or are we rooting for them both?
It’s a stand alone book and I don’t know if there are any plans to make a series of it, but after I’d finished the book I found my mind wandering back to the characters and wondering about their continued stories and what might have happened to them, so I guess that speaks to my investment in the story and the believability of the characters.
I don’t have a lot of experience with writers who are based in South Africa but there were regional nuances in the dialog and location descriptions that made the location sing to me, and had me at Google and Youtube in curiosity.
If I had any negative feedback it would be that the book needed a bit more copy-editing but I was reading an ARC so it’s possible that the version I was reading was not the version that went to final publication. Even with that there was nothing so jarring that made it a significantly less pleasurable read.
If you’re looking for something that’s still “supernatural” but somehow different this might be just the ticket. I gave it four of five stars and would enjoy reading a second installment to the storyline if she decided to continue the story, but don’t feel at all cheated if she doesn’t, and that’s really a wonderful and talented way to end a book.
This sounds interesting. Will definitely check it out.
Anne, it totally hits the spot for those times when nothing is grabbing your attention, you’re sick of the same old tropes, and you want something just a little more weird, a little more dark, and a little more gritty.
It’s a stand out, a different sort of voice. It’s definitely hard to pin down and that’s got a kind of haunting all its own.
Something new to explore. Adding it to my tbr list. Thanks :)
I do love the freshness of INKARNA, the departure from the usual normal: angels, demons, and yawn…vampires. And Ash. You don’t know what to think half the time. He’s so deliciously infuriating and appealing at the same time.
Hi Carrie! Thanks for stopping by. I’m afraid I don’t yawn about vampires yet, although I do get frustrated with over used tropes and am always looking for a fresh approach.
But you are dead on point about Ash! I was always off guard with him. Even though Nerine Dorman always made it very clear which character, or “soul” was at the fore I still carried this sense of never really knowing what was coming next throughout the book. The give and take between all the characters, even within Ash himself (herself?) kept me guessing.
Delicious is an apt adjective.
LOL, I write vampires! I do love them so I suppose I was kidding. Maybe.
And poor Ash and going all that time without food, Nerine Dorman torments the poor fellow and you’re left clutching the reader like WHYYYY.
Wonderful. :)
HA! I’m giggling hysterically here. I have to be honest, I don’t think I ever had a “poor fellow” reaction to Ash!
HAHAHAHAHA
Am I giving too much personal stuff away if I say I kind of like the torment?
HAAAAHAHAHAHA
You are Nerine’s ideal reader. LOL!
I am a gushing fangrrl of that tall,dark and looming fellow and just wanted to give the poor bugger a sandwich. And the dead Ash was just. Why did he appeal so much! AGHHH!
OMG First time! Too right! You know, I read a fair amount of chick lit and erotic stuff and I still find my mind wandering to that “first time” scene. That was hot.
Incidentally, I have just been informed that I will be reviewing Crooked Fang! I’m psyched!
OMG, I’m so excited. :D
Send me the details. So much fun discussing this with you, Suz. xx
And mmm. It WAS hot. [fans self]
I sent you a private email. :)
We’ve hit the limits of the replies in that line. Starting again! HAHA!
>>Carrie Clevenger says:
July 13, 2012 at 9:01 am
You are Nerine’s ideal reader. LOL!
I am a gushing fangrrl of that tall,dark and looming fellow and just wanted to give the poor bugger a sandwich. And the dead Ash was just. Why did he appeal so much! AGHHH!<<
I couldn't figure out how they were surviving on tea and tomato sandwiches, either!
Dead Ash I spent half my time wanting to smirk at him, thinking "So there!" and the other half thinking "well damn, I was all set to think you're despicable and there you go saving the damned day!" Alive Ash, I could probably write my own book on the dichotomy I felt about that one. If I start now I'll give too much away.
I totally understand on dead Ash alive. I think I’d have to punch him. Then maybe get a picture. Pretty men, ugh. Always so cocky! Okay, ALMOST always.
I think we could start our own forum on discussion of the mechanics and moral issues in the book, seriously!
You’re probably right, we could. I found myself making excuses for alive Ash. “Oh, he doesn’t understand contemporary culture because he’s been gone too long.” “He’s just trying to adjust to suddenly being…A GUY!” But you know what? He was a smidge of a bigot, just a smidge, and a smidge arrogant, and a smidge narcissistic – just enough to be “real” and yet not so much to leave you wishing him ill.
Yeah, I had a lot of duality with this one.
All I have to say is The First Time. Oooh. Got it so well.
And I could see Lizzy smacking Ash with an oversized handbag constantly. LOL!
Sounds interesting. I’ve been in reader purgatory lately and need something different. Thanks.
[...] heart! Clevenger teamed up with author/ editor Nerine Dorman, who wrote my previously reviewed Inkarna, to do a back-and-forth writing style novella entitled Just My Blood Type. Featuring Xan written [...]