Review: A Very Pleasant Surprise!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 25, 2013
5-Stars to what is apparently this Writer's first effort!Let me begin by saying that I have been an avid fantasy genre fan for 50 years. I've read the best of them of course, and as a result I probably have a keen standard for any would-be Author to live up to... and it seldom happens nowadays. Yet I still search. I routinely scan the "New Arrivals"... the FREE and .99 cent bins, if you will; always seeking that "diamond in the rough".Here, I truly believe I have found one, and give it my highest recommendation.Why did I give it FIVE STARS? And more importantly, "Why should YOU try this Author's work?" Here's your answers...(1) I always give ONE star to new aspiring Writers. Like an "A- for effort". There's a dearth of good Fantasy and Sci-Fi Writers today. Much of what I see is mediocre with pay-check ambitions. Few are the potental Heinlein's and Tolkeins. We need to encourage more aspiring authors to come to the fore.(2) Another point is given for not simply regurgitating the same old clichéd storylines and themes. It's fine to stick with certain lore, legends, and genre of course; I mean, we want our trolls, ogres, elves, and dwarves to compliment the classic lore for these characters; we just do NOT want another shallow, copy-cat treatment of them;i.e. - Vampires must remain vulnerable to sunlight, garlic, and a stake through the heart to honor those who first created the lore. We don't mind however if the Writer creates an "exception to the rule" class of vamps who are super-resistant to these mundane threats. Make sense?They must still need blood to subsist; prefer dark, dank surroundings; but they need not speak "Euro trash" to convince us they are "bone fide".This Author handles this very well. He makes you sympathetic to some traditional arch-villains, but not to all. I personally like that.(3) World creation- The best of them, the masters of fantasy, such as Tolkein, Lewis,etc. were masters at creating whole new worlds in which their stories played out. They were meticulous about the details, where details mattered, and yet they did not bog you down with unnecessary and tediously irrelevant ramblings. Many lesser writers do this as a means fill up lots of pages in a book which is otherwise not worthy of it's price. It's called "fluffing", and it's the mark of one unworthy to be considered an "Author" of any rank, he is merely a "publisher". Publishers don't care about the quality of the work, they only care that it sells. Which why so many bookstore shelves are filled with dribble, making it hard to find the real gems.Thankfully, we do not see that sort of thing in David Houpt, and as long as that remains the case, he will recieve this star for INTEGRITY.(4) Originality of story: This kind of goes with the above, but focuses more on story depth and believability.As a work of the FANTASY genre, we cannot demand as much believability as we might with Sci-Fi. I mean to say that with Sci-Fi, there must be enough SCIENTIFIC in it for us to suspend our disbelief at those parts which are purely speculative. For example: If a character fires a projectile weapon in free space, and the character does not simultaneously get thrown backwards; we either must be supplied with a logical scientifically factual reason why, or the tale become preposterously unbeleivable. We cannot suspend disbelief in the face of the known Laws of Science in such a situation.Fantasy genre however holds no such high demands on the Author. He doesn't pretend for a moment there is any scientific basis for his yarn. His Fairies can have the strength of gorillas and fly off carrying elephants for all we care; he simply needs to satisfy our curiosity as to what the Fairies are doing with these elephants!As such, Mr. Houpt's characters are not too "over-the-top" in their abilities, and each one has their respective limitations. They all have a story to tell, a life to explore, and a part to play. The world in which he couches them is intriguing, and most importantly... UNPREDICTABLE. That too, is the bane of all too many aspiring Fantasy Writers. Glad to see he has avoided it thus far.(5) Finally there is what I like to call the "Cinch Factor". That is...Is the story one which grabs you right off, and makes it nearly imppossible for you to put down? And additionally, "Does the story leave you craving more?"Happily, on both counts Mr. Houpt has succeeded. It's real "page turner", and YES, we DO want more!Congratulations David, and best of luck on your next installment.