I had a blog post I wanted to write for today, but it's been a super busy week, and I, quite frankly, ran out of time. So I'll write it today for another day.
You may not know this (I didn't), but sixty is considered to be a significant birthday to celebrate in Chinese tradition (Rebekah explained it to me while we were watching Nirvana in Fire).
Sixty is a highly important age because it is considered an entire life cycle. Because at the age of 60, Chinese yearly zodiac sign including animal sigh and elemental zodiac sign become the same as one’s year of birth." (full article here).
Fortunately, my BryonySeries super fan struck again - just in time to delight me with an early birthday present last night that is still making me smile today.
Cool side note about the timing. The Limbo trilogy (of which The Phoenix is the first book) has a theme of "rebirth," which is a wide theme and may not take the obvious paths. Just saying.
If you were on the fence about plunking down a couple dollars for this book, her words may tip you into the, "I can't wait to read this!" camp.
Either way, the review makes an entertaining read before you scroll past. Enjoy!
5.0 out of
5 stars The latest Bryony Series release is something surprisingly different
Reviewed
in the United States on July 14, 2021
Verified
Purchase
I’ve spent the past eight years living vicariously in Munsonville, Michigan, the setting of Denise Baran-Unland’s masterpiece “Bryony Series.” What began as a single tantalizing book has blossomed into more than a dozen - prequels, sequels and side stories – all of which I’ve greedily gobbled up like buttered popcorn.
The fictional town of is the setting for particularly noxious vampires who prey physically and psychologically on unwitting townspeople.
Denise Baran-Unland latest "Bryony Series" installment, “The Phoenix,” differs from the rest – and how! I was shockingly bedazzled as soon as I opened the book.
I was once a “Lord of the Rings” nerd. I not only read “The Hobbit” and trilogy, but anything related, including the satire, “Bored of the Rings,” by Harvard Lampoon. I enjoyed the book, whose authors had the audacity to poke fun at Tolkein’s mythic characters.
However, not even Tolkein had the fortitude to lampoon his own creation. Unland, on the other hand, gleefully pokes fun at characters she’s spent years developing. The result is the funniest dark humor book I’ve read in a long time – literal laugh-out-loud hysterical.
I was most delighted to meet up with one of my favorite characters, Kellen Wechsler, an Old World Bavarian vampire. Even in a serious setting, Kellen is a caricature of himself. His mania and grandiosity make him one of Unland’s strongest and most memorable characters.
Unland takes Kellen’s overblown persona and runs with it. In the words of the author, “Kellen sported a certain ‘freshness’ like when a butcher presses blood into spoiled meat for reselling.”
Not that Kellen would care what anyone, including his creator, thinks of him. He’d simply sing an irreverent ditty and swan dive into the bosom of Mother Earth to pout for a while.
“The Phoenix” reunites Kellen with John Simons and Henry Matthews - two fledgling vampires who figure prominently throughout the series. Kellen plays headmaster of the “Kellen Wechsler Finishing School for Young Vampires” (Perhaps a sly dig at Hogwarts?).
(Editor's note: I never even thought of Hogwarts! Nice connection).
Their lessons are some of the most bizarre scenarios EVER. When you find yourself guffawing in the chapter about “rosy dead, unbaptized kiddies,” you know it’s wicked. You'll feel guilty, but it's like being tickled. You can't help laughing.
The infamously creepy Dr. Arnold Gothart also joins in the fun. Even Kellen cowers before the good doctor, whose mild appearance belies his true nature. In fact, I have puzzled over his nature. Is Dr. Gothart a demon, an angel or something never before seen on this planet? Whatever he is, he gives me the creeps.
Though I focus on my dear “old friends,” there’s a lot more to “The Phoenix” than the vampire finishing school. Unland introduces the Clare family – George, Isabella and their precocious daughter, Marie. A very bizarre family unit. George spends most of his time at death’s door. That, too, is a bit of a mystery. Marie Clare is a brave, precocious soul who reminds me a bit of Bryony's protagonist, Melissa.
A number of other beloved characters from the series make an appearance as past issues are rehashed and resolved. I’m looking forward to Unland’s upcoming sequel to sort things out in my mind.
I could wax on and on, but let it suffice to say that “The Phoenix” is a delightful and hilarious surprise – a bit of comic relief after the dark intensity of other books in the series. For those who haven’t had the pleasure of reading the “Bryony Series,” beginning your reading journey with "The Phoenix" could be a lot of fun. But, don't say I didn't warn you.
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