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Book Review: Colman by Monica Furlong
Title: Colman
Author: Monica Furlong
Published: New York: Random House, 2004
Page Count: 267
Total Page Count: 37,806
Text Number: 107
Read For: my own enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: The sequel to Wise Child and Juniper, Colman follows the lives of these three characters as they flee from Wise Child’s childhood home to Juniper’s childhood home of Cornwall, only to find Juniper’s aunt has murdered her parents, the king and queen, and taken her brother, the prince, as a prisoner. Wise Child and Colman, with the help of the leper Cormac, must infiltrate the enemy stronghold, discover the prince’s affiliation, and find a way to rescue the prince and the kingdom by defeating Meroot and the Gray Knight once and for all. As a sequel, Colman draws together and completes the overarching plot set up in the first two books, but it focuses on action and lacks the sense of magic and the strong female protagonist that makes the other two books so memorable. As this book does draw the story arc to a close, I recommend this book to fans of the series, but it is not a strong or outstanding book in it’s own right.
Colman is a decided change of pace in this series of books: the male protagonist and the action-centered plot move it away from the wise woman stories of the other two books. Colman is a young boy but, concurrent with the strong woman theme in the other books, he uses the strength of his gender to protect the female Wise Child and to further her in her goals. Magic likewise still plays a role, fulfilling essential plot points, but it is not directly connected to character growth: in fact, Colman does not want to use magic, but he is willing to use it for Wise Child and Juniper’s sakes. As such, this book exists within the wise woman philosophy of the others in the series, but with a male narrator it is less character-driven and lacks the fundamental draw and mystique of the previous books.
This final text was also a posthumous release, and the lack of editing shows: the text feels longer and has a slower, somewhat chunkier pace than the other novels. It is not, however, poorly written. It may not be as good as the other books, but it is surprisingly complete and well-edited for a posthumous work. While not outstanding, it is still an accessible, readable book that builds up to a fine conclusion.
I recommend this book to fans of the series that have read and loved Wise Child and Juniper. Although not as satisfying and in many ways very different, this final text draws together the plot line into a solid conclusion, bringing a sense of satisfied finality to the text. I doubt that the book will be so fulfilling to those that have no read the other books, and I recommend that they pick up Wise Child and Juniper (in that order) first.
Review posted here at Amazon.com.
Author: Monica Furlong
Published: New York: Random House, 2004
Page Count: 267
Total Page Count: 37,806
Text Number: 107
Read For: my own enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: The sequel to Wise Child and Juniper, Colman follows the lives of these three characters as they flee from Wise Child’s childhood home to Juniper’s childhood home of Cornwall, only to find Juniper’s aunt has murdered her parents, the king and queen, and taken her brother, the prince, as a prisoner. Wise Child and Colman, with the help of the leper Cormac, must infiltrate the enemy stronghold, discover the prince’s affiliation, and find a way to rescue the prince and the kingdom by defeating Meroot and the Gray Knight once and for all. As a sequel, Colman draws together and completes the overarching plot set up in the first two books, but it focuses on action and lacks the sense of magic and the strong female protagonist that makes the other two books so memorable. As this book does draw the story arc to a close, I recommend this book to fans of the series, but it is not a strong or outstanding book in it’s own right.
Colman is a decided change of pace in this series of books: the male protagonist and the action-centered plot move it away from the wise woman stories of the other two books. Colman is a young boy but, concurrent with the strong woman theme in the other books, he uses the strength of his gender to protect the female Wise Child and to further her in her goals. Magic likewise still plays a role, fulfilling essential plot points, but it is not directly connected to character growth: in fact, Colman does not want to use magic, but he is willing to use it for Wise Child and Juniper’s sakes. As such, this book exists within the wise woman philosophy of the others in the series, but with a male narrator it is less character-driven and lacks the fundamental draw and mystique of the previous books.
This final text was also a posthumous release, and the lack of editing shows: the text feels longer and has a slower, somewhat chunkier pace than the other novels. It is not, however, poorly written. It may not be as good as the other books, but it is surprisingly complete and well-edited for a posthumous work. While not outstanding, it is still an accessible, readable book that builds up to a fine conclusion.
I recommend this book to fans of the series that have read and loved Wise Child and Juniper. Although not as satisfying and in many ways very different, this final text draws together the plot line into a solid conclusion, bringing a sense of satisfied finality to the text. I doubt that the book will be so fulfilling to those that have no read the other books, and I recommend that they pick up Wise Child and Juniper (in that order) first.
Review posted here at Amazon.com.