Genre: Fantasy, YouthLength: 1,237 pages (collectively)
Reviewed by: Willow Locksley
“A quiet song was pulsing through him, a dandelion telling its story of ash made green and green made gold. A story of death and separation, of strength and reunion and death again.”
N. D. Wilson’s trilogy is traditional fantasy fare sliced, diced, and served up as a new dish. It is an otherworld story, the tale of a lost prince, a rerun of the epic struggle between good and evil canonized by C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. But it is also something unique. Where other children’s fantasy books are united by their inherent Britishness, Wilson’s trilogy stands apart as something with quintessential America at its core. In case you get caught up in the genre and forget it, his heroes wear John Deere T-shirts and easily exchange baseball bats for swords.
It begins when Henry York arrives in Henry, Kansas, where tougher boys and female cousins are in abundance. His uncle and aunt’s farmhouse, Main Street, dirt roads, rusty pickup trucks, barns - and oh yeah, cornfields – create a deceptively mundane backdrop for the adventure that awaits him there. One hundred cupboard doors lurk behind the plaster of his attic bedroom, and any reader familiar with The Wood Between the Worlds can guess what that means. Henry stumbles through one and (surprise!) realizes he’s not in Kansas anymore. But that’s just the first book. In books two and three, the secrets behind the doors will change Henry’s life forever.
Told in the distinctive voice of their author, which is vibrant, engaging, bizarre and at times self-consciously clever, these books have the appeal of a rollercoaster ride. Some readers will put their hands in the air while others may find it dizzying. The plot feels sloppy in places and I felt there was some unrealized potential when only two or maybe three doors out of the titled hundred played any substantial part in the story. That said, there is method in the madness as Wilson lets his imagination run riot, and it’s a fun ride, with moments of wit, originally, and imagery that brands itself into the memory, and an end that is ultimately satisfying.
Wilson is a passionate believer in Christ, and all the themes common to Christianity are presented (without sermonizing) in his books. Identity, awe, courage, self-sacrifice and love are just the obvious ones. There are witches, wizards, faeries, green men and raggants – you’ll have to read the books to find out what that last one is – and yes, lots of magic, prudently handled. Boyish humor and a mild profanity are things I could have done without, but overall I’d say this is very wholesome stuff.
Did I like this trilogy? Yes. Would I have the patience to read it a second time? Probably not. Even so, I won’t forget it any time soon. Recommended for anyone who enjoys a good traipse through a world beyond a cupboard door.
Well said! =) Parts of his writing annoy me to no end, but parts of the story were epic indeed (particularly the family ties). Glad to have read these twice over.
ReplyDelete