thollig

What a fantastic book! This was incredibly refreshing for the fantasy scene, and I'll tell you why. This book was just plain GOOD. Solid writing, great characters, good drama, good plot, great pacing. Engaging, accessible, simplistic with a hint of complexity. This book has pathos. I loved it. This book is fairly recent, and as a fantasy buff, I've noticed an increasing trend. This new style among contemporary fantasy can be done well, but it can also become a bit grating. I'm talking about the trend of most current fantasy publishing toward what is considered "dark, gritty, "realistic", and "urban". As I said, this can be done well, but I find myself rebelling against it simply because so many people are doing it now. It seems that's what publishers feel that people want nowadays. The Name of the Wind was so mesmerizing for me because it shys away from this, but still has a "new" feel to it. This is just a good old fashioned story set in a contemporary tone. This book is also different from current fantasy because it does not rely too heavily (or very much at all) upon the "magic" element. Yes there is the influence of magic, but it is done subtly, simplistically, and is definitely not the focus of the book. For this reason, this might be an excellent book for someone who is branching into the fantasy genre to check out. If you've ever wanted to read a fantasy book but didn't know where to start or if you'd even like it, DEFINITELY CHECK THIS OUT. You might be surprised. Where magic and "fantasy" itself isn't the focus of the novel, characters are. There is so much development here and you just find yourself hopping along for the ride as you follow a boy through his life. This is a story that capitalizes on giving everything to a character many, many times, but snatching it all away time and time again. Though the book is about a boy's journey through life, the novel does an excellent job of portraying persistance and determination in the face of overwhelming poverty. There is a realism in these pages that few of the "gritty, realistically urban" fantasy books of today can match. The main character is sculpted perfectly as one part genius, one part impatient entrepreneur, and one part boy living in a grown up world who doesn't know love when it slaps him in the face. I can't say enough about this book. So fantastic, so refreshing. The ending is definitely not as dramatic or over the top climactic as I frequently encounter, but that's because this is set up as the first part of a life story as told by the protagonist himself, and that makes it all the more interesting to me.

2022-11-14 18:07