Ariel

The premise: Since the Change, nothing that's technological works properly, and suddenly, the new rules of physics revolve around magic. There's mythical beasts in the world now, and Pete Garey encounters an injured unicorn during his travels. They strike up an unlikely friendship and so travel this semi-apocalyptic world together. However, unicorns are rare even in THIS world, and are known for their powerful magic. A necromancer from New York City will do ANYTHING to capture Ariel's power, so Pete and Ariel must travel there to stop him, no matter what happens.My RatingWorth the Cash: but it's close to "Give it Away." Honestly, I do believe (and the author does too!) that this book is better enjoyed by those in their teens (just note there is profanity, some graphic violence and detailed sexy images), and those reading this book as adults are more apt to find problems. I'm not one of these who read the book when it was first released, so I'm not reading it for nostalgia's sake. I was rather impressed by the writing, considering the author's age at the time (it was published when he was twenty or twenty-one), but it's pretty solid and tells a good story. The prose isn't perfect, and there are time when scenes are a little melodramatic, but the prose isn't dated at all (though some of the pop culture references are, which is actually fun), and that was surprising. The book's ending, while a little contrived, made sense. Certain things HAVE to happen in order for this book to have any kind of resolution, and I certain didn't go into this book expecting a happily-ever-after ending. It's not a sad ending either, but rather a human one, so that's important to note if endings are something that worry you. I liked the cast for the most part, though the characters weren't fully three-dimensional and some of the supporting cast often fell into types. Still, it's a fast, enjoyable read that will REALLY MAKE YOU THINK if you look past the trappings of the story itself. Me, I might check out the sequel, Elegy Beach, when it's released as a mass market paperback, which will be next year. It's coming out in hardcover THIS year, and while I'm sure Boyett's crafted has evolved and changed since he wrote Ariel, I'm in no hurry to read the next book in line.Review style: Review? What review? If I had the chance, I'd write a freaking RESEARCH PAPER on this book, but since that's a little much for a blog, so I'll stick to analysis. Yes, analysis, because there's too much that's worth chewing on aside from the story itself. Spoilers? You bet. If you're not interested in any of that, then there's no need to click the cut. If you are, the cut leads to my LJ, and as always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)REVIEW: Steven R. Boyett's ARIEL

It took me a while to finish this. It was very readable; I'm not sure why I dragged my feet. The writing was readable, the characters were all right, and I wanted to know what was going to happen - but it seemed to take forevvvver. (Longer (yes, longer) review, with spoilers, on my blog. As the story begins, six years ago the world underwent a Change. At least, no one’s said anything about the world outside the U.S., but since no one seems to have come along and tried to colonize the country from a stronger base the presumption is that it was a global thing. At 4:30 one afternoon, everything mechanical stopped working, from battery-operated watches to cars to telephones to guns. And for various reasons lots of people have died, leaving a much emptier post-apocalyptic landscape, returning to nature, with magic and magical creatures never seen while technology ruled. The story is told in the first person by Pete Garey, 20 (21?) years old and on his own since the Change occurred. Over a year ago Pete found a very young unicorn with a broken leg – and the book almost lost me right there when in a flashback the pretty little thing looked up at him and said, in a little girl voice, “Bwoke”. Repeatedly. What with one thing and another, Pete was – and is as of the time of the book – able to touch the unicorn, being still a virgin, and he helped her to heal. He named her Ariel, and they have become partners over the last couple of years, traveling and surviving together. They are, in fact, Familiars, which is pretty much what the common Fantasy usage is (as opposed to Buddies, which happens when a human bonds with an animal to gain control over it). They wander the southeast without much of a goal beyond survival, until the day they discover that there is an evil sorcerer in New York City who wants her horn. Not her, necessarily – her horn.I don’t know. It’s a neat idea – suddenly the laws of nature change, and no technology works - from the most advanced (i.e., life support machinery) to the most basic - but magic does, but … shouldn’t that mean the wheel wouldn’t work? I mean, guns don’t fire. Wind-up wristwatches work, but guns won’t fire. Guns have been around for hundreds of years, and aren’t really even all that mechanical; my (limited) understanding is that it’s more of a physics thing than anything else, especially with old weapons. There’s no reason a revolver shouldn’t work even if technology has been obliterated - the laws of physics haven't changed. The explanation given is that Boyett hated guns, and didn’t want them in his book, and so discarded logic in favor of the explanation “It’s magic. Just because. Shut up.” OK. Also, Boyett was 19 when he wrote the book, which actually explains a great deal. A very great deal. Something I find fascinating is that the edition I have certainly doesn’t show Ariel on the cover – it comes across as a gritty urban post-apocalyptic fantasy: crumbling edifices, fire, random hub caps, and a sword. It was, I think, a good idea not to put the glowy white unicorn on the cover. That way lies Children’s Book, which this certainly isn’t. It is, however something of a coming-of-age story, along with post-apocalypse semi-urban fantasy tale - oh, and a Quest, too. It’s actually strangely off-putting to have a unicorn in this setting – I’m too conditioned to expect certain things when a unicorn is involved, and none of those things are present. Ariel curses like a sailor – or rather like Pete, from whom she learned to talk … but she glows a little, and loves peppermint candies. (At least she doesn't poop peppermint candies. Actually, I don't think she poops at all.)I … just don’t know. Pete’s all right; he’s self-absorbed, except when he’s absorbed in Ariel – but if spoilers are not alarming see below for more on his self-absorption. Ariel is all right; she can be kind of bitch, which is actually funny in a unicorn. And she knows things she has no business knowing, but has no idea about other things; she doesn’t know what a lighthouse is when she sees it, but she can always tell you what time it is, not in terms of sun position but in the same sort of answer a person with a watch would: “It’s five till ten.” She doesn’t know what Chesapeake Bay is, but she’s able to identify a saddle on something else’s back and can give accurate and detailed information on dragon physiology and how to kill one. A factor in my lack of fondness for Ariel is, I think, that Pete spends so much time telling me how wonderful she is, but I don’t really see it in her actions and words. He tells me I should like her, but I’m given no reason to decide to like her. And the punning is as much fun as a hair shirt. In his afterword (so charmingly called “Taking a dump in Lothlórien” – which, by the way, he accents incorrectly), Boyett talks about how the book evenly divides people into two camps: those who loved the book and whose lives it changed, and those who flung the book against a wall and wrote him hate mail. There is, he claims, no one who falls in the middle area. I hate to break it to him, but yes, there is. *raises hand* I did not love the book. I hated the memories it dredged up about, as he puts it, something that used to be in New York and isn't anymore. I hated the ending. I don’t think it would have changed my life even if I’d read it in my formative years. But I didn’t fling it, and the urge to write a nasty email died quickly. I hated the ending, but I didn’t care all that much; I’m not sorry I read it, but I simply won’t ever reread this one.

After Fata Morgana, I thought that more of this author might be a fun read--not so fast! This one starts with a guy who's bathing in a pool and a unicorn comes along. Should I continue to read a book about a Unicorn? Nope!

A pretty good "change" novel. Similar to the work of S.M. Stilling, although this may actually predate Stirling's works. I enjoyed the idea of merging fantasy with the modern world. Almost as enjoyable was theauthors voles in the afterward, where he I quite bubbly :-), tells the story behind the story.

My first post-apoc book and still one of my favorites. Like many fans of the book, I discovered this when I was young and fell in love.Fans of the book should also pick up the ebook available from Amazon, as it has an afterword by the author which is worth reading.

I got roped into reading this because my book group decided it was time to reread an alleged classic. So does it stand up to the hype? I suspect that I would have liked this post-apocalyptic road tale a lot more if I was still a twenty-something but you have to give Boyett credit both for writing an urban fantasy before there was urban fantasy and for his ability to string words together. It also probably didn't help that at the same time I was picking at Boyett I was also picking at the most recent "Laundry" novel of Charlies Stross, in which he has wholeheartedly advanced from torturing the conventions of British intelligence thrillers to torturing the conventions of urban fantasy! Still, I was impressed enough that I'm willing to give some of Boyett's more recent works a try.

The setting was interesting - our world, but a mysterious “Change” means some technology still works, but most doesn't. It's highly inconsistent, but it's literally magic so that didn't bother me much. The Change also removed all pollution, brought magical creatures into the world, and now actual magic works. Sort of a magical apocalypse. But...the characters were not great and I'm not even sure what the point of the plot was. There were several gaps in the story that I think would have made for a much more interesting book if they'd been filled in, but I guess that's because I like character-driven stories, which this was not.My biggest issue with the book is the focus on virginity and so-called “purity”. The virginity bit is the most boring, annoying part of the unicorn mythos. In Ariel, it causes weird strain on character relationships, sticks every woman character into the role of “temptress”, and means what should be the story’s climax is immediately overshadowed by an uninteresting sex scene between two characters who don't even seem to like each other very much. content warnings: guilt/shame about sex and masturbation, "purity" talk, secondary character death, animal death, violence, gore, racism/exoticism of Japanese culture, a really boring (but graphic) sex scene

Interesting but not compelling enough to want to read the next one. An easy quick read that isn't bad, just isn't that good.

They say if you can come up with one truly original idea, you've accomplished a great deal. Few people are good at that, but the next best thing is genre-mixing. Ariel is one of those books that is urban fantasy before it became a thing. But it doesn't have the cliche oppressed vampires, bare-chested werewolves, or leather-bound bounty hunters. A unicorn and a boy journey from Atlanta to New York, having survived the apocalypse. There are dragons and gryphons, and there are skyscrapers and cans of beef ravioli. It's a got a street-smart unicorn and a samurai swordsman. I can tell it was written linearly. It never goes back to previous plot points and there are parts that sit unnecessary, but interesting, such as the dragon-hunting boy. That's not something I like in a novel. I like the easter eggs scattered around to reward you if you're paying attention. But I guess writing on a typewriter means you can't page up to a previous section and insert so easily.The fascinating thing is the Change. It's never specifically explained. The reader never knows why it happened or what it exactly is. All we know is that technology has stopped working and there are magical creatures around. You can't shoot a gun, but you can start a fire. Bicycles don't work, but wind-up watches do. But the funny thing is, I don't care. The author never explains it, and I never batted an eye. Why? Because the author pays you with an interesting story in exchange for the flawed premise.

This book is recommended by many people. And I can see why. Its well written, an interesting story, includes an interesting problem. But - it felt very much to be a male teenager fantasy book. Take a look at the plot - the Magic Comes Back - most of the world disappears, lonely teen needs to use the skills he's learned while researching the apocalypse - rescues a unicorn who instantly latches on to him, and grows up in the process. As a female teen - I think I would have liked it. But I don't think I would have re-read. As an adult - I found it very tedious. Well written, but tedious. There is too much written about the male and how it feels if this anatomy doesn't get what it wants. This book also feels like a big metaphor for growing up. Unicorn represents childhood/innocence. I was rather annoyed by this, the message was so in your face, that it was hard to read the underlining story. There are also issues with the plot, like how come five years after the Change, coffee is still easily available. And just where did all the people go?

One scene about 1/3 of the way in sorta sums up the "angst" of the novel. At this point Pete is crying and Ariel is comforting him and he blurts out that he wishes she were a woman. Err... Okay... he can't travel with someone without wanting to have sex with her? What if she were male? He would wish he were gay? Or they'd just be best buds? Exactly. So, either the author is sexist (i.e. a guy can't travel with a female character without wanting to have sex with her), or has some notion that it's necessary to have sexual angst, even if the characters aren't the same species. This whole foolishness (who wants to have sex with a unicorn?) surrounding Pete's overwhelming urge to have sex (with apparently anyone human and female) took a big chunk out of the story for me.And the ending... well... I guess the point is that a 21 year old man would rather have sex with a woman he barely knows than stay with a magical creature. Or maybe the magical creature left him so he could get on with his ordinary human life. Choice between living in the muck or galavanting with a unicorn and he chooses the muck. Sex is powerful, huh?I was expecting something along the lines of a post-apocalyptic novel, this is not that... it's really just a "boy finding himself" fantasy novel, that just happens to be set in a world that is post-apocalyptic rather than in a straight up fantasy world.

Not a perfect book by any means, but the combat scenes in this book are some of the best I've ever read. This book was written very early in the author's career (the publication date is misleading, this is a re-release with some previously deleted content). I will definitely be reading other books by this author, I look forward to seeing how he's grown over the years.

Sometimes I buy books because I like the cover art. I admit it. Months of summer vacation ahead*. A handsome young man holding a ninja sword ready for battle amid the ruins of a fallen New York City. Looks like fun to me. Just the sort of Bladerunner like thing I enjoyed back in the day when I might not have looked completely ridiculous holding a samurai sword myself. Just a little bit ridiculous. Okay, maybe more than a little bit.Had there been a unicorn on the cover I would not have bought Ariel. There's one in the book. It says so on the back cover, I know, but I didn't read the back cover--I wanted to be surprised. I certainly was. A post-apocalyptic story with a unicorn.Please.What exactly happened isn't explained, just that a change occurred. After the change when magical creatures started to appear, the rules of physics stopped working along with all of the machines those rules inspired. Instead, a new set of rules governed by magic appeared or returned depending on whom you ask. Somehow, 90% of the population vanished as well. This is also not explained. Instead of explanations, the novel begins with Pete Carey, a young loner and survivor, stumbling upon a unicorn one morning. Because the unicorn can speak only a few words--did I mention that the unicorn can talk?--and appears helpless due to a broken leg, Pete takes it under his wing, cares for it, teaches it to talk. The unicorn soon becomes Pete's familiar, a creature bonded to a human for life. The catch for Pete is that only virgins can touch unicorns. Not an easy realization for any young man.The adventure comes when the two discover that a necromancer who has taken control of New York City wants Ariel's horn for the magical properties it contains. Instead of running away, the two decide to travel to New York and confront their enemy in order to end all attempts to capture Ariel.Adventure ensues. There's a griffin, a dragon, a rebel army, and, of course, a beautiful girl. I enjoyed it. It was fun. I'm glad I gave in to the book's cover art and that I did not give up after finding a unicorn roaming about a perfectly good post-apocalyptic landscape. It's a perfect summer book. If I could only remember where I stashed my samurai sword.

This book looked really interesting and I have read good things about it so I decided to give it a go. It was an enjoyable read, although there are a few things in the book which irked me a bit. This book was originally released in the early 80's and this is a re-release of it.This story takes place in the post-Change world of the United States. The Change happened one day and suddenly all electricity/technology stopped working and magical creatures began roaming the earth. Humanity was left to survive in any manner possible in this post-apocalyptic type of world. Pete is living day to day when he stumbles upon a unicorn with a broken leg. He takes the time to fix her leg and dubs her Ariel. A year later Pete and Ariel are still traveling together; only someone is after Ariel's power and Pete and Ariel only have one choice...to destroy the necromancer that wants to hold Ariel captive.This book moves at a fairly brisk pace and kept my interest. The relationship Pete and Ariel have, as well as the relationship of other characters with their familiars, is very interesting and much of the story pays attention to this. I also found it interesting that there is so much focus on Pete struggling with keeping his virginity, if he loses it then him and Ariel can no longer be companions. Enter a young woman (Saughnessy) who tempts Pete more than she should.While Pete and Ariel are very well-developed characters, the characters surrounding them could use some work. The evil necromancer is fairly faceless and we never get to learn his thoughts on anything. Even the young woman that travels with Pete is rather 2-dimensional; you never get to understand her or hear why she wants to travel with Pete or Ariel.There is a lot of unfettered violence and a lot of action in this book. Those with a weak stomach might want to skip it; to be fair I don't think that the violence was made unreasonably gory...Boyett tries to stay true to what the resulting gore would actually be given that people's limbs are removed with swords quite often. I enjoyed the inclusion of the Japanese mentality to fighting with all the samurai sword action, those scenes were a lot of fun.The ending of the book left me disappointed. I thought the choices that Pete made were kind of sudden and un-called for; but I will not mention any more to prevent spoilers.There were a few things that bothered me about this book. The first was Pete's use of a blowgun to drop enemies immediately; it just isn't very realistic. In the Afterward Boyett says that he now realizes this. The second thing that bothered me was the lack of people. Pete travels through vast quantities of land without barely seeing anyone, which could happen. But then he goes through big cities without seeing many people. I realize if electricity/technology stopped some people would be killed in car accidents, plane crashes, etc...but a vast majority of humanity would probably be okay. I am wondering where they all went. Also since it has been six years since the Change, wouldn't you think humanity would be re-forming organizations and communities? There is a small community (300 people) talked about in New York, but other than that there doesn't seem to be much organization at all. I just found these aspects to very unbelievable and this lowered my opinion of the story, because it was so fundamental to the story.Overall I enjoyed the story. It is a bit long and some parts are hard to find believable, but it is well written with some awesome action scenes. Boyett's idea of a post-apocalyptic world forced by a fundamental change in the laws of physics is interesting, but flawed at points. Will I be reading "Elergy Beach", the sequel to Ariel? Probably not. I just didn't love the world enough to continue reading about it.

I read this for the first time in 2010. I'd never heard of the book before I saw it on the shelf at Powell's Bookstore in Portland, but it was used and recommended, a good sign for me to give it a try. I was surprised how much I was drawn in to the story.That's not to say I liked it all, I found some parts boring or strange. The katana/blowgun wielding hero seems a bit sophomoric, but given that this was written by a (at the time) teenager, it's understandable.Still, it was done well, even though some people (like my wife) wouldn't like the ending. It did end quickly, and not entirely the way you might expect, but it was a good story.

OK coming-of-age (male) novel in a fantasy context. Most of the interesting questions raised in the book were not addressed, unfortunately; as I understand it, the author was very young when he wrote it, which explains some part of this. The ending was telegraphed very early, but was OK. I liked the notion of the Change, but wish it had been thought through more thoroughly, and the results at least explained better- like- why was the world suddenly so deserted of people? and all the pollution gone? etc.

I absolutely loved this book as a teenager. Read it to pieces, then could never find another copy. Fortunately it has been reissued, after far too long! It holds up incredibly well -- there are a few minor Handwavium (tm) moments in the plot that I never noticed before, and I can't help laughing now at all these geeky white guys playing samurai, but everything else is perfect. The characterization, the humor, the dreamy apocalyptic beauty of this Changed world... it's all as wonderful as I remember. I'm not fond of the new cover (where's the title character, huh? What, was she too girly or something?), and I'm annoyed that it's only available in mass market paperback, given its thickness -- because I've cracked the spine on this copy already, which means I'm likely to read it to pieces again. But I'm happy to recommend it again, and glad it stood the test of time.

A gorgeously written post-apocolyptic, coming of age story. It's out of print, but worth finding a copy if you can.I picked this book up on a whim in a used bookstore when I was in high school. As I did with most books back then, I read it and then traded it back in for more books to read. Unlike others, though, this book stuck with me. In particular, a poignant scene at the end of the book stayed with me, even when I could no longer remember the book's name or author.

I did enjoy reading this book! I felt it to be a better than average fantasy.

Pete did grate on me a bit, but overall good world-building.