An Ancient Banshee Scorned: Blood Point is an Irish Folk Horror Novel of Ancient Evil and Modern-Day Possession

 

Blood Point

Alexander Lane

Hi3NichiNari, 2025

Ebook, 438 ppg. 

ISBN: 978-1-7395830-4-0

Ebook, 438 ppg.

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Blood Point by Alexander Lane is an Irish ghost story of how an ancient evil terrorizes a group of tourists visiting there for the summer Solstice. Given the mystical elements at work at this time of year, it’s no surprise that a supernatural force long ago destroyed could be resurrected, even by accident. People who are not familiar with the history of ancient landmarks would see something that is “cool” without realizing that it could harbor ancient spirits not to be toyed with.

 

The story starts slow but it eventually picks up and once that happens, it’s hard to stop reading! I didn’t like the slow start, but I did appreciate how readers are given a chance to get to know the main characters better.

 

The backstory is told in strong detail and I was very fascinated by it. The backstory was more interesting than the main story, but I still kept reading both. Readers are encouraged to read the backstory, because it contains important information to know about things that happen later in the story.

 

The way this story is told, with the main characters, is that they are each telling their side of the story. This is good because it fills in a lot of blanks, but it does take a while to go through everything. But even so, their stories are told in so much detail and with bits of other character’s actions that they are pretty much accurate about.

 

I could totally understand Holly’s fascination with the pyramid, and I did love her idea of having a picnic at the pyramid when celebrating Midsummer Night. I mean, it’s one interesting way to pass the occasion! But little do they know what evil lurks within that pyramid, which of course some of them decide to explore.

 

As we dive further into the stories of the women who were murdered in the past, this female reader can certainly understand the anger and rage of these murdered women who were crushed under the heel of men. As Holly writes in her journal:

 

“These three women, they’re in me and around me. Beautiful Norig with her eyes full of stars, her skin like living, polished wood and I can touch her like she’s real, tracing the whorls and grain on her face with my fingers. Whorls. Marguerite told me to use that word. I thought Norig would be hard, like a tree, but she’s soft and warm like me, but with that raw Sídhe power flowing around inside her. It makes me tingle and then I remember where it came from. My poor French boy. Then there’s bloody, naked Eitigh, bruised and scratched from her final journey, the tracks of tears forever cutting through the grime on her cheeks. I’d love to wipe it away, put a bit of colour in her cheeks and eyes, see the girl who seduced a king. And black-lipped Marguerite, her chin cracked and scalded, eyes burning with a cold fury. She’s clever and educated, but all she had to look forward to was children and letting men make choices for her. Her pompous father and those arrogant brothers! No wonder she listened to Norig.” (Ppg. 279-80)

 

When these women tried to obtain power, they were accused of witchcraft and murdered by men. When they performed actions which other men felt were wrong, they were also accused of witchcraft by men and murdered by men. At the time both murders happened, women had no say, no rights and no kind of equality at all. Men had power over them and they used that power to either keep them subordinate or silence them.

 

It’s a terrible reminder of the horrors women faced in those days and how important it was for the women’s movement to happen so that women would have rights. So, the symbolism of a woman freeing an abused, murdered and wronged woman from long ago was a beautiful aspect in this story.

 

And what happens in the climax of the story is amazing! There is so much that is explained and shared in this part of the story. It brings all of the preceding events full circle and everything just falls into place.

 

The whole story is absolutely amazing. Yes, it starts off slow, but it is so worth it to hang in there for the rest of the story. The pace picks up eventually and it’s hard to stop reading as so many things happen!

 

Blood Point is a beautiful yet terrifying story of Irish folklore and ancient magic. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys reading Irish stories as well as stories of ancient magic and long-ago tales. It is a thrilling and scintillating story of the quest for power and vengeance. A story told from the POVs of the major characters, it draws readers in and keeps them turning the pages as the drama intensifies, the horrors take hold, and the quest for answers leads to a magical and otherworldly showdown.

 

 

 

Five stars

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Of Mountains and Monsters: Nine Levels is a mythological quest of courage and survival

 

Nine Levels

Elana Gomel

Mirror World Publishing, 2024

ISBN-13: 978-1998360024

Ebook, 282 ppg.

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“There was power in knowledge.” This is a thought that strikes the main character of this novel, Cleo, as she is hiding from a group of harpies that would no doubt attack her without mercy.

 

Yes. That’s right. Harpies. The same creatures in Greek mythology. And, in Cleo’s case, her knowledge of Greek mythology becomes handy. As she eventually discovers that she is trapped on what she learns is the very first level of a mountain called Orcus, where myth becomes reality. She eventually finds out that there are nine levels which she must ascend in order to escape from this hell she is in, and her attempts to do so are a matter of life and death.

 

If you know Greek mythology, you know that there are some pretty sketchy and dangerous creatures. Not to mention those who like to knock boots with anything that breathes. So Cleo definitely has quite a few scary adventures to contend with.

 

But it’s not just creatures from Greek mythology which are in this story. Other figures, such as Hekate, are in it too. Which sort of complicates things for Cleo in trying to figure out the puzzle she has to solve in trying to survive each adversary she faces! She can’t rely on what she knows every time; she has to sort of study them and try to pick up on clues to understand who she is dealing with on each level.

 

It seems like each new level she reaches is harder than the last. Still, she presses on. She does try to figure things out along the way, perhaps so she can have some kind of edge against her opponents or the next thing she faces, but she knows that this can slow here down. “She forced herself to fall into the same mindless rhythm that had saved her on the rockface. Don’t think, don’t feel, don’t fear. Touch the wall, pull yourself up, feel the last ledge dissolve under your feet, touch the wall…But while her body, toughened by her stay in Orcus, labored to keep her alive, her mind churned like a pond of muddy water with a stone tossed in.” Even so, Cleo keeps facing one setback after another, one difficulty after another, and one failure after another. She is exhausted, mentally and physically, and constantly fighting to keep going. She is tempted to give up but she won’t because she knows her sister is out there somewhere, and she needed to help her:

 

“My sister is not dead.

It came to her with absolute conviction. And together with it, the

determination to stay alive. She owed it to Cora. Twins always stayed together, in life as in death. Even the Dioscuri, with one brother immortal and the other mortal, refused to be parted. If Cora was alive, she would try her damndest to stay alive too.”

 

One lingering thought I had as I read this book was this: How did this even happen? How was Cleo suddenly on Orcus, a mythological mountain where a warped sense of mythology reigned, and how was her sister lost? This is all explained, at some point. Not right away, but as I read, pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Her memory lapses are also explained, and I was surprised to learn the cause of it. I also appreciated how the author touched on the fact that Cleo has a twin sister, and tapped into aspects of things that can only happen between twins – even one being mistaken for the other. (There’s actually a lot involved on the subject with twins and the author touched on some of these aspects beautifully. It’s not overdone and has just the right balance.)

 

This was an extremely interesting story! The author knows her Greek mythology very well. Each level that Cleo ascends to is ever more interesting than the last, and the big reveal in the climax was very surprising. I definitely did not see it coming, and the image of Cleo standing with Medusa and Lamia was jarring. Almost surreal. Humans in Greek mythology are often looked down upon, seen as sex objects or as pawns for the gods and goddesses in their many battles. So to see this in the story was really unusual, if not a reminder of just how different all of the mythologies are in this fictional albeit mythological universe this author has created for her story. It is so well done and leaves a lasting appreciation for the Greek mythology which we all know and love.

 

Masterfully told and captivatingly pieced together, Nine Levels by Elana Gomel is a novel of adventure, myth, legend and courage. A story that twists together fantasy, mythology, folklore and contemporary fiction, this novel is an unforgettable quest holding reader interest and entertaining the imagination. Every level of this story reaches ever higher than the last one, enriching the enjoyment of the story right along with it.

 

 

Five stars

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.