Fiction / Fantasy
352 Pages / 1284 KB
4 Stars
This is a friend's favorite read, and while I found it a
good story, I also found things in it, or not in it, that make it, for me, a
good read—not my favorite.
It's a teen read, not sure it's quite Young Adult, but not
sure it isn't. For me, the story dragged a bit here and there, and when the
thief escaped in a rowboat, I couldn't understand why the sailboat didn't chase
him down? They knew, immediately, what happened. And how did the thief, in his
little rowboat, find the other sailboat that wasn't visible at the time?
Much of it reminded me of Tolkien and Lewis, who are not bad
people to be reminded of, though without the strong religious bent. This is the
first of a series, and I will most assuredly pick up the next in the series.
It begins in 1917, and John has been in the trenches of
France and sent home to England to recuperate from a combination of shell shock
and gas. He is a so-so student of his mentor, in ancient languages, and hasn't
a great deal of ambition at the moment. He receives a note from his mentor, not
entirely clear what the note means, he goes to London only to arrive at his
mentor's office to find him dead.
He ends up with two other companions, Jack and Charles,
being rescued by Bert from the snarling, nasty, killing imaginary beasts called
Wendigos. They leap onto Bert's sailboat, sail out of London and onto a new
sea, and into a fantastical adventure where they discover they are keepers of
the great atlas, the Imaginarium Geographica, and must not only guard it, but
save the Archipelago from evil.
A nice twist at the end, when their full names are revealed.
If you're up on your literature, or at least that of Williams, Tolkien, Lewis,
and Wells, it may hold even more interest for you. At the least, it's an
enjoyable story, complete with some laugh-out-loud moments.
No comments:
Post a Comment