Review: The Abbot's Tale by Conn Iggulden

US Release Date: May 1, 2018

Sadly, I am going to have to not finish this autobiographical novel of the historical Dunstan, a 10th century Abbot of Glastonbury who was canonized as a saint. I hate doing that with an ARC because I feel like by receiving a free ARC, I'm obligated to finish it, but I know that's not actually a part of NetGalley's rules or expectations so I'm doing it.

The beginning of The Abbot's Tale just did not grab me. The prologue was sort of rambling, and the first few chapters, the main character, Dunstan, just seemed to be a bully, a narcissist, and a sociopath. I was hoping it would get better, but then Dunstan did something I just couldn't get past (see spoiler below, if you want to). His only redeeming quality is that he cares about and tries to protect his little brother, even though he is simultaneously cruel to him. But is that really a redeeming feature? Because abusers do the same thing: "I can be mean to you, but no one else can because you're mine." So I'm not even sure Dunstan even has one good quality. Most frustrating of all is the fact that he doesn't even realize how horrible he is, he genuinely doesn't understand why most people don't treat him like a god, blaming and resenting them when they don't. Only the people he is able to hoodwink into thinking he's "touched by angels" treat him the way he thinks he deserves to be treated.

Look, I know anti-heroes are popular right now and I'm all for it, if it works. But this one doesn't, and I frankly don't understand how this book has gotten such a high average rating with such an unlikable protagonist. Even "Dexter," from the likewise titled TV show, which also features a psychopathic, murdering protagonist, has some kind of moral code, but Dunstan does not. I tried to hang in there, and I think I gave it a fair chance, but I just can't take any more of Dunstan.

The final straw was the fact that Dunstan murdered an innocent cat that more than one character had bonded with. I know, I know, he also killed Godwin, but arguably, Godwin deserved it, and also, he killed Godwin to protect his little brother. The idea that he needed to test the poison on the cat just doesn't work for me. Additionally, Dunstan goes on to murder someone who arguably didn't deserve it so any hope of some kind of moral code was quickly dashed. All of it is just more evidence of the fact that Dunstan is a socio/psychopath with zero redeeming qualities and that's just not the kind of protagonist I enjoy, especially when it's written in first person and therefore I have to endure listening to his narcissistic internal dialogue nonstop. I like flawed protagonists, but I can't get on board with this.

I'm giving it a half star just because the writing quality was good, and it might have been a great story if the characterization hadn't been so bad.

Advanced review copy from publisher via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.