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A review by capturedinwords
The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon
4.0
My video review: https://youtu.be/OGoGJnHhm-4
The Doldrums is Nicholas Gannon’s debut novel, published in September of 2015. Now not only did he write this charming book, but he also illustrated all of the whimsical illustrations within it. And I have to say, the art style is PERFECT for a middle-grade book.
But illustrations aside, let’s talk about the story.
STORY:
Archer Helmsley was a dreamer ever since he was born. Archer is grandson to renowned explorers Ralph and Rachel Helmsley, and he looks up to them immensely despite having never met them. On his ninth birthday it’s discovered that his grandparents have been lost in the Antarctic stranded on an iceberg. He grows up living in his grandparent’s house which does much to inspire his adventurous imagination. You see, the house is filled with tons of wacky things belonging to his grandparents, some of which include taxidermy animals such as a giraffe, polar bear, ostrich, and penguins.
He lives here with his parents who are not like his grandparents. They don’t have the same adventurous spirit. In fact, the mother is so scared Archer will end up stranded on an iceberg or something similar, that she locks him in the house (besides him going to school) and tries to keep him away from his grandparents influence. This only strengthens his yearning for adventure as he has nothing else to do, and ends up talking to all the stuffed animals.
One day some mysterious packages arrive containing items from his grandparents exhibitions, and Archer decides it’s about time he plans a journey to head to Antarctica to save his grandparents, as he’s determined they’re not dead.
Now, the story is set up into three parts.
The first part introduces us to the characters, Archer being one of them of course. He also meets a friend who lives next to him named Oliver, and they meet up on Archer’s balcony and roof to plan their adventure. The next friend he meets who joins in on his plan is a Parisian girl by the name of Adelaide Belmont (pardon my French). She is my favorite character out of the trio, as she has the most interesting back story. She also likes croissants and coffee, and has a wooden leg. Wooden legs are cool.
The second part is dedicated to planning for their adventure, and the third part I don’t want to spoil, but let’s just say the subtitle of the book suits this story perfectly.
THE WRITING:
I was surprised when looking at GoodReads, to find many negative reviews stating that this book was slow moving and boring. That thought never crossed my mind, as I read the majority of the book in one day, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The writing is witty, using many literary devices and a lot of subtle humor to draw you in. The wordplay made this book quite a bit of fun and made me reminiscent of A Series of Unfortunate Events. I can agree, that if you went into this expecting a huge adventure then it may have been a tad disappointing, as adventure doesn’t swoop you off your feet here, but it does build up for the second book.
I read this book at a perfect time, having just finishing the long (and amazing) Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, I needed a easy reading middle-grade to pick me up from the high. The Doldrums was quite enjoyable, and the charming illustrations are an added bonus. Just a heads up, only the hardback edition has colored illustrations.
The Doldrums is Nicholas Gannon’s debut novel, published in September of 2015. Now not only did he write this charming book, but he also illustrated all of the whimsical illustrations within it. And I have to say, the art style is PERFECT for a middle-grade book.
But illustrations aside, let’s talk about the story.
STORY:
Archer Helmsley was a dreamer ever since he was born. Archer is grandson to renowned explorers Ralph and Rachel Helmsley, and he looks up to them immensely despite having never met them. On his ninth birthday it’s discovered that his grandparents have been lost in the Antarctic stranded on an iceberg. He grows up living in his grandparent’s house which does much to inspire his adventurous imagination. You see, the house is filled with tons of wacky things belonging to his grandparents, some of which include taxidermy animals such as a giraffe, polar bear, ostrich, and penguins.
He lives here with his parents who are not like his grandparents. They don’t have the same adventurous spirit. In fact, the mother is so scared Archer will end up stranded on an iceberg or something similar, that she locks him in the house (besides him going to school) and tries to keep him away from his grandparents influence. This only strengthens his yearning for adventure as he has nothing else to do, and ends up talking to all the stuffed animals.
One day some mysterious packages arrive containing items from his grandparents exhibitions, and Archer decides it’s about time he plans a journey to head to Antarctica to save his grandparents, as he’s determined they’re not dead.
Now, the story is set up into three parts.
The first part introduces us to the characters, Archer being one of them of course. He also meets a friend who lives next to him named Oliver, and they meet up on Archer’s balcony and roof to plan their adventure. The next friend he meets who joins in on his plan is a Parisian girl by the name of Adelaide Belmont (pardon my French). She is my favorite character out of the trio, as she has the most interesting back story. She also likes croissants and coffee, and has a wooden leg. Wooden legs are cool.
The second part is dedicated to planning for their adventure, and the third part I don’t want to spoil, but let’s just say the subtitle of the book suits this story perfectly.
THE WRITING:
I was surprised when looking at GoodReads, to find many negative reviews stating that this book was slow moving and boring. That thought never crossed my mind, as I read the majority of the book in one day, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The writing is witty, using many literary devices and a lot of subtle humor to draw you in. The wordplay made this book quite a bit of fun and made me reminiscent of A Series of Unfortunate Events. I can agree, that if you went into this expecting a huge adventure then it may have been a tad disappointing, as adventure doesn’t swoop you off your feet here, but it does build up for the second book.
I read this book at a perfect time, having just finishing the long (and amazing) Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, I needed a easy reading middle-grade to pick me up from the high. The Doldrums was quite enjoyable, and the charming illustrations are an added bonus. Just a heads up, only the hardback edition has colored illustrations.