SPINDLECROOK
by G.R. BodenG.R. Boden
Boden’s middle-grade fantasy novel follows an 11-year-old English orphan who is taken to another dimension and forced to act in a play by cruel overlords.
Simon Favor hasn’t exactly lived an idyllic life. After his parents died a day apart in freak accidents six years earlier—one was killed by a falling piano and the other was flattened by a bulldozer—Simon’s foster parents sent him away to a private academy called Grynnless Middle. The school is surrounded by rusty razor wire and blanketed in a creepy fog, and Simon immediately knows he is in trouble. Miss Murkwater, the headmistress (who is obsessed with doling out unwarranted disciplinary measures) and Warden, a large, bullying roommate, make Simon’s first days a nightmare. The only saving grace is Pepper Benoit, a pretty girl who shows an interest in Simon and persuades him to join the school’s theater troupe, which is named Spindlecrook. Benoit turns out to be a collector—a talent scout of sorts. She is a mythical creature from another dimension who, with help, can cross the veil between worlds to find and abduct humans to act in her boss’s twisted theater productions. (Humans make the best actors because of their short lifespans.) Simon finds himself imprisoned (literally caged) in a strange, pseudo-medieval fantasy world replete with satyrs, shapeshifters, and dragons. Forced to act in a monster’s play with other kidnapped humans, the 11-year-old desperately searches for a way home.
Boden’s narrative is, tonally, very much comparable to the first Harry Potter novel, even putting aside the fact that both works feature 11-year-old orphans living in England who attend decidedly strange schools. Although there are dark plot threads that contain minor violence and evil machinations, the overall vibe of the story is fun and adventurous, with a glorious sense of wonder that underlies Simon’s quest to escape and return home. The fantastical supporting characters (including Pepper, a beautiful half-human/half-water creature, and Mungo, a scary but courageous cretin who is essentially a walking mountain) exemplify the childlike, awe-inspiring tone. Even the otherworldly crowd watching the theatrical performance reflects that wonder: “Simon stared curiously at the gawking spectators, some of them with luminescent pearly pink skin and huge glossy black eyes, and others with slender necks banded with multi-colored beads and crimson skin scaled like a fish. Still others appeared to be almost human-like, but they crawled and hopped across the ground on all fours and screeched like monkeys.” A streak of light-hearted humor permeates the entire story: “I… never dreamed that I would be in a strange town in another world, living in a birdcage and performing theater for an evil tyrant with a wolfman as a bodyguard.” The principal (minor) flaw is the lack of thematic weight. The author could have more deeply explored Simon’s quest to find (and define) home, his struggle to find his place in the world, and the themes of friendship and self-empowerment. Boden will, one hopes, further develop these elements in future installments.Young (and old) readers looking for a fast-paced and unique fantasy adventure will be pleasantly surprised.