Amok by Anna Tan

I would like to thank the author for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Teaspoon Publishing

Published – Out Now

Price – £8.99 paperback £3.58

What is faith, except hope in desperation?

All Putera Mikal wants is to gain the Amok Strength, the supernatural power granted by Kudus to the Mahan royal family. No matter how religiously Mikal keeps his vows, Kudus still denies him the Strength—whilst his father, Sultan Simson, flaunts the Strength despite his blatant defiance of the Temple and the priests’ visions of coming doom.

Then the prophecies come true.

Taken captive, Mikal must find a way to liberate his people and restore his throne in Maha—and the key to this is the Amok Strength. But what does it take to gain Kudus’ favour?

Mythology evolves and as the way information and people can travel across the globe increases we can see stories merge with other cultures. In Anna Tan’s fast paced novel Amok we see an interesting mix of a famous biblical tale merged with Asian worldbuilding and other mythology.

Mikal is heir to the powerful Terang throne. He is fifteen, keen to do the right thing but also extrairfdinarily privileged and entitled. An ongoing source of frustration to him is that he cannot yet gain the godly Strength that an entity known as Kudos bestows to the family. His father Ayahanda increasingly angry at the world since the death of his wife listens less and less to his advisors and has agreed to a marriage with a powerful and beautiful representative Layla from the neighbouring Bayangan kingdom Ayahanda brutally conquered years ago. However soon Mikal finds himself imprisoned, betrayed, and seeing his world destroyed. Can he find a way to finally accept th Strength and save his people.?

This is an interesting approach to fantasy when you realise that Ayahanda is also known as Simson and the power he has lies within his hair. It is quite unusual to see such a familiar tale but here placed in a culture more Malaysian than middle eastern. This helps make the story feel fresh and unusual so even if the ending is signposted there is enough going on to divert the reader. In particular I liked the focus being on the younger Mikal and his learning to grow up after being imprisoned and humbled. That particularly is effective through the exploration that the core plot I triggered by what Ayahanda did years ago. It is refreshing to see that rather than an evil enemy just being evil we soon understand why Bayangans are not fond of their rulers and as we see many of now servants for the royal family in particular the young Yosua who has a really unusual arc with Mikal as they move from master and servant almost to being equals. Tan makes this world feel solid and full of three-dimensional characters who all end in different places to where they start. When things go dark they go very dark quick.

I had two reservations. The pace is frenetic and for a story with magical fight and invasions that feels suitable, but it needed to show me what life was like fir everyone at the start. It is hardly any time at all before it all ends and the main plot starts, and it may have been more useful to explore this world a bit more than simply inside a palace. It is more interesting when we meet the Bayangans to see their motivations. Mikal is our primary narrator, but I struggled to warm to him he really does come across as an odd mix of genuine good heart and arrogant and feels even for fifteen very naïve as the story develops we see him learn the truth about his world and he starts t grow up but he wasn’t someone I warmed to.

Overall, quite an enjoyable tale but I think one interested readers just need to prepare for a quick ride rather than in depth fantasy epic. If you can do that I think you’ll have fun.