Montague, John.: Hymn to the new Omagh road. (1968, Priv. print. at the Dolmen Press)
English language
Published Dec. 14, 1968 by Priv. print. at the Dolmen Press.
Big fan of Morrison’s work, but aside from the opening stanza I struggled with this. Not because of the seemingly drug addled narrative but because of things like the lack of character building and the barely believable idea that de Sade, Byron and Shelley are Invisibles
Anyway a sometimes fun read, and Yeowell’s art is always a joy. But other than that It’s Ok.
The plot accelerates quite a bit in this volume, and the metaphysical portions of the story come into greater focus. I almost expected some sort of Philip K. Dick Valis moment when King Mob states that one of his names is Morrison, but that appears (at least now) to be a red herring.
The characters seem more likable now, but honestly some still seem crudely drawn (from a narrative, not art point of view) and function primarily for convenience more than anything. For example, King Mob: why do I care what happens to him or what he's doing? Yes, he's there to STOP THE BAD GUYS, but I don't really know enough about him to care. Certainly, not enough to care that he's the central figure in peril.
Speaking of characters, lets look at Dane McGowan who if you believe the casting text at the beginning of the volumes is …
The plot accelerates quite a bit in this volume, and the metaphysical portions of the story come into greater focus. I almost expected some sort of Philip K. Dick Valis moment when King Mob states that one of his names is Morrison, but that appears (at least now) to be a red herring.
The characters seem more likable now, but honestly some still seem crudely drawn (from a narrative, not art point of view) and function primarily for convenience more than anything. For example, King Mob: why do I care what happens to him or what he's doing? Yes, he's there to STOP THE BAD GUYS, but I don't really know enough about him to care. Certainly, not enough to care that he's the central figure in peril.
Speaking of characters, lets look at Dane McGowan who if you believe the casting text at the beginning of the volumes is supposed to become the next Buddha despite being one of the most unlikeable bastards in the books. That being said, there's some character growth here, and enough information to pique my interest in some of the other characters.
Honestly, if I hadn't bought the first three volumes at once I wouldn't have come this far in the series, but now I have to say I'll probably eventually buy the next book to see how things develop. That being said, if that one doesn't knock my socks off, I'll probably call it quits with this series.
An interesting work, filled with dark and mystical themes. It's a little hard to get into, there's a unique rhythm to the narrative that the reader needs to find before they can really flow with it. The world is being controlled by an alien (extra-dimensional) conspiracy that forces people into soul-less compliant behavior, and the Invisibles are a secret society of guerrilla cells that practice both physical and psychic warfare against said conspiracy.
It's an ambitious plot, and this first volume does an admirable job introducing the reader to the concepts, but the narrative suffers a bit as a result. It doesn't help either that at least in this volume the overall impression of the central characters on all sides is that they are either vaguely drawn (and I don't mean the artwork) or completely unlikeable.
There is some intersting ideas at work here, but if I hadn't picked up …
An interesting work, filled with dark and mystical themes. It's a little hard to get into, there's a unique rhythm to the narrative that the reader needs to find before they can really flow with it. The world is being controlled by an alien (extra-dimensional) conspiracy that forces people into soul-less compliant behavior, and the Invisibles are a secret society of guerrilla cells that practice both physical and psychic warfare against said conspiracy.
It's an ambitious plot, and this first volume does an admirable job introducing the reader to the concepts, but the narrative suffers a bit as a result. It doesn't help either that at least in this volume the overall impression of the central characters on all sides is that they are either vaguely drawn (and I don't mean the artwork) or completely unlikeable.
There is some intersting ideas at work here, but if I hadn't picked up the next two volumes at the same time (based off of recommendations from numerous people) I probably would have stopped here.
