A Time of Myths by Chris Blamires

My email inbox seems to contain more and more author requests recently.  Authors have spotted my reviews, either on Amazon, Goodreads, or here on my blog and ask that I consider their books for review.  As much as I'd love to say yes to everyone, I just don't have the time to read and review them all as well as read the books that I've actually chosen myself.   I also don't read e-books, so that makes saying no a little easier at times.

When debut author Chris Blamires contacted me to tell me about his novel A Time Of Myths, I was intrigued by the synopsis, and also by his personal and friendly approach.    A Time of Myths is published by The Literature Orchard in paperback and was released at the end of April, it is also available for Kindle.

A Time of Myths is an incredibly brave and adventurous first novel; a dual-time and multiple location story featuring a group of young English travellers who originally meet at the Woodstock Festival in 1969.  The story is also set on a small Greek island, and it was the combination of Woodstock and Greece that sold the book to me.    The lead characters are all flawed, all with their individual emotional baggage and together they create a dynamic group that spark off each other.  Their relationships are confused, never easy and create a darkness that colours the whole story.
The tiny Greek island is depicted in such a different way to the traditional fictional view of Greece.   The inhabitants are not the jolly, all-smiling Greeks of legend, but morose, unwelcoming and quite frightening at times.

I'm not going to talk about the story line here, suffice to say that it is well structured and multi-layered with some dramatic scenes and a air of the psychological thriller about it.   The switches between 60s Woodstock and the present day are well handled, and the story is well paced and quite compelling.   I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the Woodstock Festival, the author reveals the murky side to the event and doesn't gloss over anything.  Most of us think of a sunny, happy-smiley Festival, full of love and joy, it was interesting to read another side to the legend.

I did feel, at times that there was a little too much going on, with some supporting characters who personally I felt were surplus to the story.   The journey to the Festival felt long and quite drawn out although I realise that the author wanted the reader to know the characters well before they arrived.

This is a genre-busting novel, and would appeal to a wide range of readers.  It's a coming-of-age story, there are thrills, a little bit of magic and mystical goings on and a dollop of history too.

Beautifully presented with a striking front cover illustration, this is a fine debut from new author Chris Blamires.  I enjoyed the story and the characters and look forward to reading more from the author.

My thanks to Chris Blamires for providing a copy for review, to find out more about A Time of Myths please visit the website here