Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
I finished James A. Owen's Here There Be Dragons, which I enjoyed and yet found a bit annoying at the same time.
I'm not criticizing Owen for evoking every fantasy story I'd ever read, because that was the conceit of the story, that all these imaginary worlds really exist. In fact, he did quite a few very clever pirouettes with the stories.
Perhaps because the book was intended for younger readers, and because Owen is originally a graphic artist, the book seemed to me to speed along much too quickly, glancing over the top of incident and characterization without fully exploring them. I'm not sure the protagonists really had to be the Inklings, for one thing, although every now and then I caught a glimpse of their personalities.
And the critic in me did spot a few too many instances of showing, not telling.
Ah well. Analyzying these things is an occupational hazard, I'm afraid. I'll just say, I enjoyed the book but won't be searching out the sequels.
I also read a book I bought at the Smithsonian in April, Written in Bone, a beautifully designed and illustrated book acompanying the Museum of Natural History's superb forensic archaeology display based on human remains found in Jamestown and other early colonial settlements.
This book, too, is geared for young adults, and yet, being non-fiction, I found the less sophisticated approach to be very helpful, with clear explanations of abstruse archaeological techniques. If you've always had a yen for historical archaeology, as I have, I highly recommend the book---and the exhibit, too, if you're anywhere near Washington, DC.
What about y'all?
I'm not criticizing Owen for evoking every fantasy story I'd ever read, because that was the conceit of the story, that all these imaginary worlds really exist. In fact, he did quite a few very clever pirouettes with the stories.
Perhaps because the book was intended for younger readers, and because Owen is originally a graphic artist, the book seemed to me to speed along much too quickly, glancing over the top of incident and characterization without fully exploring them. I'm not sure the protagonists really had to be the Inklings, for one thing, although every now and then I caught a glimpse of their personalities.
And the critic in me did spot a few too many instances of showing, not telling.
Ah well. Analyzying these things is an occupational hazard, I'm afraid. I'll just say, I enjoyed the book but won't be searching out the sequels.
I also read a book I bought at the Smithsonian in April, Written in Bone, a beautifully designed and illustrated book acompanying the Museum of Natural History's superb forensic archaeology display based on human remains found in Jamestown and other early colonial settlements.
This book, too, is geared for young adults, and yet, being non-fiction, I found the less sophisticated approach to be very helpful, with clear explanations of abstruse archaeological techniques. If you've always had a yen for historical archaeology, as I have, I highly recommend the book---and the exhibit, too, if you're anywhere near Washington, DC.
What about y'all?
]
] - but I found that the way this was done intentionally and cleverly really worked.
]
