Okay, here’s my first negative review. I was bored by the glacial pace of this year’s Newbery winner. 100 pages in and I would have stopped reading, but I’m asked often for award winner J and YA titles, so I toughed it out. What a big waste of time. A gentle New York in the 70′s time travel story that would be forgotten if it was written in the 70′s and now it’s just as boring. Nothing new plot -weak characterization. No no no.
I realized half-way through this lovely National Book Award winner that I don’t read much adult fiction these days that doesn’t have some fantastical element in it. I kept waiting for some character to really be a dream child made real or something like what Jonathan Carroll or Jonathan Lethem do so well. New York City in the 70′s is captured from these interconnecting narratives with love and compassion. Richly developed characters that linger on in the conversation with the living. Great storytelling to celebrate the written word.
A classic time travelling novel with a lot of interesting plots weaving together. The meticulously researched details of 17th century England make the story even richer. Our hapless hero Doyle must learn to survive and fight the old powers trying to control history. Standard SF motif, but this one is special.
Dark and moody with more than a passing homage to HP Lovecraft, teen and adult horror fans will love the start of this new series by Yancey. The “lost” journal of Will Henry drips with viscera and encounters with all manner of strange monster, yet the story is well paced and should have won the Prinz award.