Reckoning / Kerry Wilkinson

Reckoning
(Silver Blackthorn #1 of 3)
by Kerry Wilkinson

young adult, fantasy

copyright 2014

read in February 2017

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

It's enjoyable but not great. The plot moves along nicely, with the occasional pause for romance. The heroine is likable though just a tad small-village cute. The villains are evil.

This book is one of three. It still manages to be complete in itself. The end is satisfactory (if a bit unbelievable). There are bigger problems yet to solve but they are for anticipation rather than left as cliffhangers. In other words, this book can be read by itself.

In terms of unbelievable... The heroine grows up near an electronics dump. She pries the back off old smart phones. And is able to learn how to program them. My goodness! that's clever :-) This is not a book for a computer nerds who take their nerding seriously!

The rest of the book is equally simplistic. You can assume that the villains have grown fat and complacent while in power. Perhaps the book is aimed at teens rather than young adults?

Still, it's fun. Yes, there is sudden and brutal violence. But it's an interesting world, pleasant characters and a simple story.

Enjoyable but not great.

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28oct23:

I read it again and the only thing familiar was the way that the heroine could take apart a smartphone and find out how it works.  Willing suspension of disbelief? More like, Take the disbelief, tar and feather it and run it out of town.

My overall attitude to the book has changed. It is not "enjoyable".

It is thoroughly unpleasant. Violent and depressing.

The book is aimed at mid-teens. When I was that age I would read Alfred Hitchcock stories of horror and suspense. They would scare me so that I could not sleep, I would read a comic to settle my emotions. This book is like that.  Read by itself, it could give nightmares.

I would not recommend it to a teenager. If a teenager read it I would ask, What do you think... and allow them to talk through the nastiness.

The saving grace is that the nice people win. And the moral -- that we can be strong if we work together -- is well presented without detracting from the story.

But Aesop presented the same moral, just as strongly, with a bundle of sticks. And no vicious violence at all.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Before your dreams can come true, you have to have those dreams" … Dr Joyce Brothers