A sprawling, crowded tale that would have benefited from a clearer conclusion.
Nutter mixes high fantasy with Old England in a novel featuring Saxons, Vikings, magic, kings, and a handful of talkative beasts.
Several characters in this tale seek the Celestial Sphere, the most powerful magical object in the land. Of these, readers first meet Gwenllian, “a spellcaster who had been cast out of Wessex…over untrue accusations,” and Sagramour, her equally disgraced counterpart. After losing his position as the king’s wizard, Sagramour plots to bring destruction to his enemies when he gains control of the sphere. Accompanying him on his quest is Lord Gudrek, the devious master of the Dark Fortress, whose only interest is personal power. Gwenllian, meanwhile, finds herself on the side (but not in the company) of her ex-suitor King Alfred and his faithful knights, Bodwyn and Calibor. Calibor’s young brother, Jorin, and his friend Garreth, also join the fray when their hunting trip in Dragon Woods lasts longer than anticipated. With Sagramour threatening life as they know it, Jorin and Garreth agree to join Gwenllian’s band of critters as they penetrate the Dark Fortress. Unbeknownst to them, they travel with the sorceress in their midst, in the shape of a “striking green” frog. It’s she who protects them as they encounter various obstacles on their journey. Nutter’s dragons are reminiscent of those in Cressida Cowell’s How to Train Your Dragon series, the adventure is a little like that of Bruce Coville’s Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher (1991), and his creatures wouldn’t have been out of place in J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2001). Nutter’s scenes cut back and forth between various characters’ storylines, which adds to the overall intensity of the plot. However, a comprehensive list of the various players—and a map or two—might have made the reading experience a bit less confusing. In the final few chapters, the heat of battle takes over the narrative; the last clash is laborious but reaches a rather exciting climax. It would have been more satisfying, however, if the book’s ending wasn’t so perplexing.
A sprawling, crowded tale that would have benefited from a clearer conclusion.Pub Date: April 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9993208-6-0
Page Count: 370
Publisher: Joseph Nutter Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2018
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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