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A review by angorarabbit
The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry
4.0
I am still waiting for Red Side Story so thought I'd try this. Apparently I am a fan of the get people in and out of books genre, who knew.
TW: non-graphic death and violence, discrimination, family relationships stillbirth. Triggers are not discussed in this review.
After being so violently disappointed by Just One Damned Thing After Another, I am leary of authors being compared to Jasper Fforde. While in the same genre as Fforde, Parry focuses on a family's relationships. It makes for an endearing story admist all the fictional characters running amok. There also is not as much word play and comedy as FFord's novels. I was chuffed at guessing a secret identity despite how long it's been since I've read the relevant books.
All in all a good, fun, clean read with heart.
Now the nitpicking criticisms. Too many climaxes. the first less than 1/2 through the novel. Climaxes are fun to write and this was the author's first published novel so forgivable. Also while I felt that meeting the final boss was a little weak the last chapter was a perfect ending.
Second: Where is Trollope? Uriah Heep, the Artful Dodger, David Copperfield, Fagin, and Scrooge, Nancy, Charles Dickens himself, but no Obadiah Slope (played by Alan Rickman in the Barchester Chronicles mini series), George Vavasor, or the fabulous Glencora. I understand keeping the cast of characters to a manageable level but this was very Dickens heavy.At least Kipling only received a rude mention.
To make matters worse Trollope only gets a mention in the June 2023 version of the Wikipedia article about Victorian Literature. Humph.
Never mind. The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep is a good read.
TW: non-graphic death and violence, discrimination, family relationships stillbirth. Triggers are not discussed in this review.
After being so violently disappointed by Just One Damned Thing After Another, I am leary of authors being compared to Jasper Fforde. While in the same genre as Fforde, Parry focuses on a family's relationships. It makes for an endearing story admist all the fictional characters running amok. There also is not as much word play and comedy as FFord's novels. I was chuffed at guessing a secret identity despite how long it's been since I've read the relevant books.
All in all a good, fun, clean read with heart.
Now the nitpicking criticisms. Too many climaxes. the first less than 1/2 through the novel. Climaxes are fun to write and this was the author's first published novel so forgivable. Also while I felt that meeting the final boss was a little weak the last chapter was a perfect ending.
Second: Where is Trollope? Uriah Heep, the Artful Dodger, David Copperfield, Fagin, and Scrooge, Nancy, Charles Dickens himself, but no Obadiah Slope (played by Alan Rickman in the Barchester Chronicles mini series), George Vavasor, or the fabulous Glencora. I understand keeping the cast of characters to a manageable level but this was very Dickens heavy.At least Kipling only received a rude mention.
To make matters worse Trollope only gets a mention in the June 2023 version of the Wikipedia article about Victorian Literature. Humph.
Never mind. The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep is a good read.