Amy's Review - The Hour of Tiamat

Title: The Hour of Tiamat

Author: Lisa Taylor

Genre: Fantasy/Horror/Paranormal

Format: Hardcover, Paperback or E-book

Rating: 4.85 stars

I was excited to start this book, since it's the first one I've been asked to review for our new little blog. The Hour of Tiamat is Lisa Taylor's first novel, though she's previously published a collection of poetry. From the description, I could tell that the idea was brilliant, but I was nervous to see how Taylor followed through. All worries were blown away, though, within the first chapter.
The novel starts in the middle of the action, and is so fast paced that major plot events happen in the first few pages. "All killer, no filler," you could say. The Hour of Tiamat begins with four friends: Malaki, Celicia, Tara, and Tristan, about to begin an evil plan that will cause the end of the world. At first we are lead to think Celicia is the main character, but Tristan quickly stands apart. He's easy to empathize with, and complex enough to seem real. I have to have characters who are believable as people, and this novel brings that with every single character we meet. Everyone's got a complicated history, and we can always understand the reason for their actions (even if we don't agree they're right.)
Next we meet Evelyn, who gets mixed up in the four friends' plot. Evelyn has problems of her own: an abusive father, a dead mother, and a little sister (Emma) that she's willing to protect no matter what. Evelyn and Tristan (who rebels against the other three) team up with Hunter, who works at an occult shop, to stop the end of the world. There are also ghosts, but I don't want to spoil the story for you!
The middle section of the book reads a little like a teen movie, and not in a bad way. Evelyn, Emma, Tristan, and Hunter are on the run. There's a car chase and a wild teen party, and plenty of adventure.
Later on, several characters use astral projection (a favorite topic of mine!) to get to the final battle. I wish the battle itself could have been longer, but it was still amazing. I feel like this would translate well to film, if Taylor's novel ever gets picked up by Hollywood.
The bottom line: The Hour of Tiamat is a great novel with an epic story, but no epic length. It's a fast and fun read, and very different. It's darker than, say, Meg Cabot's Jinx, but there's still happiness at the end. (And an epilogue that nearly left me in tears!) The only points taken off from its rating come from a few minor yet annoying typos sprinkled throughout that I wish the editor would have caught. Hopefully these will be fixed in the movie-tie-in second printing that I predict is in this novel's future. I'd love to read more of Taylor's work, and you should read The Hour of Tiamat.