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juushikaTitle: The Secret Country (The Secret Country Book 1)
Author: Pamela Dean
Published: New York: Firebird, 2003 (1985)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 371
Total Page Count: 145,905
Text Number: 429
Read Because: discussed here and here by Jo Walton, purchased used from St. Johns Booksellers
Review: Each summer, five cousins have created the Secret—a fantasy world whose story and magic they've built in bits and pieces over the years. But one year, they find themselves in the Secret Country itself, a real place whose magic and politics are much more complex from within. Dean pens some beautiful lines and the Secret's unicorns are superb, but the world and magic of the Secret Country aren't particularly unique; what's compelling, instead, is the nature of its creation. The children may have built this world, but they're no longer its architects: their insights into the story war against the difficulty of playing the roles they've written, and they're never sure if the Secret is real; it's a fascinating take on portal fantasy. But for better or worse, The Secret Country is a children's book; it holds up to an adult reader, but the cast is distinctly young and the book has a lightness of tone which, while not frothy or twee, didn't work for me, and which sometimes slows the pacing by quelling any sense of risk. It's also only half of a story (The Hidden Land is the other half), for all it lacks a glaring cliffhanger. I enjoyed The Secret Country, but had hoped to like it more; still, I recommend it. While imperfect, it's frequently clever and delightful.
Author: Pamela Dean
Published: New York: Firebird, 2003 (1985)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 371
Total Page Count: 145,905
Text Number: 429
Read Because: discussed here and here by Jo Walton, purchased used from St. Johns Booksellers
Review: Each summer, five cousins have created the Secret—a fantasy world whose story and magic they've built in bits and pieces over the years. But one year, they find themselves in the Secret Country itself, a real place whose magic and politics are much more complex from within. Dean pens some beautiful lines and the Secret's unicorns are superb, but the world and magic of the Secret Country aren't particularly unique; what's compelling, instead, is the nature of its creation. The children may have built this world, but they're no longer its architects: their insights into the story war against the difficulty of playing the roles they've written, and they're never sure if the Secret is real; it's a fascinating take on portal fantasy. But for better or worse, The Secret Country is a children's book; it holds up to an adult reader, but the cast is distinctly young and the book has a lightness of tone which, while not frothy or twee, didn't work for me, and which sometimes slows the pacing by quelling any sense of risk. It's also only half of a story (The Hidden Land is the other half), for all it lacks a glaring cliffhanger. I enjoyed The Secret Country, but had hoped to like it more; still, I recommend it. While imperfect, it's frequently clever and delightful.
