“The Left Hand of God”, published by Dutton, June 2010, 0525951318. Read an excerpt here. Buy it here.

Plot Synopsis: Paul Hoffman’s novel of astonishing scope and imagination, featuring a darkly gifted teenage boy at the center of a brutal holy war, grabs the reader from its incredible opening lines and refuses to let go. The Left Hand of God is the first novel in an epic, ambitious trilogy that will prove irresistible to the readers who have turned the Inheritance Cycle, Twilight, and the His Dark Materials series into publishing phenomena.

The Left Hand of God is the story of sixteen-year-old Thomas Cale, who has grown up imprisoned at the Sanctuary of the Redeemers, a fortress run by a secretive sect of warrior monks in a distant, dystopian past. He is one of thousands of boys who train all day in hand-to-hand combat, in preparation for a holy war that only the High Priests know is now imminent. He has no reason to think he’s special, no idea there’s another world outside the compound’s walls, and no hope for a life any different from the one he already knows.

And then, Cale opens a door.

What follows is a daring escape, an unlikely alliance, a desperate pursuit, a journey of incredible discovery, and an adventure the likes of which Cale could never possibly have imagined, culminating in Cale’s astonishing realization that he alone has the power to save his world- or to destroy it.

Review:

As someone who usually doesn’t believe the hype surrounding most titles (and encourages others not to), I’m making an exception. Believe the hype, people. This isn’t just another one of those books–you know the type–the kind that reviewers praise and compare to Philip Pullman and then it ends up being a huge disappointment. Cale’s story is one of the darkest, darker even than Pullman, and I’d argue, even more exciting.

And although the promotional materials compare it to Twilight, I don’t agree with that assessment at all. I know that the publisher means to say his work will soon be on par with the same success that Twilight has enjoyed, and I accept that, but to compare Hoffman’s superior prose to Meyer’s is, well, let’s just say that it’s not an apt comparison

Hoffman starts off doing a good job of establishing early on that the Sanctuary is a nice name for what is, in effect, a prison for children/students and although our protagonist is named Thomas Cale, you wouldn’t know it unless someone told you, because all people who are within the Sanctuary get new names and forget their old ones

For me, the book was very evocative of The Name of the Rose for its creepy atmosphere, and it even had shades of Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s Shadow of the Wind, at times–the creepy monastic atmosphere will draw you in slowly but surely. And although the descriptions of setting weren’t the strongest point in the book and were, in fact, quite minimal, the characters are what makes this book.

First, there are all those horrendous Lords–Lord of Discipline, Lord Militant, etc. Basically, you can tell just from their names that they’re not friendly, and the fact that they keep talking about something called an Act of Faith, which is the ultimate punishment used on a pupil for disobedience just solidifies how creepy these guys are. I would definitely not want to encounter any of them in a dark alley

The protagonist, Thomas Cale, is, at first, an enigma. It takes a while to get to know him and to see under his layers to get to his core, but once you do, he becomes a fascinating character to follow. Cale is an ingenious and resourceful young man despite his violent tendencies, and is every bit as calculating as a detective. Cale’s goal, if it isn’t immediately clear, is to escape this torturous monastic place, the Sanctuary, but how he does it proves very challenging and seems quite impossible from the get-go.

Because of his training from the Redeemers as a soldier, Cale has to protect the daughter of Marshal Materazzi (he is the head of a wealthy family of nobles who could give the de Medicis a run for their money), who is a target of the Redeemers. We find out that the Redeemers fought an epic war with another group, the Antagonists, who are anti-Redeemers and hate everything associated with the Redeemer; Antagonists want to destroy the One True Faith (sort of like Christianity).

Speaking of antagonists, there are many, but the chief one comes in the form of the High Redeemer and Bosco, another Redeemer, who set out to get Cale back to their school–and, you guessed it, they want to make him an Act of Faith. The Redeemers are, in addition to being religious nutbars, also unabashedly misogynistic–they refer to Eve as “that bitch…who wanted to know things” and one of them blames her desire for knowledge as the cause of mankind’s downfall.

Meanwhile, as is to be expected–and as often occurs in situations in which male and female characters are in close proximity, esp. with the protector-protectee relationship–Arbell Materazzi grows a bit of a crush on Cale, despite the fact that he’s covered in scars and is large and muscular, and Riba helps Arbell see that she should feel sorry for Cale and understand that because of all the beatings he endured as a child at the hands of Bosco the Redeemer, this turned Cale into a killer (or at least provided the spur in his side that egged him on).

To go back to Cale for a second, one of the things that won me over was his “in your face” attitude–in defiance of the “Wise traveller who the heroes encounter on their journey” (or in this case, escape) who insist on calling the main character “boy,” Cale flatly tells such a character whom he encounters named IdrisPukke not to call him that. I like the cut of his jib.

He’s a refreshing protagonist who plays by his own rules despite being a Redeemer’s Acolyte, and he’s compelling–he may not be sympathetic at first, but he definitely wins you over once you get to know him.
Cale and the two friends he escapes with–a charmingly naive boy named Vague Henri who grows up into a much darker and edgier guy–and Kleist, are accompanied by a girl, Riba, who comes from a similar abbey-like place where women are groomed from an early age to be perfect-looking sexually appetizing docile creatures whose only concern is pleasuring me. They’re brought up to be slaves to me, to whom they’re given away, usually at age fifteen.

Adults and teenage readers will enjoy the text for its mix of Harry Potter meets The Da Vinci Code, be wary: we’re treading into dark territory here. There are murders, and although there is violence, it isn’t graphic. Still, if you’re expecting a high fantasy adventure with dragons and wizards and Karate Kid-inspired dialogue, look elsewhere. There’s nothing campy about this book.

In terms of cool elements, this book has no shortage of them. You’ll find creepy symbols and names all throughout the book, like The Hanged Redeemer, a Christ-like figure who was the son of the Lord of Creation (cf. God) and who sacrificed his life to absolve the sins of humanity.

The worldbuilding and terminology are interesting but it’s difficult to say where or when the story takes place (despite the interior maps), because there are some modern phrases like “Got a smoke?” and terms like Norwegian and rabbi, but the archaic concept of a compound abbey for girls, which is why the map comes in handy for geographic locations, is still a bit confusing.

Through alterations and POV shifts, we see the perspectives of the major characters and get to know them better, including Vague Henri’s first experience watching a naked Riba bathe. It makes the character come off as an individual, which is hugely important in a book like this
IdrisPukke, the traveller, takes Cale under his wing and teaches him to be civilized and more worldly; Pukke turns out to be a charming character.

Like any interesting relationship, that between Cale and Idris is strained most of the time, which created very interesting tension in the narrative
The plot, once it became clear, builds suspense as Cale joins an all out large scale war against the Redeemers.

Most surprising of all is the lack of violence in the text–I was expecting much more bloodshed and killing, but there was practically none until the last great epic war scene, and even then, there was a lot of description of what archers and other soldiers on the field were doing, but nothing too graphic or gory.

The end battle scene is described in great detail, and is very drawn out and all-encumbering; descriptions of the fighting (horseback and swords type stuff) were moderate and not too specific or gory.

The ending, which I won’t ruin, is good: it’s very heart-wrenching and it made me want to kick Bosco’s ass because he’s a douchebag of the highest order, but the title plays out nicely and explains itself, and best of all, you start to see why Bosco is so interested in Cale.

To sum it all up, The Left Hand of God is a big book, but it has a very filmic quality. Don’t expect to breeze right through this one, though–it’s definitely a bit of a slower read.

It’s well worth your time to read this book. And as it’s part of a planned trilogy, we can look forward to more of Cale and the Redeemers.

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Extras:

It’s worth it to check out this highly detailed and interactive map of the world Hoffman has constructed. Also, Spine Breakers has some excellent materials on the book here.