Blog Tour: The Pleasure of Memory by Welcome Cole (review)

The Pleasure of Memory
written by Welcome Cole
published by Caelstone Press

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Book Depository, Goodreads

Why did I pick this book: I participated in the blog tour hosted by Virtualbookworm Blog Tours. (I received a copy of this book for review purposes.)

Did I enjoy this book: Yes.

The Pleasure of Memory is creative fantasy where dreams and visions intertwine almost imperceptibly with reality. Welcome Cole allows his story to unfold using delightfully poetic imagery. Here’s an example:

“The sound of the rain was as appealing as a lullaby, soothing and entrancing, and he rode its happy rhythm like a magic horse into the fog of sleep.”

That’s one fancy of saying some guy took a nap. But I’m a sucker for beautiful writing so I lapped it up like a thirsty dog.  At times, his writing was so entertaining that I forgot to focus on the action in the story.

Why four stars? I struggled with this because it’s a highly subjective criticism. But ultimately these reviews are how the book engaged or failed to engage me as the reader. The one element in this book I grew weary of was the drawn out, violent fighting scenes. There were too many that went on for too long for my taste. By the 50% mark I began skimming through the battle scenes to get back to the story.

Would I recommend it: Yes. Especially to those who enjoy complex alternate reality fantasy and Science fiction.

Will I read it again: I will not.

About the book – from Goodreads: Beam is a smuggler, a murderer, and a rogue, who lives by the age-old rules of “Finders, keepers” and “To thy own self be true.” Abandoned by his family and raised in a run-down priory by an old monk, he is consumed by his anger. He measures the worth of the world’s citizens less by the character of their hearts than the gold he can pick from their pockets. However, when he receives a mysterious message from his long dead mother, his carefully constructed rules of priority and self-interest are changed forever. Wrapped within that message is an ancient map that leads him far south to the reservations of the Vaemyn, a race of savages forcefully sequestered from the world by the civilized Allied Nations. Once there, he searches through a burial ground the size of a small city where he finds an ancient artifact called the Blood Caeyl, a rare red crystal carved in the image of a sensuous eye that he believes will make him rich beyond his dreams. In his flight, he crosses paths with Chance Gnoman, a powerful Water Caeyl Mage. When Chance recognizes the Blood Caeyl, he explains the importance of the artifact in the war that is about to ensue. The artifact begins to change Beam, awakening the memories of a thousand lifetimes, and with those memories, the powers of a god.