Jonathan Maas' Dion - A Tale of the Highway was published in October 2016.
Information about Jonathan Maas:
Jonathan Maas is a writer living in Los Angeles. He has written four books: City of gods - Hellenica, Spanners: The Fountain of Youth, Flare, and The Dog That Laid Eggs, each one of which has cover illustration by the extraordinarily talented Manthos Lappas. Jonathan Maas has also directed an independent movie, Spanners, which is the prequel to the book.
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Information about Dion - A Tale of the Highway:
The Note
After a bizarre dream a man wakes up in the middle of a deserted highway, with no clothes, and no memory of who he is. In front of him is a vehicle with keys and a note inside: Drive this forward. Drive, or there will be consequences. The consequences will be immediate, and they will get worse with every transgression.
The Highway
The task is straightforward, but what happens next is anything but. As he unravels the mysteries of both his past and future, he’ll come to understand that there are dark truths around him, and he’ll find that those who wrote the note meant every word of their threat.
But underneath the terror he’ll find an inner strength, and he’ll find the power that comes from reason. He’ll need them both – because his decisions on this lonely night will impact this world in ways he can’t even begin to imagine.
A REVIEW OF JONATHAN MAAS' DION - A TALE OF THE HIGHWAY
Jonathan Maas' latest novel, Dion - A Tale of the Highway, was a pleasant reading experience for me. It's a fine example of how intriguing and original fiction independent authors are capable of writing and how much imagination they have.
I consider Jonathan Maas to be one of the most intriguing and versatile independent authors to emerge during the recent years. He boldly blends fantasy and science fiction elements in an interesting and original way. He has his own unique writing style and he manages to surprise readers by writing about familiar themes and issues in an unexpected and entertaining way.
Because it's possible that there are readers out there who are not familiar with Jonathan Maas and his novels, I'll say a few words about him and his works. Jonathan Maas is an author who has written these four novels: City of gods - Hellenica, Spanners: The Fountain of Youth, Flare, and The Dog That Laid Eggs. Each of these novels is different from each other. He is also the director and writer of the fantasy/sci-fi/mystery film Spanners.
When I heard that Jonathan Maas is writing Dion - A Tale of the Highway, I was eager to read, because I've enjoyed reading the author's previous novels. I'm glad I had an opportunity to read it, because it's an entertaining and well-created novel. The author had come up with a story that is much darker and more mature than his previous stories.
Dion - A Tale of the Highway is a fantasy novel that combines elements of dark fantasy, urban fantasy, mystery fiction and mythology in a successful and enjoyable way. The story feels fresh and it remains fresh all the way until the end, because it's a fantastical quest for identity and remembrance.
Here's a bit of information about the story:
- The story begins with a man having a bizarre dream in which he sees and experiences stange things. When he wakes up, he remembers everything about the dream. However, he doesn't remember who he is. He doesn't even remember his own name.
- When the man begins to tell his tale, he knows who he is and tells the tale as it happened, starting from the moment when he woke up on the long unnamed stretch of highway...
- At the beginning of the tale, the man remembers nothing. He doesn't know where he is, who he is or why he is on the highway. He is alone and naked, and there's a big car in front of him, but he doesn't why it is there. Everything is a mystery to him. He finds a message on the car seat, which instructs him to drive the vehicle and follow the road or there will be consequences. If he doesn't follow the instructions exactly as they've been written, there will be immediate consequences and they will get worse with every transgression. When he begins to drive the car and then pulls over to the side of the road, he disobeys the instructions and is soon reminded of what will happen to him if he doesn't obey them...
This is the beginning of a gradually unfolding story about a man who tries to make sense of what's going on and what has happened to him.
As many of us are probably aware of, several stories have been written about people who don't remember who they are, what has happened to them or what their names are, but finding a story with original elements is difficult. Fortunately, this story has originality and differs from many other stories.
When I read this novel, I noticed that there was something in it that reminded me of certain films by David Lynch and David Cronenberg. The author had a bit similar kind of style of exploring strange and unexpected happenings as these filmmakers (on certain levels the story felt strangely akin to their works). This surprised me, because I didn't expect anything to find anything like that in the story.
It's nice that the author has used a quote from the modern English translation of Dante's Inferno at the beginning of the novel, because it fits the story well and kind of sets the mood for the rest of the story.
I like the characterisation and the characters, because everything works well within the context of the strange story. The protagonist, Dion, is a well-created character and so are the minor characters. The cast of characters ranges all the way from people to mythological creatures (eg. this story features such characters as Pan the faun and Sami the satyr). Each of the minor characters adds fascination to the storyline.
I liked the author's way of writing about the protagonist's feelings of uncertainty and confusion about his situation, because he didn't remember anything about the previous happenings before waking up. The protagonist struggles with his memories and feelings while he tries to find out what he has done, what has happened to him and why he has to keep on driving forward.
I also liked to read about how the author wrote what the protagonist did and how he reacted to what happened to him during the car trip. He brought plenty of tension and intimacy to the story by writing about these things.
There's a dream-like atmosphere in this story that I found captivating. The shapeshifting crows, the mysterious thing in the trunk and the healing moonlight add strangeness to the storyline and emphasise its otherworldliness. The protagonist's dreams are fascinating in their strangeness, because he dreams of Hell and sees extraordinary things there.
It was nice that Jonathan has added a few philosophical elements to his story, because they add depth to the story and the make the reader question certain things. I like his way of combining elements of realism, fantasy and philosophy, because it feels fresh and effectively prevents the story from sliding into mediocrity.
The mythological elements were fascinating. I won't go into details about this matter, because I might end up revealing too much information about the story, but I can mention that reading about the mythological elements was captivating and they were an essential part of the story.
The use of footnotes works excellently, because they present the protagonist's "fully-aware" self. In my opinion, this is one of the few novels in which the footnotes emphasise the story and its uniqueness in a natural way.
The cover art by Mantos Lappas looks beautiful. The cover art ("The Crows' Gethsemane" by the author) that can be found at the back of the book also fits the story perfectly.
I give this novel strong four stars on the scale from one to five stars, because I enjoyed reading it. I can recommend it to readers who are intrigued by dark and gradually unfolding speculative fiction stories with a good dose of mystery elements.
I think it's great that Jonathan Maas stays true to his own literary voice and gradually develops it. It has been nice to see him develop as an author over the last couple of years, because he has lots of imagination and he is not afraid of writing something different. I admire him for his ability to create original fiction by using familiar elements as the basis of his story.
Jonathan Maas' Dion - A Tale of the Highway is an entertaining and original novel that is something a bit different. It deserves to be read, because it is the author's best and most mature novel to date. It will delight those who are looking for a dark and mysterious story to read.
Good, original and mesmerising entertainment!