A review by ladyfives
Moonscript by H.S.J. Williams

4.0

In the depths, in the darkness, there dangled a prisoner, and once upon a time, he had been a prince.

[EDIT: Revised some of this review! I had a bit of an emotional response when I first finished reading, but I promise this is all still entirely honest, hah.]

First thing's first, I respect so much about this book - its journey of being written, its Tolkien feel, the inner illustrations (PLEASE, can this be a new trend in self-pub? in all fantasy books? please??)...the impossible literal heft to it (seriously, how is the paperback so heavy?). Even though in the end it really wasn't written for me, I still enjoyed the sort of classical fantasy feel. With lots of self-pub books I can feel the hard work, pride, and love written all over the page and this is no exception.

I want to point out Tellie. What an absolute dear. I didn't expect her to be at the top of my faves, but she won me over. There is something so endearing (and, again, classic-feeling) about reading a young character who actually acts young, is naive and silly, occasionally overbearing and confused and cowardly when she's got every right to be... She (and Kelm!) were a much-needed light in this fairly grim story.

I thought Errance would be my fav just because - well, I'm predictable that way. I did like him as well, and I appreciated this raw, complex portrait of what it would be like to have gone through so much and be left with so little hope. He was drifting though his escape and his life and being afraid of actually going home at all. Dude needed a hug, and I thought it was again very classic and again, very warm, that no one would give up on him and believed in him no matter where he was (especially Tellie!).

[EDITED SECTION] There was, I feel, a lot of this I didn't quite get (which is a feeling reflected in other atheist/non-Christian reviews). That brought out a lot of frustration in me, not because it existed within the book (which, as you'll also see in reviews, resonated with a lot of readers BECAUSE it was there), but because of the perspective I just cannot, as a limit of someone who didn't spend...allll that much time in Bible study, see from. It broke my heart how some things shook out when I felt like I wanted something different for the characters, but I think that's, if anything, a testament to the book's raw feelings and impact, that I was brought to feel something so strongly even if it was negative - when I'm usually a reader who skims through books and half-feels everything.

Anyways, it made me think a lot. It's a book that crawls under your skin and makes you feel things alongside it. Regardless of some other things that didn't jive with me, I think it's an experience I won't get with another book, that ran the spectrum of hopeful & sweet to painful & frustrating for me.