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A review by wwhyte
Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire by John August
3.0
(Disclaimer, I read this a month or so ago so may get some of the terms wrong)
Arlo Finch moves back with his mother and sister to the mountains in Colorado to live in his mother's brother's house. Over the year he makes friends, joins the Scouts, and discovers that his town is on a permeable boundary between our world and the world of Faery. And that he has particular powers and abilities that allow him to pass between the worlds in a way that others can't. And that something in the world of Faery, something big and powerful, does not wish him well.
I'm a big fan of John August's Scriptnotes podcast and of all the things he does for writers, so I was very much hoping to like this book more than I did. In particular, given how deeply he thinks about the structure of written things, I was surprised by how much this felt like just a series of things happening. In particular, in the two big set-pieces with antagonists from the Faery world-- the demon horse, and the hag at the end -- neither of them even speaks, let alone helps us understand what the forces are on the other side that Arlo is up against. If there is an antagonist with a reason to get rid of Arlo, why doesn't it try more often? On the other side, Arlo is a bit of a passive hero -- he joins in the activities of the Rangers, he reads books and tries to talk to people to understand the world he's in, but he doesn't really try to do anything. That's understandable -- he's twelve, after all -- but it leaves the book with no real drive on either side.
I did enjoy the stories of Rangering and some of the characters. It's true that the smart girl sidekick and the bumbling boy sidekick seem somewhat familiar, but in this genre there are only so many character categories to choose from, and on those familiar bases August builds characters who are at least fun to be with. Even the Ranger/magick culture, though, seemed half thought out -- some magick is taken for granted, there's some knowledge of the fairy world, but who knows what and how powerful are the senior rangers allowed or expected to become? It felt like an initial brainstorm of ideas for a book, with some great scenes, that still needed someone to sit down and think about what it all meant.
Having said that, the second book is much pacier and more focused, and this is an easy read. Worth reading as a way into the second book. Also, "Launch", the podcast about writing and making this book, is a great glimpse at the complexity of the publishing world and all the moving parts that need to work to make a book happen, and well worth listening to.
Arlo Finch moves back with his mother and sister to the mountains in Colorado to live in his mother's brother's house. Over the year he makes friends, joins the Scouts, and discovers that his town is on a permeable boundary between our world and the world of Faery. And that he has particular powers and abilities that allow him to pass between the worlds in a way that others can't. And that something in the world of Faery, something big and powerful, does not wish him well.
I'm a big fan of John August's Scriptnotes podcast and of all the things he does for writers, so I was very much hoping to like this book more than I did. In particular, given how deeply he thinks about the structure of written things, I was surprised by how much this felt like just a series of things happening. In particular, in the two big set-pieces with antagonists from the Faery world
I did enjoy the stories of Rangering and some of the characters. It's true that the smart girl sidekick and the bumbling boy sidekick seem somewhat familiar, but in this genre there are only so many character categories to choose from, and on those familiar bases August builds characters who are at least fun to be with. Even the Ranger/magick culture, though, seemed half thought out -- some magick is taken for granted, there's some knowledge of the fairy world, but who knows what and how powerful are the senior rangers allowed or expected to become? It felt like an initial brainstorm of ideas for a book, with some great scenes, that still needed someone to sit down and think about what it all meant.
Having said that, the second book is much pacier and more focused, and this is an easy read. Worth reading as a way into the second book. Also, "Launch", the podcast about writing and making this book, is a great glimpse at the complexity of the publishing world and all the moving parts that need to work to make a book happen, and well worth listening to.