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Tuesday, September 9, 2014

The Tangle Box (Magic Kingdom of Landover #4) by Terry Brooks

The Tangle Box (Magic Kingdom of Landover, #4)The Tangle Box by Terry Brooks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So, I have to point out that the quality of writing improves with every book in this series, which is probably due to the time and experience that Terry Brooks gains between each one. With the previous book published in 1987, and this one in 1995, it seems that Brooks comes back to this series in between other books for a little fun now and then, and I appreciate that. The improvements are subtle: the characters are little more authentic, the conflicts a little more real, etc. While I comment from time to time on my dream of becoming a writer, I'm not doing what I need to do to succeed at that right now (i.e. write every day) and watching his writing grow and improve gives me hope that there is still time.

Aside from my personal response, this book has some of the same problems his others did. We have yet another villain, who once again can destroy everything. At least Michael Ard Rhi from the last book was involved in a previous story line, even if only indirectly. I think it is important to have an overarching evil to fight for the whole series to tie things together. Then there is the experience of Ben and the witch while in the Tangle Box... lets just say it's a little random, and somewhat disturbing. All that I'm saying is that Brooks could have accomplished the same thing without taking it to that level.

So I liked this book as another fun read, and recognize the improvements it offers, but again it is not a quality read for me. Will I read on in the series? Of course.

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