A review by pastathief
The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper by A.J. Fitzwater

2.0

In many ways, this book was charming, and full of whimsy. I really wanted to love it. However, it just failed to grab me, which made reading it a drawn out chore for me. I stuck with it to the end, hoping that I would gel with it more, but I never did. It seemed to lack everything that makes me want to return to a story -- characters experiencing an arc, a sense of urgency, cause and effect, some sort of comprehensible trajectory. The short stories are all momentary snapshots. The resolutions all have the feeling of Deus ex Machina. Often there's no conflict at all, and the characters do little more than sightsee as wonders happen around them. The writing has a strong style, but one that obscures what's happening as often as it elucidates. The plots are liked those children tell -- full of random events with no rhyme or reason. In the end, I feel less like the book is faulty and more like I'm just entirely the wrong target market. I'm sure many others will love this book. I'm a little sad that I'm not among them.