Book Title: The Book of Dead Days
Author: Marcus Sedgwick
Series: The Book of Dead Days #1
Series: The Book of Dead Days #1
Date Started: October 1st 2013
Date Completed: October 4th 2013
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
Rating: Four stars
Review:
What I was expecting from this book wasn't really what I got. That's sounds quite negative, but in a lot of ways it isn't. I did really enjoy this book, I was just a bit surprised when it wasn't quite what I thought it would be.
Boy is an orphan with no memory of his life before he was picked up by Valerian. Now he works for the magician, helping him trick his audience into the various illusions of his creation. But with his master's growing impatience and distraction, Boy can tell there's something wrong. Then Willow, another orphan assistant of one of the performers at the theatre, bumps into him in the street, babbling about a murder and immediately Boy is thrown into a situation he doesn't understand. His master's life will end in three days: on December 31st - unless they find the Book of Dead Days.
The writing was the first thing to hit me as something I hadn't anticipated. Before I make it sound like the book was written badly, let me tell you the good things: the little romance in it was lovely and really sweet. The adventure side was great and even the little bit of fantasy and mystery (which did get a little bit mixed up, I think) was really engaging. The writing was fine.
What I was going to say was that I was just expecting something a little more sophisticated. I don't know what gave me the impression of the book being a Young Adult/Adult fiction book, but that's what I had, and unfortunately that's what took the quality down a few pegs. (It's like watching the new Doctor Who when you used to watch the old series' - it's actually not that bad, but you can't really compare it to the good old stuff.)
The story was nice. That's the best word I can think of to describe it. It was like the stories I used to read when I was younger: two children getting taken 'under the wing' of an adult and going on a mysterious adventure with him to find something or other to save someone or the world or whatever. So, from a nostalgic point of view, it was lovely.
However, when I started reading this book I did expect it to be fairly complex. Therefore, when I realised it was a nice little story like the ones I read years ago, I was quite disappointed. Looking back on it, there's very little wrong with this story: it's perfectly good and the things that happen are believable enough and work well with the story. It's a shame that, because of the expectations I had already built up in my mind before reading, I wasn't as happy with the result as I could have been. (Just to clarify this is in no way a fault of the author or quality of this book. I do genuinely think it's a very good book - I'm just pointing out that it wasn't what the blurb led me to believe.)
The biggest issue I have with this novel's story is that fact that there's loads of loose ends left when the book finishes. I understand that sometimes part of the plot are left in shadow, so as to give the reader something to look forward to in the next book, but who killed so-and-so (sorry, spoiler) is not something that's going to be necessary in the next book because it's not going to relate to that plot at all. So why wasn't it explained here?
I also would have liked to see a little bit more of the City. It's mentioned a few times about being mysterious and falling into disrepair - I just wish there was more time to look into that. (Although, it had been hinted that that sort of thing is gone into more detail in the second book.)
The characters were good, and the fact that there were only really three (four near the end) made it easier for us to get to know each character more. Having said that, I still think a lot of development was missed out on.
I love Boy. He's sweet, and actually a reasonably good protagonist considering he does basically nothing except get ordered around by Valerian. Willow really took charge of being the assertive one, and I felt Boy just kind of did as he was told. Fortunately, Willow did rub off on him a little more, but he was still quite...not useless but...for want of a better word: useless. Don't get me wrong, he's adorable, I just wish he was more involved in changing the plot.
Willow was my favourite character because she was clearly the most intelligent out of the characters - all of which were boys (apart from her obviously). I usually say this, but the fact that she wasn't forcing this showed that she didn't feel she had to prove herself as being worth something, she knew she had that right and took it. I also loved the way Valerian wasn't as harsh to her as he was to Boy. I wish this had been gone into a little bit more since I think it would have made us feel more for Valerian. The one problem I had with Willow was the fact that I was constantly waiting for her to be more feisty, rather than just defiant and clever.
Valerian shaped the story, and he was really what the story was all about: helping him live. I did like his character because it was very conflicted and at times you could really see him fighting with his better judgement and his instincts. With his change of heart (twice) at the end, I felt they were a little too quick; I would expect someone to either slowly get more desperate before that event, or to hesitate - rather than just make a snap decision which turned them into a completely different character.
Kepler, really was the hero. Something I'm not sure is fair considering he only appears in the last forty or so pages of the book. It also confused me as to how he was portrayed as mad, but didn't really come through as that (that might have been deliberate, but if so I don't think the contrasts were emphasised enough.)
The pace wasn't too bad, actually. I think, as I was going through it, that it was a bit confusing how the progression was, since there wasn't really a smooth storyline; the characters just went to one place, hit a dead end, went to another, hit another dead end etc. But there wasn't a time when I got bored of this, strangely enough. I think there was enough variety to let me find something new and interesting in each situation and keep going.
It's also quite a short book. In some ways this is good, because the storyline wasn't allowed to get too repetitive. On the other hand, there are many areas I wish had been given more detail and had been gone into a bit more. Maybe this will happen in the sequel, maybe it won't - but that's what I'm hoping for, at least.
I would recommend The Book of Dead Days to anyone who loves good-old adventure stories. There's also some really sweet romance in there, and a bit of mystery and fantasy mixed up. I really enjoyed it (despite what it might seem like in my review), but I have to say it was a little less mature than I expected it to be. This book is definitely great to read, but don't expect a deep and complex plot, because you'll be disappointed.
Image Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5f/
The_Book_of_Dead_Days_cover.jpg
What I was expecting from this book wasn't really what I got. That's sounds quite negative, but in a lot of ways it isn't. I did really enjoy this book, I was just a bit surprised when it wasn't quite what I thought it would be.
Boy is an orphan with no memory of his life before he was picked up by Valerian. Now he works for the magician, helping him trick his audience into the various illusions of his creation. But with his master's growing impatience and distraction, Boy can tell there's something wrong. Then Willow, another orphan assistant of one of the performers at the theatre, bumps into him in the street, babbling about a murder and immediately Boy is thrown into a situation he doesn't understand. His master's life will end in three days: on December 31st - unless they find the Book of Dead Days.
The writing was the first thing to hit me as something I hadn't anticipated. Before I make it sound like the book was written badly, let me tell you the good things: the little romance in it was lovely and really sweet. The adventure side was great and even the little bit of fantasy and mystery (which did get a little bit mixed up, I think) was really engaging. The writing was fine.
What I was going to say was that I was just expecting something a little more sophisticated. I don't know what gave me the impression of the book being a Young Adult/Adult fiction book, but that's what I had, and unfortunately that's what took the quality down a few pegs. (It's like watching the new Doctor Who when you used to watch the old series' - it's actually not that bad, but you can't really compare it to the good old stuff.)
The story was nice. That's the best word I can think of to describe it. It was like the stories I used to read when I was younger: two children getting taken 'under the wing' of an adult and going on a mysterious adventure with him to find something or other to save someone or the world or whatever. So, from a nostalgic point of view, it was lovely.
However, when I started reading this book I did expect it to be fairly complex. Therefore, when I realised it was a nice little story like the ones I read years ago, I was quite disappointed. Looking back on it, there's very little wrong with this story: it's perfectly good and the things that happen are believable enough and work well with the story. It's a shame that, because of the expectations I had already built up in my mind before reading, I wasn't as happy with the result as I could have been. (Just to clarify this is in no way a fault of the author or quality of this book. I do genuinely think it's a very good book - I'm just pointing out that it wasn't what the blurb led me to believe.)
The biggest issue I have with this novel's story is that fact that there's loads of loose ends left when the book finishes. I understand that sometimes part of the plot are left in shadow, so as to give the reader something to look forward to in the next book, but who killed so-and-so (sorry, spoiler) is not something that's going to be necessary in the next book because it's not going to relate to that plot at all. So why wasn't it explained here?
I also would have liked to see a little bit more of the City. It's mentioned a few times about being mysterious and falling into disrepair - I just wish there was more time to look into that. (Although, it had been hinted that that sort of thing is gone into more detail in the second book.)
The characters were good, and the fact that there were only really three (four near the end) made it easier for us to get to know each character more. Having said that, I still think a lot of development was missed out on.
I love Boy. He's sweet, and actually a reasonably good protagonist considering he does basically nothing except get ordered around by Valerian. Willow really took charge of being the assertive one, and I felt Boy just kind of did as he was told. Fortunately, Willow did rub off on him a little more, but he was still quite...not useless but...for want of a better word: useless. Don't get me wrong, he's adorable, I just wish he was more involved in changing the plot.
Willow was my favourite character because she was clearly the most intelligent out of the characters - all of which were boys (apart from her obviously). I usually say this, but the fact that she wasn't forcing this showed that she didn't feel she had to prove herself as being worth something, she knew she had that right and took it. I also loved the way Valerian wasn't as harsh to her as he was to Boy. I wish this had been gone into a little bit more since I think it would have made us feel more for Valerian. The one problem I had with Willow was the fact that I was constantly waiting for her to be more feisty, rather than just defiant and clever.
Valerian shaped the story, and he was really what the story was all about: helping him live. I did like his character because it was very conflicted and at times you could really see him fighting with his better judgement and his instincts. With his change of heart (twice) at the end, I felt they were a little too quick; I would expect someone to either slowly get more desperate before that event, or to hesitate - rather than just make a snap decision which turned them into a completely different character.
Kepler, really was the hero. Something I'm not sure is fair considering he only appears in the last forty or so pages of the book. It also confused me as to how he was portrayed as mad, but didn't really come through as that (that might have been deliberate, but if so I don't think the contrasts were emphasised enough.)
The pace wasn't too bad, actually. I think, as I was going through it, that it was a bit confusing how the progression was, since there wasn't really a smooth storyline; the characters just went to one place, hit a dead end, went to another, hit another dead end etc. But there wasn't a time when I got bored of this, strangely enough. I think there was enough variety to let me find something new and interesting in each situation and keep going.
It's also quite a short book. In some ways this is good, because the storyline wasn't allowed to get too repetitive. On the other hand, there are many areas I wish had been given more detail and had been gone into a bit more. Maybe this will happen in the sequel, maybe it won't - but that's what I'm hoping for, at least.
I would recommend The Book of Dead Days to anyone who loves good-old adventure stories. There's also some really sweet romance in there, and a bit of mystery and fantasy mixed up. I really enjoyed it (despite what it might seem like in my review), but I have to say it was a little less mature than I expected it to be. This book is definitely great to read, but don't expect a deep and complex plot, because you'll be disappointed.
Image Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5f/
The_Book_of_Dead_Days_cover.jpg
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