Despite strong prose, this fantasy tale is ultimately undone by its overly familiar plot and distractingly peculiar names.
In Close’s debut novel, the first in a new epic fantasy series, a young apprentice to the king’s bard suddenly finds himself going to the royal court with his master due to a number of strange occurrences.
After Calvraign’s father died saving the king’s life, King Guillaume gave his rescuer’s son the honor of being trained by his bard, Brohan. For years, Brohan taught him stories of chivalry and prophecy and trained him in battle strategy and politics, preparing him for adulthood at court. Soon after dark forces begin to rise in the kingdom, Brohan brings Calvraign—at his mother’s behest—to the king, and they’re followed by Callagh, a feisty young huntress whose fierce skills are matched only by her love for Calvraign. Over the course of the novel, Close weaves an epic tale involving a huge cast of characters, including other knights, villains and supernatural creatures, cutting among various points of view in a manner reminiscent of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. Eventually, revelations also transpire that reveal just why this boy’s well-being has been so important to Guillaume. Close’s greatest strength is his prose, which brings this world to life with a literary sensibility that stands out in a sea of standard, boilerplate fantasy novels. If only the plot were as impressive as the words that detail it. Despite the often beautiful writing, the story struggles to distinguish itself from other tales in the genre. Furthermore, Close has decided to populate his novel with names for characters, mystical creatures and places that are needlessly complex—Dwynleigsh, Feylobhar, Lyaeyni Meimniyl, Ryaleyr, Raogmyztsanogg, T’nkh’t’chk, Qal Jir’aatu, etc. As the list of unpronounceable names grows, it often prevents readers from emotionally engaging with the story.
Despite strong prose, this fantasy tale is ultimately undone by its overly familiar plot and distractingly peculiar names.Pub Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN: 978-0988852013
Page Count: 618
Publisher: Gregory S. Close
Review Posted Online: June 11, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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