Theo Vilmos is a slacker in a humdrum rock band run by a bunch of college students. After his gilfriend loses their baby while he is out playing and not answering his cell phone, she leaves him and Theo retreats to a cabin owned by his aunt. There his real life turn into a fantasy novel. He enters a fairy world that has a lot of inspiration from Celtic tales where the fairies live lives that mirror our own, in a more magical way.

If you are a hard core D&D and fantasy fan, and a young adult, then maybe this is the book for you. Also, it would be a good read for aspiring writers looking for how to add some witty dialog as Tad does manage to get some good zingers in there.

The story had some good elements. The battle over the key was interesting and a few of the retorts made me smile. I enjoyed some of the descriptions and that Tad obviously put a lot of thought into this world.

I can't believe I have to give a bad review to a book this long. I read all the way to the end because my boyfriend wanted to talk about it and I loved him. But, the truth is that the main character is said to be important, but he does not really do anything except complain, make a fool of himself, try to tell everyone he shouldn't be involved, mope, get into trouble, run away, and sing. It might be an amazing and wonderful story... without the main character. I hated that since the reader is forced to follow the main character along through the tale. Applecore, his pixie companion, might have made a more interesting main character as she is proactive.

The villains make some mistakes that seem elementary school level. Such as one scene where the main character is on the ground with a 'smelly rag' over his face, so he stops breathing. This actually works. Seriously. The villain does not seem to take into count that he can't hear or feel Theo breath, and does not even check to see if he is really asleep. He's straddling Theo's chest and can't tell that he's holding his breath?

Pass it on to my frenemy. I was told "It's so good, read it" and thought that it was like a chain letter. You find someone else and say "it's so good, read it," and snicker behind their back. Now I want to end that chain and say "I'm sorry, it's not that good."

Bored, sadly. Tad, if you describe something once, twice, three times, then for the love of God, STOP! I don't need five descriptions of every object.

Tad Williams is a dedicated writer and this novel might be good for younger readers who enjoy extremely long books. You can tell he put a lot of effort into it and a lot of people seem to enjoy it, but it's not his best novel.

There are people who like it so if you are shopping for someone who is young and has not read a lot of fantasy, but is open to it then this may be the book for them. Pre-teens might get a kick out of it, even though the main charcter is thirty years old.

The plot wasn't very intricate and the characters weren't likable. The main character is always "at his limit" in fear, exhaustion, sorrow, hunger, and confusion and that gets old. An angsty character in the right setting is fine, but eventualy they man up and make the story epic- in theory. Theo is so busy complaining about his own life, while expressing a lack of concern for the lives of those around him, that he is unlikable. He's not even average. Unless we're talking high school drop out, slacker, self-absorbed average. And he does not grow or learn. He just whines and says he wants to be a better person. Never happened. He ran away, ran away, ran away... and that's all he ever did.

I hate giving books bad reviews and I'll state again that young readers who are newer and open to fantasy or really like D&D might enjoy this book. I have an Ex-boyfriend who absolutely adored it and raved endlessly. But the Product Reviews are about personal opinion, and mine is that there are many better books out there to spend your time on. If you would like to read Tad Williams, try another of his novels and skip this one. There are some witty lines and enjoyable moments, but Tad Williams has done much better with his other novels.

I'll give 5 stars for length though. Even if you're on an international flight you should have plenty of pages left when you land on your return trip.

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Created Nov 12, 2009 at 1:12pm • Submit your own review...