![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juushikaTitle: Ten Thousand Charms
Author: Leander Watts
Published: Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005
Page Count: 228
Total Page Count: 19,885
Text Number: 58
Read For: My own enjoyment (borrowed from the library)
Short review: An old German king without a kingdom sets sail for America with his three daughters in tow. The King knows no English, he had no desire to rule his country; his only interest is in "charms," the unexplained mysteries that he finds in the world: mysterious objects, unexplained events, archaic remnants. In America he meets a boy named Roddy, a young ropemaker's apprentice who seems to be surrounded by the charms that fascinate King Ivars. Ivars, Roddy, and Princess Thea are pulled into a web of mystery, darkness, magic, and fear when one charm, the Parliament of Crows, comes to town. Ten Thousand Charms is a young adult book with very short chapters, an impersonal writing style, and a distinct gothic charm. It is a promising novel with a number of interesting underlying concepts, but it feels unfinished and leaves the reader unfulfilled. I like the idea and the style, but I don't really recommend this book. There are better YA novels out there, although it would be nice to see more with the dark, mysterious aspects that this one offers.
I have a longstanding love for young adult fiction, and every now and then I try to read some of it. Because children, more than adults, are willing to indulge mystery and miracle, young adult fiction tends to be more magical without being bogged down with excuses and apologies for the magic. I love that aspect, and I find that it really shines in good YA novels. Furthermore, YA novels are often coming of age stories (it is, after all, the issue of the age), and a good coming of age novel is rewarding, heartening, and comforting. They reaffirm choices, character, and the rocky but rewarding journey toward maturity. Watts starts in with a sense of magic and opens up a coming of age story, but neither reach fruition in this novel. In Ten Thousand Charms, the magical basis is there—the reader is thrown in to a story where strange events happen, crows gather in the thousands, and one main character lives among these events while another actively seeks them out. The coming of age story begins when Roddy begins for the first time to look at his ability to interact with these mysteries as a gift rather than a curse.
The plot then gets absorbed with Thea's marriage to a magical dark prince of the forest. Roddy and the King are almost forgotten, and even thought they arrive to rescue her they never again become interesting characters. The magic is there but the book doesn't delve in very deeply; Roddy's coming of age is returned to briefly at the end of the book but his story seems truncated. It's as if this is merely the briefest of introductions into a non-conformist, gothic, sharp-edged magical story about growing up. If there were more it would be really interesting, but as it stands it's disappointing, teasing, unfulfilling, even frustrating for the reader. Watts has the right idea and I commend that, I even hope to see his style and ideas in a longer work, but I don't recommend this book. There are other YA novels out there to read instead, and, even if it's short, this one isn't worth picking up.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Leander Watts
Published: Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005
Page Count: 228
Total Page Count: 19,885
Text Number: 58
Read For: My own enjoyment (borrowed from the library)
Short review: An old German king without a kingdom sets sail for America with his three daughters in tow. The King knows no English, he had no desire to rule his country; his only interest is in "charms," the unexplained mysteries that he finds in the world: mysterious objects, unexplained events, archaic remnants. In America he meets a boy named Roddy, a young ropemaker's apprentice who seems to be surrounded by the charms that fascinate King Ivars. Ivars, Roddy, and Princess Thea are pulled into a web of mystery, darkness, magic, and fear when one charm, the Parliament of Crows, comes to town. Ten Thousand Charms is a young adult book with very short chapters, an impersonal writing style, and a distinct gothic charm. It is a promising novel with a number of interesting underlying concepts, but it feels unfinished and leaves the reader unfulfilled. I like the idea and the style, but I don't really recommend this book. There are better YA novels out there, although it would be nice to see more with the dark, mysterious aspects that this one offers.
I have a longstanding love for young adult fiction, and every now and then I try to read some of it. Because children, more than adults, are willing to indulge mystery and miracle, young adult fiction tends to be more magical without being bogged down with excuses and apologies for the magic. I love that aspect, and I find that it really shines in good YA novels. Furthermore, YA novels are often coming of age stories (it is, after all, the issue of the age), and a good coming of age novel is rewarding, heartening, and comforting. They reaffirm choices, character, and the rocky but rewarding journey toward maturity. Watts starts in with a sense of magic and opens up a coming of age story, but neither reach fruition in this novel. In Ten Thousand Charms, the magical basis is there—the reader is thrown in to a story where strange events happen, crows gather in the thousands, and one main character lives among these events while another actively seeks them out. The coming of age story begins when Roddy begins for the first time to look at his ability to interact with these mysteries as a gift rather than a curse.
The plot then gets absorbed with Thea's marriage to a magical dark prince of the forest. Roddy and the King are almost forgotten, and even thought they arrive to rescue her they never again become interesting characters. The magic is there but the book doesn't delve in very deeply; Roddy's coming of age is returned to briefly at the end of the book but his story seems truncated. It's as if this is merely the briefest of introductions into a non-conformist, gothic, sharp-edged magical story about growing up. If there were more it would be really interesting, but as it stands it's disappointing, teasing, unfulfilling, even frustrating for the reader. Watts has the right idea and I commend that, I even hope to see his style and ideas in a longer work, but I don't recommend this book. There are other YA novels out there to read instead, and, even if it's short, this one isn't worth picking up.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
