Review: Mixed
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 6, 2011
I'm a bit conflicted about this book.  On the one hand, the writing is very good.  On the other hand, the plot isn't particularly original, the book is about 1/3 too long, and ultimately, the story becomes somewhat tedious to read.The "good":  the author can write.  He has a good grasp of language and description and he takes the time to "paint the picture" of his story and characters.  Grammar and sentence construction is very good.The "bad":  He almost seems too impressed with his ability to describe things; taking paragraphs to describe minute and/or trivial aspects of the story when a few sentences from a more accomplished author would suffice.The "not bad":  The basic plot is a typical coming of age story where our hero learns he is more than just a farmer and is destined for greatness.The "bad":  The author tells us of this coming of age in excruciating detail.  "Coming of age" is literally what over half of the book describes:  we learn year by year, beginning at about age 10 and proceeding to age 18, what makes the main character who he is.  Now I love books that take the time for character development, but I really didn't buy this book to learn about the main character's daily boyhood farm life for chapters and chapters.The "good":  So finally over one-half of the way through the book, the main character leaves the farm and begins his journey to greatness.The "bad":  The journey proceeds via wagon, one plodding step of the nag pulling it at a time with the author's skill at descriptive writing providing us a tedious travelogue page after page after page.Now there are some interesting story elements and excitement interspersed throughout this eye-glazing narrative that are good.  You just have to loosen up your Kindle Forward Tab finger so you can fast forward to them.Now why give the book as many as 3 stars?  Because I think the story has promise.  I really would like to read the next book in the series; so kudos to the author and this book for that.But honestly, the author either needs to get an editor to help him pare down his paragraphs or work harder at telling more with less.  I wish him luck.