Addergoole by Lyn Thorne-Alder

"Watch what you say"

This review is crossposted from my blog.

I’m sure you’ve read the "cover blurb", so it’s probably no surprise that this one comes with an adult content and a NSFW warning. More on this in the review.

I like this story a lot and I’ve meant to review it for a while, but for some reason I’m finding it hard, so here goes nothing…

Addergoole is set in a rather unusual finishing school. The main characters are three of the current year’s intake (aka the 5th cohort) and are apparently just pre-college in age (which is good given the erotic parts).

From the moment it becomes clear the school is literally underground you know it’s only going to get weirder. It soon turns out that all the students are Ellehemaei – inter-dimensional alien faeries – even though most – if not all – of the fifth cohort know that yet. And by human standards Ellehemaei society is very twisted.

The Ellehemaei have great power, but with this great power comes an almighty bitch slap from the Universe in the form of The Law. These people have to watch what they say because even casual promises or statements made without knowing the consequences will be supernaturally enforced by the universe.

For goodness sake don’t say you belong to someone.

Which brings us to the erotica. The adult material in Addergoole is all well-marked and can, so far at least, easily be skipped. Which is good, if like me you don’t like that sort of thing. And skimming and skipping it does not impede understanding the story.

The storyline is fairly light so far even though this is undeniably dark fantasy. Mostly it’s been twisted romance with a little bit of other stuff thrown in – twisted because Ellehemaei romance is not remotely normal by human standards. That’s part of what makes it fun. Anyway this seems set to change soon – an external threat is in place to rear its head and I think that can only make a good story better.

There layout isn’t my favourite, but it’s clear to read and easy to navigate so I have no complaints either. There is the occasional error or typo, but Lyn is quick to correct them when they’re pointed out to her. Indeed one of things I like is the way Lyn interacts with her readers. It makes a fun story even more fun.

The first chapter isn’t very good at all but the writing improves rapidly after that, so please don’t let it put you off.

Another plus is that it updates regularly – though there is a short two-week hiatus between ‘books’ coming up. On the upside this means it’s an excellent time to start reading because new readers will have time to get through the backlog before the next section starts. And there will still be bonus material posted in this time.

Summary: Addergoole is an entertaining fantasy which I enjoy a great deal. I think it will not be to everyone’s tastes, but it’s certainly to mine. It’s worth a look.

Rating: 7 / 10