"Wormwood" by G.P. Taylor

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Firebird (September 22, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0142404691
ISBN-13: 978-0142404690

Wormwood takes place in eighteenth century, same as "Shadowmancer". Our main characters are a young girl named Agetta Lamien, who is a maid to the other main character, the wealthy Dr. Sabian Blake. He is a man obsessed with science or more specific, his newfound book, the Nemorensis. Agetta pays him no mind, only happy to swipe money for herself. But when a beautiful, wealthy woman directs her to a bookstore, promising her fortune and happiness, she befriends the owner Thaddeus. He then confides in her that he lost the Nemorensis, and Agetta finds herself promising to bring it to him. Meanwhile, Blake announces to the Royal Society that "wormwood", a comet, is on it's way to strike London. After stealing the Nemorensis, Agetta decides to free Tetagus, an angel that her father had secretly locked up. Together, they head to see Thaddeus.
Eventually, Agetta discovers that the wealthy woman she met is not even human, and plans to use the young girl for her new body.

Agetta comes from a poor family that runs a small inn. She has a rough father and a drunkard for a mother. Feeling no direction in her life, she is easily swayed into stealing from her employer.
Blake develops from a power-hunger scientist to a confused student as he discovers the trouble he is in. I didn't dislike him, but found myself wishing I knew more about his history, or family. Not even his age is mentioned.
Tetagus, apparently an angel whom has fallen from grace, decides to watch over Agetta. His motivation doesn't seem clear though. He does not believe he can be redeemed but still wishes to do good.
Abram, Blake's own guardian Angel, is one of the more unique characters. His honesty along with his wit made me pause and take note after he spoke.
Yerzina, the main villain of this story, is a creature that has lived for centuries, and she finds a new body when her current one is ready to pass on.

The flaws I noticed didn't hit me at any one moment but were similar to "Shadowmancer", his previous book. Just a lack of detail on things I decided I wanted to know. Like, who was the woman Tetagus fell in love with? How long ago was it? Had Tetagus ans Abram ever tried to stop Yerzina before? They made it obvious they knew of her past deeds. Maybe It's just my interest in angelic warfare stories but I did also wish to know more about Blake, as I previously stated.
The only other flaw, I think, was the lack of meetings between the two main human characters-Blake and Agetta, although it seems essential to the story. Perhaps when they met near the end, if there had been a moment of clarity-Agetta's guilt over causing trouble and stealing, Blake's new found forgiveness. But any feelings or a new relationship being formed is left to the imagination, as the book seems to cut right off after the villain is vanquished.

For a story so full of twists, I only wrote about half of them in the summary, I'd give "Wormwood" three stars. Just as creative as the first book, with a ghost, a man made of dirt and clay, and a Diakka to fuel the imagination.

If you want to learn more about the many highly underated books that G.P. Taylor has penned, just check out his homepage.

You can buy it at Amazon.com.

Up next? Dunno...perhaps a Ted Dekker novel.