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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
V. enjoyable book. Whimsical! Scant in details and backstory, it kind of carries you along on this haphazard journey. Leaves out particulars because they're not important. It's a very present-tense book, meaning the reading stays with the character instead of wandering around to flesh out information. Quick read and delightful.
What a whimsical fantasy! Prospero and Roger Bacon are two wizards, friends for many years, who are suddenly confronted by a nameless horror. The two set out to figure out who's behind the weird happenings and try to stop it.
The writing is very descriptive, frequently funny, and a delight to read. I've read that Mr. Bellairs wrote this in a sort of homage to JRR Tolkien, though it's more of a Tom Bombadil type of story than LOTR. There are some horror elements, some contemporaneous elements, and just a good gentle story. It's a short read but well-worth it for any fantasy lover.
The writing is very descriptive, frequently funny, and a delight to read. I've read that Mr. Bellairs wrote this in a sort of homage to JRR Tolkien, though it's more of a Tom Bombadil type of story than LOTR. There are some horror elements, some contemporaneous elements, and just a good gentle story. It's a short read but well-worth it for any fantasy lover.
I've long been a fan of Bellairs' wonderfully creepy novels for children, so when I discovered that early in his career he'd written a fantasy novel (ostensibly for adults), I was eager to check it out.
This feels like a first novel, or an early one, and all of the great elements don't always come together into a solid whole. On the other hand, it's marvelously funny, and the wizards herein might remind some readers of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It also has some genuinely creepy moments, and I think had I read it when I was younger, it would have spooked me a bit. Definitely worth reading, especially if you enjoyed The House With a Clock in Its Walls and other classic Bellairs.
This feels like a first novel, or an early one, and all of the great elements don't always come together into a solid whole. On the other hand, it's marvelously funny, and the wizards herein might remind some readers of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It also has some genuinely creepy moments, and I think had I read it when I was younger, it would have spooked me a bit. Definitely worth reading, especially if you enjoyed The House With a Clock in Its Walls and other classic Bellairs.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
slight, but great?
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Curious, strange, imaginative and wildly descriptive. If you're the kind of person who can't stand the thought of every single item in a wizard's house being described in painstakingly bizarre detail, then don't come within a mile of this book! Personally, I am one who loves such detail and found it added a lot to the charm of the story, and indeed, was what attracted me to the book in the first place.
There is an attempt at quirky British humour, but... unfortunately it falls completely flat. It just isn't very funny, and this is a real shame and one of the biggest downsides of the book. I honestly struggled around the second chapter, as it was just a little too nonsensical, thinking I wasn't going to make it through the book. Thankfully however, it does get a bit better once the author drops the terrible 'humour' and the story turns into something quite eerie, surrealistic and dreamlike.
This 'dreamlike' quality made the story at times somewhat hard to follow, but I found it fascinating to see what new kind of weirdness was coming around the next corner. There was a plot, of sorts, but a rather vague one, about a wizard going on a strange and haunting adventure to defeat an evil opponent.
I finished the book, and liked it. But it does require an appreciation of descriptive prose and taste for absurdity; it's a very particular cup of tea.
There is an attempt at quirky British humour, but... unfortunately it falls completely flat. It just isn't very funny, and this is a real shame and one of the biggest downsides of the book. I honestly struggled around the second chapter, as it was just a little too nonsensical, thinking I wasn't going to make it through the book. Thankfully however, it does get a bit better once the author drops the terrible 'humour' and the story turns into something quite eerie, surrealistic and dreamlike.
This 'dreamlike' quality made the story at times somewhat hard to follow, but I found it fascinating to see what new kind of weirdness was coming around the next corner. There was a plot, of sorts, but a rather vague one, about a wizard going on a strange and haunting adventure to defeat an evil opponent.
I finished the book, and liked it. But it does require an appreciation of descriptive prose and taste for absurdity; it's a very particular cup of tea.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I spent pretty much the entire time reading this book going, "What is going on?" In fact, there's a quote from the book that pretty much sums it up for me: "Now, Mr. Millhorn. You will hear later what happened to me -- the whole thing, before and after I met you ... But I'm not sure what or who I defeated." This line was THREE PAGES from the end.
Anyway, the humor is okay but I spent so much time being confused about what was going on, that I couldn't feel any suspenseful build-up to make it feel remotely like horror.
All in all, a definite pass from me. I think the summary was more interesting than the actual book. :/
Anyway, the humor is okay but I spent so much time being confused about what was going on, that I couldn't feel any suspenseful build-up to make it feel remotely like horror.
All in all, a definite pass from me. I think the summary was more interesting than the actual book. :/
When I think of classic fantasy this is the sort of book that comes to mind. I love that our heroes are older men who know about as much as we do in the story and I loved the humour though I missed that somewhere in the middle of the book.
Quirky, weird, fun, and a hoot from start to finish. It plays a lot like a novel version of Roger Corman's "The Raven" movie with Vincent Price and Boris Karloff. Two sorcerer friends are forced onto a wide-ranging adventure together to stop an evil menace. Straightforward, yes, but the enjoyment is in the dialog, the oddball personalities of the wizards, and the bizarre and occasionally downright frightening situations they confront. It's pretty close to fantasy-horror, this, and ideal for October reading. This has often been cited as one of the chief inspirations for the Dungeons & Dragons RPG. The funny thing is, when I was in high school and read this, I found it terribly disappointing... High-school-me wanted Sauron and howling Stormbringer and swords and sorcery and dragonfire and all that, and was decidedly unimpressed by a story about a pair of old friends who just want to sit in a comfortable room and smoke their pipes and talk about wizarding quirks all night. Adult-me, however, thoroughly enjoyed the depiction of their friendship and their very NON-"generic fantasy trope" approach to the world of tunnels and trolls.
Recommended.
Recommended.
This book pulls off a really unique combination: it manages to be a lighthearted, sweet story about friendship that also can be super spooky with fantastic evocative imagery. I really liked it.