Review: Masterfully Woven Tale
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 1, 2014
Graham Austin-King is a masterful story teller.He weaves words into pictures that draw you to the center of the action.You can smell the soup burning to the bottom of the pot, and the hair burning off the monster when it touches steel.You hear the clash of swords and the tang of the bow as it releases it's arrow. You see the expressions on people's faces, and understand their emotions more clearly.While many 5 star reviews have warned this is not a book for children or the faint of heart, I am not going to add a similar warning. I have read and seen far worse in popular literature and on network television.However, as a parent, you should be aware of what you want your young reader exposed to. This is fantasy and there are brutal scenes which are appropriate to the story. They are so well written that you feel involved in the story.I appreciate the concept of this book. It is telling this story from more than one perspective. It takes a while before all the story paths are fully woven together, and as the book ends you understand there is much more to be told.I think the reason I did not go all 5 stars is that I wished there had been more balance to the different story lines. Some were too short, but the author felt a small taste was all that was required at that point.Those tastes did whet the appetite.A few sections went on too long for my taste, and I began to wonder if I would forget the details from a different perspective before we got back to it.I enjoyed the telling from each point of view, and if the book had been from only one or even two perspectives, maybe the longer sections would have been tolerated better. Overall it is matter of balance.This is a book that you should be prepared to spend some time with and become fully absorbed by the experience.