EusReads

Book Review: The Long Guest by Jennifer Mugrage

One of my online friends, Jennifer, wrote a book! And she very kindly sent me a copy because shipping is expensive, so obviously I had to bump it up the TBR list. And totally no regrets because I have not read an Epic Story* in a while.

The Long Guest is set post-Tower of Babel, when the world has been split due to the languages being scrambled. In the confusion, a highborn man falls from the tower and loses the use of his legs, while a small family of Japhethites flee from the chaos. As they leave the city, they come across the body of the highborn man and the matriarch, Zillah, insists that they rescue him.

The Long Guest so fascinating! The world was very unique, with dragons and other strange creatures, and I felt like I was journeying with Zillah and Enmer, her oldest son and head of the family. While there isn’t a definite goal to the end of the journey (other than “find a new home”), the character journeys through the book are just so good that I could not put the book down. I particularly appreciated the journey of Nimri, the highborn man who ends up crippled. He starts off as a hateful character, and I honestly thought I was going to dislike him for the whole book, but I slowly found my views being changed. I won’t spoil the book, but these subtle maturing and changing of the characters made them come to life for me.

There is a pretty big cast of characters, but I was never confused by reading. It helps that the book starts with a focus on Enmer, with some chapters given to Nimri, and then slowly pulls back as the family starts to get used to their new world. Because of that, I never felt overwhelmed by the number of characters and could follow what was happening pretty easily.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story! If you’re into epic stories/sagas, you’d probably want to read this. Apart from the excellent characters, the setting of the story is unique and I enjoyed this depiction of what a post-Babel world might look like.

*I’m using “epic” in the “narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the past history of a nation” sense rather than the other one, by the way

8 thoughts on “Book Review: The Long Guest by Jennifer Mugrage

    1. I was thinking of the slang use of the term like “this was epic” or “what an epic movie” to describe something good (so basically more of a superlative use)

    2. It you want to get uber geeky! 😀 The six characteristics of an epic story are:

      (1) The protagonist is superhuman / important / legendary
      (2) The setting is vast and often involves a journey to the underworld
      (3) The action focuses on heroic deeds
      (4) There are supernatural forces at play
      (5) Haughty writing – Typically in verse; over-stylized; very formal
      (6) The narrator in omnipresent

      With additional common characteristics including:

      – Invocation of the muse
      – Starting in medias res
      – Clearly articulates the subject/theme at the start
      – Provides genealogies
      – Extended formal speeches
      – Epic simile (runs several lines vs. regular ol’ simile)
      – Use of repetition
      – Presents heroic ideals
      – Depicts contemporary life

      … You actually check off a bunch of these, Jenn! Not quite all, but a lot!

  1. Oooo! Dragons! I like dragons. It’s been awhile since I last read an epic fantasy novel. I lean more toward urban fantasy more often than not. This does sound good though, and I am glad you enjoyed it!

What do you think?