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A review by hollowspine
The Motherless Oven by Rob Davis
3.0
A coming of age tale, that in some ways was more successful than others. Scarper Lee's deathday is approaching, he goes through his days just as always keeping to his comfortable routine. He watches the Wednesday Wheel with his mother (a Bakelite hairdryer) and each night secures his father (a big brass father with a sail) with a chain to the floor of the shed. He attends school each day listening to boring lectures on Circular History and waiting for the school lions to be caged before school lets out each day. However, when a new girl Vera Pike, joins the school Scarper's life (what's left of it) is thrown for a loop. She visits him during a knife storm and nicks one of his mum's kitchen gods (the egg timer to be exact), then she introduces him to one of the brain cases, Castro Smith, a kid who needs a dial on his chest to turn the world down.
When Scarper's father disappears the three go on a journey to find him, maybe at the Motherless Oven, the place where all the mothers and fathers are made by their children, and where the children are possibly made too.
I feel a bit like I might understand Scarper somewhat, with his deathday imminent he sees little point in going out with friends, or even making friends, but instead watches television, the same old gears grinding the same material around and around, with his mother.
He fears being alone and so chains his family around himself, yet also fears rejection so staves off the friendship offered to him by the mysterious Vera Pike.
I wished that Davis had developed the story a little further instead of adding more and more odd bits, (like the summer mines they release since Scarper is sick of winter - too bad they couldn't control the knife storms though). Like Castro comments on Pike's mum, but there are no other hints to what that means, why her mother is important to the story, or what Pike's motivation is at all.
I was interested in the outcome throughout the story, but ultimately disappointed by the abruptness of the ending and the lack of answers. However, I very much enjoyed the artwork and characters (except Vera who I wanted to kick in the teeth).
When Scarper's father disappears the three go on a journey to find him, maybe at the Motherless Oven, the place where all the mothers and fathers are made by their children, and where the children are possibly made too.
I feel a bit like I might understand Scarper somewhat, with his deathday imminent he sees little point in going out with friends, or even making friends, but instead watches television, the same old gears grinding the same material around and around, with his mother.
He fears being alone and so chains his family around himself, yet also fears rejection so staves off the friendship offered to him by the mysterious Vera Pike.
I wished that Davis had developed the story a little further instead of adding more and more odd bits, (like the summer mines they release since Scarper is sick of winter - too bad they couldn't control the knife storms though). Like Castro comments on Pike's mum, but there are no other hints to what that means, why her mother is important to the story, or what Pike's motivation is at all.
I was interested in the outcome throughout the story, but ultimately disappointed by the abruptness of the ending and the lack of answers. However, I very much enjoyed the artwork and characters (except Vera who I wanted to kick in the teeth).