science fiction

I began reading this book very predisposed to like it, but found it terribly disappointing. Having heard good reviews and comparisons to JK Rowling and Philip Pullman, I plugged on til the end, hoping that it would get better, but it never did. While I could see that some children might find the story exciting because of the constant appearance of smugglers, trap doors, hidden tunnels and sliding wall panels, I can't see why this book could cross over into the adult market. I found the language stilted and cliche-ridden and the Biblical allegories unimaginative and unilluminatingly obvious. It seemed like Taylor was trying to write a Christian book that would appeal to fantasy readers and Tolkien fans, but the brazen allegory would have Tolkien turning in his grave. It starts rather obscurely, with lots of occultic references, and ends like a Pentacostal revival meeting, but with none of its power because of the clumsy writing. Although the two child characters through the story are supposed to grow into good Christians (sorry, followers of Riathamus), their development is forced. Here's an example of a key point in the development of Kate, a main character who has been completely one-dimensional up to this point (and remains so, I think.):

"She had lost all the trust she had in [her father], in fact in everyone. Life with her father had never been easy. It was his drinking that had always been the problem. He would fly into a rage at the slightest thing, shout and scream and then break down in tears. For many years she had thought it was her fault, that in some way she was responsible. Kate could never live up to his expectations, she could never be a child, never play games. Her lot in life was to cook and clean, to sew and mend. These were his demands. He wanted her to be a mother, a servant, but never a daughter. Tonight she had leant that he had been living a double life, and realized that her father had been slowly poisoned by the death of her mother, the guilt, the pain, and now the deception. 'It's not my fault, it's not my fault,' she kept repeating under her breath as she thought of her father and of how he had betrayed her."

Taylor is economical with his character development; he gets it over in one paragraph. The monsters/demons/scary things were also equally unconvincing. Tolkien creates some great monsters, Taylor never even gives them good descriptions or personalities, just piggybacks on what we know of other beasties from other fantasy stories. And evil is equally unconvincing and entirely unattractive. If someone wanted to recommend obviously Christian allegorical books to their kids, there are books out there that are better written. John White's Anthropos books ('The Tower of Geburah', 'The Iron Sceptre', etc ) are at least very readable. And other, not overtly Christian books can get kids thinking without resorting to churchy language and religious cliches, just changing names and adding bogeymen.

I admire Taylor's attempt to make a good, scary story, and he knows which props will appeal to readers, but I think he needs to keep writing and learn to flesh out his characters and create a more subtle and convincing manifestations of both good and evil. I hope he keeps at it.

So many possibilities for a great story, but alas, all squandered in the hurry to cram the book with too much undeveloped information.

Within this relatively small book we have fallen priests, smugglers, dragoons, witchcraft, betrayal, greed, murder, exorcisms and even healing of the sick. We also have Boggles, Thulaks, Hobs, Hedge Witches, Dunamez, Glashan, Seloth, Wiccamen, Varrigals, an Azimuth and a War Dyke.

We are treated to names like Obadiah Demurral, Beadle, Dagda Sarapuk, Gebra Nebura, and Azrubel.

Unfortunately, the majority of these intriguing concepts are under-developed, and the story hops around like a drunken March hare.

The basic underlying concept is simple - it's Riathamus (God) versus Pyratheon (the Devil), each with a couple of gophers to assist them with the good old battle between good and evil.

Unfortunately, it's not very well written, and you can't be sure if the author is writing for children or adults. The storyline is definitely childish, but some of the concepts are adult.

Maybe if J. K. Rowling hadn't written and published her little wizard stories, this book may have been a better read, but in the light of Harry Potter, it's a poseur.

This is the little book that tried too hard.

Amanda Richards

Quite frankly, a terrible book. If you HAVE to read this book, wait a few months and borrow it from the library. The characters are flat and undeveloped. Their history is written out in their introduction instead of slowly being revealed. Their character development falls flat, even the plot itself falls flat. The book was waaaay too preachy, but I thought until I could deal with that until I came to the ending which was horrible. Quite frankly, the author should have stuck to his job instead of deciding to try something new.

Like many before me, I wish I could give 0 stars but sadly Amazon doesn't allow that.