Rating: 3/5
Review:
Something missing
The competent, easy-flowing prose makes this
book an accessible read, but in the end I thought it didn't add up to
much. It is a fantasy (although with no magic) set in an alternative
version of history in an unspecified part of Europe and a time
resembling the 15th Century. It follows the adventures of three boys
escaping from a hideously repressive Sanctuary, and their subsequent
adventures. Some - but by no means all - of the narrative is quite
gripping and there are some decent action set pieces, but I'm afraid I
felt that there was a rather off-the-peg feel about the whole book,
making sure the usual hooks were all covered. The hideously brutal
Redeemers, the aristocratic and sneering Materazzi, the beautiful
princess...it just seemed a bit by-numbers.
Similarly, the targets for satire - sneering aristocrats, brutal and hypocritical religious zealots, vacuous and self-regarding bimbos, and so on - are worthy subjects but were all so grotesquely exaggerated that it took much of the sting out of it. Also, the style is often gently ironic which simply doesn't fit the story it is telling.
I don't want to be too critical because it's by no means dreadful. It's perfectly readable but I can't give it four stars
Similarly, the targets for satire - sneering aristocrats, brutal and hypocritical religious zealots, vacuous and self-regarding bimbos, and so on - are worthy subjects but were all so grotesquely exaggerated that it took much of the sting out of it. Also, the style is often gently ironic which simply doesn't fit the story it is telling.
I don't want to be too critical because it's by no means dreadful. It's perfectly readable but I can't give it four stars
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