VOYA
* "A little bit of Mary Shelley, H.P. Lovecraft, Hitchcock, and Poe are brought to bear in this heavy tale...Adults who love YA will enjoy this one, too."
The Final Descent
by Rick YanceyView All Available Formats & Editions
In the fourth and final horrific adventure in the award-winning Monstrumologist series, Will Henry encounters unprecedented terror, a terror that delves into the depths of the human soul.
Will Henry has been through more than seems possible for a boy of fourteen. He’s been on the brink of death on more than one occasion, he has gazed into hell—and hell
… See more details belowOverview
In the fourth and final horrific adventure in the award-winning Monstrumologist series, Will Henry encounters unprecedented terror, a terror that delves into the depths of the human soul.
Will Henry has been through more than seems possible for a boy of fourteen. He’s been on the brink of death on more than one occasion, he has gazed into hell—and hell has stared back at him, and known his face. But through it all, Dr. Warthrop has been at his side.
When Dr. Warthrop fears that Will’s loyalties may be shifting, he turns on Will with a fury, determined to reclaim his young apprentice’s devotion. And so Will must face one of the most horrific creatures of his monstrumology career—and he must face it alone.
Over the course of one day, Will’s life—and Pellinor Warthrop’s destiny—will hang in the balance. In the terrifying depths of the Monstrumarium, they will face a monster more terrible than any they could have imagined—and their fates will be decided.
“Beyond a simple finale, this is a brave statement about the duplexity of good and evil, and the deadly trap in which all of us are snared” (Booklist, starred review).
Editorial Reviews
The Horn Book
"Should thrill and horrify—in the best way possible—ardent and loyal fans."Romantic Times Book Review
"The Monstrumologist series proves young adult literature is capable of being intelligent, thought provokidng, and horrifyingly dark."starred review Booklist
* "It can now be said with assurance that The Monstrumologist series is a landmark of modern YA fiction...Beyond a simple finale, this is a brave statement about the duplexity of good and evil, and the deadly trap in which all of us are snared."School Library Journal
01/01/2014Gr 9 Up—After his parents died, William James Henry became the ward of and apprentice to eccentric Dr. Pellinore Warthrop. One of the last of his kind, Warthrop is a practitioner of "aberrant biology," a monstrumologist. During the years of his strange education, Will has been exposed to the monstrosities of both humanity and nature and has come to resent the mutually destructive nature of his relationship with his aging mentor. Unfortunately, his dissatisfaction could not have happened at worse time. There is a mysterious threat to Warthrop's career: an attempt to steal the last living specimen of a rare species with venom that could be used either as a destructive weapon or a powerful drug. This supernatural, noir-like thriller effortlessly builds intrigue as Will contemplates the past mistakes that have lead him to his current situation. The premise of the book is that Yancey is an editor who is trying to decipher Will's journals; he is unsure whether the incredible events he reads about actually occurred or if he is the victim of an elaborate hoax. This device makes the story less narrative and more contemplative, with many of its short chapters devoted to poetry and philosophy. Overall, Yancey's latest installation in the series is strong enough to stand on its own.—Ryan F. Paulsen, New Rochelle High School, NY
Kirkus Reviews
2013-09-01The Monstrumologist quartet wraps up in a haphazard, patchworked finale. Even though Yancey offers a tone-setting disclaimer via an "editor's note" at the forefront of the novel that the manuscripts he "translated" into this work were "nearly indecipherable, physically as well as contextually," fans will still come away ultimately unsatisfied--possibly even feeling cheated--by this disjointed conclusion. In the main narrative (there are at least three), Will Henry, now 16, often drunk and colder than ever, helps Monstrumologist Pellinore Warthrop track down the T. cerrejonensis, a giant, snakelike critter that poisons its human prey then swallows them whole. At the same time, the novel also fast-forwards decades later to 1911, when Will returns to care for an elderly Warthrop and then reverts back to when he was first taken in by his employer. All this makes for a confusing read, and the future plotline serves as a spoiler to the central narrative. Also inserted are broken stanzas of poetry and italicized rants on the meaning of love and life that connect at a much more simplistic level than the earlier books. Still, parts of the novel are quite exciting and will induce just as much stomach-turning if not full-on gagging. At the end, the results feel rushed, as if Yancey were trying to quickly finish the job. Even the relatively anemic page count implies it. A fizzling anticlimax. (Horror. 14 & up)
Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9781442451544
- Publisher:
- Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
- Publication date:
- 11/18/2014
- Series:
- Monstrumologist Series, #4
- Edition description:
- Reprint
- Pages:
- 320
- Sales rank:
- 287,197
- Product dimensions:
- 5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)
- Age Range:
- 14 Years
Read an Excerpt
The Final Descent
Canto 1
ONE
I reach for the end, though the end will not reach for me.
It has already reached for him.
He is gone
while I, locked in Judecca’s ice,
go on and on.
If I could name the nameless thing
My father burns, and living worms fall from his eyes.
They spew from his sundered flesh.
They pour from his open mouth.
It burns, my father cries. It burns!
His contagion, my inheritance.
If I could face the faceless thing
From the fire’s depths, I hear the discordant duet of their screams. I watch them dance in the final, fiery waltz.
My mother and father, dancing in flames.
If I could pull the two apart
If I could untangle the knot
Find one errant strand to tug
And lay out the thing from end to end
But there is no beginning nor ending nor anything in between
Beginnings are endings
And all endings are the same.
Time is a line
But we are circles.
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