Read by: Richard Easton
Genre: YA Fantasy
After the love I had for Seraphina, I thought I'd try another YA Fantasy novel. And this one I'd seen a few times on the shelves, with an intriguing cover of the entwined snakes. Try it!
I got about half way into the discs and decided life was too short for a boring fantasy. And turned it off.
The book was told in two eras; One from present day Oxford and one in medieval Germany. The story is about a secret book and made of magic paper. It was technically well-written, slow and little hard to follow in parts ... and full of things that bugged the crap out of me.
First, the boy in Oxford, Blake -- no idea how old he was. None. I thought it might be part of the mystery, but the longer I waited for that little fact, the more annoyed I got. The difference between a 14-year-old and a 10-year-old is too great to try figure out for half the book (with no hints). And the author was obviously English, but didn't take into account cultural differences for his American main characters. For example, Americans don't use the word "torch" -- it's a "flashlight." This happened, a lot.
And last -- and this is turning into a real problem for me -- I didn't like the gruff male voice telling the story. And, looking back, I realize I haven't liked one book from a male reader.
Grade: Yellow Light
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