The Left Hand of God

March 1, 2010
The first of a medieval-fantasy trilogy from the author of The Golden Age of Censorship (2008, etc.).

At the vast, labyrinthine Sanctuary arrives a seemingly endless supply of orphan boys. Here the religious-fanatic Redeemers attempt to inculcate the boys with their faith while turning them into holy warriors. So unremittingly brutal and sadistic are their methods, however, that it's a miracle that any survive; those that do are tough, sociopathic and accomplished liars. While exploring the Sanctuary's endless corridors, Cale and his friends Kleist and Vague Henri stumble upon a senior Redeemer carefully eviscerating a living girl, while another awaits the same fate. Appalled, the boys rescue the survivor, Riba, and flee thanks to Cale's extraordinary talents. They arrive at Memphis, a sort of waterless Venice ruled by a clan of Italianate Teutonic knights called the Materazzi. Having no breeding or social standing whatsoever, the fugitives are treated with contempt even after Cale easily defeats Conn, the Materazzi's finest young warrior. Eventually, after innumerable complications, for reasons that only become clear at the end, the Redeemers move against Memphis. During all this, the narrative tone switches abruptly between boyish, avuncular, pedagogic, ironic and jocular. Hoffman carefully foreshadows events that never happen, then, having overlooked necessary facts, abruptly blurts them out or digresses for several pages. The randomly assembled, pseudo-medieval backdrop is stuffed with leering modern referents. Yet despite these gaping flaws, the plight of poor, tormented, invincible Cale beguiles, and the book's true power is its utter unpredictability.

Judging by the hype, what the publisher hoped for was Lord of Harry Potter's Dark Materials; what it actually secured is, in its own immodest way, engrossing enough.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

April 1, 2010
Starvation, torture, and psychological abuse at the hands of Bosco and his Redeemers have honed Cale into a fighting machine in this first entry in a much-buzzed-about fantasy trilogy debut. When Cale discovers the depth of corruption infecting the military school/monastery/dungeon Sanctuary, his switchblade reaction forces a desperate escape with companions Vague Henri and Kleist. When they land among Memphis's upper class, their discomfort with the ways of foppish city society soon leaves them nostalgic for the Sanctuary's bad food and beatings. It takes all of their considerable skills to survive politics, duels, and the pursuit of the Redeemers. The boys are especially ill-prepared to encounter women. Unfortunately, the author seems equally discommoded: female characters are colorless sex objects to his men, and this somewhat mars the brisk adventure. VERDICT The "Ender's Game"-meets-the Inquisition premise should draw fans like moths to a flame. Clever phrasing and innate humor shine through Hoffman's brutish story, but over-the-top villains and rushed, unlikely twists lead to a frustrating, cliff-hanger ending. Still, this novel will make a rousing next step for fans of Terry Goodkind, R.A. Salvatore, and their ilk. Hoffman shows promise; his skills may well develop in pace with his trilogy. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 2/1/10.]Neil Hollands, Williamsburg Regional Lib., VA

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2010
The remote Sanctuary of the Redeemers is a huge, grim fortress. There boys younger than 10 are taken for intensive training in hand-to-hand combat in preparation for a forthcoming holy war that only the high priests know about. Sixteen-year-old Thomas Cale is one of the thousands of boys who endure unspeakable treatment at the hands of the warrior monks. Sensing something special about Cale, the Lord Militant takes charge of his training, making it extremely harsh and driving him to achieve more and more. When Cale comes across a Redeemer performing a vivisection on a girl, he slays the man, rescues another girl, and realizes that to live he must escape into the outside world. What ensues is a riveting tale of pursuit, derring-do, battles, and death. Unfortunately, some intrusive authorial explanatory asides interrupt the narrative flow. Enigmatic Cale is something of a berserker on his dark side, a protector on his good one. Other principals are credible, and the settingsthe foul sanctuary, barren landscape, and aristocratic city to which Cale fleesvivid. A rousing trilogy-opener.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)