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A review by ewout_s
De man van rook by J.M. Miro
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What if you were a black kid around the 1700’s with some magic abilities. What if everyone wanted you and you had no friggin idea why. Ordinary monsters, created by J.M. Miro asks that question about Charlie (the black kid) and Marlowe (the kid that everyone wants).We follow the traces of Alice Quicke, a private detective that has been contracted to find an abducted child and bring it back to his family. While she tries to do that, an evil force, made out of smoke, tries to find the exact same thing. A race against the clock begins. And that for various reasons.
At the end of the day, Marlowe, Charlie and Alice ends up in Cairndale institute: a school for gifted, after a messy escape of the forces of evil, but their adventure has just begun.And I know what you think: X-men. And yes, it has some resemblances with the x-men franchises. There is a school, their is the whole section about ‘who am i’ and the protagonists has to choose about following the flock or doing good.
The interesting part are the fact that the powers can dissapear by these children and that the school were they get to learn to control their magic isn’t really saint and makes sure that you, dear reader, has questions. This brings an interesting combination of intrigue and suspense to the book. Because while you think that you know who is good and who is bad. I can almost assure you that at the end of the strory, you won’t be sure. The motives are very interesting. While fantasynovels dare to stamp a label on the forehead of flat bad guys, Miro made sure that this wasn’t the case by creating some chapters for the bad guy. And honestly, it works. I do not hate the antagonist, but feels pity about the fate of Jacob Marber.
The story starts very strong. A woman tries to escape a searching party for her and the child, whereby she jumps on a accelerating train (Dear reader, do not do this in your free time).
And while the entire story goes about the importance of Marlowe existence, you feel that Miro treated every character fair and square. Each character, from Coulton to Miss Davenshaw, to Komako and the Spider. The characters are fleshed out and feel real. The conversations are written like there lies a meaning behind the actual conversation, which I loved as an aspiring writer.
However I praise this book, there might be some little (with the emphasis on little) flaws in the book. Where Miro putted much detail and ‘life’ in the characters, he barely did with the Orsine, which you could consider is a character on iets own. The Orsine is a portal to another world where most people would die and could not survive. Despite the fact that Orsine is a mysterious place, the reader still needs some clarity on some places and it is my opinion, only my opinion, that it could have been fleshed out more.
The creatures on the other hand were very cool. The way that Miro used them and didn’t go in overdrive, was very well done.
Overall an awesome book. It was one of those books that I read pretty fast and that got me thinking about plotting and creating interesting dialogue.
But hey, that’s my opnion. What’s yours?
At the end of the day, Marlowe, Charlie and Alice ends up in Cairndale institute: a school for gifted, after a messy escape of the forces of evil, but their adventure has just begun.And I know what you think: X-men. And yes, it has some resemblances with the x-men franchises. There is a school, their is the whole section about ‘who am i’ and the protagonists has to choose about following the flock or doing good.
The interesting part are the fact that the powers can dissapear by these children and that the school were they get to learn to control their magic isn’t really saint and makes sure that you, dear reader, has questions. This brings an interesting combination of intrigue and suspense to the book. Because while you think that you know who is good and who is bad. I can almost assure you that at the end of the strory, you won’t be sure. The motives are very interesting. While fantasynovels dare to stamp a label on the forehead of flat bad guys, Miro made sure that this wasn’t the case by creating some chapters for the bad guy. And honestly, it works. I do not hate the antagonist, but feels pity about the fate of Jacob Marber.
The story starts very strong. A woman tries to escape a searching party for her and the child, whereby she jumps on a accelerating train (Dear reader, do not do this in your free time).
And while the entire story goes about the importance of Marlowe existence, you feel that Miro treated every character fair and square. Each character, from Coulton to Miss Davenshaw, to Komako and the Spider. The characters are fleshed out and feel real. The conversations are written like there lies a meaning behind the actual conversation, which I loved as an aspiring writer.
However I praise this book, there might be some little (with the emphasis on little) flaws in the book. Where Miro putted much detail and ‘life’ in the characters, he barely did with the Orsine, which you could consider is a character on iets own. The Orsine is a portal to another world where most people would die and could not survive. Despite the fact that Orsine is a mysterious place, the reader still needs some clarity on some places and it is my opinion, only my opinion, that it could have been fleshed out more.
The creatures on the other hand were very cool. The way that Miro used them and didn’t go in overdrive, was very well done.
Overall an awesome book. It was one of those books that I read pretty fast and that got me thinking about plotting and creating interesting dialogue.
But hey, that’s my opnion. What’s yours?