“Upstream” is Donald McEwing’s second novel, and the first in his trilogy. Like his first
novel, “Nouveau Haitiah”, McEwing tells a richly imagined story that will leave readers eagerly
anticipating the second book in the trilogy.
“Upstream” builds background for the Peabody expedition, the doomed expedition in the
second novel, and it is interspersed with narratives and notes taken out of the journal of one of
the characters, professor George Angle. With each chapter in “Upstream”, the reader is offered a
little more insight into the two mystical objects at the center of the novel, the talisman and the
Necronomicon. By the end of the novel, the reader understands their origins, destructive nature,
and their connection to the mythical Ghosts.
Each of the seven narratives in “Upstream” details a different human encounter with the
talisman and its accompanying book, the Necronomicon. Each narrative is set in a different time
period in human history, and the objects incite chaos everywhere they are taken. The source of
their magic remains a secret for most of the novel, although McEwing alludes to it throughout
the story, and uses strong imagery to make it more frightening and impactful. This is perfectly
demonstrated in McEwing’s excerpt from the Necronomicon. He writes,
Ghosts walk unseen in cold and lonely places. We heard their chill voices, although we
could not see their shapes. They shrieked and gibbered in howling winds; they danced
between tendrils of falling snow…They shall break through and envelop our warmth in
their madness, and then the cold ghosts shall hold dominion over all. (McEwing,
Baghdad)
Up until now the reader has little insight about the nature of the talisman and the
Necronomicon, other than the fact that cataclysmic events seem to coincide with their arrival.
But this passage now transforms the threat into a more vivid horror; connected with the talisman
is not just a magical power, but elusive ghosts who “shrieked and gibbered” and who will
ultimately “break through and envelop our warmth in their madness”. McEwing strategically
places strong imagery throughout the novel to make the threat of the ghosts and the talisman
simultaneously frightening and mystifying, and to build up to the climactic existential crisis that
made “Upstream” a fascinating novel to read.
As in his first novel, “Nouveau Haitiah”, McEwing fills “Upstream” with historical
references, giving it the informative quality of historical fiction that I personally enjoy. It is
another quality of McEwing’s writing that is especially appealing, and it adds richness to the
novel that is sure to satisfy all readers.
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2023
