Genre – Fiction
Category – Science Fiction/Speculative Fiction/LGBT/Fantasy
Pages – 298
Publication Information – Painted Blind Publishing (May 19, 2019)
Reviewed by William C. Bitner, Jr.
Rating – 📙📙📙📙📙
I finished reading The Hierophant’s Daughter, Disgraced Martyr Trilogy, Book One by M.F. Sullivan a few days ago, and I’ve just be wondering what I can possibly say about this phenomenal piece of fiction that would be a credit to it’s achievement. First I want to say that it took me a little longer than I expected to read the 298 pages. It’s a complex story that had me perplexed and confused in the beginning pages. I am happy to say however that sticking to it paid off in a much larger aspect than I could have ever imagined. The world building and character development is astonishingly vivid and the story begins to develop right before your eyes on the pages. It really was an experience reading this book. I’m gobsmacked and left in a state of wonderment about what the next chapters will bring to light. This is a difficult piece of fiction to put into any one category as it really touches on so many issues and crosses many genre boundaries. It is just something that must be experienced by just opening up your mind and allowing the story to just sink in. I am fast becoming a big fan of M.F. Sullivan and cannot wait for the next installment.
Synopsis (from the back cover): By 4042 CE, the Hierophant and his Church have risen to political dominance with his cannibalistic army of genetically modified humans: martyrs. In an era when mankind’s intergenerational cold wars against their long-lived predators seem close to running hot, the Holy Family is poised on the verge of complete planetary control. It will take a miracle to save humanity from extinction.
It will also take a miracle to resurrect the wife of 331-year-old General Dominia di Mephitoli, who defects during martyr year 1997 AL in search of Lazarus, the one man rumored to bring life to the dead. With the Hierophant’s Project Black Sun looming over her head, she has little choice but to believe this Lazarus is really all her new friends say he is–assuming he exists at all–and that these companions of hers are really able to help her. From the foulmouthed Japanese prostitute with a few secrets of her own to the outright sapient dog who seems to judge every move, they don’t inspire a lot of confidence, but the General has to take the help she can get.
After all, Dominia is no ordinary martyr. She is THE HIEROPHANT’S DAUGHTER, and her Father won’t let her switch sides without a fight. Not when she still has so much to learn.
About M.F. Sullivan: M.F. Sullivan is a playwright and novelist currently living in the scenic town of Ashland, Oregon. There, the author is hard at work on a new trilogy and a slew of plays. Sullivan’s interests include consciousness, language, and how the literary arts can be used to expand them both.
Other work by M.F. Sullivan: The Lighting Stenography Device: A Psychedelic Odyssey, and Delilah, My Women: A Dark Transgressive Romance.
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