The Funnyman by Sophia Whittemore Series: The Impetus RIsing #1
Published by Clean Reads on March 3rd 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Pages: 167
Source: Author
Amazon • Book Depository • Bookworld
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It isn't a laughing matter when Diana starts to see things in the mist which other people don’t: monsters, gods, and deadly shadows. Yet now she sees another thing, the world of the Impetus, a reality where humans are enslaved and the once-beautiful gods are actually tyrants.
Diana must find a way to escape before the exiled king Fear, a vengeful murderer, hunts Diana down to get back something she's stolen from him. But will her growing feelings for the Prince Isak, the oddly sullen god of comedy, draw her into an all-out war?
The creatures of the Impetus inspire emotions in humans such as comedy, wisdom or fear, but are not able to experience emotions themselves. They bring humans to their realm as servants, sometimes willingly but other times, as slaves. When Diana, an ordinary human girl, finds a mysterious pendant of her mother’s, she starts to see things in the shadows. Fear is coming, but Diana is rescued before she can be captured – whisked away to the realm of the Impetus by Prince Isaakios (mostly called Isak). Who can she actually trust in this strange new world? And how can she escape?
I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to get, going into The Funnyman. I mean, the cover looks pretty sexy, the title not quite so attractive, and the description actually sounded kind of creepy.
Well, I wasn’t entirely wrong. Prince Isaakios is sexy, and also the god of comedy (hence ‘The Funnyman’). But, like I’ve heard about some real comedians out there, Isak isn’t a particularly funny guy in person. On the creepy front, I read the first few chapters of this book on a camping trip, alone, in the dark, next to a dying campfire. Big. Mistake. Fear is coming for Diana and it is really very scary! There’s a dark feeling over the rest of the story as well, especially once Fear comes back into the picture later in the book. What a terrifying villain!
I liked how the world of the Impetus is parallel to our own, and the denizens of the magical realm pop through now and then to manifest as various gods throughout history. It’s an interesting philosophy and I’m interested to see what will happen next.
There were a few things that possibly need to be tightened up in this self-published edition (for example, a faceless guard who smiles all the time, or other times when I wasn’t sure what was happening and had to re-read sections) but in general, I loved the eloquent writing.
If you’re looking for a quick read with a cracking story and interesting world building, grab a copy of The Funnyman. I’ll certainly be looking out for Sophia’s next project!
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