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
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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