An enjoyable, somewhat overlong fantasy of clashing beliefs.
In Glickman’s (Aura, 2004, etc.) third novel, two princes face a threat that is both physical and philosophical.
Prince Talland meets the alluring, dangerous daughter of the Godlians (religious fanatics driven to control the world), and Prince Orland must hold fast against the mandated destruction of elder wisdom on Nef Island, where it’s all too easy to let old insights die. For Talland, the risk is of allowing others to assume control while he’s growing into his role as an active ruler. Orland must do more than merely escape; he must lead the world to wisdom. For both brothers, there is a daunting learning curve. Can they navigate the Godlian tyranny sufficiently to bring the people truth, whatever the price? Or will they sell out and abandon the heritage of humanity? Even the most enlightened are willing to burn ancient knowledge to save themselves, and there is always the matter of the spirit of “The One”—do they serve it, or do they defy it? For Orland, Talland and the reader, these issues remain foremost as the nations of their world are drawn into the two brothers’ destiny and move forward. And the story does not end there—as in the real world, every great clash has its aftermath. The novel is deeply political, and readers can embrace or ignore this as they wish. It is also extremely long, with a word count equivalent to three standard novels. The characters are well fleshed out (of the two princes, the stuttering, troubled Talland is the more interesting, but the story is told from Orland’s perspective); the dialogue is serviceable and often lighthearted (“stories require bathed bodies, and dinner”); and the pacing acceptable. Every point of view is addressed, and there is more than enough magic to keep readers engaged. Where it falls short, the reader will enjoy the deep philosophical disputes that the ambling, anecdote- and song-driven story—in part a New Age narrative—demands. More a fictional memoir of a troubled period in a fantasy world’s history than a battle-driven adventure.
An enjoyable, somewhat overlong fantasy of clashing beliefs.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9720718-9-5
Page Count: 650
Publisher: Hand to Hand Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok in Crichton's new, vastly entertaining science thriller. From the introduction alone—a classically Crichton-clear discussion of the implications of biotechnological research—it's evident that the Harvard M.D. has bounced back from the science-fantasy silliness of Sphere (1987) for another taut reworking of the Frankenstein theme, as in The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man. Here, Dr. Frankenstein is aging billionaire John Hammond, whose monster is a manmade ecosystem based on a Costa Rican island. Designed as the world's ultimate theme park, the ecosystem boasts climate and flora of the Jurassic Age and—most spectacularly—15 varieties of dinosaurs, created by elaborate genetic engineering that Crichton explains in fascinating detail, rich with dino-lore and complete with graphics. Into the park, for a safety check before its opening, comes the novel's band of characters—who, though well drawn, double as symbolic types in this unsubtle morality play. Among them are hero Alan Grant, noble paleontologist; Hammond, venal and obsessed; amoral dino-designer Henry Wu; Hammond's two innocent grandchildren; and mathematician Ian Malcolm, who in long diatribes serves as Crichton's mouthpiece to lament the folly of science. Upon arrival, the visitors tour the park; meanwhile, an industrial spy steals some dino embryos by shutting down the island's power—and its security grid, allowing the beasts to run loose. The bulk of the remaining narrative consists of dinos—ferocious T. Rex's, voracious velociraptors, venom-spitting dilophosaurs—stalking, ripping, and eating the cast in fast, furious, and suspenseful set-pieces as the ecosystem spins apart. And can Grant prevent the dinos from escaping to the mainland to create unchecked havoc? Though intrusive, the moralizing rarely slows this tornado-paced tale, a slick package of info-thrills that's Crichton's most clever since Congo (1980)—and easily the most exciting dinosaur novel ever written. A sure-fire best-seller.
Pub Date: Nov. 7, 1990
ISBN: 0394588169
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1990
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