The Violet Keystone by Garth Nix
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ok, so this is the last book in the series. If you decide to read these books, and I hope you do, I recommend getting the combined volumes, rather than reading them one little book at a time. The continuity would have been nice.
So the pros: The best thing about this book is that it is so Garth Nixish. The only way to describe it is realistically abstract. The characters are real. The society speaks to challenges in our own society. The setting is blissfully fictional. I really really really hope I find more to read by Nix.
The cons: I have pointed it out for every volume: this was written for a really young audience. While I think it hit its mark, I can't help but think that it was a waste of Nix's talent. He can do so much more for a 9th grade+audience, that writting for a 4th grade audience seems like a total waste. Take Aenir and super-size it. Make the world deeper, the denizens of Aenir more co-dependent, their society more relevant. Take the number of characters from among the chosen and double them. Let them run amuck, running into each other, affecting Tal, having their own subplots. This could have been Harry Potterish in scope rather than Junie B Jonesish (don't get me wrong I love JBJ too). Sigh. Just a lost opportunity for so much more enjoyment.
4 Stars. Double the length/depth and it is 5.
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Wednesday, September 22, 2010
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