Review Request: The Heart of the Curiosity

H.L. Burke sent me a copy of her book, "The Heart of the Curiosity" so I could tell everyone what I think about it. I decided to read it because it sounded fun. Two kids exploring the catacombs of an old theater, facing puzzles and traps, to find a treasure at the end? Sounds like a classic dungeon delve. It is only kinda-sorta like that, but it is still a great story that I enjoyed reading.

I will examine plot, character and polish and then assign a grade. 

PLOT

The story begins with Leo and her little sister Muse escaping from a traveling carnival and making their way to the Curiosity, the greatest theater in the country. I mean that literally, the first paragraph is Leo is cutting open a canvas wall so she and Muse can jump off a moving cart. It is a fantastic introduction because of how it establishes the personalities of the sisters and their objectives. 

Leo is the pragmatic sort who wants a better life for her sister, and Muse is more romantic than her and wants to dance professionally. Achieving these goals would make for a fantastic story, which speaks well of Miss. Burke's ability to set up conflict and engaging characters quickly. However, the real conflict is a little different. 

It is a multi-layered thing. There's the financial troubles facing the Curiosity, the threats made against it by those outside it, and finally Leo's own more personal trouble relating back to the carnival and how it affects her today. All of these layers are skillfully wrapped together into a strong rope like that which holds up the Curiosity's curtains. There are many types of conflicts but they all meld nicely and support each other.

Personally, it was disappointing that the actual dungeon delve into the Curiosity's catacombs was so short. Far more time is spent simply finding the starting line than the delving, and when the starting line is found, the following traps and puzzles are not the focus of attention. It was definitely disappointing since this is what was highlighted in the book's blurb when I picked it up. Even so, it makes for an exciting and worthy climax. It is like being given a sub sandwich when you were expecting a hamburger; the former is still satisfying even if it is not what you were expecting.  

The ending is satisfying as well. It closes the stories conflict and resolves numerous plot threads so the falling action is complete and the reader experiences closure. It also opens up the possibility for future story down the road, thus achieving a "snap shot in the life of X" sort of thing. 

CHARACTERS

Leo is the protagonist, and she is a complicated character. On the surface, she is a grumpy girl with a major case of Big Sister Instinct, but she has a lot of layers. There's her love-hate relationship with her Knack (i.e. personal magic), for instance. She hates manipulating people's emotions but she still does so without prompting in many circumstances. She also seems to have a Madonna-Whore Complex but for guys. They're either depraved sexual predators or totally harmless and nonsexual saints, and she assumes the former until proven otherwise.

She is definitely a flawed character but also a very sympathetic one. She constantly meddles in her little sister's life and career, sometimes against her explicit wishes, but always with the best of intentions and a concealed personal reason that is totally understandable given her history. As distasteful as she finds her Knack, it is still a very useful one, and so a reader can understand why she relies on it while simultaneously hating it. 

Her weakness for pastries is a fun running gag.

Muse is also an interesting character. She is Leo's younger sister, and the focal point of Leo's life. She enters the story as a timid little thing that definitely needs Leo's looking after. Over time, she has a remarkable development into someone more vivacious. The phrase "colorful butterfly" comes to mind. She becomes as good at managing Leo, as Leo thinks she is at managing Muse. She doesn't have as much focus as Leo but she is still quite vivid as a character.

The sister-teasing is cute and funny.

Our third major character is Paxton, repairman who works in the Curiosity and is the nephew/grandson of the theater’s stagemistress and propmaster, respectively. He is also Leo's best and only friend (excluding Muse). He is a hard-working yet easy-going guy. Like Muse, he is a contrast and a foil for leading lady, Leo. She is typically stressed out about something, and he smooths things over. Yet, he certainly feels the weight of responsibility for the Curiosity, and has his own issues related to his past, just like Leo.

The villain of the story, Sturgis is a more archetypal Corrupt-Corporate-Executive. He is clever, sinister, and effective as a villain, but doesn't feel as multi-faceted as the other characters. As wealthy and renowned as he is, there does not appear to be a motive to his Evil Plan beyond base greed and petty bullying. Miss. Burke uses him as a catalyst to stir up conflict for the theater and for the other characters, and he serves this purpose excellently, but as a character himself, he falls flat, in my personal opinion. 

Finally, snail circus. It is adorable.

POLISH

It looks good. I don't recall any typos.

Trickster Eric Novels gives "The Heart of the Curiosity" an A+ 

Click here for my next book review (for fun): Rising of the Shield Hero - volume 1

Click here for my previous book review (a request): The Endless Lands

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration). His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Walking a Nature Trail is Inspiring - a brief novelist's perspective

Spring has come, and warm weather has come with it. So I decided to take a walk on a nature trail by my house. I haven't done that in a while, and it was a beautiful day. I am glad that I did. It was inspirational.

I don't see such all-encompassing nature often. Mostly, it is just the small and trimmed areas that line the roads on my way to work. These days, I don't even see that anymore. The only plant life that I have regular contact with is a tiny plant in my study, which I water every other day or so. I should probably do that less often because the soil is growing white moss. 

When I walked through that nature trail, by the water and among the trees, I realized anew why so many fairy tales take place in the woods.

They are so full of life. The many plants and many varieties of plants all around lead one to thinking of the world and all that it contains, and the little critters that one can spot can lead thoughts to other communities outside of human settlements. I spotted a family of ducks swimming by in the lake. They went about their business, maybe and maybe not noticing the large and alien creature that was observing them (i.e. me).

The tall trees and the foliage limit visibility, and so one can be surprised by what is just around the bend in the path. This happened to me numerous times. I trotted down this hill and was greeted by a new glade, mud puddle, or tree formation. I saw cross-roads, and those are linked to Fair Folk in stories. 
Take the wrong path and you might end up in the Land of the Faerie, a land renowned for its strangeness, wonder, and danger. To someone living on a farm, a forest would fit that description. 

You can meet strangers in the forest too.

A couple families were out enjoying nature as well, and our paths crossed going opposite directions. Naturally, we had to stay six feet apart due to COIVD-19 social distancing rules. I drifted a bit off the path to be that far away. I greeted them and they went on their way; a momentary meeting in the woods that happened by chance.

Shortly after that, I came across a bridge. Two bridges actually, one was made of wood and the other, metal. They span segments of the lake that is nearby. I like bridges. They represent connection between two places, and this can take many forms in the mind of a novelist. It could be the distance between two worlds, or a connection between two groups. With the woods on one side and a neighborhood of buildings on the other, this bridge was like the threshold between the world of humans and the world of Fair Folk. The metal bridge could add a layer of meaning to the connection; Cold Iron is supposedly poisonous to the Fair Folk, and so a bridge made of it would not a friendly bridge to the Fair Folk.

And so my nature walk came to an end. It was fun. I found much inspiration. So I decided to write when I returned home. 

To read about my winter nature walk in 2023, click here

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration). His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

The Endless Land (review request)

Rob Gregson asked me to read his novel, "The Endless Land: A Continuing Tale of Fantasy, Lies and Rebellion". This is the second book in the "Written World" series and the sequel to "Unreliable Histories",  which I enjoyed so I was looking forward to this one. It is an unusual book.

PLOT

Much like the first book, this book is a quest narrative. Myra, Al and Nevi are searching for the Diegesis Gate, which is "the only power worth having". Yay for Genius Bonuses.

The first thing I noticed about this book is that it follows a similar arc as the previous book. It has a slow hum-drum start followed by parodies of scenes or events in the genres of Adventure and Fantasy (particularly low fantasy). Then it gets into serious parody, which I mean a parody that includes drama or genuine danger, and then gets into something truly serious, which is the meat of the subject matter.
This makes the start of the book a slag to read through. The main characters are strangely absent in much of the opening scenes. There are numerous scenes jumps, and the scenes themselves are not established before the narrative moves along. There's even a scene about two bored people guarding a harbor. It goes on for several pages, and I don't understand why. I think it has something to do with the novel's concept of "being Here" (note the capital 'H'). I think it may have been addressed at the climax by SPOILER but it was still boring to read.
Seriously, there is an extended sequence near the end of the story that addresses all these (seemingly) unrelated scenes, what their purpose (or lack thereof) is, and the author uses this extended sequence and these scenes to make an interesting point about the nature of fiction, literature and general narration. Yet I cannot discuss it without spoiling everything. That wouldn't be fair to the characters.

Spoiler reasoning aside, the story doesn't pick up, in my opinion, until Supreme Lord Dahrrek appears. This is where the first hint of the story's true subject matter enters the narrative, and his conversations with Myra are fun and intriguing. Also, the way he acts so affable and benevolent when all of his subjects act like he's a stereotypical evil lord is a recurring running gag that is most useful when amusing the readers.  (I hope the author catches the reference I made just now).

Things get trippy towards the end, but it's all clear and makes perfect sense. I want to talk about how much I like the true conflict of this story, as well as its resolution and continuation (as opposed to ending), but to do so would be spoilers. It is such a well-thought out, fascinating, and ambitious idea that I don't want to give it away by providing any more hints in this review. So I hope the Author/Narrator is satisfied with these vague and generic remarks.

 CHARACTERS

Myra continues to develop, and it is a full and natural development. The way she learns about the world and its history, and how she uses that to handle her enemies, shows her background as a merchant but it also shows her as a person of compassion and understanding. She certainly has greater ambition and visionary scope than her uncle, but hasn't absorbed any of his obnoxious greed.

Dahrrek is another interesting character. The contrast between what he says and how people react is both funny and really relevant to the story's central theme and conflict. His part of the resolution is part of what makes the resolution so interesting.

The other characters are not quite so interesting. Al seems diluted from what he was in the previous story. He just doesn't have much to do besides ask questions and get confused by the answers he receives. Nevi is always fun to read about but he was distracted in the early bits of the story by a shape-shifting shark.
The villains feel insubstantial and interchangeable. Being called "The Cowl" by the narrative is mysterious and all, but it does little for characterization. I honestly can't tell him from any of his fellows because all of them appear to be the same basic template.

POLISH

The story looks good. I recall few if any typos.

Trickster Eric Novels gives "The Endless Land:  A Continuing Tale of Fantasy, Lies and Rebellion" a B+

This has been a free review request. The author asked for an honest review so I provided one.

Click here for my next book review (a request): The Heart of the Curiosity

Click here for my previous book review (for fun): Tai Chi Bible

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration). His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.