Golgotha Falls by George Udenkwo
Rate and review Golgotha Falls! | What does everyone else think?
The story is set in a metropolis of ninety million souls known as Golgotha Falls and features sixteen tales chronicling the spider-god, Desdemona, one of the city’s most feared deities. The book is a mixture of gothic, horror, science fiction and fantasy containing vivid characters, a pulsating narrative and more action than you could ever hope for. The tales cover a period spanning several weeks in which the destinies of the spider-god and the city itself unfold.
I have to admit that I am not an avid reader of science fiction / fantasy and that Golgotha Falls marked a journey into the not very well known. Of the science fiction that I have read, the opening chapter put me in mind of Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream Of Electronic Sheep; such was the vibrant description of the seedy and somewhat hopeless existence of the mortals within this city of gods. Golgotha Falls hits the ground running, the opening chapters are fast paced, action-packed and they quickly introduce us to the fascinatingly sordid city that is Golgotha Falls. Although the book is splits into sixteen separate tales, they are all sequential and this allows the book to gain a momentum that is essential for reading enjoyment. Lady Desdemona is a great central character; a merciless killer with questionable morals, Djoba is a great sidekick and as peculiar as they come. George Udenkwo describes all his characters in painstaking detail and this enables the reader to fully realise the author’s vision. The concept behind Golgotha Falls is an intriguing one, not like anything I had come across before.
Earth was dying.
Mankind had long since spread its seed to the stars from whence, myth suggests, the species first came. Ninety-five percent of the planet was uninhabitable, lashed by hyperstorms and chocked with volcanic fallout that left once blue skies charred and lightless. Those that chose to remain on the mother planet confined themselves to the last seven terran cities. These cities were vast, each containing over a hundred million inhabitants. Each city was environmentally self-sufficient, contained within Q-shields that insulated them from the planet’s hostile climate. They relied on off-world imports to sustain their huge populations as well as advanced technologies to manufacture food resources.
Earth was sterile. Where once the planet cradled man, providing him with all he needed, now only technology sheltered him, only science provided for him, only faith sustained him.
Not faith in the old abstract gods, the unseen architects of man’s destiny. There were new gods to guide man now, gods of flesh and bone. Originally bred from gene vats to serve man, they would ultimately become his lords and masters.
These genetic super beings were known as the Elohim. They had been adapted to survive in the deep of space, to discover new worlds for their creators to colonise. But the creation grew to powerful for the creator; the Elohim returned from the stars, enslaving all the colony worlds in their path, claiming themselves masters of the species, the natural metamorphosis of man into god.
The war between mankind and the Elohim raged on a thousand worlds, setting the stars on fire, consuming the species in an inferno of its own making. It was a war that endured for a thousand years before the last strongholds of man fell to the might of the gods. It was the Elohim that scorched the earth, destroying the last of its natural habitats in their quest to subdue the symbolic cradle of man.
The war, declared the Elohim, would not end until the earth itself had fallen.
In year zero of the divine calendar earth at last fell.
To celebrate this ultimate triumph the Elohim named themselves after the gods of old and built seven divine cities, each presided over by an autonomous group of gods.
The mightiest of these cities was the city of Golgotha Falls. 
Golgotha Falls is written in the first person perspective with the reader allowed inside the mind and eyes of the major character of each of the sixteen chapters. In the main this is Lady Desdemona, but there are exceptions to this. I am a fan of the first person narrative as it allows the reader to better understand the emotions of the characters you are reading about. One of the sixteen tales that was not told from the perspective of the spider-god was Cromby and Nice, a wonderful futuristic fairy tale that was, in my opinion, the finest chapter in the book. Cromby and Nice tells a tale of man’s folly, of a man whose very desires are there for the taking but falls to the male illness of always wanting more. I cannot speak highly enough of this chapter.
Permit me to explain that I am manager of Cromby and Nice (rhymes with niece) fashion fraternity. I run a workshop of some three hundred apprentice tailors and meets deadlines of such punishing exactitude as to swallow a lesser Pantomon whole – but I preserve, day in, day out, month after month, year after year, without so much as a whimper of complaint. That’s the kind of Pantomon I am.
There is obviously a lot of George Udenkwo in Golgotha Falls, all of his inspirations, loves, favourite books and films. There are lashings of Norse, Greek and Roman mythology. Udenkwo’s intelligence and passion come through clearly in his work – he is also an author of frightening imagination. The book made me use my brain and gave me the inclination to further research the figures of mythology mentioned in the tales. I would happily recommend George Udenkwo and Golgotha Falls to readers who enjoy a fine mixture of science and fantasy in their books. Golgotha Falls is a stunning debut from an author of exceptional imagination.
Golgotha Falls: Genesis (Amazon.co.uk)
Author: George Udenkwo
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 484
Publication date: 2008-03-07
Publisher: Pen Press Publishers
RRP: £9.99
Lowest new price: £7.26
Lowest used price: £4.36
Golgotha Falls: Genesis (Amazon.com)
Author: George Udenkwo
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 484
Publication date: 2008-04-20
Publisher: Pen Press Publishers Ltd
RRP: $21.00
Lowest new price: $18.46
Lowest used price: $11.08
'Seductress, predator, goddess and vamp...' Golgotha Falls: A city of carnal nightmare and monstrous appetite, nowhere in all the worlds of empire will you find its equal. Forged from dark science and steeped in ancient myth, it is a city ruled by ancient gods and policed by angels, where your every desire can be satiated and your every terror made flesh. Here in this sweating, convulsive metropolis of ninety million souls, the spider-god Desdemona, is the most feared of all the city's deities. Sixteen spell-binding tales unfold the chronicles of this new age medusa, a hero unlike any you have ever encountered before.
Product Description
Submit your own mini-review
Let people know what you think about Golgotha Falls. You can write your own mini-review and give the book the rating that you think it deserves. Your reviews will go towards giving Golgotha Falls its overall rating that will decide where Golgotha Falls finishes in the top 100 fantasy books of all time.
Books you may also enjoy...
Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake
Titus Groan is the Seventy Seventh Earl of Gormenghast in waiting and his birth begins this story and that of his rather eccentric family, their servants and the kingdom of Gormenghast itself. The story covers the first two years of Titus’ young life, from birth to his investiture as the seventy-seventh Earl and everything that happens in the Kingdom of Gormenghast during this time. The events, which lead up to the ‘Earling’ of little Titus, involve treachery, greed, murder, madness and revenge. There are also touches of real affection and lots of subtle humour. ... read the full review
Summary: Deliciously dark.
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
Liga raises her two daughters in the safe haven of an alternative reality, a personal heaven granted by magic as a refuge from her earthly suffering. But the real world cannot be denied forever and when the barrier between the two worlds begins to break down, Liga’s fiery daughter, Urdda, steps across it… ... read the full review
Summary: A powerful book that’s pages could turn a child into an adult.
Twelve by Jasper Kent
The voordalak - a creature of legend; tales of which have terrified Russian children for generations. But for Captain Aleksei Ivanovich Danilov - a child of more enlightened times - it is a legend that has long been forgotten. Besides, in the autumn of 1812, he faces a more tangible enemy - the Grand Armée of Napoleon Bonaparte. ... read the full review
Summary: Twelve is an educational, entertaining and dark historical fantasy novel.
Also in this sub-genre...
Book of the Month
Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson
On the Letherii continent the exiled Malazan army commanded by Adjunct Tavore begins its march into the eastern Wastelands, to fight for an unknown cause against an enemy it has never seen. The fate awaiting the Bonehunters is one no soldier can prepare for, and one no mortal soul can withstand - the foe is uncertainty and the only weapon worth wielding is stubborn courage.
Latest interviews
Interviews plus question and answer sessions with authors, narrators and publishers.
Must-reads
The following reviews are of books that begin the very best fantasy series available.
Special Feature: Fantasy Book Review talks to the Book View Cafe
Book View Cafe is a cooperative site created by a group of writers - including internationally renowned authors Katharine Kerr, Ursula Le Guin and Vonda N. McIntyre - who want to take advantage of the internet's possibilities for reaching a wider audience and to distribute their work directly to their readers. The Book View Cafe is a place where you can find free, original fiction plus the authors' best and out-of-print work for a fee. Fantasy Book Review spoke to Book View Cafe member, science fiction author and memoirist Chris Dolley in February 2010.
Special Feature: Understanding the author of Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll, the elusive author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, has been the subject of enduring fascination for the past hundred years. The destruction of many major documents about his personal life by his descendants has only magnified the mystery. Jenny Woolf's biography, published to coincide with the release of the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland film, lays waste to the myths and suspicions that have obscured Carroll's reputation by placing him firmly in the context of his own time.
