Book Review: The Nine, The Judas Files Book 1, C.G. Harris
Fantasy: The Nine, The Judas Files Book 1, C.G. Harris
Blog Tour January 28, 2022
It was bound to happen. A book review has gone to hell. C.G. Harris brings a very different perspective to the lake of eternal fire. Such as, it’s cold. Bitterly cold. In fact, it’s as cold as…well, you get the point.
Gabriel Gantry is living (?) in The Nine, in a region of hell known for its cold temperatures periodically interrupted by firestorms. Actual firestorms, where instead of rain and hail they get fire and brimstone pouring from the sky. Get caught out in this weather phenomenon and you will “die.” Dying in hell basically means losing all of your memories and returning to the Gnashing Fields, the actual lake of fire for a time, until you emerge as a “woebegone” and make your way to someplace in The Nine.
From his store in The Nine, Gabe sees a young woman who had clearly just emerged from the Gnashing Fields and is without her memories. Risking his life (really, it feels odd to write that, but that is the only effective description), he rescues the woman from a firestorm and brings her to the safety of his store.
While the storm still rages, a hellion knocks on the door and summons Gabe to an appointment in the Judas Agency. There he meets with the head of the Judas Agency: Judas Iscariot. Yes, that one. Judas “recruits” Gabe to work for the Judas Agency (you don’t really get to say “No” in this position), but as more than an agent. Gabe is to be one of Judas’ personal agents, charged with disrupting the worst plans of hell on earth.
Filled with sarcastic and irreverent humor, The Nine is a fascinating re-imagining of hell. Judas is not entirely evil, some denizens of hell are seeking some form of redemption, and even some of the Hellions are secretly doing good. Albeit, sometimes in a bad way if you disapprove of eating people even though they may deserve the munching. Gabe is quick witted, often getting himself into trouble by snarking off to the wrong person at the wrong time. Then again, if you’re already in hell, how much more trouble can you get into? (Actually, a lot.)
Not everyone will like this book. That’s OK. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though. There were a number of surprisingly tender moments, some laugh out loud humor, and a very novel way of viewing the machinations of hell. Once the basic world is established, it opens up a lot of room for the author to maneuver and create.
C.G. Harris is an author from (my home state of) Colorado, working magic by transforming a place that everyone thinks they know and turning that upside down. Hell is still nowhere you’d want to go…but in The Nine there are a few gems hidden amidst the refuse. More than that, this book itself is a gem, clever and naughty and every so often rather reverent. It’s a lot of fun.
Our thanks to The Write Reads for our copy of The Nine, given in exchange for our participation in this blog tour. The opinions here are solely those of Scintilla. For other perspectives on this book, check out the other bloggers participating in this tour.
Book Review: The Nine, The Judas Files Book 1, C.G. Harris
Great review!!