The Mortifera
Strangeworld (1)
by A.L. Brooks
fantasy
copyright 2012
read in February 2013
rated 7/10: well worth reading
Remember the Harry Potter book where Harry was a whiny, abusive teenage creep ? Well, the hero of The Mortifera can be like that... Not as annoyingly as Harry... which is lucky, because this is not just one book -- not just one developmental stage -- in a series of seven !
Still, Jake can be annoying. On the other hand -- he has good reason to be upset. And to take out his misery on others. Even better -- Jake does see the error of his attitude. Eventually !
Brooks handle Jake's character faults quite well. Especially since the story is told by Jake... Quite a challenge, I imagine, to let us understand the hidden depths of a first-person narrator...
All of the characters -- and their interactions -- are well handled.
The story itself is a bit... stretched. Not slow ! There is plenty of action, never a dull moment. What I mean by "stretched", is that there are too many ideas for the one story...
Brooks has invented a fantastic world, a parallel universe, with none of the standard elements. The world is -- to me, at least -- new and unique. And so varied -- that some of it could have been saved for the second book.
We are given a tour of this new land. The journey to save the girl, in particular, takes us to a series of amazing places. Yet for most of these places, we are simply passing through.
For example, the heroes reach one town and are almost captured. With no more than a distant description of the town. Then a long journey with not much more than an explanation of the means of transport. Followed by another town, with no more than a battle to catch the last train out of town.
A lot of good ideas -- too little time to enjoy them. I'm not suggesting detailed and boring tours of each town :-) Rather, less exotic locations and a tighter focus on the main plot.
Or... since this book is already written and published... Use the next book to revisit some locations, to provide a bit more depth for future readers. Mainly: I would not like to see a whole lot of new creatures and locations thrown in simply because the author has a great imagination...
And yes, I do hope that there will be a second book.
This book is not great, there are faults -- but it is well worth reading. And easy to read. The publisher was local -- to me -- and set up specifically to publish local fantasy novels. But it is now out of business.
Life is tough... I hope that the author is tougher. Publishing is full of bestselling authors who all write to the same formula. Brooks' Strangeworld is different.
I enjoyed this book and hope that there will be more.
Oh, and speaking of "different"...
The hero lives in a Cornish village which is surrounded by locations with significant names. You know the type: Fairy Hill, which turns out to have real fairies, Hellmouth, which turns out to really be a gate to hell, you know what I mean. Well, near this village -- every single feature seems to have a significant name ! Is this more overkill from the author's imagination ? Or is it a good example of clever tongue in cheek...
And finally, Strangeworld itself.
Strangeworld... is our own world. How strange is that ?! A very clever touch.
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