Rite (book)
Ritus is a horror and fantasy novel by the author Markus Heitz . It was published in Germany on June 1, 2008 by Knaur Verlag . The follow-up band is called Sanctum .
content
action
The book takes place in Europe in two storylines. In 1764, several women and children were killed by an unknown beast in France. The widower Jean Chastel and his sons go on a hunt for the creature in order to receive the extraordinarily high bounty. He discovers a werewolf in one of his traps in the forest, but keeps this find a secret. Shortly thereafter, the family is attacked by another werewolf and Chastel's sons are infected.
In 2004, the macho and lone fighter Eric von Kastell was one of the few people who knew that werewolves still existed. He pursues the beings all over Europe to exterminate them.
shape
The two storylines, between which there are 240 years, alternate chapter by chapter, but never cross each other. There is a huge difference between the protagonists' personalities and their worlds. So Eric von Kastell appears next to the family man Chastel and his problems like an "absolutely unnatural and exaggerated character," writes Peter Kümmel. “The atmosphere is as different as the protagonists [...]. On the one hand, France in the 18th century with monasteries and carriages, hunters and noblemen, as one imagines it from our perspective. On the other hand, a Europe of the present, as we know it from science fiction films. Dark, dirty, fast and cold - a world with a protagonist that is strikingly reminiscent of “ Blade ”. The lonely hunter who travels from place to place at lightning speed to kill his enemies; there is not much around it. "
background
Markus Heitz was inspired by the myth of the beast of Gévaudan from the 18th century. This already served as a model for the French film Pact of the Wolves , from which Heitz was apparently strongly influenced.
review
“In my opinion, this construction makes no sense at all for the reader and it also does not allow it to be logically justified. [...] As a reader, you are permanently drawn to the story in France, which is well structured and told fluently, even if the linguistic means are rather modest. The events of the present, on the other hand, often only form annoying action during breaks that one would like to skim over. [...] In principle, the reader has two completely independent stories in front of him, which he can follow alternately. There is enough excitement here, at times the author offers pure action. Nevertheless, the change always results in a break [...]. The disappointment comes to the end, however, because Markus Heitz did not even begin to find a satisfactory conclusion. ";Rite"; is a pure serial and obliges the reader to read the follow-up volume "; Sanctum"; to buy if he doesn't want to be satisfied with this ending. "
literature
Text output
- Markus Heitz: Rite . Knaur-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-426-63978-8 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Markus Heitz: Rite. In: phantastik-couch.de. Retrieved June 30, 2011 .