Review: Too Long for Children, Too Simple for Adults.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 02 1, 2013
This is a decent book by an author who has done her research, but it didn't quite do the job for me. It's smoothly written and reasonably edited, but that isn't enough. Comedy like this must be tightly written and fast paced. There is no time for a thousand years of faerie history and the constant intrusion of backstory.Finn McCool is the story of an Irish faerie who wants to be a warrior, but is relegated to the ranks of matchmaker to humans because he is completely inept. He also, of course, fails at wish granting, because he is still too busy trying to prove himself a warrior. Complicating the situation is the main sub-plot, the battle between the Sidhe, or good faeries, and the army of the evil Gol Mac Morna. The Queen's druid has predicted that Finn (Seamus) and his next human client, Kara, are going to save the day for the Sidhe.And I think that is the problem with this story. It is too predictable. It is billed as a "Faerie Tale for Grown-Ups," but the plot and characterization are as simplistic as a children's tale. I mean, Seamus dressing up in armour he can hardly carry and trying to joust against Lancelot? You have to be careful with a comic hero. We want to laugh with him, not at him, and Seamus is frankly ridiculous.The best character in the story is Kara, the human who does not believe in magic or true love. She is the least funny and the most likeable, and her development over the course of the story is believable and satisfying for the reader.The best writing is the nasty part where the queen's druid is being tortured and manipulated in the dungeon by the evil Amadan, who, while one-dimensional, is sufficiently creepy to give a shiver to adults.Beginning authors are often cautioned to start the story much later and end it sooner. In this case, the ending is just fine, but I think about 900 years needs to be cut off the front. Or condensed into a two-page prologue that we can skim through or ignore as we choose.Face it, there are a thousand novels that bring fairies into the modern world, and most of them are aimed at children for good reason. If you want to write a book of this sort for adults, you had better come up with something pretty creative. In this case, it just didn't happen.I have received a complimentary copy of this book in order to review it.