SPFBO (Cassidy's Version)

A cosmic horror was not what I expected from this competition. I am not typically a horror person but I did love The Scar by China Mieville which is a steampunk fantasy horror so I thought I could also connect with A Song of the Void. Sadly I did not love this book.

So what worked for me?

Characters: The main character felt unique in his pain and experiences which made him stand out from the crowd.

Writing: The prose was easy to read and accessible for readers to enjoy

What did not work for me?

Plot: The plot was introduced too late into the story for me to be engaged and I thought the ending was underwhelming. The setup of the ship and characters reminded me too closely to Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian.

World: Again the setup of the fantasy/horror elements were too late in the story for me. This might also be an artifact of expectations. I was expectations a fantasy and got a historical fiction for most of the book

Similar Media?

In general this felt like a mix of Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian and The Scar by China Mieville

Score: 4.8/10

Character: 7

Plot: 3

World-Building: 2

Writing: 8

Enjoyment: 4

A SONG FOR THE VOID by Andrew C. Piazza is a historical cosmic horror set in 1853 in the South China Sea. The crew of the HMS Charger is tasked with pursuing a fleet of pirates in the midst of the Opium Wars. We are following the doctor on board, a recovering opium addict himself. It is a tough job full of treating the injuries from life on a ship, battles, and bad decisions.⁠

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In the skies above them, a strange meteorological phenomenon is visible, a comet that draws the eye and the mind. On the ship itself, the crew is lured by something even more powerful, the opium they have seized and strange thoughts that seem to come from their drugged state.⁠

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This book is one of the ten finalists for #SPFBO8 (the eighth iteration of the Self Pub Fantasy Blog Off) and I will be reading all ten of the finalists with a group of fantasy readers in a spinoff of the actual competition put together by @coverswithcassidy. This was the next up using my spinner wheel to randomly choose the book order!⁠

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The first thing about this book is that for a finalist in a fantasy contest… it really is not a fantasy. It is flagged as cosmic horror and that is definitely what it fits as. Coming into this as someone who enjoys horror and likes historical I think I was in a better place to enjoy this one than a lot of my more strictly fantasy reader friends. This is one I would moreso direct to the horror readers.⁠

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The characters in this book weren’t always my favorite and I felt like many could have been fleshed out quite a bit more. We get a good insight into our POV character and his backstory. His life really centers on the traumas he has experienced and the drug abuse that resulted from him trying to self medicate his pain away. A lot of time really is spent on his addiction and his focus on the drugs. In terms of side characters, I didn’t feel like I got a lot of distinction between them. ⁠

https://www.instagram.com/p/Coz3J55JbJF/

I read this book as part of a commitment to read all the finalists of SPFBO8, however it is not one that I would normally pick up off my own back, and so, out of fairness, I am not going to give it a star rating.

First of all, I went into this book wondering why it was in a fantasy competition, let alone being one of the finalists – effectively saying that this non-fantasy book is a better fantasy book than the 29 other titles read by its particular judging team. Having now read it, I am still wondering that. There are no fantasy elements in this book, or at least, if we call it fantasy for the horror elements contained within, then by extension we must label a huge portion of the horror genre as fantasy instead.

That aside, I didn't enjoy the book as much as I would if it belonged to a genre that I usually read — I don't read horror, or historical fiction, or historical horror, as this one is labelled. Despite that, it was at least a pain-free reading experience, for the most part. There were a couple of areas where the writing felt a bit clunky ("I stood outside my cabin and stood guard while she bathed", and "For every sailor who had dedicated his life to the sea with dedication and conviction") but otherwise it was quite easy reading.

The characters were okay, although only a couple of them had any real depth, and I felt it was a bit odd that everyone had a name except the loblolly boy, who was just referred to as "the loblolly boy" every time he featured, which became a bit of a mouthful. The story was fine, although not really for me. I didn't have a problem with any of the events, including the body horror that featured a lot more towards the end of the book. I felt that it all fit the story and none of it felt gratuitous.

Overall, this wasn't one for me because of the genre it sits in. If you like horror, then I suggest this might be a good book for you to go for. For me, I found I got on okay with it, and I enjoyed it more than a few of the other SPFBO8 finalists, but the bottom line is it's not a fantasy novel.

I was interested in the beginning, but it lost my attention by the end. 2.5 stars!

I read this for SPFBO (Cassidy's version). Watch my reading vlog with more thoughts here:

https://youtu.be/R6cVYShxAow

https://youtu.be/PkqaeUJcGqo

https://youtu.be/ahEh6DSSDQM