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bookwomble's review
3.0
Set in a Minoan Age Crete populated by both humans and figures from ancient legend, Cry Silver Bells follows the fortunes of two cousins, caught between the kingdom of men and that of the Beasts.
I had somehow expected something similar in tone to E.R.R. Eddison's The Worm Ourorboros or Zimamvian Trilogy: High Fantasy with lots of classical references, but Swann's work is more earth-bound, despite the fantasy subject matter. It put me more in mind of Charles Finney's The Magician Out of Manchuria, though as I read that some 30 years ago, I'm not sure how close the comparison might actually be.
The plot is fairly slight and I did not find the characters of the cousins, at the first, to be particularly endearing, though Swann managed to win me over by the end. In fact, while the whole book is readable, it is probably the last 20 pages that are the best.
I will certainly read the other books in the Minotaur Trilogy: I've had them on my shelves for some years but only recently found this, the first volume. As the first in the trilogy was the last written, it will be interesting to see how the styles contrast.
I had somehow expected something similar in tone to E.R.R. Eddison's The Worm Ourorboros or Zimamvian Trilogy: High Fantasy with lots of classical references, but Swann's work is more earth-bound, despite the fantasy subject matter. It put me more in mind of Charles Finney's The Magician Out of Manchuria, though as I read that some 30 years ago, I'm not sure how close the comparison might actually be.
The plot is fairly slight and I did not find the characters of the cousins, at the first, to be particularly endearing, though Swann managed to win me over by the end. In fact, while the whole book is readable, it is probably the last 20 pages that are the best.
I will certainly read the other books in the Minotaur Trilogy: I've had them on my shelves for some years but only recently found this, the first volume. As the first in the trilogy was the last written, it will be interesting to see how the styles contrast.
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