Review: The haunting echoes of youth
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 23, 2013
When you finish a Novella in one sitting you know you've been captivated. When the flow of detail and weaving of plot draws you onwards to the next chapter and beyond.Shiftling is ostensibly a nostalgic tale of youth, intertwined with the hazy recollection of today - looking back on those heady days of endless summer and unbreakable friendships, memories of musical hits and childhood hopes and fantasies. Steven makes 1985 seem utterly halcyon - and the sudden change in affairs is all the more dramatic for this set-up., handled as it is with obviously personal care and love.Dealing with troubling and dark topics through the filter of young teenage-eyes; the very real menace of Old Man Harrison is cleverly diverted through the secret that Drew and Scotty vow to keep, the monster they deal with, and the softening jumble of horrible recollections that are slowly revealed through the Present Day chapters as they slowly catch up with the events of 1985.As the storylines meet, and the knots unkink we see how Drew and the others have moved on differently with their memories; lost friends, dangerous foes, awful truths. We see that the namesake of the story is a very real manifestation of the shifting Rights and Wrongs we form in reaction to the unknown, the unwanted and the things we wish would go away if we could only close our eyes long enough. The power of memory to rewrite itself for our own protection can sometimes make realisation of the truth even harder.Five stars barely does this justice.