October Skies [Paperback]

I really enjoyed this book to start with, but the ending was a little disappointing and too fantastical for me.

The story is split three ways - the story of the 1856 travellers who get stuck in the mountains in winter; the story of Julian and Rose who discover their camp in 2008, along with a diary; and the story of William Shepherd, a mormon presidential candidate with an interest in the travellers' story. These three stories are interwoven throughout the book.

I've listed the stories in order of interest here.

The story of the travellers is gripping, the characters were strong, interesting and the story very nicely detailed. When the murder occurs, you are left wondering who did it and I found myself flitting between suspects. The eventual reveal of the murderer is also very compelling. In fact, I think that this part of the book could've been a standalone story really!

The second story, of Julian and Rose discovering the camp and diary, was relatively interesting but I felt parts of it were rather unnecessary - such as the implied attraction between them which was never explored. Also I was a little confused about how they knew all about everything which happened since the parts of the diary we see don't seem to be very detailed, and it was left unfinished. I found that the jumping between past and present was well done, and really added to the cliffhanger endings of some of the 1856 chapters.

The third story, of William Shepherd, really seemed like a step too far. I can only assume that the author wanted to be controversial in bringing presidential elections into the book, but it was unnecessary and the ending seemed rather ridiculous to me. I found myself skipping some of the middle chapters featuring Shepherd.

In summary, I think this book would've been just as good if it had just been the story of the 1856 travellers. The present-day storyline didn't add a lot, apart from a little speculation about who/how many survived from the 1856 group. The president storyline seemed tacked on and pointless to me, and made the ending seem stupid. However, overall I felt it was good.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, and many times more I'm sure, Alex Scarrow has a fine imagination. He is also a remarkable storyteller with the power to pull the reader into the tale alongside characters who are not only lifelike, they are extremely intriguing as well.

In October Skies, one of Scarrow's books for adults, the author turns his attention to parallel tales, one taking place in the 1850s in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, and the other set during the presidential elections of 2008. When journalist Julian Cooke comes across the wheel of a wagon, lost in the woods, he realises that he may have found another `Donner Incident', the remains of another wagon trail that vanished to history and became lost in myth and folklore, which here focuses upon a figure known locally as the Rag Man. Julian's suspicions and interest are increased when he also finds buried a journal.

This novel, then, moves between the technoworld of the present day journalists and the past world of the journal, written by Ben Lambert, a man searching for adventure and inspiration among the pioneers of the wagon trains. He travels with a group that mainly comprises Mormons who have left others of their religion and instead have chosen to follow their charismatic leader Preston into the unknown. When winter draws in earlier than expected, the mountains prove impossible to cross, and so the travellers must become settlers, surviving in the most inhospitable of environments while trying to maintain civility. This all falls to pieces when a woman is found brutally murdered in the woods. Something is let loose.

This gripping story, which is so vivid you can almost share the intense cold, hunger and fear of the travellers, is told alongside that of Julian Cooke and his friends. As he tries to hold onto his exclusive, Julian slowly becomes aware that forces are as much at work against him as they were against Ben Franklin. As the mystery grows, and its significance increases, the danger becomes more intense, especially when it becomes clear that Cooke's discovery may have an impact on the presidential election currently underway.

October Skies is horror, thriller and historical fiction combined. We can be in no doubt that something terrifying has gripped the camp of suffering settlers as they try in vain to keep the other world of the wood from their camp and keep a grip on their religion. While these scenes from the 1850s are scene stealers, I did find myself continually wanting to remain in whichever of the stories I found myself at the time. With twists and turns, madness and ghosts around every corner and behind every tree, Ben and Joseph are in great danger. While I admit that I may be easier to frighten than many, October Skies is deliciously chilly.

I'm not particulary fond of organised religion myself (or unorganised too for that matter) but anyway I bought this book thinking it was a survival thriller and it turned into a rant about mormons, the author even has a go in the afterword. Anyway his views are his views, I just thought I'd mention that. It was more of a theological conspircay story than I expected, it's not badly written and I did enjoy the historical parts of the novel which mention about the old trails out west to Oregon. It did teach me a lot more about mormons than I ever thought I needed to know, and maybe if you are in the mood, after a dose of Matt Stone and Trey Parker's The Book of Mormon,...maybe you'll like it.