The Devil’s Workshop by Donnally Miller is hard to define. What it is, however, is an exceptional and brilliant book from the very start to the very last page. I have read many books by indie authors and nothing quite compares to this. It is compelling and imaginative, and one of the best indie reads that I have read.
Initially, upon reading the blurb and other reviews, I thought it was going to be quite dry and heavy going. Instead I found the text extremely accessible and the philosophical aspects enjoyable (if a little wordy in places). Miller’s writing style is captivating for the most part. His descriptions are well-worded and imaginative, and he gives us enough broad strokes to allow us to paint the picture beautifully. Although I sometimes found the word choices a little off-putting (the saying why use a complicated word when a simple one will do comes to mind), the sentence structure is varied and interesting. I cannot fault the quality of the writing; it is brilliant.
The first hundred pages or so are mostly about setting the scene with the many characters we encounter throughout the book. We meet Tom and Katie, the main characters, as well as pirates, slaves, indians, the mysterious Mr. X, police officers, and the hilarious Colophus with his crazy ideas about where the brain lies. There are dozens of characters and each one is well written and likeable from the moment that they are introduced. Miller seems to have a way of making characterization look easy, and, combined with his sentence structure and descriptions, he really brings them to life.
The plot takes some time to get moving, but once it does it is a joy to read. We move seamlessly from event to event, from travelling on boats to being eaten by sea monsters, and the action scenes are concise and bloody enough to make sure that the pacing is just right. As I said in the introduction, I was worried that the philosophical aspects would be a chore but they weren’t - they are lofty in subject matter but they are not overly long. For the best part they add to the narrative rather than bog down the story.
A few downsides for me: sometimes the paragraphs are a bit too long and too wordy; there are some redundant parts within them that offered little to me. And there are so many POVs that I had trouble remembering where we left each character at times. The blurb on Goodreads also may need to be revised in some way as it is not a true reflection on what the story is about.
This book will not please everyone. It will split opinion to those who like the subject matter and those who don’t. For me, however, it was an engaging read that I look forward to picking up again in the future.