The Feast of Panthers

EXCELLENT!!

Qui patitur vincint “He conquers who endures”

Oscar Wilde has become obsessed with “Stephen,” who he’s heard of from Alfred Wood, a renter, that Wilde has often hired for services.

In searching for Stephen it takes Wilde to the Red Tiger pub. He meets Chyron, who seems to know of Wilde. Chyron makes mention of the Great Goddess which Wilde assumes is opium. That’s when he finds himself entering a hidden opium den that’s occupied with many young men. It takes Wilde on a mind bending trip and he doesn’t know what happened. What he does know is the young men turned into black cats. When Oscar goes back to the Red Tiger he is confused, the pubs name has changed to the Black Panther.

He tells his story to his lover, Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas, who talks Wilde into going back to the Black Tiger to try and find this “Stephen”. When Oscar asked the barkeep if he could pass through the specific door, nothing is the same. Returning to Bosie, he finds another man at the table with his lover. The man’s name is Stephen but it’s not who Wilde has been looking for. Upset with Bosie, Wilde leaves in a huff. Once outside Stephen has followed Wilde. Wilde warns Stephen about the Marquess of Queensbury but Stephen seems not to care, he wants Wilde’s unique scarab ring. As they stand there, a multitude of cats start to crowd them.

Wilde has some other strange occurrences in the midst of all the very odd revelations. He has received an invitation from the Director of the British Museum, E.M. Thompson. As he walks through the museum with Thompson, Wilde notices the extreme changes from each room. There seems to be an enormous amount of Egyptian artifacts that are dominating the museum, they come from a new patron Lady Gwendoline.

Wilde is also approached by Samuel Mathers an occultist of the Order of the Golden Dawn. Mathers has a message from Constance, Wilde’s wife, who is gone on a vacation with their two sons. It’s a message sent in a dream. Wilde will learn of Constances position with the Golden Dawn and meet William Butler Yeats, Florence Farr and others.

Wilde will gain strange allies along with: Robbie Ross, Charlie the boxer, and Bosie as they all will have to join forces and remain hopeful that an end is brought to the evil of the Great Goddess.

The melding of historical facts with the twist of fiction is just the type of novel I really love getting into! Oscar Wilde was a famous playwright and poet. Sean Eads has taken “A Feast of Panthers” and created a novel from Wilde’s poem “The Sphinx” with a touch of “The Picture Dorian Gray”. It’s also a combination of the paranormal and futuristic ideas: altered reality, changelings, time portals, mind projection, mummification, religions, Egyptian mythology and hieroglyphics, magic, an eerie labyrinth, secret books, a scarab ring and many felines at every turn. There’s also mention of Tuatha De Danann who was of ancient Ireland, a magical race, with supernatural power.

I saw this as a contrast of what Oscar Wildes real life was like. There are intervals where Wilde is a prisoner at Wandsworth Prison, where he actually was imprisoned. His time in prison was brought upon by Marquess of Queensberry, because his son, Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas was Wilde’s lover. There are so many famous names from history in this novel and each one has an interesting life story and in some way a connection to Oscar Wilde. Personally, I think Oscar Wilde got a bad rap in real life, as many of the people mentioned did not actually care for Wilde. I have read some other historical fact/fiction books that have mentioned Oscar Wilde and I have read portions of his biography. Although he was imprisoned for gross indecency those who put him there were no better. Of course, with “A Feast of Panthers” things do wind up differently.

If you love history with a twist, I highly recommend “A Feast of Panthers”. Sean Eads tells an incredible story with paranormal aspects, that are at times gruesome and frightening. This was a first time read for me by Sean Eads and I was not disappointed. I’m hoping Sean Eads will continue to create more novels like this one!