Review: A little long but fun
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 12, 2013
What for a fantasy, and what for a delightful world!The story idea itself is wonderful: A character, Irving Wishbutton, is thrown into a world (the Quest Academy) where he remains until his author completes the story. Of course, being a character 'in progress' has its risks - ones that Irving and the characters around him have no control over. A zombie can transform into a vampire, or a girl will suddenly sprout wings. (All writers know, how unexpected these sudden character changes can occur). Not only must Irving and his fellow characters struggle with these unexpected changes, but at the same time, they're struggling to find foothold at the Academy. Yep, these characters have their own lives and all the problems that come with it.And these characters are definitely alive. Not only did I feel as if I were sitting in at the academy, but the characters were as vivid as real friends (or enemies). I'd be more than happy to invite most of them for a cup of tea!Getting lost in this wonderful world was easy, and the story never had a boring moment - but I found that it went out too long. When I saw the size of Irving Wishbutton, I'll admit, I swallowed. For a middle grade (and I'd really suggest it for that audience), it's long. I found myself fighting to stay in the story about half-way through - not because it was boring. It wasn't. It just seemed that there were sometimes too many side-stories and characters,This is where I find this difficult to review. Irving Wishbutton is good. The story is good. The characters and world are terrific. But I think it would have been better to break it down into several books or cut down on some of the sub-plots. Plus, I found the writer's thoughts at the beginning of every chapter too much - I caught myself trying to skip over them more and more as the book went on. To make sure it wasn't only me, my kids dove into Irving too. They completely skipped over these first parts (after the first 2 or 3 chapters).But Irving Wishbutton is worth reading, and it's an amazing journey.