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
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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