By Ian Rapoport
Executive Arts Editor
Given that largely nothing is known about what happens to us after death, books prove to be the perfect way for writers to explore the infinite possibilities of the afterlife. Unfortunately, “The Waking Engine” demonstrates that just because an author has plenty of creative freedom, it does not mean that the results will be in any way decent.
While first-time author David Edison’s novel, “The Waking Engine,” is founded around an intriguing concept, the results prove anything but. Edison does nothing worth while with the idea of life after death, as the story’s defining crux remains largely unexplored, boiling the novel down to a convoluted and, at times, a disgusting mess in terms of both the novel’s story and organization.
“The Waking Engine” is a dark fantasy novel set in a fictional universe where every time a person dies, he finds himself reincarnated on another world with a recreation of his original body and all of his old memories. The story is set in a sprawling, overpopulated metropolis, called The City Unspoken, one of the many worlds in the universe that stands out by containing magic that can allow people to truly die.
The narrative is set around the arrival of a young New Yorker, Cooper, in The City Unspoken. He is discovered by two of the city’s residents, Asher and Sesstri Manifrix, who are researching why fewer people are able to actually die in the city. Believing that the answer to this problem lies with Cooper, the young man becomes the center of the Asher and Sesstri’s dilemma.
Such a set up is initially confusing. Edison is not only unable to clearly explain what is occurring but also proves only to make it increasingly more difficult to understand. Instead of explaining how exactly the concept of rebirth works in his story, Edison focuses on the politics of The City Unspoken and the many elaborate technological and magical forces at work within it, with ancient human civilizations, cyborgs and songs that have the ability to kill. Edison drowns the reader with so many bizarre aspects but never takes the time to thoroughly explain any of it, leaving the reader confused throughout.
This overly complex nature is furthered by Edison splitting the narrative between multiple protagonists. The focus shifts from not only Cooper, Asher and Sesstri, but also a monotony of many other characters in the city. Every time each of these story threads begin to go somewhere interesting, Edison quickly switches over to another character. This results in abrupt pacing that keeps the reader from being able to engage deeply with the novel.
While each of these narrative threads comes together at the end, Edison maintains an un-creative ending to the novel. Instead of thinking of an intriguing way to have all of these conflicts intersect, Edison simply throws them together randomly for a generic battle between good and evil, coupled with a few forced plot twists. The sloppy conclusion only serves to reflect the poorly organized plot up until that point.
However, this does not compare to Edison’s off putting writing. In the novel’s more violent moments, Edison is far too interested in describing the gore, giving intricate details about how characters are severed or mutilated, something entirely unnecessary. Even worse are the absurd sexual details, evident in one moment where Cooper stumbles upon a gang hideout and Edison gives a graphic description of the nude gang leader’s genitalia.
In totality, “The Waking Engine” crumbles beneath the weight of its lofty ideas. Instead of exploring his inspired concept of the afterlife, Edison gets carried away by too many bizarre ideas and characters, all hampered by his distasteful writing style.
“The Waking Engine” is available in retail and digitally starting at $12.99.
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